Posted on 02/09/2006 12:31:10 PM PST by presidio9
NEW YORK (Reuters) - He's been to the gym, looks buff and stylish, and now Barbie's boy toy Ken wants to win back the doll he split from two years ago.
After a two-year separation, Mattel Inc. said on Thursday that Barbie's long-time suitor wants to rekindle his decades-long romance with his plastic paramour.
Mattel is hoping Ken's return to retail stores can also revitalise the company's overall fortunes. In January, the company blamed sagging Barbie sales for sagging profits.
"Ken has revamped his life -- mind, body and soul," Hollywood stylist and Mattel consultant Phillip Bloch said in a statement. "Everyone knows how difficult it is to change, especially when you've lived your life a certain way for more than four decades."
Mattel said in February 2004 that Barbie and Ken had split after 43 years because they wanted to spend some time apart.
Ken, who appears to have spent time in the gym and at the stylist, returns wearing a beach-wear ensemble complete with board shorts and white T-shirt.
For her part, Barbie publicist Lauren Dougherty said Barbie "appreciates the new look Ken is sporting. He really looks great. But we'll have to stay tuned to see whether these two will get back together."
At a press conference unveiling Ken, Bloch said the company was going for a "worldly, European thing," and "definitely wanted to be looking hot."
Mattel's fourth-quarter results January showed an 18 percent decline in Barbie's U.S. sales. The company said that in addition to "tweaking" the Barbie line this year, more dramatic changes would be made in 2007.
Good. He looks a little straighter this time.
"Unless you want your son to live in the Village and skip to work, KEEP HIM AWAY FROM THE KEN DOLL!!!" --- Sddie Murphy
I heard they are coming out with a new 'Divorce Barbie'.
She comes with all of Ken's stuff.
A little girl sits on Santa's Lap
Santa: "What do you want for Christmas?"
Girl: "I want Barbie and G.I. Joe"
Santa: "I thought Barbie came with Ken"
Girl: "No, Barbie comes with G.I. Joe, she fakes it with Ken"
BTW: Why would Barbie want a guy who is not, uh, anatomically correct?
So9
He just wants to hook up with her for the health care benefits!
FWIW, that is basically what I look like.
John Edwards is getting a makeover?
No protrusions between the legs?
So9
Was he designed by the "Queer Eye" folks?
Are you in the habit of undressing your boy dolls?
[Girl, you really got me going.]
Sold Seperately... sometimes I feel like I was sold seperately...
Sagging Barbie. At 43?
Hmmm, seems Matel is trying to undo PC mistakes.
The question would be how to make ken UN-PC.
(s)would republican party ken have any interest in Barbi?(/s)
Too funny! I used to have GI Joe for my Barbies too. I figured any woman with a figure like hers wouldn't have to settle for a wuss like Ken.
Cindie
Silicone, silicone, silicone.
lol!
Maureen Dowd would love a man-hating Barbie.
LOL I hadn't noticed that line. It seems to me they should fire whoever came up with the idea for Sagging Barbie. They should have known it wouldn't have sold well. :^)
That's probably my fault. I'm constantly mailing So9 nekkid Ken dolls. ;-)
Queer eye for the Ken guy.
I know, 'guy' is a bit of a stretch for this pansy.
Fox News had the designer on this morning. I don't think he is one of the "Queer Eye" folks, but he definitely DOES meet the requirements to be a host on "Queer Eye"! LOL
Ken might not be so eager when he finds out that Barbie has been downsized.
"...Girl, you really got me going..."
It's either a Kinks reference or DLR/Van Halen nod.
~ Blue Jays ~
For her part, Barbie publicist Lauren Dougherty said Barbie "appreciates the new look Ken is sporting. He really looks great. But we'll have to stay tuned to see whether these two will get back together."
These "professionals" spend their days making up fantasy lives for plastic dolls.
America has too much time on its hands.
I'm not in the habit of having dolls at all, but Ken doesn't look to be packing much of a package.
So9
Queer eye for the Mattel guy?
So you're the one.
8-))
So9
Ken remains a girly-man preppy dork.
Yea that's the "Queer Eye" dude I thought this new Ken was based on.
"blamed sagging Barbie sales for sagging profits."
Sure a little heat from a lighter and a sagging they go!
When I was a kid, we used to impress our sister's Ken dolls into service when we were playing GI Joes. The Kens always served as cannon fodder in fruitless "forlorn hope" type assaults and were quickly dispatched by the enemy so we could get the Kens back to our weeping sisters before the moms got involved.
Plastic and neutered with "Made in China" stamped on your butt?
LOL!
My mother wouldn't let me get a Ken doll - I think she was afraid of what we'd come up with.
Her worries were justified, I think. My friend finally got one and the next day my mom discovered Ken and Barbie naked together in the back of the Dream Van :lol:.
LQ
Unless the "new" Ken has dreadlocks, tattos, can rap crap, and smokes crack, meth or weed, Barbie will have no interest in him.
LOL! "We have made a strategic decision, since all of us doll designers are gay, we thought that our dolls should be gay. However, after seeing sales decline by 18%, and realizing we might have to get a real job that encompasses work, ethics and social contact with breeders.....we have decided that Ken can now look like a neutered male again and....sigh....be Barbie's boyfriend....again."
Yeah..he still looks like he belongs in a Palm Springs bathhouse...
LOL
It doesn't really matter what "fresh perspective" Ken or Barbie have on their "life". They're still going to the crap beaten out of them by Sally's brother's toys.
"Ken has revamped his life -- mind, body and soul,"
???
That's in preparation for release this Christmas.
The do-it-yourself "Barbie plastic surgery makeover kit."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.