Mattel just announced a slew of new Ken dolls for their play-line Barbie collection, Fashionistas. Ken now has two more body types, broad and slim, in addition to the original. There are 15 new Ken dolls, combining a variety of styles and skin tones, no Asian one though. That is one major fault there. And the broad physic is a muscular style, not a more common body type like the curvy Barbie. Lisa Mc Knight, Mattel's senior vice-president, said in a statement that the variety of Ken dolls would allow girls to “further personalize the role they want him to play in Barbie’s world”. If plastic molded hair means personalisation, that's news to me.
Don't get me wrong, the dolls look nice - well most of them anyway. That man bun is atrocious. But the molded hair make them a no-no to me. Their immovable non-articulated bodies also. The slim ones look a bit weird, with the head looking too large for their body, making them seem like small children. And remember, promo photos of Mattel usually show the doll much better than what we get in real life. Sigh. I guess kids will get them, which is of course the point, it is a play-line collection after all. Below is a nice video showing the new dolls.
The dolls are available for pre-order on Mattel's e-shop. They will be released July 8th.
All photos and video courtesy of Mattel.
