Junko Wong and Allison Katzman by funnybunny

Blythe's history starts in 1972, when she was designed by Allison Katzman. Blythe was manufactured by the Kenner company. Her bountiful hair could be brushed and braided, and with the simple pull of a string, her eye color would change. Her iconically large head was to support these two features. Initially marketed to young girls, Blythe failed to become popular, as the sensibilities of girls in the 70's were unfortunately unprepared for Blythe's strange and mysterious charm. Many found her to be creepy. The Kenner Blythe was produced for only one year before being retired.



She was also sold in Japan under the name Mahou no Hitomi Ai-Ai Chan (pronounced eye-eye). These dolls are much harder to come by than Kenner Blythes; they were licensed and produced by TOMY. They came in different boxes with a different assortment of dresses. While the Kenner Blythes came in vibrant, elegant, and earthy designs, Ai-Ai Chan's outfits were on the cuter side. Because the Kenner Blythes and Ai-Ai Chans are extremely hard to tell apart, it is hard to know if a vintage Blythe is Kenner or TOMY without the box or clothing.

Fast-forward to the year 1999: a Kenner Blythe became the muse and model of photographer Gina Garan, who carried her around and took many beautiful photographs. Garan was introduced to CWC director Junko Wong by illustrator Jeffrey Fulvimari, and upon seeing Garan's work, Wong knew that Blythe would be a hit in Japan.


In 2000, Gina Garan's photographs of her Kenner Blythes were published in a book titled This is Blythe. (She would later run a forum by the same name, but the domain was sniped by scammers.) According to an interview with Collector's Weekly in 2010, when she contacted Hasbro about producing the book, they hadn't even heard of Blythe. The book was a hit and was covered by People Magazine, The New York Times, and Vogue Japan, where every month for a year, Blythe would get a full-page feature, shot by Garan and wearing a different designer outfit.

Blythe made her official comeback as the star of a commercial for the department store Parco, and she went on to star in more commercials, such as the Target commercial promoting Alexander McQueen's clothing line. The first Neo-Blythe was a collaboration with Parco.



Because Kenner was acquired by Tonka, which was then acquired by Hasbro in 1991, all intellectual property of Blythe belongs to Hasbro. Cross World Connections and Takara were given license to manufacture Blythe again, which they aptly named Neo-Blythe, and CWC to this day handles the creative production of Blythe. Neo-Blythe dolls were manufactured by Takara until 2021, when Good Smile Company took over.

Ashton-Drake Galleries also produced a series of Blythes; replicas of the original Kenner dolls down to the clothing and boxes, they were produced from 2005 til 2008. The initial release was not particularly popular due to the greenish tint of the skin.

Blythe has also been produced in 21 cm and 12 cm size, referred to as Middie and Petite respectively.