Barbie FYK53 Bathroom-Themed Playset, with Shaving Ken Doll and Sink/Vanity, Multicolored

Product Information

This platinum label Ken Doll was one of the more recent releases since it came out in 2017, and it was released at the Madrid Convention that year. His shoes are, in fact, real leather, and he was exclusive to the Madrid Barbie convention, making this doll a limited release. Tamkin: OK, what I want listeners to know is that having just watched that ad, Barbie looks great, and early Ken was looking kind of rough. The plastic hair and … Most of the Ken dolls below sold between June and July 2023, and their value will no doubt increase due to the popularity of the "Barbie" movie and Ryan Gosling's performance. 20. Horse Lovin' Ken

Before Michael Cera took the role as adorable misfit Allan in "Barbie," he wasn't a very well known doll. Introduced in 1964, he was simply Ken's best friend and could fit into his clothes. Tamkin: It's exactly as you're saying. It's the ’80s. It's this moment of, like, the businesswoman, like, working. Tamkin: Mhm. I mean, we talk about like Barbies of different skin color, but hair is also racialized. And so I think it speaks well of Mattel that they put that attention to detail … This Barbie, introduced in 1963, represents a pretty good snapshot of what I think Mattel executives probably thought teen girls wanted in the sixties: a stylish girl who, just like them, had some light, teen responsibility. Just like them, these girls would find a Barbie that came in a cute but conservative outfit, a watch to keep an eye on the time, a box of pretzels, and a book on a diet (Yikes). Klimek: Yeah. I mean, are you willing to share a little more about that, the lore that you and your sister invented?If you look at the video, they're dressed in this very 1950s, all-American, clean cut garb. They're getting married; they end up at the aisle.

And we're closing out the show, as we do every episode, with a little extra bit of info from my colleagues at Smithsonian magazine. This installment of the “dinner party fact” is best served during dessert. Like Totally Hair Ken, Cool Shavin' Ken (looking rather like George Michael) is very concerned with his appearance.

1. Business Appointment Ken

Klimek: Emily has spent a lot of time thinking about the racial politics of Barbie. She writes about this in her book Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities . It turns out that even when the Barbie universe expanded to other body types and skin tones, it didn't necessarily change the minds of the consumer. Emily spoke with anthropologist Elizabeth Chin about this. Klimek: This is a thing that you write about in a really nuanced way in your piece about how the Handlers were a Jewish family and how even for the creators of Barbie the aesthetic of Barbie was kind of a fraught subject. Jarossi’s description seems to capture the essence of Ryan Gosling’s very Method press tour for Barbie, during which he has been exceedingly deferential to Barbie and offered himboism after himboism. “Very little is known about Kenergy,” he told ET. “And we don’t have the funding for the research. We know that it’s real. In my case it came on as a rash, and then it turned into a tan. And then suddenly you’re shaving your legs, and you’re bleaching your hair, and you’re wearing bespoke rollerblades.” He admitted to BuzzFeed that letting go of the Ken role was “a bit like that Pillsbury dough—go with me on this—Cinnabon mix? Like once you open that canister you’re making Cinnabons. And you’re loving it. You’re loving making Cinnabons.” German fashion designer and Barbie fanatic himself, Philipp Plein, created this Barbie doll for his 50-year anniversary in collaboration with Mattel for release at the biggest toy fair in the world, held annually in Nuremberg, Germany, and the toy was only sold during this event.