I just signed up for Facebook a couple of days ago there, as I already mentioned. I was uploading photos of myself and organising them a bit. I made an album called Action Ken which contains a variety of pictures of me engaged in a number of activities such as rock climbing, longboarding and so on. A Canadian friend (one Mr. Robert Augi) asked the question, "Do they make Action Ken dolls?" It got me thinking a bit.
First of all, I realised that Rob probably didn't realise the genius of what he was suggesting. I say that not to be unkind to my friend, but because being from North America he probably had no experience of Action Man while growing up. He more likely had exposure to G.I. Joe. (If you're interested in the history, you can follow the two links to compare them. They were made by the same company and G.I. Joe came 2 years earlier.)
The other aspect of Rob's genius was of course the Ken doll, from the Barbie world. Unbeknownst to Rob, my friends and I used to speculate about the difference between Action Man and Ken. If you put them side by side and had a look, Ken was pretty pathetic and a bit of a pansy really. We came to the conclusion that if they went to school together, Action Man probably beat up Ken most playtimes.
So, now we come to the crux of it all - Action Ken! With all the sad history and the over-feminine Ken role-model for boys who play with Barbie (hmm, dubious target audience, mind you) it's time for a more masculine, adventure-loving Ken. The kind of Ken who could give Action Man a run for his money and the occasional shiner in a lunchtime brawl. I think we could be on to something here.
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6 comments:
I think Barbie's Ken was more for girls to play with. I remember making Barbie and Ken go on "dates". It was lame.
My brother and my best friend's younger brother would play with these incredibly macho action-type ken-esque dolls; I forget what they were called but I do remember that one of them had a giant "scar" across his face.
Awesome.
Action Ken plays the flute?!?!? What the hell?!?!? He's awesome!! He can climb an ice mountain (including the the sun drenched rock face at the bottom), build a house on top, cook a great mash then serenade us with a guitar and flute combo.
Annie, I realise the sentiment about Barbie being for girls, but I suppose the sad thing is the idea that all the guys in her world are a bit wussy. It's as if girls who play with barbies are trained to expect all guys to be "nice" and tidy rather than a bit rugged. I'm guessing the action dolls you speak of were probably G.I. Joe or Action Man. I'm not sure which would have been in Canada, as you have both US and British influences there.
Frewba, I like your thinking. This could be the beginnings of a storyboard for episode 1. YOU'RE HIRED!
Action Jen it is my friend...this seems to carry much weight with all things 'action figure'...
I guess what is really the question then is who is Action Jen. For if Ken was to pansy for us guys to appreciate him, then will Action Jen be to masculine for woman to be able to identify. Being lads i suppose we're in the wrong corner to make such judgement calls, for my Action Jen would be hott, love football (nfl..sorry), musician, long flowing curly blonde hair....oh wait...i've got my Action Kelley..and she's all that and more...
guess Action Jen does exist...just don't make her to muscly...like those weird arnold look alikes....*vomit*...
Let's get some lady input into Action Jen shall we...we know what Action Ken can do...
Nooo, noo, I didn't LIKE Ken. I thought he was a boring metrosexual and made fun of him. His only purpose was to go on dates with Barbie. I really think he was closet gay man.
Also, the more manly 'dolls' our brothers had weren't GI Joe, or the other one you talked about; they were from something else entirely, I think it was a kids' TV show popular at the time. They weren't that popular but our brothers had 'em.
Hello my love,
hmm, I didn't expect that from you...so, you're interested in Action Man, G.I. Joe and all...interesting thoughts though...
Although, I guess you can find some kind of Action "Barbie" - although they'll probably have dark hair - to emphazise the "impetuous" side, you know, the kind of independant crazy girls looking for adventures. I like that!
My wonderful wee Scot, I like your blog!
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