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42-535: Blythe is a fashion doll , about 28 cm (11 inch) tall, with an oversized head and large eyes that change color with the pull of a string . It was created in 1972 and was initially only sold for one year in the United States by toy company Kenner (later purchased by Hasbro ). In 2001, the Japanese toy company Takara began producing new editions of Blythe dolls. There is a network of hobbyists who customize

84-467: A canvas for their work. Customizers repaint faces, reroot hair, or do other alterations to the dolls themselves. Many of these works are one-of-a-kind and are referred to as art dolls . These artists are usually not connected to the original manufacturers and sell their work to collectors . Fashion dolls may have been in use as early as the 14th century, and from around 1642 onwards some were called "Pandora". They were in use at European royal courts in

126-467: A friend and began using it to practice her photographic skills. She began taking her Blythe everywhere with her and took hundreds of photos. In 1999, she was introduced to Junko Wong of Cross World Connections (CWC) by artist and illustrator, Jeffrey Fulvimari. Junko Wong brought Blythe to the attention of Parco, a client of CWC as a possible virtual model for promotion. In 2000, Gina published her first book of Blythe photography with Chronicle Books , This

168-566: A part of the Littlest Pet Shop toyline. In 2021 the last Takara Neo Blythe was produced. In 2022 Good Smile Company became the manufacturer of Blythe dolls under the production helm of Cross World Connections. There are three sizes of Blythe dolls: the original 28 cm (1/6 scale) full-sized dolls, the 11.2 cm "Petite Blythe" from Takara and the "Middie Blythe" of about 20 cm. Only full-sized dolls have color-changing eyes. The first Petite dolls were keychains, and after some time

210-748: A treatise on collecting printed in 1565, Samuel Quiccheberg noted that princesses and queens sent each other dolls with details of foreign clothing. Jeanne d'Albret bought dolls, called poupines , in 1571. In April 1604, Helena Snakenborg, Marchioness of Northampton had a doll dressed in the latest fashion in London to send to her sister Karin Bonde in Sweden. During the period of 1715–1785, Pandora dolls became more common and were manufactured and used by seamstresses, milliners, tailors and fashion merchants, and displayed in their shop windows and sent across borders to illustrate

252-557: Is Blythe . In 2001, Hasbro (the current trademark and license owner) gave Takara of Japan and CWC a license to produce the New Edition of Blythe (Neo Blythe). Blythe was used in a television advertising campaign by Parco, the fashion branch of Seibu Department Stores in Japan and was an instant hit. In 2003 Blythe was the subject in a segment on the VH1 special, I Love the ' 70s , where she

294-557: The Ideal Toy Company in 1962. Advertised as "The Doll You Love to Dress", Tammy was portrayed as a young American teenager, more " girl next door " than the cosmopolitan image of Barbie. Sindy was created by the British Pedigree Dolls & Toys company in 1963 as a rival to Barbie with a wholesome look. American Character Doll Company released their " Tressy " fashion doll in 1963 to compete with Barbie. Tressy

336-618: The Littlest Pet Shop toy line, with Blythe dolls as petsitters for their animal toys in the aforementioned toy line. Blythe stars as a protagonist in the Littlest Pet Shop Presents animated shorts that were produced by Cosmic Toast Studios and released online by Hasbro (voice unknown). Another incarnation of the character, named Blythe Baxter (voiced by Ashleigh Ball ), stars in the 2012 Littlest Pet Shop animated television series, as well as its related shorts (not to be confused with

378-581: The My Scene line in 2002 and the Flavas line in 2003 to rival Bratz. In 2010 Mattel launched the Monster High doll line, based on fantasy and horror monsters. Subsequently, they launched a spinoff in 2013, titled Ever After High , inspired by fairytales. In 2016, both lines went through a massive reboot and were discontinued soon after. Also in 2016, Mattel launched an animal-themed line titled Enchantimals ; it

420-561: The Passage Choiseul area of Paris an industry grew around making clothing and accessories for the dolls. Child like bisque dolls appeared in the mid-19th century and overtook the market towards the end of the century. Jackie Ormes contracted with the Terri Lee doll company in 1947 to produce a play doll based on her little girl cartoon character in Patty-Jo 'n Ginger . As in the cartoon,

462-626: The Velvet Doll and friends are 18". British designer Mary Quant 's Daisy doll from 1973 had a large selection of contemporary 70s fashion designed by Quant. Fulla is marketed to children of Islamic and Middle-Eastern countries as an alternative to Barbie. The concept of her evolved around 1999, and she hit stores in late 2003. Bratz were released in 2001, designed by Carter Bryant and manufactured by California toy company MGA Entertainment . They are distinguished by large heads with skinny bodies and lush, glossy lips. Mattel introduced

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504-820: The 16th century to show the tactile qualities of fashion which could not be incorporated into paintings or described to tailors in words. A letter dated 1515 and sent by Federico Gonzaga on behalf of King Francis I of France to his mother Isabella d'Este asks her to send a fashion doll to the French court so that copies of her style might be made for the women of France. As an adult in Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots owned dolls, called "pippens", which were dressed by her tailors , and may have been fashion dolls. Jane Seymour , third wife of Henry VIII , owned great and little "babies" dressed in gowns of cloth of silver, satin, and velvet tied with gold "aglettes", like her own sleeves. In

546-456: The 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. It was created by Alicia Larguía, who was inspired by the French predecessor of Bleuette , a doll available through the famous magazine for girls La Semaine de Suzette The game proposed by Marilú was, on the one hand, that of the transmission of motherhood in the girls—who were called the doll's "mommies"—, but the doll's clothing also occupied a central role. The advertisements encouraged girls to change and renew

588-727: The BL mold, the Excellent mold, or EBL, and the Superior mold, or SBL, in 2003. In 2006, a new face mold, the Radiant mold or RBL, was introduced to look more Kenner-like, including slightly wider eyes. In 2009 another new face mold, the Fairest mold or FBL, was released with matte texture and smaller eye holes. The BL and EBL mold are actually the same mold. The difference in the EBL mold were important internal changes to make

630-678: The Cosmic Toast shorts), that were produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media . Fashion doll Barbie was released by the American toy-company Mattel in 1959, and was followed by many similar vinyl fashion dolls intended as children's toys. The size of the Barbie, 11.5 inches (290 mm) set the standard often used by other manufacturers. But fashion dolls have been made in many different sizes varying from 10.5 to 36 inches (270 to 910 mm). Costumers and seamstresses use fashion dolls as

672-614: The Gaultier dolls, the Huret dolls, or the more recent Vogue dolls and Barbies. Barbie was launched by the American toy company Mattel in 1959, inspired by the German Bild Lilli doll . Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for more than fifty years. Many fashion doll lines have been inspired by Barbie, or launched as alternatives to Barbie. Tammy was created by

714-446: The UK, Australia and Japan, during 1972. Over time the original "Kenner" Blythe dolls acquired a cult following of collectors and eventually, photographers. In mid-1991, Hasbro purchased Tonka , which acquired Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. in 1987. Since then, all the intellectual properties are owned by Hasbro. In 1997, New York TV and video producer Gina Garan was given a 1972 Kenner Blythe by

756-415: The acquisition. However, the cost of servicing the debt meant Tonka itself had to find a buyer and it was eventually acquired by Hasbro in 1991. Hasbro closed the former Palitoy site in 1994 with manufacture of the last product made there, Play-Doh , being transferred to Hasbro's Irish factory. In 2016 fans of the popular Palitoy Action Man toy gathered to celebrate his 50th birthday at the site, and in

798-517: The box design were completely different from the ones released in other countries and are extremely rare. They were also sold in the UK by Palitoy and in Australia by Toltoys, both sister companies to Kenner under General Mills Beginning in 2001, Takara first released new Blythe dolls sporadically, but then began releasing new versions of Blythe each month. Under the creative direction of Junko Wong, CWC has produced 207 Neo Blythes, 211 Petites, and 17 of

840-512: The company's toy division, sometimes known as CPG Products Corp (Creative Products Group Products Corp). In 1981, British toy group Airfix Products fell into receivership. Palitoy's owner General Mills acquired the Airfix kit range and its Great Model Railways (GMR) range. General Mills also snapped up UK rights to Meccano . Back in 1971, it had acquired non-UK rights when it bought Meccano in France from

882-462: The creative production of the Blythe series. There is no major changes to the specifications or designs of the dolls, but there will be a few other changes such as Face and body parts will be manufactured using new molds, "Blythe" products will be recommended for ages 15 and up. Ashton-Drake Galleries produced nearly exact replicas of the 5 original Kenner dolls in 2005-2006, along with replicas based on

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924-583: The decision to merge Kenner and Parker into one entity and to sell off Fun Dimensions. This decision impacted Palitoy which adopted the Kenner Parker name and withdrew from the model and craft sector to help form one uniform global toy and games company. It sold the Airfix business to Humbrol and a large part of Mainline Railways to Dapol . On 1 May 1985, most of the work at Palitoy ended with 327 staff in manufacturing and distribution out of 585 made redundant and manufacturing shifted overseas. The restructure

966-458: The design was changed so the Petite eyes would close when the doll was laid down. The Middie Blythes eyes can turn to the sides and her head can twist around. Older dolls are sought after in the collectors market, and can sell for as high as several thousand dollars for an original Kenner doll to a thousand dollars or more for the first edition Neo dolls from Takara. In 1972, Kenner released versions of

1008-643: The doll for resale and create clothing and shoes for Blythe. Enthusiasts share photographs of their work and other types of dolls on the Internet. Blythe was created in the early seventies by designer Allison Katzman at Marvin Glass and Associates and bought and produced in the United States in 1972 by the now-defunct toy company Kenner . Blythe dolls were only sold for one year in the U.S. (produced in Hong Kong ) and also in

1050-464: The doll represented a real child, in contrast to the majority of dolls that were mammy and Topsy -type dolls. The dolls were popular with both black and white children. The first American fashion doll, Cissy, was released by the Alexander Doll Company in 1955. Cissy sported a pronounced bosom and high-heeled shoes. Marilú was an Argentine composition doll that was highly popular in

1092-408: The doll with four hair colors in the U.S., a brunette with chunky bangs, a sidepart brunette, a darker brunette with thinner bangs, a sidepart blonde, a red head with bangs, and a sidepart redhead. Twelve different outfits were released as well, along with four brightly colored wigs. The dolls were also released in Japan in 1972 by Tomy under the brand name Mahou no Hitomi Ai Ai Chan . The outfits and

1134-504: The doll's clothes according to the occasion or season, with the Marilú brand thus promoting the clothes they made to accompany the toy. In addition, the Billiken and Marilú magazines included patterns for the girls or someone in their family to sew the doll's wardrobe, and published instructions and fashion tips. In this way, Marilú can be placed within the genealogy of fashion dolls, such as

1176-703: The end of the collaboration between the brands, despite the doll still being called Blythe, the Blythe logo was no longer used. In December 2012, Takara/CWC released the Petite Blythe Suri Tebya Lyublyu after 2 years since the Petite Blythe Birthday Party Surprise. From July 2021, Good Smile Company began manufacturing and distributing "Blythe" doll products. The copyright and license (intellectual property rights) for Blythe will continue to belong to American toy manufacturer Hasbro and Cross World Connections will continue to handle

1218-530: The eye mechanism more resistant. In 2013, due to wearing in the Radiance mold, or RBL, a new mold called Radiance+, or RBL+, was released and it's supposed to look exactly like the Radiance mold. Some changes were made in the eye mechanism as well, it became a lot lighter and easier to change the eyes compared to older releases. By 2013, Hasbro left the Petite Blythes behind to new redesigned doll which seemed to be

1260-483: The latest fashion trends. Rose Bertin was among those fashion merchants who used them. Pandora dolls fell out of fashion in the late 18th-century, when illustrated fashion magazines became common after the publication of Cabinet des Modes , and were finally banned by Napoleon I , who feared that they could be used to smuggle secret messages. During the first half of the 19th century, fashion dolls were sometimes used to display fashion garments for clients before it

1302-515: The newest addition to the Blythe line: the Middie Blythe dolls. Every one of these Blythes were exhibited at Parco Factory at the 10th Anniversary from June–July 2011. Newer releases of the Petite Blythe dolls have "sleepy eyes" and bendable bodies. The Middies' heads tilt and their eyes look left and right without changing color. The bodies of the full-size dolls vary depending on the time of

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1344-476: The original Kenner outfits. The first release had skin-tones with a slight green tint. A second release in 2007 was less green and more peach-pink. Both releases have a matte surface texture. Ashton Drake in total released 12 different full-sized Blythe dolls, but ceased production in 2008. In 2010, Hasbro released the Blythe Loves Littlest Pet Shop line as a part of their 2004 incarnation of

1386-636: The receivers of another British toy group, Tri-ang . Palitoy effectively ceased to be an independent business in 1984 when its parent company, CPG, part of General Mills, closed its entire design department leaving it effectively just a sales and marketing operation. In January 1985, General Mills announced it would be quitting the toy business. In the US, its toy business was split into three distinct companies: Kenner (focused on toys), Parker Brothers (focused on games) and Fun Dimensions (focused on crafts, model kits MPC and model trains Lionel ). General Mills made

1428-521: The release. Early releases in 2001-2002 used the body of the Licca doll. In June 2002, in commemoration of 1 year of Blythe releases by Takara/CWC, the doll Miss Anniversary was released featuring the "Excellent Body" that was quite similar to the original Blythe released by Kenner. Early dolls also had a glossy surface texture, but some had matte face too. The earliest face molds of the reproduction Blythe dolls are referred to as BL. Two more face molds followed

1470-638: Was a British toy company. It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence. Its products included Action Man , Action Girl, Action Force , Tiny Tears , Pippa , Tressy , Mainline Model Railways, Merlin , Star Wars figures , Play-Doh and the Care Bears . The Cascelloid Company was founded by Alfred Edward Pallett in Coalville , Leicestershire in 1919 to produce celluloid and fancy goods . Their first toy

1512-729: Was created in 2003 in Korea . Japanese fashion dolls marketed to children include Licca (introduced in 1967) and Jenny (introduced in 1982) by Takara Tomy . In the mid-1990s larger fashion dolls mostly marketed to adult collectors appeared. These include Gene Marshall from Ashton-Drake , Tyler Wentworth from Tonner and Alexandra Fairchild Ford from Madame Alexander . They are between 15.5 and 16 inches (390 and 410 millimetres), larger than typical fashion dolls marketed as children's toys. In 2005, London artists Desmond Lingard and Charles Fegen, created Sybarites , 16" resin artist-dolls as fashion dolls for adult collectors. Palitoy Palitoy

1554-526: Was first sold as an 11½" fashion doll, and, after being acquired by the Ideal Toy Company , by the late 60s was sold as a larger pre-teen doll. Tressy featured a long swatch of hair that could be pulled out of the top of the doll's head by pushing a button on the doll's midriff; that mechanism allowed children the ability to comb the hair in a variety of styles. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Ideal released several other large fashion dolls with hair with adjustable length. The Crissy Doll and friends along with

1596-530: Was in 1920 and the first doll in 1925. Cascelloid was bought in 1931 by British Xylonite and the word "Palitoy" was created as a trademark in 1935 for their toy division. Injection moulding was developed by British Xylonite in 1941 and was used for the Palitoy toy ranges. In 1978, the Chad Valley toys company was sold to Palitoy. Palitoy was sold to US food company General Mills in 1968, and formed part of

1638-616: Was made in the salon of the milliner, seamstress or tailor, until Charles Frederick Worth introduced living human models in the 1850s. The earliest bisque dolls from French companies were fashion dolls. These dominated the market between approximately 1860 and 1890. They were made to represent grown up women and intended for children of affluent families to play with and dress in contemporary fashions. These dolls came from companies like Jumeau , Bru, Gaultier, Rohmer, Simone and Huret, though their heads were often manufactured in Germany. In

1680-572: Was originally a spinoff of Ever After High but became its own line soon after. In 2014, artist Nickolai Lamm unveiled Lammily , a fashion doll based on Lamm's study comparing Barbie's figure with measurements matching those of an average 19-year-old woman. Asian fashion dolls are made by Asian manufacturers and primarily targeted to an Asian market. Blythe dolls with oversized heads and color changing eyes were originally made by American company Kenner but are now produced by Japanese company Takara . Another doll with an oversized head, Pullip ,

1722-507: Was said to look like either " Barbie with encephalitis " or " Christina Ricci " among other things. The success in Japan led Hasbro to issue a license to Ashton-Drake Galleries in 2004 to sell Blythe replica dolls in the United States, where the doll became a niche product in a marginal market, selling largely to adults. In spring 2009, Alexander McQueen launched a fashion line for Target with an ad campaign featuring Blythe dolls. In 2010, Hasbro began releasing their version of Blythe as

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1764-478: Was undertaken in advance of the spin-off of General Mills' toy division CPG, separated from its parent in 1985 as Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. There were many potential acquirers of the business but the subsidiary was floated on the stock exchange with General Mills' shareholders getting equivalent shares in Kenner Parker. This was more tax efficient for General Mills. In 1987, Tonka purchased Kenner Parker including Palitoy for $ 555 million, borrowing extensively to fund

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