Blythe: The Highly Collectible Novelty Doll of 1972

In 1972 a new novelty doll was introduced to the toy market by the Kenner Company of Cincinnati Ohio. This unusual fashion dolls most unique feature was that the owner could change the eye color with just a pull of the string. The Blythe dolls popularity was short lived; by 1974 she could no longer be found on the store shelves. Today the Blythe doll is a hot collectable selling for hundreds of dollars.

The Blythe doll is approximately 12 inches tall. When looking at a Blythe doll the first thing you are going to notice is her head is enormous in comparison to her tiny fashion doll body. The dolls eyes are large and expressive, when the string that is attached to the head is pulled the eyes click closed. When they reopen the color has changes as well as the direction that they are looking. By pulling the string the eye color could be changed four times from blue to orange to green and then to pink.

The dolls head is made of hard plastic; her cheeks are blushed pink to match her delicate lips. The nylon eyelashes are full and thick.

The bodies on the Blythe dolls are made of vinyl and fully jointed including the waist and knees. This flexibility allows for a wide variety of perfect posing.

The nylon hair on the Blythe dolls had a very fine texture it was long, smooth and silky. The hairstyles had slight variations of bangs, being parted in the middle or on the side. The dolls were available with pale blonde, black, brown or red hair. The hair was rooted into a hard plastic skullcap and attached to the head. Because the texture of the hair was so fine it was prone to matting and tangles, often today Blythe dolls are found missing some or all of the hair.

The Blythe dolls were sold wearing long gowns in loud psychedelic colors and patterns adorned with lace, braided trim or ribbons. The gowns themselves have tags with the name Blythe and the Kenner Company mark on them. Blythe also wore a tiny bikini underwear set and vinyl high heeled shoes.

All Blythe dolls are marked on the back with: Blythe TM/ Kenner Products// Cincinnati Ohio/ 1972 General Mills Fun Group Inc./ Patents Pending// Made in Hong Kong. There are Blythe doll clubs and Blythe doll websites. Collectors the entire world over have discovered this forgotten novelty doll. Fifteen to Twenty years ago a collector could find Blythe dolls for sale in the price range of $5.00 - $30.00. Today those same dolls are selling for hundreds of dollars.