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Keeping
Ken
NEW KEN DOLLS!
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Camping Family Ken Doll
The April 2009 edition of
dollsmagazine.com showed a
sneak of the 2009 playline. Barbie's 50th Anniversary will be
celebrated with the return of Kelly, Stacie, Skipper, Ken and Barbie
in the Camping Family line whicheven includes a Glamour Camper!
I saw all the dolls in the line at TRU,
including Camping Family Ken
whick I have included on the Keeping Ken The
Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond page.
It's obvious that Mattel doesn't show
signs of discontuning the use of the PTR arms even on this slightly
more expensive version of Ken ($12.99) but are using the improved arms
for other male dolls in the Barbie line. (See related story below).
You will also notice a slight change to the "Ken" logo used on the
front.
PICTURED BELOW:
Camping Family Ken
Photo spread from Dolls Magazine.
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Barbie and The Three
Musketeers Prince Doll
I was also able to locate the
Barbie and The Three
Musketeers Prince Doll which is also now included on the
Keeping Ken The Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond
page. Typical fare, same concept but for whatever reason he
looks very striking, I think because of his Prince fashion and the way
his eyes are painted. He has the new PTS arms.
PICTURED BELOW:
Barbie and The Three Musketeers Prince Doll
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Keeping
Ken
NEW KEN FASHIONS! |
|
UPDATE:
Looks
like these last three fashions were intended for a later release. Here
are three pictures of these fashions below (and the are available) at
ToysRUs.com. I didn't see them in stores yet.
 |
 |
| I had reported earlier that I
saw three new fashions for Ken
on a few eBay auctions. (1) Dark blue striped sweat pants with gray l/s hoodie and gray loafers and cell
phone, (2) Gray long pants with maroon shirt/light blue long sleeves and
navy/white/gray sneakers and sunglasses and (3) dark jeans and red thermal
l/s shirt with sewn on camo vest with boots and sunglasses. I didn't
see them in stores but I found what (I believe) to be different
ones than I saw on eBay...but for sure I can report on the three I am
certain of. I found these at Target. The new fashions are no longer labeled "Guy Time".
They use the "Ken" trademark. Here is a promotional picture of all
three with links below for close-ups. Thanks to James from the "He's A
Doll!" Yahoo board for additional info on these fashions! Also Linda
adds from the "He's A Doll!" Yahoo board..."Actually, I think
there are 8 new Ken outfits...the 4 outfit Barbie sets See below)
that each have a Ken outfit with them, the singles in slightly
longer packages that included Has Ken
ever had so many choices out there at once?" Barbie
Fashion Trend Sets
Plus, I located (mentioned
above) 2 new
2008 Barbie with Ken Fashion #N4859 fashion
assortment out there which is part of the Barbie Fashion Trend Set called
"Miami Sunset Date" and 2008 Barbie with Ken
Fashion #N4858.
UPDATE:
I also found the third set with a tuxedo
fashion for Ken which James found from a Polish auction service.
Picture link
HERE.
Thanks to James for posting these pictures and another new one! I will add
pictures soon!
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Keeping
Ken
NEW DESIGNER KEN!
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Gareth Pugh Ken Doll
In honor of 50 years of
fabulous fashion, Ken is styled by one of London's most significant
male fashion talents Gareth Pugh.
The RARE Ken Styled by Gareth Pugh doll
was unveiled at the colette store in Paris on March 12, 2009.
Only 50 hand-crafted dolls were created by the designer. You can
read more about the event at
dazeddigital.com
With his strong design
aesthetic, Gareth Pugh has become a highlight of the international
fashion calendar. Black patent leather has become a signature of
Gareth's work, and he has chosen to dress his hand made limited
edition Ken doll in a look inspired by his first menswear collection,
which illustrates his penchant for contrasting matt and shiny
surfaces.
"Ken came backstage at my Fall/Winter 2009/10 show and selected his
favorite outfit for me to recreate exclusively for him." G. Pugh.
I have added this doll
to the listings and you can see more pictures by following this link:
Ken Styled by Gareth Pugh
PICTURED LEFT: The
Ken Doll Styled by Gareth Pugh is unveiled at the colette store in
Paris. |
Keeping
Ken
NEWS!
|
New
Arms for Ken?
It would seem that slowly but surely
that Mattel may be making improvements to Ken's body parts.
Apparently they are showcasing these improvements on every doll except
Ken.
It's mostly about the recent new arms
showing up first on the Mattel male Disney dolls in 2007 and pretty
much every other non-Ken trademarked doll thereafter like the recent
Wedding Day Sparkle Groom
Doll, Barbie & The Diamond
Castle Twin Musician Doll and
Barbie Mariposa Prince Doll.
Technically, we can't say they haven't been used for Ken, because they
were recently discovered on the Ken
In India (India, European Edition), but this version was not
produced for the domestic market.
The new arms are slightly different
from what we are accustomed to. They are sort of like an
in-between of the PTR (Point To Rear) arms and the PTS (Point To Side)
arms. Literally, the position of the hands is in between PTS and
PTR.
Also, the new arms have a
significant elbow.
So what should we call these new
arm molds? Please send me you suggestions and we will christen these
arms with a new collector reference!
Check out this site from my friend Olga
from Poland who breaks it all down with lots of comparative pictures!
Plus she has a graph of the Mattel male doll body molds at:
http://dollcollector.wordpress.com/
PICTURED RIGHT:
New dolls Wedding Day
Sparkle Groom Doll (LEFT) has the new arms, while Ken doll (RIGHT)
still uses the PTR arms. Photo courtesy of Olga. |
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Keeping
Ken
NEW KEN DOLLS AND 2009!
Here is a article about Ken on
Slate.com in case you hadn't read it yet:
Ken's sad and lonely life in
Barbie's shadow. - By Troy Patterson - Slate Magazine
2009 Playline
My Scene
The
My Scene Fashion Dolls
are back in full force...in Mexico. It's
nice to finally see new male dolls back! Sunny from the Philippines reports
that Rob in Mexico posted photos of the 2009 My Scene Boys on the My Scene
message board "My Scene Hangout".
Sunny says "the latest My Scene boys now features molded on hair which I'm
not a fan but since it's been more than a year since the boys made an
appearance I'm ecstatic. River's head is an enlarged version of
Wedding Day Groom Doll [2007 Ken head mold] but with brown eyes and darker
hair. Hudson head is from a new mold."
You can check out ALL the new
dolls in this thread at
My Scene Hangout
I will of course update the
My Scene Fashion Dolls page with this
exciting info soon!
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Wedding Day®
Barbie® Doll and Ken® Doll Gift Set
Barbie Collector has announced
three new male dolls in their 2009 Fall line!
Wedding Day® Barbie® Doll and Ken® Doll Gift Set is due in June
2009; this set will retail for about $66. This Vintage reproduction
will feature Ken dressed in a reproduction of Tuxedo #787
and the Barbie ensemble is a reproduction of Wedding Day Set #972. Ken
is a flocked brunette similar to 45th
Anniversary Ken and Barbie is a brunette #1 reproduction.
BarbieCollector.com has a picture posted at this link:
Wedding
Day® Barbie® Doll and Ken® Doll Giftset!
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Star Trek
UPDATE
I received both Star Trek Ken
Doll as Captain Kirk and Star Trek Ken
doll as Mr. Spock yesterday and added them to the
Keeping Ken The Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond
page. All of the dolls (including a Uhura doll are in the likeness of the actors in
the Star Trek Movie coming to theatres May 8, 2009. The new
movie centers on the characters younger years. Barbie Collector’s Pop
Culture Collection features excellent likenesses of Chris Pine (Kirk),
Zachary Quinto (Spock), and Zoe Saldana (Uhura). Accessories include a
phaser and communicator. For additional Movie information, check out
www.startrekmovie.com.
Single dolls will be available in April 2009 for $49.95 each. A gift
set with all three dolls will also be available for $134.95
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Next are two "celebrity"
dolls in the Pop culture line. Elvis
Presley® Jailhouse Rock™ Doll is due in the fall, Elvis can
be in the house for about $45.
The Christmas Show (Fred Mertz) Doll
is a Platinum Label doll that will be coming to Wal-Mart in the fall,
for about $48. His character is new to the I Love Lucy
show line of dolls! You can see a picture at this link:
BarbieCollector.com - News - Preview the Fall 2009 Barbie® Collector
Line
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Prinz Doll
(European Market)
A European market exclusive doll
that doesn't use the Ken trademark and looks similar to the doll below is
Prinz Doll (European Edition). Erik
reports the following: "There's a new Prinz Ken in Town! I found
this doll at Toys r us in Germany. The box doesn't show a name anywhere but
the the shelf label says "Prinz Ken" which means Prince Ken in English.
His Stock No is "N5025". The box backside says "Relive the magic and
excitement of all your favourite Barbie™ movies with this handsome royal
prince doll." So it seems like it's not an official "Ken" doll. He
looks like he's "Ken in India's" twin brother."
Here are some pictures below! I hope to get this
doll soon (plus last year's European market
Sleeping Beauty Prince Doll
that I was never able to locate).
Ken in
India
Barbie
and Ken in India Gift Set
Ken In India (India, European Edition),
has made it from India. You can use previous link to see more
pictures, but Panya from Thailand was
nice enough to send me some pictures before mine made it here (below). It
looks like it is the same head mold as
Barbie & The Diamond Castle Twin Musician Doll. This is exactly
why I love collecting...discovering Ken dolls you have never even knew were
produced. Of course more info when Ken actually makes it here...but
until then enjoy the pictures below. Thanks Panya for the pictures!
ALSO, check out the
Barbie In India (Barbie and Ken) Gift
Set that Omar brought back on his trip to India. It features Ken in a
different fashion! I've added it to the Keeping Ken
Identifier Gift Sets page but am waiting on a complete description of
the Ken fashion...as I didn't want to open mine.
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Wedding Day
Sparkle Groom Doll
|
I finally located the new
Wedding Day Sparkle Groom Doll,
box dated 2008, a near match to last
year's Wedding Day Groom Doll. The
NEW 2008 Groom has dark brunette hair and brown eyes. Like many
others, I waited to find a batch that didn't have crooked painted eyes,
which many of you are reporting as a serious problem with this doll. I
was anticipating this doll so much mostly because finally...another
doll with brunette hair and brown eyes!! So when I found a batch with good
eyes, I got it and then went home to be EXTREMELY disappointed with the
cheap one-piece fashion and the use of non-bendable legs (reported from
James earlier), which I guess is the new norm on the "Doll" dolls that don't
bear the Ken trademark. I will seriously start complaining if this
trend continues. Sure it's a play line doll, but I immediately noticed the shortcut cost
savings on this doll. The box is even poorly
constructed, held together by tape on the back (which won't bold well for
preservation 20 years from now). I normally find something I like with
every Mattel male Barbie line doll, but I can't find anything nice to say
about this one. In my
history book this doll will probably go down as truly THE example of how to cut costs in every
single way in a recession. And while I do enjoy a molded hair doll
every once in awhile, it scares me to think that we will be seeing many
more, in the spirit of cost cutting. It makes me think back to darker
times when the male doll was just an after thought in the line. Let's
give Barbie a nice fashion and lots of rooted hair and save all the costs we
put into the female doll on the male doll. Mattel could have at least
enhanced the fashion or the body of this doll. It's just not fair to
cheap-out on the male dolls. I am truly surprised I actually bought it. I spent
$11.44 on it at Wal-Mart. Thank goodness I was smart enough to find
the lowest price. It's like a cheap knock-off of a Mattel
doll, but is actually a Mattel doll. Mattel needs to start paying more
attention to what is being passed off as quality merchandise from the play
line department...even in a recession.
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The
Campus Spirit Gift Set (Barbie and Ken)
is showing up at select Toys R Us stores!
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Beach Party! Ken and Steven
Thanks to all my
spotters who alerted me that the new Beach Party! dolls were making it
to store shelves! As you can see, I found both
Beach Party Ken and
Beach Party Steven (at Toys R
Us). Both are standard swim dolls, and this time around they
have molded hair. As you can see, Ken is using the head mold
from Wedding Day Groom Doll (with the
same eye and eyebrow stencils or decals) and Steven is using the head
mold from Wedding Day Groom Doll AA.
Maybe this is the beach honeymoon??
The packages are
shaped like a surf board to get you in the mood for beach party fun.
|
OTHER NEWS!
- I acquired an extraordinarily MINT
NRFB example of Brad (Bendable Leg) to add
to my collection! Sweet!!
- Reading Material: If you want to
read my latest interview, head over to Collectors Weekly.
It's featured on the
Ken and Barbie
pages with a link.
- I had never seen this, now I have
it. You have to LOVE 1989! Ken Cool Jeans
Fashion # 8731
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Ken Fashions
I had reported earlier that I
saw three new fashions for Ken
on a few eBay auctions. This week I found what (I believe) to be different
ones than I saw on eBay...but for sure I can report on the three I am
certain of. I found these at Target. (And
hopefully more). The new fashions are no longer labeled "Guy Time".
They use the "Ken" trademark. Here is a promotional picture of all
three with links below for close-ups. Thanks to James from the "He's A
Doll!" Yahoo board for additional info on these fashions! Also Linda
adds from the "He's A Doll!" Yahoo board..."Actually, I think there are 8
new Ken outfits...the 4 outfit Barbie sets See below) that each have a Ken
outfit with them, the singles in slightly longer packages that included 1)
Dark blue striped sweat pants with gray l/s hoodie and gray loafers and cell
phone, 2) Gray long pants with maroon shirt/light blue long sleeves and
navy/white/gray sneakers and sunglasses and 3) dark jeans and red thermal
l/s shirt with sewn on camo vest with boots and sunglasses. Has Ken
ever had so many choices out there at once?"
As soon as I find these
remaining 3 I will post pictures...until then here is an eBay auction with a
picture of the remaining 3
HERE
Barbie
Fashion Trend Sets
Plus, I located (mentioned
above) 2 new
2008 Barbie with Ken Fashion #N4859 fashion
assortment out there which is part of the Barbie Fashion Trend Set called
"Miami Sunset Date" and 2008 Barbie with Ken
Fashion #N4858. Apparently there is a third set with a tuxedo
fashion for Ken which James found from a Polish auction service.
Picture link
HERE.
Thanks to James for posting these pictures!
Keeping
Ken
NEW KEN DOLL CLUB!
|
He’s A Doll! -
Collector’s Club is officially forming and we want you to be a part of
it! He’s A Doll! is recognized as an official Ken doll collector’s
club from Mattel. It was formed in 2007 as an Internet based male
fashion doll collector’s club focused on the Ken doll by Mattel. A
Yahoo group was started to keep us all in contact and organized as a
club. We are now ready to take the next step and form the club with a
membership drive. The drive will take place from April 1, 2009 through
May 10, 2009.
We're glad to have
Ken® doll collector enthusiasts join our club. If you are
interested in joining, we have a Yahoo group located here:
He's A Doll!
We are
pleased to offer these exciting benefits with your “He’s A Doll!” 2009
membership:
-
Welcome letter with an exclusive He’s A Doll! - Club member pin
-
Opportunity to purchase a specially designed club t-shirt and future
club items
-
Continued access to the He’s A Doll! - Yahoo bulletin board
-
An
invitation to the annual He’s A Doll! - Club meeting and social
event at the 2009 NBDCC
-
Access
to a NEW exclusive He’s A Doll! Club website featuring:
o
Club newsletter
o
Event announcements
o
Member profiles
o
Contests
o
Doll related activities
o
And LOTS more fun stuff
So don’t delay…join
and send in you application starting April 1, 2009! You can send you
application either by mail or electronically. We would love to have
you as an official He’s A Doll! - Club member! |
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Keeping
Ken
BREAKING NEWS!
In early June 2008, the Keeping
Ken website reached 1 million plus
unique visits! It also is also holds the #1 top search result for Ken doll
on Yahoo and Lycos, #2 on Google and MS search engines! Hats off to
the mighty Ken doll collector!!
Keeping
Ken
NEW DOLLS!
New Barbie Collector™
dolls have been listed on the Keeping Ken Identifier
Gift Sets page! They are Campus
Spirit Gift Set (Barbie and Ken) and the
Speed Racer Gift Set (Barbie and Ken).
|
Fashion Fever Ken
Looking WAY hot is the
new edition of Fashion Fever Ken (Fourth
Edition) I am loving the way the eyes are
painted. Drawbacks are the use of the PTR arm molds and it looks
as though the messenger bag was omitted from production. Cell
phone charms are attached to the box. Brad found this Ken at
Kohl's. I found my edition at Target! He is now listed on the
Keeping Ken The Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond
page! |
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Barbie & The Diamond
Castle Musician Doll
Brad found
Barbie & The Diamond Castle Twin
Musician Doll at TRU. A new head mold and use of the arms like the
Disney guys last year! Only one doll is available to create
"twins" Anyway, I really
like the new head mold, but I like molded hair dolls as much as the
rooted versions. Interestingly, the head mold is marked with the
stock number of the doll, so this may be a one times use? It is
also interesting to note that Mattel is producing quite a few new head
molds for their lines that don't use the Ken® trademark name.
This doll has also been added to the
Keeping Ken The Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond
page and the new head mold has been added to the
Keeping Ken/Ken Parts Department page.
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Angelic Dreamz has photos of the
popular telenovela star Rebelde male dolls here:
REBELDE
Unfortunately, it looks as though to purchase the male dolls, you will have
to purchase them in gift sets paired with the girls: Mia and Miguel,
Lupita and Giovanni and Roberta and Diego. I saw the first edition
female dolls at Wal-Mart and K-Mart, but haven't seen these new gift sets in
stores yet. Thanks to Dana for this info!
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Sleeping Beauty Prince Doll
Erik from Germany has alerted me of a new
Mattel male doll that is appearing in that market. Petra from
Finland has also located this doll!
Erik says "I found an new prince doll. The box
is without any label (Ken or Prince) but the box backside shows
'Barbie as Sleeping Beauty' and 'Prince'. So it seems obvious that
'he' is the prince of 'Sleeping Beauty'. But you have to look very
carefully to find that.
Box date is 2007 and the Model-No. is L8123.
His face mold is identical with the Caucasian
version of
Barbie as The Island
Princess Prince Antonio Doll but has lighter
brown hair and steel blue eyes."
I have added this doll to the
Keeping Ken The
Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond page and you can find a bigger
picture and a picture of the back of the box here:
Sleeping Beauty Prince
Doll.
Thanks for the info from my
international friends for this news (and the pictures provided by
Erik)! I hope to add him to my collection soon! |
Keeping
Ken
UPDATE!
Sorry...it's been a long time
since the last update. As you may have heard on national news, my city
was hit with a devastating flood. Honestly, I have been trying to be a
good community helper and have spent a great deal of my time trying to help
those in need. Recently, with other leaders of the company I work for,
we helped clean out a home devastated from the flood. Here is a link
with a few pictures of that event I would like to share:
GAP Milwaukee District
Community Service
The work here isn't glamorous
and there is still much to be done. My home, was spared, but imagine
if you can the entire downtown of your city being destroyed. The
flood, Iowa's worst in 30 years, had rendered 36,000 residents homeless and
destroyed homes, farms and properties expected to exceed $2 billion in
value.
It is a tough, emotional time,
but as a community we will prevail.
Right as the city was flooding,
I went to the 2008 National Barbie Collectors Convention in Kansas City, Mo.
It was a welcome departure from sandbagging, that's for sure. I had
many duties as the Raffle Room Chair, and in my haste to leave, I actually
forgot to bring the card for my digital camera. But I am relying on
friends to send me at least a few pictures to cover the convention like I
usually do. I would like to publicly thank those of you at convention
who came to me and made sure I was holding up under the circumstances.
It meant more to me than I could ever communicate in words.
I am looking forward to other
things I had planned this year. Stay tuned. And, I mostly look
forward to getting back to focusing on Ken. Sometimes it is the things
we most cherish that bring us back to the way things ought to be. With
that, Brad has been great on keeping me in the "Ken" loop, and I has been
gracious enough to send me some pictures of the new Ken dolls arriving in
stores below!
Keeping
Ken
NEW KEN!
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Mariposa Prince Doll
In other male doll news from Mattel,
it was rumored that a male doll will be introduced into the Fairytopia™
line named Carlos. Brad found the Mariposa Prince Doll after
going to Toys R Us for a few days in a row. He said he is just
labeled Prince and didn't see any mention of the name Carlos being
used on his shipping carton or box. He is described on the back
as 'Meet the prince! He's a butterfly fairy friend from the new
Barbie Mariposa DVD!' This is also another new head mold kind
of similar to the prince from 2006. He also has pointy ears!
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Wedding Day Doll
When pictures of the
Fantasy Groom dolls were released, they look exactly
like the Barbie as The Island Princess Prince Antonio Dolls. The descriptions
also hinted that these dolls were somehow tied into the
Barbie Princess line, so maybe these dolls are actually second
versions of the Antonio dolls dressed for the wedding? We now
know that the Barbie as
The Island Princess Rosella & Antonio Wedding Gift Set was
produced, and these new dolls are actually called Wedding Day
(Pictured Below). I finally found
Wedding Day Groom Doll and he has a NEW molded hair head mold marked 2007 Mattel on the back of his head. Island Princess
Prince Antonio says 2005, 2006 Mattel. The most noticeable difference
is the part in his hair. This doll will not
be using the Ken trademark.
PICTURED BELOW:
Actual pictures of the Wedding Day Caucasian doll with a new head mold
marked 2007 Mattel. (Photos courtesy of Brad). PICTURED
BOTTOM: Promo photos of the Wedding Day dolls. The
Caucasian version shows The Island Princess Prince Antonio head mold.
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Vogue Collectibles
has a photo of the new Speed Racer Gift
Set. Here is a link to the picture:
Speed Racer Gift Set.
This gift set should be available in March 2008 for around $40. Looks
like they are finally using a articulated body with the new Ken head mold!
|
Guy Time™ Fashions
Ken has a new fashion line
called Guy Time™! I found 3 new fashions under this label at TRU this
weekend! They use the new logo pop art that is the same image used on the
Fashion Fever Ken (Third
Edition) (see story below) box.
This is probably the best thing
that has happened all year! For now, enjoy the new fashions, the return of
fashions with the Ken® trademark and a specific male fashion line!
Anyway, here are some links of
all three of the fashions: Guy Time Fashion #L9797,
Guy Time Fashion #L9798 and Guy
Time Fashion #L9799.
I think I saw another fashion
from pictures on another website, maybe a set (like those big Fashion Fever
sets with several pieces), but I'm not sure? I'll look into that...
|
PICTURED ABOVE:
New logo pop art. |
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Fashion Fever Ken (Third
Edition) |
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Imagine
my surprise when I went into Toys R Us and found a brand new Ken
doll I wasn't even expecting!
Fashion Fever Ken
(Third Edition) was there with a bunch of new articulated
female dolls which included Barbie, Teresa, Nikki, Raquelle and
Summer. Finally, some more articulated dolls, but alas, poor
Ken isn't articulated. That really stinks, because we at the
point of practically begging for another articulated Ken doll and
we get stuck with another doll with the same body and those PTR
arms. Why articulate all the female dolls and not the sole
male doll? I am sure however collectors will be happy to see new
articulation on the female dolls, and a return to the normal body!
This doll is pretty neat however,
and I'll take it as my one Holiday "surprise". He is of
course probably one in a case pack of 12 (or more), so find him if
you can. He is $9.99 and was the only one on the shelf! His
sunglasses are a bit askew, as you can see in the picture.
On the back of the box we see Ken
doll's "fashion motto" and discover his favorite color is "ocean
blue". The box side also has some awesome pop art of him.
LOVE that! Follow the link above to see the box art. I LOVE
surprises, and this made my shopping day that much better! |
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Surf's Up Beach Ken and Steven
pinkponytail.com has pictures of the new
Surf's-Up Beach Ken and Steven dolls on the site! (Pictured below).
I haven't found Steven yet, but I have added Ken to the
Keeping Ken The Millennium Era 2 2006-Beyond
page.
It's the most glamorous beach party ever and Ken® and Steven dolls are
cool in the latest sporty beach fashion, hanging out with friends.
Both dolls wears hip shorts and a short sleeve button down shirt.
Comes with a cool friendship bracelet.
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Surf's-Up™ Ken® 2007
L9548 |
Surf's-Up™ Steven® 2007
L9549 |
|
And here are some pictures of the European
version of Tommy model #L4379. This new
version of Tommy should be available here in the US in the Kelly line.
Thanks to Erik in Germany for sending these! |
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Keeping
Ken
KEN NEWS COLUMN!
|
Please submit questions to
mailto:jef@manbehindthedoll.com and have them answered here.
Due to the volume of mail received, I cannot respond to individual
e-mails sent to "Ask Keeping Ken".
|
For previous columns, visit the
Ask Keeping Ken Archives
| Q:
I found this booklet that has some Ken® fashions in it that I
have never seen before. Can you give me some insight as to
where these are from?-Barb
A:
This fashion booklet was
included in the Ken® dolls made by Industrias Rotoplast under
license from Mattel in Venezuela in the late 1980's. I have
three of these versions Olimpico Ken,
Jean Ken and
Llanero Ken and all of the have the same booklet, which I have
pictured on this page:
Venezuela Ken Fashion Booklet.
I would think if you could locate
any of them it would be an amazing find, since I have never
personally seen any of the six pictured. It took me forever
to even acquire the thee dolls!
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|
| Q:
Love your site...I just bought a Ken® shirt on Ebay that I
can't find in any of the books. Mod era, long sleeve with the Ken®
label -- pink, orange, turquoise and chartreuse floral,
almost Peter Max print...any ideas?-Steve
A:
I
believe the shirt is a variation used in 1972
Casual Cords #1717 outfit. The fabric originated in 1971
Festival Fashion Barbie®
outfit. (Thanks to Joe Blitman for help on this one) |
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Q:
Can you tell me who this
doll is (pictured left). On another site it said Happy Family
neighbor doll, but I have never seen this doll before. Can you
tell me if we could buy this doll here in the states or is this a
foreign doll?-Fiyas
A:
It looks like a redressed "New
Neighbors" Dad From the Happy Family "Sounds Like Home Smart
House". This set included a house play set and 4 dolls: Dad,
Mom, Kelly sized Daughter and Krissy sized baby. It was available
in small quantities at Toys R Us domestically.
Even though Mattel officially
discontinued the Happy Family line by the time this was released,
this Dad doll was also supposed to be available as a Happy
Neighbors Dad and Daughter set, but never made it to store shelves
when a "New Neighbors" Mom and Baby set was released in Spring
2005. His only appearance is in this Toys R Us Sounds Like
Home Smart House Gift Set priced at $80, so in order to get him,
you had to buy the whole gift set. |
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Photos
courtesy of
Li'l Friends
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Keeping Ken
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Keeping Ken
2007 CONVENTION!
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