This is Blythe

As a kid, I had a bunch of Barbies, but I had one precious Blythe doll that I absolutely adored! 

Blythe's body was smaller than Barbie's, and her head was giant - to accommodate a mechanism that allowed you to change her eye color with the tug of a cord at the back of her head. I was in my glory!

But then one day my mom threw her away! She had told me to clean this one drawer in my room that was messy, or else she was going to get a garbage bag and throw everything out. I didn't, and she did.

But Blythe went the way of the Dodo bird. Kenner made her for one year only - 1972 - and then stopped because American kids didn't like her (but they liked Cabbage Patch dolls - go figure!).

Then, in 2000, Gina Garan published "This is Blythe," a photography book featuring her collection of dolls in various poses/outfits/locations, and Blythe was back!

The first thing I did was take mine (which I bought as an adult to replace the one my mom threw out) to the beach and take "arty" pictures of her.

These new reproduction Blythes, made in China, are an improvement on the originals for many reasons, the biggest of which is, their eyes come in endless colors (my Blythe's eyes were blue, green, orange and pink). But the new phenomenon is, people buy a new Blythe, sand the shine off of her face, carve new facial features, switch out her eye chips and lashes, re-root her hair, and sell these custom dolls for hundreds of dollars!

By the way, my Blythe - the one my mom threw out (and I never let her forget it!) - is for sale right now on eBay for nearly $4,000!!!