Several great new Ensemble and Fashion Paks were produced for 1963, mostly sports- and profession-based. It is almost as if Mattel were beginning to reimagine Ken as a toy for boys. It is certainly worth noting that Ken’s Sailor and Army & Air Force outfits predate the 1964 launch of GI Joe.
For more information and many more detailed photographs see THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
THE ENSEMBLE PAKS
FUN ON ICE #791
Later packaged versions of Fun On Ice came with red backing card.
PLAY BALL! #792
The earliest versions of this outfit have a lighter brown mitt.
The version of Play Ball! below left with the gold packaging must be from 1964, as this packaging was not used earlier. The version on the right must be from 1965 or later, so is exceptionally rare. Play Ball! does not feature in any booklets or catalogues after 1964, either in the US or abroad. I’ve never even seen a NRFB version with a 1964 booklet before, and certainly not one like this, with the booklet for 1965. It belongs to my Japanese collector friend, but the packaging has no special markings. However, as it was found in Japan the likeliest explanation is that it was packaged c.1965-66 to sell off old stock in Japan.
DR. KEN #793
MASQUERADE #794
GRADUATION #795
A second version of Graduation exists packed in a square box. It came with an extra slip illustrating the outfit. This was presumably to clarify the contents.
SAILOR #796
ARMY & AIR FORCE #797
Army & Air Force came with unique navy blue shoes. The slacks have a YKK zip but no snap, presumably because of the belts. The set came with only one shirt and pair of slacks.
SKI CHAMPION #798
The earliest versions are arranged in the packaging slightly differently.
The later jackets below (both photos) are interesting, as they come with yellow stitching.
TOUCHDOWN! #799
Mattel reproduced this outfit in 2008, as part of their Barbie & Ken adult collector gift set Campus Spirit. It can be seen here.
THE FASHION PAKS
The Fashion Paks below obviously only originally included the items shown in the MOC versions. Any extra items or accessories are merely to enhance the photos. As well as the usual single items there were three ‘Outfit’ sets this year, though only two are complete outfits.
CARDIGAN SWEATER
JEANS
SWEATSHIRT
BOXING OUTFIT
I once discovered a MOC ‘variation’ Boxing Outfit with silver shorts. However, when I removed them from the card they were still blue on the reverse: they had changed colour through prolonged exposure to sunlight. This silver ‘variation’ is featured in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
HUNTING OUTFIT
SKIN DIVER OUTFIT
THE GIFT SETS
FASHION QUEEN BARBIE AND HER FRIENDS KEN & MIDGE SET #863
The Barbie & Friends gift set shown below is a later version, with a blue-eyed Ken. The earliest set I’ve seen contained the second version 1963 brunette Ken (green eyes with black line around iris, original hand/arm mold – see below, and also section 1963 Painted hair Kens).
FASHION QUEEN BARBIE & KEN TROUSSEAU SET #864
The recommended retail price of the Fashion Queen Barbie & Ken Trousseau Set was $25, a massive amount at the time. Obviously few were sold, as a year later the Spiegel catalogue was offering the set at the bargain price of $12.88. I only have the de-boxed Ken and his clothing from this set, but this is still a rare find in itself. The Ken is the third 1963 version (the first to have the new hand/arm mold). This set was also available with the same Ken in blonde.
Most of this clothing is identical, or similar, to other Ken outfits. The Sports Shorts outfit has different shoes from the regular set. The Tuxedo outfit has to borrow the plain dress shirt from the grey suit, and share the black shoes. There is no corsage, cummerbund, or boutonnière on the tux jacket, and it comes with a white bow tie (instead of burgundy). The bow tie is the real treasure, as it was only ever available with this set. A close-up photo of this white bow tie can be seen in THE ORIGINAL KEN® BOOK.
THE KEN DOLL CASES
In 1963 Standard Plastic Products also produced a Ken travel case in an exclusive green for the Canadian market.
BOOKLETS & CATALOGUES
Three Barbie & Ken booklets were produced for 1963 with slightly different contents. The yellow and blue booklets came with the Ensemble and Fashion Paks. The white booklet has more pages and came only with the dolls.
Click on the two booklets below to see all the pages which feature Ken.
As the 1963 outfits were produced so far in advance, exceptionally they already feature in the Fall Winter catalogues. In 1963 JCPenney took over the General Merchandise Company. Their Fall Winter issue was the first to carry the Penney name.
The Sears catalogue describes Sport Shorts as Bermuda Shorts.
The 1964 LC Mayers & Spors Yearbook has the exact same layout as the 1963-64 catalogues from Robert Morton and Continental.
Three Gambles issues – Fall Winter 1963-64 (pages 178-179), Spring Summer 1964 (pages 180-181), and Fall Winter 1964-65 (pages 208-209) – show this almost identical layout.
Touchdown is shown in the Spiegel catalogue below right without a ‘7’ on the jersey. This is presumably only because he was dressed with the number on his back instead.
The Ensemble Paks were available as follows.*
FUN ON ICE (1963-1964) (Until 1968 in Europe)
PLAY BALL! (1963-1964) (Possibly until 1966 in Japan – see above)
DR. KEN (1963-1965) (Until 1968 in Europe)
MASQUERADE (1963-1964)
GRADUATION (1963-1964)
SAILOR (1963-1965) (Until 1968 in Europe)
ARMY & AIR FORCE (1963-1965) (Until 1967 in Europe)
SKI CHAMPION (1963-1964)
TOUCHDOWN! (1963-1965) (Until 1966 in Europe). A reproduction of this outfit was issued in 2008 as part of the Barbie & Ken Campus Spirit gift set.
*Based on information from US and European Barbie booklets 1963-1968, Mattel catalogues from 1963-1967, and Mattel Employee Order Forms 1965-1967.