Darling Blythe (2005)
The iconic Blythe dolls are probably most well known for their big heads and massive eyes, which can change color and look side to side. In 1972, Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. produced the original Blythe dolls but ceased manufacturing after only 1 year due to sales flopping. Almost 30 years later, in the early 90s, Hasbro acquired Kenner as part of a larger deal with Tonka. In the late 90s, photographer and producer, Gina Garen began using a vintage Kenner Blythe doll regularly in her photography practice. In 1999, Garen met Junko Wong at a party for Cross World Connections (CWC). Wong loved Garen’s Blythe doll photographs and thought Blythe would be a huge hit in Japan. Blythe gained traction, and since the early 00s, there have been various iterations of the now beloved weird little doll. In 2010, Hasbro introduced mini Blythe dolls as part of the Littlest Pet Shop universe; Littlest Pet Shop is another Hasbro IP acquired from Kenner.
This book, Darling Blythe, is so packed with material I wanna share, I’m going to have to break it up into parts, so consider this Part 1!
Some side notes: I’m not really posting in any particular order, but I am trying to keep at least certain shoots and spreads together for the most part. Also, apologies for some of the less-than-perfect scans; it’s the best I could do. I did recently get a flatbed scanner, so that’s improved this process a lot… before that, I was using the scanner attached to the family printer that was on a high-ish up shelf in a closet SO. Still, this is not a professional setup by any means. Scanning books is not as easy breezy as you might think, especially when they don’t wanna lay flat! The scanner I got was the cheapest one I could find (about $60), and the reviews were mixed, but I figured it couldn’t be any worse than my printer’s scanner. I scan at 600 DPI usually if you were wondering. I also went to school for photography, and I’m decent at color correcting... so that helps... otherwise these would look pretty crap, I’m afraid. I tried to keep the colors as close to the originals as possible.
Anyway! Hope you enjoy <3
If you wanna know more about Blythe I found some cute sites: Here + Here
Produced and Edited by Junko Wong
Art Direction: Hiromi Sato
Design: Asuka Morishita, Angel Oloshove, Run Igawa
Photography by Junie Moon
Photography by Gina Garen 41-43, 51, 54, 58-59
Published by Junko Wong, CWC BOOKS
4-3, 2F Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya, Tokya 150-0033 Japan
Distributed by Graphic-sha Publishing Co., Ltd.
1-14-17, 4F Kudan-Kita, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0073 Japan
Blythe is a trademark of Hasbro 2005
ISBN 4-7661-1661-5