The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

The leading companies that cater to Lolita doll collectors are Groove Inc.
(Korea); Takara (Japan); and Volks, Inc. (Japan). The most popular Gothloli
dolls are produced in certain ranges of types known as Pullip (Figs 10, 63, 64
& 74), Dal, Byul and Isul; and as male counterparts, “boyfriends” to Pullip
and fashioned in a Gothic Visual-kei style, called Namu and Taeyang (Fig. 74);
now made by Groove Inc. since 2009, and distributed by Jun Planning (USA),
Inc., but previously, between 2003 and 2008, created by South Korean
manufacturers Cheonsang Cheonha and Jun Planning, Inc. (Japan). The dolls
released between 2003 and 2008, before this original collaboration went
under, were limited to very small quantities of about 300 – 500 and, as such,
are now very valuable.
The competition for Pullip is Blythe, and collectors can be quite specific
about their preference for either type. Blythe, who with the tug of a string,
can be made to change eye colours from blue to pink, to orange or green,
was first sold in 1972 by US brand Kenner for just one year. This vintage toy
has become a desired collectible worldwide, especially due to her limited
production, but particularly so in Japan, where there is a great attraction to
wide-eyed imagery of cute little girls and to “big-eye” dolls, of which both
Pullip and Blythe are categorised. Like the earlier Pullip dolls, a 1972 Blythe can
fetch thousands of dollars on the internet trade market. The reasoning for
this and the psychology behind it is not really something I have investigated,
but it can be linked, I would argue, to the growing trend for young Japanese
women to go to the lengths of seeking plastic surgery in order to create
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