FEATURE
The story of one little girl who made a comeback
and inspired the masses.
In 1972, a star was born … only the world didn’t know it yet. Her name was Blythe, and she was one of the strangest dolls Kenner ever produced. Her body type was that of a teen fashion doll — not unlike Barbie’s little sis, Skipper — but oh, what a noggin! Blythe’s head was downright gigantic, with a button nose, rosebud mouth, and a pair of enormous, thickly lashed eyeballs that seemed to follow you around the room.
Indeed they could, since Blythe had the unusual ability to glance from side to side as well as change eye colors at the pull of a string, from Groovy Green to Bouncy Brown to Beautiful Blue to Pretty Purple. Unfortunately, it seems that Blythe was just too weird-looking for most of the doll-buying public, and she was deemed a commercial failure. Production stopped after only one year, and Blythe languished in relative obscurity thereafter.
Fast forward to 1997. Photographer Gina Garan is introduced to this odd little doll by a friend, who thinks it looks like her. Garan finds a grubby old Blythe on eBay for $8 and instantly falls in love. Blythe becomes Garan’s muse, who photographs her in countless settings — on the beach, strolling through an art gallery, traveling the world. The photos are eventually collected into a kitschy coffee-table book called This Is Blythe (Chronicle Books).
Garan’s evocative pics caught the eye of Junko Wong, creative director of Cross World Connections, a creative agency in Japan. CWC saw great potential, and started producing new Blythe dolls under license from Hasbro, manufactured by Takara.
More than 60 of these “Neo” Blythe dolls have
been released to date, each with their own distinct
look and personality, while the original Kenner Blythes now fetch thousands on eBay. Just as Wong predicted, Blythe has reached icon status in Japan, and has served as a “spokesmodel” for hair dye, department stores, soda pop, and more. Blythe’s popularity has also spread in the United States, where collectors snatch up dolls via eBay, Japanese buying sites like yahoo.co.jp, and a select few designer toy stores.
The buzz on Blythe certainly has something to do with the booming vinyl toy collector movement, but to many doll lovers, she represents more than that. Unlike Barbie, whose face is fixed in a saccharine perma-grin, there’s a certain mystery in Blythe’s features that inspires collectors to make her their own. The same spooky, kooky eyes that freaked people out in 1972 are exactly what gives Blythe her charm today — a sense of unpredictability and soulfulness that makes her the perfect model for aspiring shutterbugs and dolly couturiers.
Though some collectors keep their dolls “stock,” many choose to alter her looks in a variety of ways. Ultra-fine sanding sponges are used to remove the glossy finish from her face; new makeup is applied using chalk pastels or an airbrush; lips are painted with acrylic paints; and scalps are removed and re-rooted using colorful, silky saran or curly, hand-dyed mohair. Collectors can also dismantle Blythe’s entire head and replace her original eye-chips with colors of their own choosing, adding glittery origami
Melissa Cabral of saveblythe.com restores damaged Kenner Blythe dolls by adding new hair, eyes, and custom outfits. She also designed an online tool ( puchicollective.com/blythealizer) to test color combinations. >>
Photography by Melissa Cabral ( puchicollective.com)
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