Ken Doll

[elben-7731]

I had no problem selling Barbie dolls on eBay, but nobody wants Ken? What gives?

[katzrul15]

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@elben-7731 wrote:

I had no problem selling Barbie dolls on eBay, but nobody wants Ken? What gives?

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We sell Ken often, especially Groom Ken from the various Bridal Series of Barbie.

Barbie is an independent doll these days with her "I Can Be Series".  She does not need Ken - she is perhaps hangin with Midge and all is well. 

[evry1nositswindy]

Nice answer @katzrul15 .  I was thinking of a similar answer, just not as diplomatic as yours!  Mine would have been censored.  We don't need no stinkin' Ken!

[krazzykats]

Sales are slow on non-essential items.

[chapeau-noir]

I always thought Ken was kind of blech.  It's really funny when you pull his head off and pop it onto a Barbie (and vice versa) - OK, we were 10 years old.

[divwido]

a sign of things to come?  We don't need Ken to have babies, little sisters or teen sisters, so what's his point?  He doesn't even have nice clothing or cool cars.   Ken has always been a bit of an after thought.   

[reallynicestamps]

An amusing "wedding photoshoot" for Barbie was posted to my FaceBook yesterday. She was marrying one of the guys from One Direction and Ken was just a guest.

There were dinosaurs for some reason.

[wrong66]

A Ken head on a Barbie body might actually sell good "these days". And vice versa.

[ckimodog]

@katzrul15

Don't forget Skipper!

[soh.maryl]

So there's a reason that Barbie would be essential, but not Ken? 

[chapeau-noir]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

So there's a reason that Barbie would be essential, but not Ken? 

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I can't speak for collectors, but Barbie is/was more relatable to girls, I think, particularly since she has had various roles now.  I don't recall being interested in boys* or anything much to do with Ken at my Barbie playing age, but I liked making clothes for Barbie - it's how I later started into apparel construction.  I DID have troll dolls (I loved troll dolls) and GI Joe figures.  Ken was so bland.

ETA: I should say in any domestic sense - I had boy buddies - we kids all liked to play Army in one kid's backyard and we were boys and girls all skirmishing, but I had no desire for homemaking or any of the other roles pushed onto girls back in the olden days.  Ken was kind of a non-starter - except for the pulling-head-off thing.

[candd205]

Ken was Barbie's arm candy.

[maxine*j]

I did only one, simple, unrefined and barely defined search -- "Ken doll" in Sold Listings only -- and got 4,235 results -- so someone is buying Ken dolls. 

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[gloryglorygifts]

Must be the hair.... LOL

[nocoolnamejane]

This is purely anecdotal as it’s my personal experience, but as a child, my friends and I all had only one Ken doll while we had dozens, if not more, Barbies.

I would put forward the hypothesis that Ken does sell, but is waaaaaay less popular than Barbies (and much less fun to dress up as well!)