This week’s Friday Guy came from the Hobart Doll Show. I spotted him sitting next to a Shaving Fun Ken and was intrigued by the tag that read “Press button on back” . I did not recognise his face and I thought that I knew all the talking Ken’s from the modern era.
I got the stall holder to show him to me and decided to spring for him at $10 as I had not seen a lot else that I wanted that I could actually afford.
Research at home later identified him as High School Musical Troy. I had not picked him as HSM because I mistakenly thought that all the HSM dolls were Teen Skipper sized. Naomi has a boxed set which are. I think that Singing Troy might be from HSM 2 . I had not realised that these dolls were made in different sizes. I kept finding little mini sized ones while I was searching as well.
Troy was wearing knee-length shorts and a white top when I found him. I let him keep the shirt but swapped the shorts for jeans as I don’t really care for the beach bum look unless they are on the beach. Luckily Naomi had brought me my box of Ken clothes on her last visit and while there is not a lot there I do have jeans.
Troy was of course portrayed by actor Zac Efron so this is a crossover Fashion doll/ Celebrity doll.
Dolls, Dolls, Dolls 
Awesome find! I have three smaller ones and one standard size but not Zack, I mean Troy, the Sharpay Character and she came nude so had to redress her, although I’m still looking for something “Fab-u-lo-so”, enough as she is quite a diva. She no longer sings. I put her in a Barbie dress and fushia graduation gown but her markings puzzle me. It is like Mattel used left -over parts the body is 1999..no surprise but the head is 2003,She has the same basic face as the mini version.
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Do you know if they made a Ken sized Ryan as well?
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The blonde one from HSM not the modern Ryan.
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I think so ,but Rare so mostly mib and prepare to pay $50 plus U.S. easily.I’m bidding on a mixed lot.If I can get a Troy/Gabriella in the Barbie/Ken size I think they sing together like the Princess/pauper dolls did .As it is need to stock up on clothing, it is well enough to stitch something together for the gals but the boys have less leg clearance so would have to size up Barbie scrubs patter for full size boys.
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* WILL CHECK E-BAY FOR Ryan
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o.k. so from what I can tell..photos,videos there is Not a 12″ Ryan..However as usual I will be looking for likely clone types using the 10″ version as a model, or try a 10″ head on a standard body.He would be thinner than Troy so maybe the Frank Sinatra circa 1975 (body)head 1993.
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apparently I have a few hs musical 3 dolls that were marked Disney I got last year at the thrift store , I had thought the blond would make a cute sharpay..only to find out she is, and the gabriella is pretty but these dolls are very different ,bigger hair,more articulaion in the torso and arms, still the 10 inch size.
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There are a confusing number of these HSM’s.
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His hair would look good on the Fashion Queen Barbie.
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Troys hair would look good on anyone..he’s dreamy. But he actually looks cuter with the 11 1/2 Sharpay character.These dolls seem reminiscent of the beach bingo Frankie Avalon Annette Funachello days movies. Happy Fathers day/ Flag day btw Who knows .this doll would make the ideal Mrs. Robinson/graduate boy toy remake, maybe Fashion Queen Barbie would be Mrs. Robinson.
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As far as I remember, there were only four Barbie sized HSM dolls: Gabriella in a red dress; Gabriella in Jeans, green top and orange cardigan; Troy in a sporty school suit and Sharpay in white,glittery pants, pink top and a shrug. They were actually the first HSM dolls to show up around 2006. All later dolls had the smaller Teen Skipper size.
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That’s interesting. I had always thought that the small ones preceded the larger ones. They were not sold in Australia right away. Only after HSM had become popular here. Guess we can stop looking for the other male dolls in that size then..
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Been enjoying the blog, nice to see some dolls we never had here in America.
I just wanted to note that Mattel would patent body styles and then keep using them with different dolls, hence the heads marked with different dates. It’s really confusing for those selling/collecting, because bodies were still marked “1969” or whatever, and the dolls were from the 80s and 90s. That’s why you see so many “old” Barbies that aren’t actually old (well, maybe old-ish, but not vintage or mod eras).
Anyway, lots more to read!
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Hi Sheila there are a lot of American dolls that we never see in Australia either. You are quite correct about the difference in head and body dates. People new to collecting or those who just sell for profit don’t always realise this so you see “1966 Ken” and “vintage 1966 Barbie” on an eighties or nineties doll. I occasionally email sellers if I see that and most of them have been pleased to get the correct information. I don’t push it if they don’t believe me. It just pays to do your homework before you buy.Glad you are enjoying the blog.
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For those who like the Zac Efron face that actually looks more like him the singing Hairspray doll Link does resemble him nicely, and is dressed well and has a nice Microphone. The girl Tracy is quite a bit more full figured than even the Rosie O’Donnel doll.I will still look for male dolls close enough to the Ryan doll, to suit me.
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Don’t think I’ve seen Hairspray dolls, maybe they didn’t sell them here.
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