The current resale ''crisis''

The bulk of you know what I am talking about.

Recently, there are have been some people (I'm not pointing fingers) that have been voicing how, uh, disappointed  they are in the fact that people are reselling their custom Blythes for inflated prices. Now, I can say that I haven't paid much attention to this, but I did read a rather long post on a website, and it seems that the general consensus among these people is that;

-It's unfair that people are buying customs and then selling them for higher prices

-Blythe should only be about having fun and being fair

- We should actively condemn re-sellers (In the MH community, we call them scalpers) and have an unspoken rule that it's 'wrong' to resell for higher prices, or some crap like that.

Honestly, I think this is a load of crap. 

For those of you who don't know, morality (the concept of right and wrong) is completely relative from person to person. Morality cannot be tested and it is not factual. That said, I don't see how it's logical for one person (or a group of people) to condemn another person for doing something that does not directly affect someone. 

I can understand why a customizer would feel like it's unfair that someone sold one of their customs, for more than they did themselves.  I understand that. But, really, so what? Life isn't fair and it never will be. You want 2k for your doll? Fine, then sell it for that much. There is clearly a market for them. Actually, if I was a dolly-artist, I would be so flattered that my dolls are popular enough to go for that much money. That's not to say less popular customizers aren't great. 

And for the people that think it's unfair that they can't have certain dolls or clothes because they cost a lot? Get over it. That seems insensitive, but really. Get over it. It's not the seller's fault that you can't afford something. It sucks that you can't have that doll. But I don't see how it's okay to say these 'scalpers' are bad people or why we should act like they are bad people. Again, morality is relative.  It's illogical to force your morals on someone else. Yeah, it would be great if that seller agreed with your morals and would sell their dolls at lower prices. But that's not the way it is.  They can do whatever the hell they want with their property.

Connor and Sarah's hair washing tutorial!

You hear a knock on your door, early in the afternoon. It's the Mail Man, here to deliver your newest princess to your home! You're excited to open her and you start tearing quickly at the hard box, the annoying tape and then, lo and behold, your beautiful doll laying before you with.... greasy and frizzy hair.

I'm sure we have all experienced this one time or another. With a Blythe, or a Barbie, any doll really. Some people know what to do. Some don't. Some don't really care and just want to lay in bed and snuggle their new princess until her head falls off. Well, for those of us that hate nasty hair, I've got a tutorial for you.

You're going to need a few things:

-Doll. Without a doll this would just be advanced hand washing.

-Shampoo, and (not required under my methods) hair conditioner. The shampoo should be mild if the doll just has regular box hair. Any store bought shampoo will work. If we have nasty greasy and/or gelled hair, add in some dish liquid. Dawn works best for me, but anything will do.

-Brush and comb, to remove those nasty knots.

-White vinegar. No, we are not making doll salad. Vinegar is good for removing oils and other products that may have been left behind after the wash. It makes the hair clean without the worry of hair products ruining the doll's hair.

-Small container. A glass cup will do, but today I have a plastic container or similar size.

-Sink. Without which we would have a sudsy, greasy doll.

-Towel or other cloth used for drying. I have a flat dish drying pad, but a towel will do as well.

-And not pictured, a scrunchie or rubber band.

Sarah clearly hates this.

Step one

 -Separate your doll's hair into two sections, using the thatching/Parting as a reference. This will keep the thatching intact during the wash, and it's just plain easier to work with one section at a time.

   

Granny Panties!

Step two

Comb out the first section with your brush, and then again with your comb. Start by brushing from end-to-root. This will prevent snarls and broken strands.

Step three

Run the water on your faucet on cold/regular. Warning;If you have curled your doll's hair before this wash and you turn the water on Hot, the curls might undo a little. 

Run the non-bunned section under the faucet, making sure not to get water in her eye sockets/back holes or eyelashes. Comb the hair out gently.

Hi Sponge!

Step four

Put a dime-sized amount of shampoo in your hand and lather it through the section. Make sure it has gotten through all of the hair and that it is clean. Comb it gently to get out any knots. Rinse the shampoo out, making sure to get all of the shampoo out. Comb it.

Bubbles!

Step five

Undo the other section. Repeat steps three and four.

Step six

Again, separate the hair into sections and tie off one side. Take your container and fill it with equal parts vinegar and water.

Comb out one section of hair (remember,end-to-root!) and dip it into the mixture. Swish the hair in the mixture a little, pull it out and comb it out over the sink to prevent dripping. Rinse the vinegar out, making sure to get it all out. Don't worry; if you rinsed enough, you won't smell the vinegar.

What's that smell? Success!

 After you have rinsed out the vinegar, you can proceed to condition the hair if you like. Repeat steps One-Five, using Conditioner instead of Shampoo. 

And, you're done washing your doll's hair! Enjoy your dolly's new clean hair.

      Disclaimer: This is not a defrizzing/straightening tutorial. I should have one of those up soon. 

Updates

So, a few updates since I haven't posted here in a few days.




-My birthday was last Friday! I'm finally eighteen and free to go places that aren't the mall. Thank God. And something more relevant to this,

-I recently ordered a new girl. She's a factory Blythe (I  bugged the hell out of the seller for photos so I know she's  a  Factory and not one of those wide-eyed bootlegs with nylon hair and non-snapping legs). I would post a photo but I like to keep my dolls hidden until they come in the mail, but I will say she is absolutely gorgeous and she (kinda) has a 'fantasy' hair color. And speaking of hair, my next update-

-Upon the arrival of my new girl, I will finally make my tutorials for washing and straightening Blythe hair. I did make a short, typed up version of my tutorial that you can see here but I would like to do one with photos. Expect both tutorials within the next month!

Time for an introduction

This blog is going to be all about the odd and interesting life of my Blythe dolls. Unlike my own blog, this will be only about Blythe. Hair, tutorials, critiques and more. Stay tuned for developments!
For now I will just do introductions for my girls.


First, here is Kate.

The first to come, Kate is the oldest in my Blythe collection. After staring at her electric blue hair and pink lips since she came out, I finally decided to start my collection with her in December of 2011. On the day she came in the mail, Kate lit up my face. I remember sitting in the car squealing about how beautiful she was (Which was a complete relief- I hadn't realized she was FBL until after I bought her and was terrified I wouldn't like her.) and how perfect she looked. It took me months to figure out her name and even longer to get her screwed up stock bangs fixed, but I sure do love her. Despite her sweet name and child-like face, she is the darkest and most modern of my other Blythes. She  will most often be seen in black, with the occasional pink ensemble.


Next to come is Amber.

Amber came to me shortly after Kate did. My father surprised me with a considerable amount of money for Christmas, and, while it took some begging, he allowed me to use half of it to order her (even though he certainly never knew what I was buying- definitely not the biggest fan of my doll collecting). Two weeks later, this little one arrived. I remember how different she looked sitting in front of me with her frizzy stock hair and warm skin tone. Nevertheless, I was smitten. I was fascinated with how old she looked compared to Kate, even older than I initially thought from her stock photos. After I straightened and rolled her hair up, I just could not stop staring at her. (I was late to bed that night!). It also took quite some time to name her. I originally wanted to name her Amarillo but it just didn't fit when she arrived. After days of contemplation and some help from my mother, I named her Amber.  Amber is my little seventies girl. She has that beautiful but wholesome look that 60s and seventies teenagers had, with her natural makeup and long, amber middle parted hair. She will more than often be seen wearing old-looking clothes from countless different time periods and very often be pictured with her dreamy, ageless blue eyes. (Never in her front-facing orange ones-have to change those soon)

And last but not least, is Fantine.

Fantine was an distant dream of mine from the moment her promos came out. The first of her kind, Fantine was the first Middie Blythe to be released by Takara and so she was very much out of my budget (Around 200$+ when I found her). Regardless, I enjoyed looking at photos of her on Flickr and dreaming about what it would be like to own her.

And then in April of 2012, my uncle came to visit. I was originally indifferent about seeing him, as I have never met any of my uncles or aunts, but I instantly loved Andrew and Patty when I met them. They were funny, intelligent (and it was nice to hear Aunt Patty call me pretty), and I could gladly spend several hours hanging out with them. And then, a couple hours after meeting them, they give both my brother and I an envelope. Upon opening it and reading the card, I see the bills and smile. I didn't know how much it was, could have been five bucks, but it was nice to recieve a gift from them. It wasn't until later that I opened the card again and counted the money that I realized how much it was. ''Ten dollars for every birthday we have missed'', I remember them saying. Needless to say, when I got home I immediately started searching Ebay for this little girl and  found one at exactly the same amount. I spent two weeks waiting for her to arrive, in which I sat nervously hoping she wouldn't come with a botched fringe. Upon arrival I was stunned. Not only was her hair perfect, but she was absolutely adorable. It took a day or two to get her hair as perfect as I needed it but it took months to figure out her name. Then one day, after taking a rather interesting photo shoot with her, the name came to me. Now she happily sports the same name as the beautiful and interesting character from Les Miserables' (which I habe only seen a little of but I adore Ruthie Henshall's version of 'I dreamed a dream').

Fantine is small but not unintelligent. I instantly thought she had an ageless, wise quality about her. She reminds me of female characters from vintage horror films and sixties photography. I don't have many outfits for her but she will always be wearing something old or old-looking.

Well, there are my girls! Expect updates in the future if I don't forget about this blog.