The first Blythe doll that I ever wanted was a Princess a la Mode (aka PALM) … which is currently $2,500 in the box so that’s not happening (update for 2022, she is now $500 in the box on eBay). Still, even though I’m really a novice Blythe collector she left me with that lingering desire for an emerald green haired girl. Then Alexis Emerald came along and she’s about $300 now more or less. The thing is I need a bang on my Blythe five-head and I always sand matte Blythe dolls, so I couldn’t justify buying her either. Then, about a month ago, I heard about factory Blythe dolls. It seems that vigilante factory workers, enraged by their pay rate after finding out PALM cost $2,500, were going rogue and smuggling out Blythe parts in their shoes*, reassembling them at home, selling them on eBay, and thus fighting the man**. I was intrigued.
I found this lovely lady during my first search. She had all the bangs of PALM with all the cheapness of being a stolen Alexis Emerald (AE), so I bought her for $90. I actually had no idea how close she was until I got her home and looked up AE online, but the pull ring is the same, the eye are the same, the eyeshadow …
Or maybe not. I think, in some kind of karmic way, I probably bought a fake factory Blythe, made to prey on cheap ignoramuses like myself. Look eBay gods, I didn’t want to destroy a $300+ doll with sand matting okay? Anyway, now I’m trying to figure out if she’s a factory doll or a fake before I do my unboxing video of her because I don’t want to give out false information and confuse people even more. Unless no one helps me and I get bored, but I’m trying not to misinform people.
On to the evidence …
The back of the head reveals little to me because of my limited Blythe knowledge (I’ve owned 10 total: one Enchanted Petal, one custom, and a ton of “Simply” somethings), but the bottom screws look a touch small. There also seems to be staining on the scalp from the hair. The body I didn’t bother photographing because it’s definitely fake, the legs don’t have that weird gumminess that makes it impossible to put a sock on, or the little holes on the bottoms of the feet.
One thing I did hear about factory Blythe dolls is that a lot of them are damaged in some small way and that’s why they’re smuggled out. Essentially rejects, they are saved from the trash bin, so a lot of them are wonky. Note Fauxlexis Emerald’s right (our left) eye lid: it’s oddly deformed almost touching the eyeball. The eyelashes aren’t the standard straight across ones either, but I think AE made have had special lashes.
Yes, more crazy eye. Looking straight ahead you can practically see her thoughts forming inside her head around the eyes. Look closer … something seem off? Yep, the eyes aren’t level. The eyelids and mech on the left (our right) are lower than those on the other side. Evidence of a factory defect or a poorly made fake?
I thought it was odd that she came with this pearl emerald pull ring until I realized that AE was supposed to have one. You can also see a huge gap between the eye and mech in this photo.
Last but not least … no it’s least. I just wanted to show the last pair of eye chips, but there’s not much else to say. I tried to color correct the photos to be accurate, but I probably did a lousy job.
Conclusion
Right now I’m leaning toward considering her a fake factory doll, but I would love it if some Blythe experts weighed in! I posted in a Flickr group asking the same thing too. I will update when I hear something so stay tuned … Until then, any of you get burned by fake factory dolls? Do you think factory dolls are evil or amazing? Do you have 20 of them or are you about to lecture me for buying one? Weigh in below!
Update: The comments are in and I believe that Princess Faulexis a la Mode is, indeed, a fake. Thank you to everyone who helped!
* My friend used to steal things from work by hiding them in his shoes and then walking home on them, it’s an odd inside joke from about a decade and a half ago.
** Story based on what sounds good in my head.
Zombuki Dolls 
If you wanted the doll for the sake of loving the doll.. fake or not, does it change how much you love it?
You have made an excellent point! I agree completely and the odd little doll I got, Fauxlexis Emerald, I am very charmed by, so all is well in the end. Thank you for you comment!
Yes, if you’re paying for a non-fake doll
There are minor ways of telling apart a fakey from a factory girl. The shoulders on the fakies are always slightly drooping, (compared to a Takara or factory blythe), legit/factory Blythe’s shoulders are flush with the arm joint, whereas a fakie’s arms sit a little lower and aren’t quite as streamlined. Another way of telling is that the eye holes on the fakies seem bigger, more eyemech is exposed, making their eyes appear minutely smaller and slightly wonky at times. Also, I have yet to own a factory Blythe that has the metal grommet insert on the pullstring hole, I believe this is because the parts would have been taken from the production line before they went off to another processing area where details such as the metal grommets would have been added. I’m 100% sure this girl isn’t made from authentic Takara parts, although she is lovely none the less 🙂
I don’t think I ever replied, so I wanted to say thank you for such an amazing and helpful comment! Much obliged.
This is late but… I’ll confirm what the above poster said, she is a fake and not smuggled parts. 😦
Thank you for commenting! I have to agree with you both!
Thanks for posting. I love Blythe and am looking in to getting my first doll (which is almost def going to be a factory doll because Im broke/and I want to customize the heck out of it anyway). I was starting to get discouraged by everyone hating on factory dolls. Your post cheered me up tremendously. I have a cat from the woods, a couch from the thrift store, and the leather on my purse is fake. I really am not sure that spending $300 to customize (and possibly destroy because it will be my firs go at it) a doll fits my lifestyle.
This is so awesome of you to write, thank you so much! I agree with you completely. I love my fakey doll and my foundling cat (I have one too!) and in a way I think they’re more special for it 🙂
I also thinking about to buy a factory blythe, because boxing blythe is expensive for me now. I also think if the factory doll is not fake doll I will buy one. One thing is the base line for me is I will never buy a fake doll.
Thanks for your posting make me know more about factory dolls.
And one more thing I want to say is, factory doll (if it is not fake) is not stolen doll, it also sold by factory in low price to decrease the cost.
Thank you for your comment, that’s very interesting to think about. Let me know if you end up getting one, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
I bought a couple factory dolls recently for my birthday because I have been wanting a new one and honestly the recent releases from Takara didn’t interest me at all. I also was wanting one with darker skin. Obviously I know that the darker skinned doll is a flat out fake, but honestly it doesn’t matter to me because supply of the deal dolls doesn’t fit the demand that many have when wanting a doll with darker skin. I went with a seller that my local Blythe meet up group suggested online that many people go to for dolls to use in customizing.
Both girls have fun eye chips and their hair is amazing in quality and so soft and plentiful. I like getting a factory or fake because honestly if I want a dolly with a hair colour that isn’t available in Takara I’ll buy a factory or fake. I use them for photography and because they are just flat out fun, my Factory Girls and my stock dolls. While I appreciate the collectors seriousness about their dolls, I feel that if you’re going to obliterate the original stock doll in a radical transformation and change out everything, why not buy a factory?
Guess I enjoy the options available in the factory dolls too. It satisfies my need for a dolly when I’m a tad low on cash and I need to cheer myself up..and piss off my boyfriend. ❤️
Thank you for your amazing comment! I agree that a lot of these dolls so more diversity and interesting color schemes (extra rainbow hair colors!) than Takara has been making available to us. My ex- hate, hate, hated Blythe dolls so I 100% sympathize lol 🙂
I wish Takara/Junie Moon/Junko Wong would come out with MIO’s like Pullip does. That way you could customize without destroying a piece of art. ❤
That would be an amazing idea! I would, for sure, buy Blythe MIOs. You can get Blythe parts on Etsy, but you know they’re knock-offs. Still, they leave a space in a market and someone will fill it so I don’t blame them. With all the Junie Moon-online-only-in-Japan-lottery-for-$500-doll nonsense I don’t have that much brand loyalty though 😉