Beach Party! Ken and Steven 2009 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.

ALSO, I am trying to get info on a year 2009 giftset (see below).  If you know anything, please email that top secret info directly to me.  I am working diligently to get some answers.  By the way...it looks like Ken and Barbie are officially "on" again as a couple (in 2009).  I hope she buys him a new Ken® trademark home and/or car in 2009!  Maybe a Generation of Dreams Ken® Beach House with a flat screen TV and mini fridge filled for a Super Bowl party? Ken likes electronics and a light blue, cream and brown color decor with a subtle beach theme.  He'd like his own masculine designed bed with solid color white or beige sheets and a cozy comforter. Description: Generation of Dreams Barbie® & Ken® Giftset Date: 2009 Stock Number: N6571 Barbie® and Ken® are back together and on the cover of People Magazine! This giftset features Barbie® doll and Ken® doll.

New Giftsets: They are Campus Spirit Gift Set (Barbie and Ken) and the Speed Racer Gift Set (Barbie and Ken).

Barbie & The Diamond Castle Musician Doll 2008

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.

2008

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!

Sleeping Beauty Prince Doll

Collector 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!

She 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

Thanks for the info from my international friends for this news! I hope to add him to my collection soon!

Ken™ Carson March 13, 1961 

The Real Ken™...Ken Handler

Even in 1959, little girls were asking for a boy doll. No boy doll had ever made it in the US. Very few retailers ordered Kens when they first came out in 1961, but consumers wanted all they could get. Initially, Ruth argued for a "bulge" in Ken's groin, but the design team said no. Ken and Barbie were the same in that respect (a social commentary today, but at the time, a simple marketing decision). So it was that Ruth's son, Ken, took a lot of teasing for his missing piece of plastic at school. Even as little Kenny went through puberty, Ken (the doll) got the bulge too.
By the time the doll came out, Barbara was in her late teens. She wasn't interested in dolls, and she wasn't interested in the attention. The ordeal was painful for her, especially with mom spending most of her time at the office. Barbara felt like a freak. She insisted on never being called "Barbie" again, so we don't. She has curly red-brunette hair, freckles, and a great smile. She married a man named Allan Segal when she was only 19. Ken married a nurse named Suzie. Neither Ken nor Barbara ever had a job. They were productive, interesting people. Barbara had a small boutique in Beverly Hills for a while, raised two children (Cheryl and Todd), got divorced, and has been going out with a very nice guy named Howard for a long time now. She plays a lot of golf, is an excellent golfer, and is on the board of Hillcrest Country Club. She has always been thin and in good shape. She has led the private life she wanted to lead, after having a mother who was more "Barbie's Mom" than her mom.
Barbara's daughter, Cheryl, has sold real estate and held a few jobs, but decided to go back to Pepperdine to get a law degree. She recently passed the California BAR exam. Her brother, Todd (there was a kid-doll named after him) now runs a Bed and Breakfast and organic farm in Massachusetts.
Ken Handler was, among many other things, gifted musician. Kenny played several instruments, was very well read, and pursued many endeavors. He often performed feats on the piano, but seldom for public audiences. He was, "A real gentleman. The kind of guy you found in the last century, not this one." In 1982, Ken and Suzie moved to Manhattan, where they lived on Central Park with their three kids. Ken wrote music and plays for his own pleasure. He enjoyed New York society. He loved life on the streets. In the mid-eighties, when rap music was just taking off, Ken wrote, directed, and produced a small film called "Delivery Boys", about the lives of several rappers. You can find it at specialty video stores.

Kenny was charming, a good husband, and a great dad. He was a citizen of the world. He gave a lot of money to charities, among them an organization looking for new cures for cancer. As the story goes, on an expedition to Africa with this group, he somehow contracted encephalitis. Sadly, he was in a coma for a few weeks and died the afternoon of his daughter's wedding - as Jewish tradition holds, a wedding does not stop, even for the death of a father.

KEN™ Doll History

From 1961, this fictional character had been Barbie's™ boyfriend.      

In 1961 he stood a tall twelve inches high and came with a flocked crew cut in brunette or blonde (M#:750).  He had a six-piece jointed body with painted blue eyes.  He wore red bathing trunks, cork sandals and came with a yellow towel.   Because his hair flock came off in water,  Mattel re-released him the following year with molded, painted hair instead (M#: 750 BD: 1962).   In 1963 he went through another metamorphous and was shortened by ¼ inch (M#: 750 BD: 1962).  His legs became a little heftier and leg joints looser.

Ken™ brought to the world of Barbie™ the possibility of adventure and romance. But, steady dating seems to be the result of this long lasting relationship.  One sad note; Ken™ is only considered an "accessory" to Barbie™ by Mattel... making him the ultimate "boy toy".

In February 2004 Mattel announced a split for the couple, with Russell Arons, vice president of marketing at Mattel™, saying that Barbie®  and Ken "feel it's time to spend some quality time - apart."

In February 2006 a revamped version of the Ken®  doll was launched, and it appeared that their relationship was official again. 

 Ken®  2006

Barbie & Ken bride & groom doll Wedding®  2008 TV ad

 Ken®  featured straight arms and a head that could only turn left and right until the debut of Superstar Ken® in 1977. Superstar Ken®  featured a dimpled smile, a head that could swivel, bent arms, a more muscular physique, and jewelry. He also had underwear permanently molded to his body.

Ken®  1977

The first African-American KEN® doll was introduced in 1981.

Ken®  1981

In 1993 a version of the doll was released called "Earring Magic Ken® ". The style of the doll was said to resemble popular fashions among some segments of the gay community at the time, which caused the doll to attain a cult following.

  Ken®  1993

Movies

Additional information

• The Ken™  gene in the Drosophila fy was so named because the gene, when deleted, caused the flies to form without external genitalia.

• Mattel (the manufacturer of Ken™  and Barbie™ dolls) complained to the video game company Capcom over its street figter game. The game contained a character called Ken® , which Mattel argued could lead to confusion with its doll of the same name. In order to avoid confusion, the character in the street fighter game was renamed Ken®  Masters.

References

The Ken™ and Barbie™  gene encoding a putative transcription factor with a BTB domain and three zinc finger motifs functions in terminalia development of Drosophila. Lukacsovich T, Yuge K, Awano W, Asztalos Z, Kondo S, Juni N, Yamamoto D. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2003 Oct;54(2):77-94.'