In the 70’s, a ground-breaking doll hit stores. Her name was Blythe. She was produced by the Kenner for a single year, but due to poor sales her production was stopped. During the following 28 years, Blythe spent her days on dusty shelves, in attics, and other such dreadful places; except, of course, for the few lucky enough to find a loving home. In 2000, Blythe appeared in a TV commercial for the Japanese company PARCO. Almost overnight, Blythe went from a failed children’s toy to a world-famous fashion icon.
    Months before the now-famous commercial went on-air, Gina Garan, a video and TV producer, published her first book of her photographs of Blythe. In 1997 a friend of Gina’s introduced her to Blythe, thinking that the doll looked a bit like Gina. Soon after, Gina bought her own Blythe dolls. One fateful day Gina was given and old camera, and the magic began. The first photographs she took on that camera where of Blythe, and she seemed to almost fall in love with the dolls, as after that she brought at least one of her Blythe dolls with her everywhere and taking many photographs. At a opening for an exhibition for the CWC International artists in Soho, New York, Gina showed her photos of Blythe to Junko Wong. Junko took her photographs to PARCO and tossed out the idea for a “virtual model” for their innovative sales promotions. Blythe was featured in their Christmas 2000 commercial and print media, causing her popularity to soar through the roof in Japan. Vintage Blythe dolls on eBay skyrocketed from the low $30’s to over $300. PARCO continued using Blythe as their “image girl” through spring and summer of 2001, causing the vintage beauties to jump into the thousands on U.S. eBay. In June of the same year, Blythe was finally on the market once again-manufactured by Takara and produced by CWC. The launch of the new beauties, called Neo-Blythes, was in conjunction with a photo exhibition by none other than Gina Garan. The first doll produced, Parco Limited Edition (which consisted of 1000 dolls), sold out in less then an hour, and many dolls soon followed in her footsteps.
    Back in the 70’s, children found Blythe’s eyes-which changed from green to pink to blue to orange by pulling the drawstring on the back of her head-to be quite scary, but in the modern era that in the one thing that stand out the most about Blythe. Not only do her eyes change colors, but they also change positions, going from forward to left to forward to right. Many Blythe collectors get their dolls ‘customized’, which could be as simple as a new set of eye-chips (the chips in the dolls’ eyes that give them color) or as complex as a re-root (a process in which the doll’s hair is removed from the scalp or she is de-wigged, and she gets a wig put on her new hair, usually saran or mohair, rooted into her scalp) along with new eye-chips and customized make-up. One Blythe collector said that it was “love at first sight” when she saw the dolls, and what captured her heart the most was their hair. Another fan of Blythe said it was the ‘black Blythes’ (Blythe dolls, usually ADG-Ashton-Drake Galleries, a Blythe deigned to look like the original vintage beauty-with their skin darkened anywhere from slightly-caramel to chocolate to so-dark-you-have-to-look-at-it-twice-to-make-sure-it’s-not-black, and are usually re-rooted with black mohair in the form of afros) that won her over. “They’re so unique, almost all of the dolls in Blythe-like form (Pullips, Dollcenas, etc.) are light-skinned, and the black ones are so bold” she said, “I’d give my soul to get one of my own.” Another thing that has captured the heart of many is Blythe’s amazingly large wardrobe. Besides a line of clothes for the Neo Blythe (full-sized 11 inch doll) and Petite Blythe (miniature 4 inch doll) by Takara, websites such as Etsy, deviantArt, eBay, and hundreds of fansites sell home-made outfits for the dolls (which is especially handy for Blythe collectors that are also in love with the Pullip doll by Jun Planning, as home-made Blythe clothes usually fit Pullip and vice versa). Many of the hand-made clothes sell for less then the official Takara line, and are much more intricate and detailed. Some Blythe fanatics, on the other hand, choose to keep their sewing talents to themselves, and make gorgeous wardrobes for their lucky girls, ranging from simple T-shirts to intricate Lolita (huge fashion from Japan that is meant to capture the innocence of youth and the nostalgia for the 19th century. Generally seen in three forms: gothic, sweet, and classic. Although those are the main ‘categories’ for Lolita, there are many more ‘sub-categories’ and such) dresses and skirts to amazingly detailed cosplay (combined form of ‘costume’ and ‘play’, is, in a nutshell, the act of dressing up as a character from a manga, anime, or video game as is generally done at anime conventions) outfits. Although having extra clothes is always a plus, as it provides for many more photography opportunities, the original outfits that the Blythe dolls come in are works of art in themselves.
    The beautiful Blythe was originally created at Marvin Glass Studios, a famous toy design company, by three people-Rouben Terzian, Gordon Barlow, and Alison Katzman. Terzian wanted to use the eyes (which where the first part of Blythe designed) in a dog toy, but Barlow always said "No, it's a doll, let's make a doll." Since Barlow was considered a genius at the company, the eyes where used for Blythe. Katzman modeled the face. Blythe’s body was planned to be proportional to her head, but, due to packing restrictions, her body size was reduced, causing her head to be abnormally large. Currently, the Neo-Blythe dolls are produced by CWC and I based on the original (vintage) Blythe. Her head is a lovely reproduction of her Vintage self’s, and her body is the same as another doll made by Takara, Licca-chan. All of Blythe’s designs and concepts (including fashion, accessories, and package design) are done by the creative directors of CWC’s team (Junie Moon), which is headed by Junko Wong. Blythe’s fashion styles tend to reflect that of her birth time-the 60’s and 70’s. The beautiful style and taste of that era and blended beautifully with modern styles, creating a unique and eye-catching combination. The bodies of Neo Blythe are made out of plastic, allowing her legs and arms to bend at various angles. However, the body of Excellent Blythe (a version of Blythe with a body more similar to that of Vintage Blythe) is more full-fleshed and glamorous compared to Neo, but only her legs are bendable. Vintage Blythes sell for as much as $3,000 on eBay, sometimes even more, but most of the time they range from 5-6 hundred dollars. Neo and Excellent Blythes range anywhere from $80-$3,000 new and used (as in straight from a shop, still in a box on eBay, or out of the box and anywhere from gently used to extremely battered on eBay). The prices for Blythe may seem a bit high, but it’s not something one can understand easily if not tuned in to Radio Blythe. The dolls mean a lot to some people, and spark passion in her admirers. It’s like someone who collects old records or books or something-the best is rarely ever the cheapest.
    The many perks that come with collecting Blythe-the opportunity to meet amazing people all over the world who share your passion, having an amazingly gorgeous model who won’t complain when you take pictures of her non-stop, having a beautiful child that will never outgrow her clothes, and a passion that will last a life time. Blythe is not just a doll to those who love her, she is so much more then that. And that is how she went from a failed children’s fashion doll in the 70’s to a world-famous fashion icon: those that love her brought her to where she is now.