In 1962 Mattel began to divide the clothing into Ensemble Paks; boxed like the outfits from 1961 and usually complete outfits with accessories, and Fashion Paks; smaller sets on card usually single fashion items or accessories. There are however several cross-overs and exceptions, like Rally Day below.
For more information and many more detailed photographs see THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
THE ENSEMBLE PAKS
RALLY DAY #788
The earliest versions of Rally Day (with the pink – and some with the light blue – booklet) were packaged in a larger box.
THE YACHTSMAN #789
In 1964 The Yachtsman was reissued with the addition of a cap (see section 1964 The Outfits).
TIME FOR TENNIS #790
The polo shirt below left has the regular deep neckline, but some versions have a polo shirt with a much shallower neck line. A NRFB example can be seen in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK. Some out-of-box cardigans for sale online look as if they have a ‘variation’ grey trim, but this probably just the result of excessive washing.
This outfit has also been found packaged in Japan as a Fashion Pak. It can be seen in the section 1964-66 Japanese Market Ken and Allan.
THE FASHION PAKS
Some of these clothes were only ever available as single Fashion Pak items, and some also appeared in other Ensemble or Fashion Pak sets. There are several variations, but mostly very slight. These items were produced for a couple of years, so there could be slight fabric variations, but it could equally just be the effects of repeated washing and/or fading with time. See THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK for some examples. The original TV commercial for the Fashion Paks can be seen on Youtube. It is especially interesting as it uses prototypes.
The Fashion Paks shown below obviously only originally included the items shown in the MOC versions. Any extra items or accessories are merely to enhance the photos.
ACCESSORY PACK
BLAZER, BLUE
CORD SLACKS
The booklets and catalogues do not specify, but the Cord Slacks were presumably produced in the two ‘official’ colours beige and green, like the Corduroy Jacket. The beige slacks especially can vary in colour.
CORDUROY JACKET
The Corduroy Jacket was officially available in beige and green. As with the Cord Slacks, the beige Corduroy Jacket can vary in colour. I’ve even seen white versions, but the lining of those jackets was pink (rather than the regular red), suggesting that the jackets had been bleached.
PATTERN PRINT SHIRT
The Pattern Print Shirt came in green and red. Some versions vary slightly, but again are probably just the result of fading through washing or prolonged exposure to sunlight.
POLO SHIRT
The Polo Shirt came in three colours: yellow-gold, green and red. Again, all slight variations are probably just regular shirts which have faded over time.
Ken’s white polo shirt usually came without label (Time For Tennis, Fraternity Meeting), so it’s tempting to think the one below could have been sold as a Fashion Pak item. If so, it must have been extremely rare, as I’m yet to find a version MOC. It is more likely to have been a regular tennis shirt which was given a label by mistake.
RED VEST
SEWN SWEATER, RED or PULLOVER SWEATER
SLACKS, BROWN
SLACKS, GREY
SOLID COLOR SPORT SHIRT
This shirt came in red and ivory. The ivory shirts usually yellow with age, so many slight fluctuations in colour can be found.
WHITE DRESS SHIRT
WINDBREAKER, BEIGE
This Windbreaker usually has darker brown trim, as shown here. I have one Windbreaker with the trim in the same pale beige colour as the jacket itself. It may be a genuine variation, or just the result of excessive washing. It can be seen in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
BARBIE & KEN GIFT SET #892
The Barbie & Ken Gift Set obviously also contained a Barbie doll and her clothing. In some early advertising the set is shown with a red cap for Ken. The earliest advertisements also show it with the original 1961 flocked hair Ken with shorts and towel.
As the boxes are dated 1962 I doubt it ever came with the 1961 Ken. The original set as I know it included a blonde or brunette flocked hair Ken (initially the ‘thick-brow’ Kens and then later the ‘thin-brow’ versions – see 1962 Flocked hair Kens) wearing his 1962 (unlabelled) ‘cabana’ beach outfit, and with the clothing shown here. The short green socks would only appear for sale once more (with the 1966 Ensemble Pak Summer Job). The set was still being sold in 1964, so later versions came with a painted hair Ken.
Note that the shoes in the later sets come in extra cellophane bags.
THE KEN DOLL CASES
Many other toy companies produced Barbie related items under license from Mattel, but only a few made items specifically for Ken. One was his own wardrobe (by Suzy Goose), a traditional country-style brown plastic model, similar to Barbie’s own. Another was Ken’s travel case, produced by Standard Plastic Products in the US. Between 1962 and 1964 they produced cases with three designs, in three colours (lavender, yellow and turquoise).
BOOKLETS & CATALOGUES
The illustration for Sleeper Set is still the one from 1961 showing the pajama top with short sleeves, like the prototype.
In 1962 Mattel even produced sewing patterns with outfits for Ken.
Dreamboat and Campus Hero were mixed up in the GMC catalogue below, and Sleeper Set is called Sleeper.
If Annual or Spring Summer issues have toys at all, they tend to show only items from the previous Christmas. In the 1963 Spiegel Spring Summer catalogue Time For Tennis is incorrectly described as Tennis Time.
The #892 Barbie & Ken Gift Set was still being sold in 1964, though now came with a painted hair (Japan-made) Ken.
The Fashion Pak items were available in 1962-63. The Ensemble Paks were available as follows.*
RALLY DAY (1962-1964)
THE YACHTSMAN (1962-1964) (Until 1968 in Europe)
TIME FOR TENNIS (1962-1965) (Until 1968 in Europe)
* Based on information taken from US and European Barbie booklets 1961-1968, Mattel catalogues from 1962-1968, and Mattel Employee Order Forms 1965-1967.
REVERSE OF PACKAGING
All Ken Ensemble Paks and the larger Fashion Paks were illustrated on the reverse. Apart from a slight alteration to the written information on reverse during 1962, these designs remained the same until the introduction of Ken’s Buddy Allan in 1964. Booklets were always included, even with the smallest Fashion Pak item, and obviously varied according to year.
In 1964 the Ensemble Paks were packaged in a new box featuring Allan on the reverse (see section 1965 The Outfits, bottom of page), but the earliest packed outfits for 1964 still came in the original packaging, shown below.
THE KEN LABEL
Genuine Ken clothing was labelled. From 1961-1964 the labels were marked Ken™ BY MATTEL. From 1964 onward there was a new label, which read Ken® ©MATTEL INC., though the earlier version can still occasionally be found on Ken clothing right up to the Fashion Originals in 1972.
All single Fashion Pak items were labelled, but larger sets usually only had one or two labelled pieces. This is most noticeable with the trousers. If Ken’s trousers were part of an outfit (like the Ensemble Pak Going Bowling or the Fashion Pak Soda Date), they were not labelled. The only exceptions are the outfits containing knitted pullovers (Campus Hero, Mountain Hike, Hiking Holiday), in which the labels are found in the trousers/shorts. As another example, the orange hooded top from Ensemble Pak Ken Skin Diver #1406 was not labelled, because there was a label in the trunks. But, the same top released as the Fashion Pak Sweatshirt did have a label.
