How I Fixed My Broken Basaak Blythe Doll

Last week I received a Basaak Blythe clone in the mail. I bought it from a man who was selling a couple of dolls that he had inherited from a friend who customized Blythe dolls. He didn't give any more information except to say he priced it according to the other dolls for sale on that site, and that he did not know anything about dolls. Well, she was $25, and I know about dolls.

I bought her immediately. I was well aware that she would be broken when she arrived. Her legs were not attached, and she was missing a green eye chip. This didn't matter to me, because I knew I could fix her. After spending hours online learning about Blythe dolls and Blythe clones, I knew I could buy replacement parts. The seller stated that he believed the missing eye chip was inside the head, because he could hear it rattling. He didn't, however, explain the actual problem with the legs. He only posted a picture. I took a chance, and bought her anyway. I assume the man who customized dolls would have bought a replacement body anyway.

Now is when I explain why I had to have her, and why I bought a "clone" and not an original Blythe doll.

Okay, I have been a fan of Blythe dolls since I was a little girl in the '70s (okay, I'm dating myself). I had an original 1972 Kenner Blythe doll, and she was my favorite doll. I'm the youngest of 3 girls. I was the only one of us who ever really cared or played with dolls. My Blythe was with me all the time. But, as you know, we all grow up. My parents may or may not actually have this doll anymore. Of course, we knew Barbies may be worth something (and possibly we still have those too) but no one thought about my Blythe doll being worth any money. But I never forgot her. I didn't remember her name, but I remembered that she had a big head with big eyes, which changed color. So about 4 years ago I looked up this description online, and when I saw pictures of her again, I was floored. I had no idea she had become a phenomenon. She was in so many pictures. I fell in love all over again. If you're wondering about my original doll, I have asked my parents to look for it, but there's no telling if they will find her. Until then, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!!

So this leads me to why I bought a fake doll. Normally, I would never do that. I make dolls, so I know the hours of work that is put into the construction of an original art doll. But I may never be able to afford an original Blythe from 1972, and eventually I do hope to buy a Neo Blythe, but at the moment, I cannot afford one. Starving artist, and all that. So I found one from a man who had no plans for this doll, except to sell her as a broken doll. Well, I wanted to fix her, so that's just what I did.

I spent hours looking online at pictures and blogs about Blythe dolls and her clones. So I really feel like I saved something instead of adding to the industry of making fake toys. She is mine, and will only ever be mine. I do not see myself changing her in any way. Plus, this doll's face is the closest to the original Blythe. Her body is cheaply made though. But my biggest point is that I love the original Blythe doll just the way she is. Although some custom artists have made cute expressions on their dolls by carving new mouths and changing eye chips, I'm still a purist. I love Blythe for her own expression. I guess I would only want to add purple eye chips to her eyes and remove the orange ones, if I ever actually decided to customize her for myself.

So this was a rescue mission. I saved a doll from becoming another broken piece of plastic in a landfill. It doesn't, however, change my view that dolls, just as purses or other luxury items, should not be cloned. Fakes take away from the artist or the company who produces the real item. I'm not sure how Takara/Tomy/Hasbro feels about cloning. For the most part, doll artists should never have clones made of their originals. Just the thought of one of the famous BJD artists having their dolls molded and sold as originals gives me chills. But in the case of Blythe, every doll that was not made in 1972 by Kenner is actually a clone. Even Neo B;ythe, so I guess that may be something to consider. Plus, the more people buy these cheaper versions and customize them, the more Blythe is known, which leads to collectors buying Neo Blythes from Hasbro. So in this case, clones have made Blythe a world wide success.

As I said, I spent hours trolling the internet learning the differences between the dolls we call "Blythe." So this is what I have learned. In 1972, Kenner released a doll called Blythe. She had a big head, small body and eyes that changed by pulling a string on the back of her head. She also had dresses that were psycodelic, but probably went along with the fashion of 1972. Apparently, Kenner believed that the doll was too scary for little girls and removed them from the shelves one year after releadsing them. But they missed one, because I believe we bought my doll in 1976. My sister remembers buying her at Sears. She was new and in her packaging, but that is long gone. Even if I do find my doll, I do not expect to find her original clothing. The packaging was thrown away in 1976.

Did I mention an original naked Blythe is worth at least $900? One that is still in its package can be up to $2000. That alone is a good reason to rummage through my parents things, but they aren't sure where they may actually have any of my dolls at this moment. Moving and storage and years down the road means I may not find any dolls for many years to come.

Okay, so Kenner took their dolls off the shelves to keep sweet, innocent children from feeling scared. I for one was never scared of my Blythe. So years later, a woman who was an amatuer photographer received an origianl Blythe as a gift. I don't know any specifics of this story, but I'm sure you can look it up, if you want to know more. She began taking pictures of her doll, and then started collecting more. She then created a book of her dolls, and asked Hasbro if she could publish it. This was in the late '90s. That's when Hasbro, who now owned the rights to all things Kenner, which had gone out of business, discovered they had a doll named Blythe. They saw the potential and contacted a Japanese company to take the original doll and make one just like it. Only they put the head onto a body of a doll they already produced named Licca. They basically just molded a new Blythe head and plopped it onto their own doll body creation. (I'm am assuming they molded an origianl Blythe head, and did not resculpt it.) Introducing Neo Blythe. This was around 2000. She became a hit in Japan. Her big eyes reminded them of their own Anime cartoon characters depicting Westerners with huge eyes.

So she became a hit. Neo Blythe was here to stay, but wait......what about those body parts the factory "rejected"? Or someone stole from the factory. These flooded the market as "Factory" dolls. These dolls were made from different Neo Blythe parts and additions. There have been many additions and changes over the years. New face up (make up), new bodies and different hair and accessories.

Then the clones began flooding the market. The clones, such as my Basaak doll, looked more like the original Blythe. There are even some called "Blybe" and CCE (color changing eyes) dolls. They are, of course, much more affordable than Neo Blythe or the original Blythe dolls. They are also great for children to play with (according to the people selling them) and for customising. And who in their right mind would want to carve an original Blythe? That's crazy! And Neo Blythes range anywhere from $130-$400, so that would be crazy to carve too. Then there are the new bodies, including ones which resemble bjds (they are articulated like ball jointed dolls, but they do not have ball joints). So next time you are on Pinterest, look up Blythe and play this game.....is it real or is it fake ("Is it Live or is it Memorex"...okay, dating myself again....).

So back to my own little girl. She is a Basaak clone. From what I have seen online, she is the closest to the origianl Blythe including the body shape and her expression. I did forget to mention ICY dolls, which have color changing eyes and big heads, but they are similar, but not exactly like Blythe. They are actually a completely different sculpt. The real Takara?Tomy/Hasbro factory even makes medium and small Blythe dolls, but they really don't look like the original sculpt either. And then there is "The Littlest Pet Shop" Blythe dolls, which went along with the cartoon for the toys by that name. They donn't look like Blythe either. And the carton mispronounces the name so badly, I wanted to cringe each time I heard them say it.

If you look up the pronounciation, you will hear BLY....the, with the "the" sounding like ugh. Not the sounding like Eyeth. It's a blight on Blyth ugh. Hahaha! I guess, though, some will argue that Blythe said as Bl eyeth is correct. But if you listen to British people pronounce the name, you'll hear it pronounced Bly thugh. Look it up. It's an old English name, afterall. Enough of my soap box. And now to the repairs.

Below is a picture of the broken leg joints. When I received her, the plastic, round joints were broken. The joints are actually two plastic half round pieces sautered or glued together. But mine were broken in half and one piece was lodged in each of the legs. The right side had one piece still attached to the hip. The left side was missing that piece completely.

So I did what any good doll maker would do, I made an armature. I used a wooden skewer from my kitchen and cut it to fit inside the body to hold each side once they were glued back onto the hip. Obviously, the plastic was not strong enough to stay toegther in the first place. As I've stated, the body may look like the original Blythe, but it is definitely cheaper in construction. The body feels very light weight.

In the next picture, you see what the leg sockets look like. Apparently I forgot to take a picture of them before I dug the plastic halves out.

Now for my creative repair. I took the wooden piece back out of the doll. I then super glued the right side plastic piece back onto it's matching piece, which was still attached to the body. Next, I super glued the remaining plastic half to the wooden piece. That left me with a missing half that I needed to create myself. So I decided to try polymer clay.

I figured that I could sculpt my own piece. And I attached the raw clay to the end of the wooden piece to sculpt a matching piece. I even used liquid polymer clay, hoping that would adhere to the wood. And then I baked the piece for 30 minutes at 275 degrees.

Close up shots of my work.

Liquid Clay

So while the new piece was baking, I turned to the next problem; her missing eye. I too could hear something rattling inside her head. I hoped it was the eye,

I unscrewed the two tiny screws on the back of her head. The head cap with the hair popped off very easliy.

And there it was. Right at the bottom of the faceplate.

So I put it back into the eye socket, but it fell out again. So I super glued it back on. (The picture does show the brand I used, but I am not trying to advertise for it.

The next step, I took the piece out of the oven and let it cool. I then placed the wooden piece into the body. I super glued the bottom so that the wooden piece would stay attached to the repair I had made to the two plastic pieces. This also made the repair sturdier for the new piece I had made.

Oh look, here she is, and they work! But, "Houston, we have a problem." The left leg would not stay in a sitting position. It was too loose. And then it did the inevitable, it broke.

So I considered my options. I believe that Apoxy Sculpt would actually have been my best option, but I do not own any. I haven't ever used it, but I think I need to get some and try it. I know it gives you 2 hours to sculpt with and then it dries rock hard. I believe it adheres to any surface. Just like La Doll paperclay, which adheres to any surace and dries hard, but it can also break under stress. And a moving leg will definitely cause stress. So, although I have paper clay, I decided against using it. Which lead me to my ultamite fix......hot glue! I heated my hot glue gun and when it was ready, I made a repair that was similar enough to the rounded tip shape that it worked!