Blythe Dolls

In the Vectis Doll and Teddy Bears Sale there is a very special little lady who can display a multitude of emotions.  She is an original Kenner Blythe doll from the 1970’s.  You might not have heard of them; they are rare but have a growing band of dedicated followers.

Kenner’s are the vintage, and original, Blythe dolls. They were designed by Allison Katzman in the 70s and produced by the American toy company Kenner (hence their name). The dolls are often referred to as “KBs” by collectors (Kenner Blythe). The dolls will have 6 or 7 lines of text on the back of the doll’s body, unlike modern Blythe dolls they did not come with text on the back of their heads. Kenner’s come in four stock hair colours: blonde (side part only), red, brunette and raven (a darker brown). For all of the hair colours, aside from blonde, the hair styles came in wispy bangs, chunky bangs, centre part and side part. Some hair styles are rarer and more elusive than others.

All Blythe dolls are the same height (11.5″) and have a similar body shape.  The most distinctive and original feature of these dolls is that they have an eye mechanism of four sets of eyes chips (two facing forward, one facing left, and one facing right). These can be changed by pulling on a string at the back of the doll.

The doll in the sale is a brunette and was the property of an employee of Palitoy (Kenner owned Palitoy at the time these dolls were produced in 1972 and 1973. This version is from late 1972 – 1973 as it has seven lines of text on the back of the doll (prototype and early 1972 dolls have only 6).

Blythe dolls have been re-produced by several companies and many collectors like to customizers their additions in all sorts of ways, some are simply amazing. This version is a very good example of an early original and would make a great addition to an existing collection or the start of a new one!

The doll is Lot no 4262 in the auction on Tuesday 28th of January 2020.