So the news is out. Ken is getting a makeover.
Mattel is bringing out a new line of Ken dolls to match the new style Barbies. Ken will come in Original, Broad or Slim which makes him sound like a pair of pants and there will be different hairstyles and more ethnic diversity.
I applaud the idea but I’m not overly thrilled with what they have come up with. Obviously Mattel make these dolls to match modern fashion trends and as I don’t like a lot of modern fashion trends it stands to reason that I wasn’t going to like these. It’s just my age I guess.
I personally think man buns look silly and are only acceptable when working with food or something else where hair round your face is an OH&S risk.If Ken is going to have a man bun couldn’t it at least be real hair so it could be taken down for a change in style?
I am also disappointed that none of the new dolls have any articulation. Perhaps if these new look Ken’s prove to be popular Mattel will bring out some more upmarket versions later on. I hope so anyway. Although they were not articulated I did think the Basics Kens were very nice and I had been hoping to see something more along those lines.
As for the revamped fashions I am not holding my breath as they will be based on what a seven year old thinks is trendy or it will be the same old tuxedo or board shorts choices. If they want to make Ken more interesting what about giving him a wardrobe as good as Barbie’s and that’s not a big ask these days. Originally Ken and Barbie both had outfits for every occasion that complemented each other.
That’s what a fashion doll is. A doll you can dress.
2017 Ken
Dolls, Dolls, Dolls 
I think these dolls look pretty awful for the most part. I do like the one on the bottom middle aand have pre-ordered him because I am always in need ofmale dolls for my dolly soap opera but Iimagine I will have to remove his pink lip colour. I am not sure why Mattel insists on putting that colour on its black dolls because it looks terrible, The female dolls with that colour look even worse.
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I should add that I have the Hip Hoodie doll in the upper left corner, I have rebodied him with an articulated body, redressed him, and he looks quite handsome. But black male articulated bodies are difficult to find and very expensive, I hate having to buy two dolls, one for the body and one for the head, every time I buy a fashionista.
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Love and hate the one with the man bun. I may have to get it just because it’s so awful. I hate they’re not articulated too, but I hope to be able to re-body.
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They are all a rubbish bunch of doll and I am not wasting my money on them. I’m done with buying Ken.
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looks like something that will be in the $3 bins at the thrift store faster than you can say “made in Hong Kong”..
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I think it’s great they are making diverse male dolls to complement the female fashionistas, but hate the hard plastic hair, cheap fashions and stiff body. Wish they would make male made-to-move and Style dolls. I would buy them and others would too. The only decent ones are action figures and then they don’t have regular attire.
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Well judging by the comments so far adult collectors are seriously underwhelmed by these ugly dolls.
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As interesting as some of the facemolds are, the plastic hair is an additional turn off on top of the stiff bodies.
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I think that is what I hate most. You can’t change their look when they have plastic hair.
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I would like to know about the last male dolls acquired by Naomi. I searched extensively for one with rooted hair, articulation and decent clothes. I decided against the action figures from Divergent and Hunger Games. Modern Circle Ken, dressed in jeans and leather jacket, fit the bill and met all criteria. Shortly thereafter I got Fashion Fever Kurt dressed similarly with thick hair but not articulated. I was still very happy to get the only male FF doll I liked.
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I’ll leave Naomi to comment on that. Kurt is very nice. It is a pity there were not more FF guys.
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There is such a dearth of male dolls. Mattel should make male made-to-move, Style and The Look articulated dolls. Bet they would fly off the shelves if attractively styled as many of us would like companions for our female dolls.
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Oh that would be great wouldn’t it. I wonder if there are enough adult collectors to lobby them to do it. If sales are falling as they say it might be an avenue they would explore.
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may have to glue a few wigs on molded heads to get the look I want/ need. Have a Jacob Black from twilight I may modify for the 10 ann. of the movie (longer hair). Finn from Hunger games may become my new Garreth from the Labrinth instead of the Ken one I have,,why can’t Mattel understand we pay extra for better looking stuff.
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Mattel don’t seem to understand the market. They think that it is either cheap dolls for very young kids or expensive collectibles which adults will keep MIB. They don’t seem to realise we play with them too.
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Thankfully I have enough celebrity dolls to change things up. I never quite understood either since they seem to reuse various bodies..etc.. why you can’t have the option of picking the body and head separately. There are so many franken-barbies around anyway, maybe it could be a promotional thing around Halloween.. buying parts from the factory.
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