My First Ken Doll

Even as a child, I was never a big fan of the generic Ken dolls; when I looked at his face, there was just something about it that didn’t work for me, to say nothing of his outstretched, unbending limbs that reminded me of a zombie. I can’t even pinpoint today exactly what it was, or if it was just a combination of little things, but I never bothered investing my allowance in any male dolls as a result.

That is, until 1991 rolled around.

90210 was, unbeknownst to me at the time, a very popular show at the in the early ‘90’s. Popularity, in this case, turned into a series of dolls, created in the semi-likeness of the characters. While I’m sure a repaint would do them a world of good, as far as factory paint goes, these were pretty impressive.

I remember seeing two blonde females and two Ken dolls; one had a smirk on his smug face, the other had piercing eyes. Brandon, the one with the piercing eyes, was the first male doll that struck my fancy and, lucky me, he was on sale.

I didn’t even bother putting him in my mother’s shopping cart, I just carried him around the store with me, telling him of all the adventures we’d be going on. When it came time, I virtually emptied the contents of my little wallet for him.

Worth every penny.

My cousins were green with envy as their Ken dolls stood, unremarkable, arms stretched out in front of them like zombies, as I used my bent-armed Brandon doll to embrace his barbie in the closest thing to a hug any of us had ever seen between a male and female doll.  My cousin, not wanting to be outdone, got herself the Dylan doll, though he was never as good lookin’ as Brandon.

What made me feel old was just now, googling for pictures, I discovered he’s now considered “vintage” - you know you’re starting to get old (or already old) when songs from your childhood show up on the oldies station, and your childhood toys are listed as “vintage”. Uhg.

My Brandon, whose first name I didn’t change, carried the surname of Baker. He was the ultimate ladies man - not because he was a slime ball or anything, but he was a player out of necessity.  On different days, I wanted to play with different dolls, and he was the always the boyfriend. He had his own little harem right up until 1994, when he finally settled down with my very first non-blonde Barbie. 

But that’s another post ;)

Thanks for stopping in, and feel free to share your favorite childhood dolls in the comments section :)