Ken’s birthday often gets lost in the hype of Barbie’s I suspect but today, 11 March, Ken will turn 62. Like Barbie Ken has gone through many changes during his life and he carries his years very well even though I don’t like some of his current fashion choices in hairstyles and clothing.

Ken has had an on and off again romance with Barbie. For the first few years they were inseparable. They wore coordinated outfits and often double dated with Midge and Allan. Ken went Mod when Barbie did, sporting longer hair and even facial hair. Then, after the Mod Era Ken seemed to disappear for a while before returning with a new face sculpt and new arms. Some years later Mattel announced that the two were no longer and item and Ken went off the market. You can’t keep a good doll down though. Ken came back for his 50th anniversary year and Barbie said “Yes”. We are not clear as to what she said yes to as they did not get engaged or married. I haven’t even seen a Barbie wedding dress in a few years.

I think that Mattel are largely to blame for Barbie’s lack of interest in Ken. All they ever give him to wear are tuxedos and beach wear. She probably looks back fondly to the days when Ken came to pick her up for a date in a suitable outfit.

Some of these Ken’s belong to Naomi, a few of them are mine. Most of them have been restyled to suit our tastes. Some of the pictures are pretty old, in some cases ten or fifteen years, and were taken in Naomi’s old toy room in Oatlands. I haven’t included Allan, Steven, Ryan or any character dolls except for 90210 Brandon, Fashion Fever Kurt and a Blaine or two. See if you can spot them. There is a prince or two included but not necessarily the one you would expect.

Ken is definitely more than Barbie’s toy boy or accessory.