Blythe Float Away Dream by Good Smile Company

This review is getting close to four years overdue!  That could be a new record for me.  You might remember that way back in 2022, I started a Blythe series that was meant to have three parts: an analysis of the imitation Blythe world, a review of a Takara/TOMY Blythe doll, and a review of a Good Smile Company Blythe doll.  But I haven't done the Good Smile Company review...until now.  I got the idea for this series in 2022 because Good Smile Company had recently taken over the manufacturing of Blythe dolls from Takara/TOMY, and there was some concern about whether the new dolls would be as good as the old ones.  That's not really a pressing question anymore.  However, I still wanted to see one of the newer dolls for myself, and I don't like leaving things unfinished.  So I'm going to wrap up the series today.  Better late than never, right?

I was reminded of this series last week because I got a fresh round of threats from This is Blythe, the shop where I purchased my first imitation Blythe doll.  They're back to their email harassment tactics, threatening to sue me for factually relaying my experience.  As far as I know, the First Amendment is still a thing, so I'll hold firm.  But it's depressing because I have never, in my 20+ years of blogging and collecting, encountered such a nasty, vindictive person in the doll world.  Nothing even close.  It's just not who we are as a community.

But I don't want to dwell on that unpleasantness right now.  Dolls are meant to bring joy and amusement--not anger and frustration.  And you've already waited long enough to meet my turquoise-haired Blythe beauty from Good Smile Company, so here she is:

Blythe "Float Away Dream" by Good Smile Company, ~$120.

Is This Blythe?

It is so easy to fall down rabbit holes in the doll world, isn't it?  Well, I've fallen down another one.  A really, really big one.  Bigger, even, than I suspected the first time I wrote this review (more on that in a sec).  It all started with Katrina's suggestion that I look more in-depth at the Blythe universe.  I haven't purchased a Blythe doll in about ten years, and I've never written a formal review of the brand, so this was an excellent suggestion!  Today's review will not address authentic Blythe dolls, though, but rather a few of the enticing imitations that I stumbled upon by accident.

As some of you might recall, the first version of this review featured an imitation Blythe doll that I purchased from the shop that took over Gina Garan's old website and is named after her iconic book, This is Blythe.  Because of the shop's familiar name, I thought it was selling authentic Blythe dolls.  It's not.  The doll I ordered was nice, but once I realized she was an imitation and started to research her background, I found many vendors selling the same kind of doll for significantly less money.  I stated this fact in my post, which was apparently *not okay* with the shop--nor was my talking about their competitors.  They asked me to edit the review to remove all mention of other retailers, and also any reference to DBS--the company that makes the dolls.  In hindsight, their request was ridiculous.  But...I try to be nice, so I went along with their demands for a while, feeling icky about it the whole time.  When I (finally) put my foot down and refused to edit and lock the comments section, they abruptly threatened to sue me--using private information that they'd obtained from my purchases.  That's not nice.  A quick Trustpilot search revealed that they have a history of threatening similar nonsense to other customers (including two fellow bloggers).  I dislike bullies, so I didn't want to imply endorsement of this shop by featuring their products.  Im fact, I would advise avoiding this shop at all costs.  After considering my options, I decided to delete the old review and write a new version using equivalent, much less expensive items that I bought from other retailers.

I didn't want to delete the old review without replacing it, because looking at imitation Blythe dolls is an important part of a bigger series of articles that I'm planning.  This is quite an exciting (and nerve-wracking!) time for the authentic Blythe brand because Hasbro recently severed its long-term connection with Takara/TOMY (the manufacturers of Blythe dolls) and has entered a new relationship with Good Smile Company.  Good Smile has a wonderful reputation in the figurine world (they make Nendoroids), but they do not have an extensive resumé in doll making.  So everyone's been waiting anxiously to see if the new Blythe dolls will be as good as the old.

Today's review will include an in-depth look at a girl I bought from Blythe Homes (an AliExpress vendor), and a more cursory look at a few similarly-priced dolls that I found at various other places.  I'll also throw in some terminology, market observations, and thoughts about what it means to be Blythe.  At a later date, I'll follow up with a review of an authentic Takara-made Blythe doll, and then compare her to a new Good Smile Company doll.  Are you ready for a review re-do?  I hope so!  Here we go again:

Imitation DBS Blythe doll from Blythe Homes, $35.20 (outfit not included).