Wine, Blythe, Fake Dolls and the Urban Outfitters Controversy ❌ 

I completely agree! People use 'Blythe' as a catch-all term for this type of doll, when it's not. It's a brand name, and an exclusive brand name at that. That makes this deceptive and false advertising, plain and simple.

I am a doll customizer. I always mention what my base doll is. I found it more fun to use a Fake base. It is more affordable and less scary. And I can sell them for less money, around 90 euro. I want everybody to enjoy these special dolls, also people with a smaller budget. I put a lot of work, time and fantasy in my customs. I don't want to make money, I just want to make people happy with my dolls and enjoy my hobby. I don't want to upset the Blythe collectors, I own several Takara's. But for customizing I really love to use affordable base dolls.

It's nice to see someone who collects stock Blythe who doesn't criticise people who do buy the fakes. Some who collect stock/legit dolls are very judgemental of anyone who has a fake. I'm not sure how the name blythe can come away from the fakes because they're a specific style of doll. But it should always be stated that it's a fake/factory doll when being sold. Sadly some people get bullied out of even collecting because of the more opinionated legit Blythe collectors.

Well said and I totally agree. When I bought my first doll it was so confusing. I did as much research as possible, but there wasn't much out there back then. Luckily I found legit dolls for my first purchase. Many years later, I have purchased some fake dolls, but I knew they were fake. What UO did was sketchy and weird.

This is not a "Barbie" for kids. It's hard to make a mistake. Original dolls cost $200-300 or more, have two boxes (outer and inner), special clothing designs, and are sold in specialty stores. You have to be very naive to believe that such a doll could cost $30. And you should also distinguish originals from custom.

Thank you for the shout out and thank you for just bringing peeps up to speed on what is going on out there in the Blythe world..........all.we want is collectors to be informed and aware of who is real and who is fake!! xx

You’ve summed up the situation perfectly! Urban Outfitters is THE WORST! They’ve been manufacturing fake everything including small designers and craftspeoples items for many years. Avoid at all costs!

This is so random and tacky, it's as if an employee used the official website as a personal garage sale, on top of scamming the buyers.

Yes but a ‘real Blythe’ is a 1972 Kenner doll. Anything made afterwards is either a reproduction or just copycat dolls. Ashton Drake produced a true reproduction Blythe , and Takara made a whole slew of Blythe dolls., and I would not consider either of those ‘fakes’, but rather reproductions and ‘neoBlythe’ dolls. So I think we need to clarify what we mean when we say ‘real’ and ‘fake’. ‘Real’ may only apply to an original 1972 doll. Thanks for the video!

As a new person to the hobby, I can say that I was confused about all the different names. I had to watch a few videos to understand. I bought a second hand doll on EBay, and then 2 authentic dolls.

Fabulous and informative. Thanks for mentioning La Dolly Dispatch podcast. ❤🎧❤️ Cheers 🥂

Completely agree with you - I much much much prefer the real Blythe dolls - prefer the bodies, prefer the clothing, packaging and eye mechanisms. I bought two fakes - on purpose - when I first started collecting - I got them from AE and knew without a doubt that they were fakes. They were/are cute but once I got my first real Blythe I was smitten and absolutely love them. The some customized dolls are lovely and some of the artists do AMAZING work - for sure. Urban Outfitters is ridiculous for claiming that they sold real Blythes.

Because this fake is associated with a brand and sold out quickly, I wonder how many people bought it to scalp/resell at a later date for a big profit. Also many customizers buy fakes so not to destroy a legit doll which makes sense to me, but upon selling, it should be disclosed as a fake.

Thanks for sharing this. I am happy with the stock girls I have . I’ll stick with them as is as I’m not a fan of them being so altered they’re not recognizable. But Blythe scandal or not, Urban Outfitters has been problematic on MANY levels. They’ve ripped off designs from indie sellers on the streets of NY or Etsy, they’ve sold questionable clothing resembling concentration camp outfits and that’s just a couple issues at hand. To repeat myself: UO is problematic on many levels.

its a bit frustrating when something youve been into for years gets popular than big companies do things like this lol

Not everyone is looking for an original , custom Blythe. Many just want a beautiful custom doll and don’t care if it’s a Blythe original. They are paying for the custom work, not a vintage doll.

im new to the blythe world, but from what i''ve been reading, there's a lot of collectors who get upset when legit dolls are customized. UO was def wrong for this, an sounds like the artist had an in and no questions were asked.

I recently discovered TikTok accounts with about 25000 followers and more who praised the fakes with the horrible pre-carved faces. Each was looking the same with this tiny noses. I was so shocked that so many folks there celebrated this cheap made dolls and not a single mention about the origin of the factory doll! And I see it the same, as long they mention it, it is fine! But they didn’t and masses of people now think those are as nice dolls. 🥴

I've just got back into collecting after being very into the hobby back in the early 2000's-2012 - I have to say I'm super shocked by the acceptance and the amount of fake dolls in the hobby now. How is this allowed?!

Very well articulated! I’m definitely gonna check out the podcast- thank you for sharing!

Really enjoyed this video 😀 I wanted to start collecting authentic Blythe dolls but could not tell the difference between a real or fake Blythe. The issue is when I went looking it was often not clear in the description if the base is authentic. This also includes dolls advertised second hand by collectors. I gave up, it was just too difficult.

all I want to know is where the fakes wig comes from and why is it 1000 x better than the real Blythe doll hair?

3 months late but for the record, Edelweiss Day doesn't have a consistent style because they are reselling dolls (or at least stealing their listing photos) from Xianyu and Taobao for 2x the cost without credit.

I recently bought 3 "blythe" dolls. It's my first time buying any. I didn't realize that "factory or "TBL" meant fake. 😳 I love them but im not sure I would of purchased if I knew. I guess I should do some more research. I was really excited about getting my very first blythe 😢 Thanks for sharing this info

I agree! If the dolls are not official Blythe dolls then they shouldn't be labeled misleadingly. There needs to be better terminology for the fake Blythes and maybe an umbrella term for both the real and fake dolls so the fakes arent referred to as Blythes. Kind of like how with American Girl Dolls the catch all term is 18 inch doll which encompasses both the official AG dolls, competitors, bootlegs etc, and then their equivalent of "factory blythe" is called frankendolls (if its a doll made of official parts). AG's equivalent of Icy is Our Generation but there's tons of knockoff/copycat/competitors of lesser quality and price. There aren't a ton of exact copy types of fakes of AG in the vein of TBL for Blythe, but if brand is unknown or not being discussed the doll can just be called an 18 inch doll which means unofficial or other brand dolls don't get called the name of the main official brand, so fakes don't usually get called American Girl Dolls. TL/DR - another high end doll brand with lots of copycats has a fandom with a really good terminology system that could be studied to help make Blythe dolls and their off brand copycats easier to talk about and more friendly to new buyers.

I would love a video on the different face molds and get to see a comparison!

I agree with you Cherish, people should know what they are spending their money on. I have a good selection of legitimate Blythe dolls now, and have a good number of fakes that I started out on. So I usually know the difference, however I have transformed some fakes to look more like legitimate dolls because I like that style, but I don’t pretend they are legitimate and I don’t plan to sell them. I over paid for my first doll which turned out to be fake, but in all fairness to the UK seller, the doll arrived quickly, she was in a lovely outfit and shoes, and placed in a pink basket, so the extra paid compared to Ali E, was justified and I got the hair colour I wanted. I agree that finding the right information at the start of the hobby is useful. Very soon into my new hobby I got a video out, to compare the real and fake, but back then I didn’t own a legitimate new in box doll. I really need to do an updated video. Thank goodness there are people like us on RU-vid to spread the word of information.

Since when can you get a custom Original for $200 ? independant artists charge $1000 + UO will NEVER sell CUSTOM originals for that amount..

Taylor Karen Robinson Melissa Martin David

Is there an official website where we can buy stock Blythe dolls???

I low key hope that Hasbro will sue UO because UO is big American company

What a wonderfully empathetic and informing video! I have a random question, I accidentally bought a dress intended for Blythe dolls but it was actually a pattern with the materials included. Is there a service out there that would be willing to sew the outfit if I sent and paid for the service?

I spilled my coffee ☕️ in first 40 seconds 🤣

UO used to sell Blythe teeshirts with the real Blythe brand on them (maybe 10 years ago or so?) They were cool, but this isnt!

❤ i buy dolls and customize them. I will charge what i want and name them what i want. You pay for customizing, the clothes, the theme. They are real dolls. They are just not a name brand doll. Just like barbie. Urban outfitters might have gotten permission

I first learned about Bylthe Dolls from Strawberry Sprite today and I love them so much.🥺 I'm currently trying to reclaim my childhood due to abuse and I think they are so much prettier than the toys of my childhood. Would you recommend a fake one or an actual Blythe Doll that I would need to save up for?>~< I'm very new to collecting but excited to learn and collect a few but meaningfull things.(⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠)

I don't know how I got here because I am certainly a collector of things and a hobbyist but have never actually bought a Blythe. I only admire them. I saw my first Blythes in person at Kiddyland in Tokyo in 2018, they had on display some Sanrio themed Blythe dolls and some Sailor Moon themed ones and they're so beautiful! It seems like a lovely hobby. I don't know how I got here but I'm glad I did! Subscribed!

I think they sold pretty quick cause there was only one. Which makes sense cause it’s a one of a kind custom doll. It’s difficult for an artist to make exact duplicates, pretty much impossible. Totally agree though, they should have said fake and no problems here with fakes as long as they’re honest about it.

All Blythe dolls except the Kenner are fake!!

I think we shouldn’t even call fakes “fake Blythe” because it ISNT a Blythe and they don’t look like one we should pick out another name maybe just call them Icy dolls . Went to a con last year and 95% of ppl had fakes and customs. The hobby is dead

Urban outfitters is hardly a business that would know anything about Blythe history nor would they care. I am even surprised they changed the title description after the fact. It would be like IKEA creating their own “Blythe”. The Blythe name is unfortunately not trademarked like Barbie so this will continue to happen. Perhaps someone should trademark the Blythe name so at least someone gets the licensing rights.

The hype about the so-called “fakes” boiled up that much because people realised the fakes nowadays look cuter than the Blythes. The hair is always better. All the wonderful talented artists who are able to customise the dolls to a standard better than the Blythes. I buy the artwork. 😊

Customized dolls look better than plain blythe

I feel like this take is overly gatekeep-y of who gets to be a Blythe fan. Some people like customized doll in this style. Most people know that they aren't on actual Blythe doll bodies. They sell for that much because making a custom is actually a lot of work. Getting a "real Blythe" is actually a lot of money as the only "real" dolls are the Kenner ones. The Takara dolls are "Neo-Blythe" and are incredibly different. Personally I like all styles, TBL, Kenner, and Takara dolls are all beautiful imo. TLDR: it's not that deep

The dolls are usually customized. Let's find another term besides fake. Are you ok?