Blythe's History

Manufactured by Kenner in 1972, the original Blythe (now known as "vintage") was produced for only one year because of poor sales.

For 28 years, Blythe was a curiosity that only doll collectors were interested in. Then she made her comeback, first with photographs by Gina Garan and then when Blythe was selected to be the campaign girl for Parco's 2000 Christmas campaign produced by CWC, the charming animated stop-motion commercial introduced her to Japan in a big way. Blythe remained the image girl for Parco through the summer of 2001.

The first neo-Blythe, Parco Limited, produced by CWC, manufactured by Takara, with permission of Hasbro was released in June 2001. Together with Takara, since the launch of Blythe in 2001, CWC has created and produced 37 neo Blythes. A year after the launch in 2001, a smaller version of the Neo Blythe was created, lovingly called "Petite Blythe".

By end of July 2005, there have been 47 neo Blythe and 87 petite Blythe produced in all.

http://www.blythedoll.com/eng/whats/history/index.html