During 1962 Mattel changed Ken’s original outfit and box design slightly. He now came with red sandals, plain red trunks or shorts, an unlabelled beach top, wire stand, and booklet. The towel was no longer included. These versions were only available in blonde and brunette.
For more information and many more detailed photographs see THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
KEN #750 (‘thick-brow’ blonde and brunette)
I also have a very rare version of this Ken with regular red shorts. He was sold by Montgomery Ward, and came in the ‘factory-flaw’ box (missing ‘Ken He’s a doll’ in the teal oval). He can be seen in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
The later flocked hair Kens have much thinner eyebrows. Initially they still had swimming trunks, but later on they came with plain red shorts. These were the first to come with the blue booklet for 1962. They appear in the 1963 catalogues, and would have been sold in 1963 until the flocked hair version was completely replaced by the new-look painted hair Ken before Christmas.
KEN #750 (‘thin-brow’ blonde and brunette wearing trunks)
KEN #750 (‘thin-brow’ blonde and brunette wearing shorts)
THE 1962 BOXES
The illustrations on the 1961 box lid are closer to the actual items than the prototypes, but there are still many discrepancies. The 1962 box lid illustrations have been updated and brought closer to the outfits as sold. As shown below, Sleeper Set now has a pocket on the pyjama top, Terry Togs shows the correct slippers, and Casuals the correct colour shoes. As shown above, Dreamboat has the correct shirt, and Ken wears his new ‘cabana’ outfit, replacing the earlier, redundant picture of him in black and white shorts (and brown sandals).
However, the 1962 box lid still contains anomalies: In Training is no longer shown with socks and shoes, but still has the wrong shorts, and Saturday Date still has a red tie. Despite the errors, these illustrations remained on all future 750 Ken boxes.
There are two variations of the 1962 box lid: the ‘factory-flaw’ version (the words ‘Ken He’s a doll’ are missing from the teal oval), and an ultra-rare version showing Ken with a towel and red shorts. Both housed a ‘thick-brow’ Ken dressed as described above. The rarer box must have been printed in the US: the box lid makes no mention of Japan, and the base is made of natural card (not white like those made in Japan), similar to those made for the US ‘shorties’. I’ve only ever found two examples of this box, so it was either a prototype or an extremely limited release. It is featured in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
The box lid ends came in four versions, all of which can be seen in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
The imprint in the top right corner of the box lid altered slightly between 1962 and 1963. Note also the 1963 addition of a T.M to the words ‘He’s a Doll’, and ‘Barbie’s Boyfriend’.
BOOKLETS & CATALOGUES
As shown above, the earliest Kens were still sold with the pink booklet. The later, thin-brow Kens came with the blue booklet dated 1962. The new illustration of Ken shows him with the beach jacket and trunks.
The original flocked hair Ken with white-striped shorts and towel (or even the prototype) still appears in several catalogues for 1962, even the Mattel Dolls for Fall ’62 catalogue.
Some catalogues mention that his hair comes in “assorted colors”, but by this time he was only available in blonde and brunette.
Annual catalogues, as well as Spring Summer and even Fall Winter usually only showed items from the previous Christmas.
The General Merchandise Company catalogue (now owned by JCPenney) still uses the ‘bendy-arm’ picture of Ken from their previous issue. The first official Penneys catalogue featuring Ken appeared for Fall Winter 1963.
The Spiegel catalogue from Spring Summer 1963 oddly shows an earlier version (1961 shorts) of Ken to the ones featured in their 1962 Christmas or 1963 Spring Sale catalogues. Both Spring ’63 catalogues refer only to his crew cut with no mention of it being molded, so presumably they were still selling the flocked hair version.
Flocked hair Ken was presumably sold parallel to the new painted hair Ken during 1963, until the flocked hair version was phased out in the autumn. He still appears in Mattel’s 1963 TV commercials (seen here on Youtube), and in print up to 1964, although by this time he was certainly no longer available. The Spiegel, John Plain and Aldens catalogues may show him, but the texts are unambiguous: his crew-cut hair is “molded”, “moulded” or “molded-in and painted”.
Flocked hair Ken was however sold in Japan in 1964. Ken was introduced in the April 1964 issue of Japanese TOY magazine, along with Midge, as a ‘new friend’ of Barbie. The flocked hair Kens were not just used as models – they regularly turn up nowadays in Japanese auctions as Dressed Dolls. For more information see section 1964-67 Japanese Market Ken & Allan.
KEN’S LAST NAME
Most collectors will probably already know that Ken’s last name is Carson. Like Barbie’s (Roberts), the name was taken from Mattel’s then advertising agency Carson Roberts. The surnames only appeared around 1963 though, through the stories by Random House Books. The Barbie Magazine for March-April 1962 states that, rather than having original surnames, Barbie and Ken should adopt the last name of the child who bought them: which would work if Barbie and Ken were brother and sister, but is rather illogical for a dating couple.
