@ People thinking recast BJDs = Fake/factory Blythe dolls      Â
Hi everyone, I’ve been in the Blythe hobby for 15+ yrs and the BJD hobby for 13+ yrs and I’m here to clear up common misconceptions I often see that come across from other doll communities.
Fake & factory Blythe dolls aren’t considered negatively like recasts are in the BJD community for numerous reasons which I’ll get into.
“Factory” Blythe dolls, (made of authentic Takara-released doll parts), first appeared in a few Taobao shops around 2012- after the factory Takara was using started leaking damaged or B grade parts that would have otherwise been thrown in landfill as production waste. Some factory workers started smuggling the parts destined for landfill out and assembling them to create complete Blythe dolls to sell online. The charm was that they were a mix of random & sometimes rare Takara released doll parts, making for some unique combinations. Being a lot cheaper than- and similar quality as- officially released dolls lead to collectors & customizers using factory dolls as an alternative to riskily experimenting carving & painting the expensive official releases.
After a year or two of the factory dolls leaking, Takara moved its production location so the supply of parts ended and the sale of “true factory” Blythe dolls came to a complete halt. Around the same time “factory” dolls started disappearing from the market, complete bootleg Blythe dolls made of very cheap materials on Bratz-style bodies had began appearing. They were very noticeable as fake dolls- being almost dollar-store quality; thin hair, and slightly off face mold, loose bodies, poor paint etc.
Over time the random bootleg toy factory producing them up-scaled production to meet the growing demand for a cheaper Blythe alternative, increasing the quality over the coming years until they reached a point where the fake dolls were extremely similar in quality to the authentic Takara dolls. The shops selling the higher-quality fakes cottoned onto the popularity of the term “Factory Blythe” that used to be sold on Taobao and started selling the fake Blythe dolls as “Factory Blythe” in the title and description.
The current “factory” Blythe dolls are not made of authentic parts, but are fake dolls manufactured to be as close to the real thing as possible using different molds and materials. The huge influx of fake dolls being sold as “factory” on Taobao and Aliexpress blurred the line between the two, leading newcomers to the Blythe hobby not fully understanding the difference between fake and factory. Most of these current “fake factory” dolls have paint colors, hair colors/ textures, skin colors, body types that Takara has never produced and wouldn’t be possible to source from a Takara factory. Some of them are assembled to look similar to authentic releases, however fine details in the face molds, eye mechanisms, material textures & qualities are different enough to discern it as being a copy
SO, WHY DOESN’T THE BLYTHE COMMUNITY MIND FAKE DOLLS?
It’s because there isn’t the direct small-scale artisanal involvement with Blythe as there is with crafting a BJD. Blythe was first marketed as a mass produced playline toy in 1972 by Kenner. Then in 2001 reintroduced by Hasbro, (who bought out all rights to Kenner products), allowing Takara to begin production of what is now the Neo-Blythe doll. At one point another company, Ashton Drake was given the licence to produce Blythe dolls too. This is mostly why the fake Blythe dolls aren’t regarded as an issue. Because Blythe in her raw state is not a niche art doll, she’s a licensed mass produced toy, passed around and produced by different large companies over the years. It is entirely akin to buying any other barbie knock-off, monster high clone. The appeal is the accessibility, wide range of color options, and quality being so similar to an authentic Blythe- for a quarter of the price. Not to mention the ease of customization without taking a rare Takara doll away from it’s original appearance or risking damaging a hard to find doll.
Okay WOW this turned into an essay, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this entire thing documented in one go. Hopefully this will make peoples decisions easier.
TLDR;  *CURRENT Factory Blythes / Fake Blythes are the exact same thing & are produced by Chinese non-Takara toy factories. Factory Blythe dolls made of the authentic “stolen” Neo Blythe parts completely stopped being available around 2013/14. Most Blythe collectors own a mixture of real & fake dolls. Blythe in her raw form is not an art doll, shes a mass-produced playline toy turned-collector doll by the Blythe community. Blythe exists as a character licensed and produced by many companies and factories over the decades. Every Blythe doll; Hasbro, Takara, Kenner, Ashton Drake, Factory or Fake, is a Blythe.*
I hope this shed a little light on Blythe history for BJD people, and why the Blythe community enjoys and welcomes all Blythe dolls.
