Saturday 17 December 2005

Malibu Beach Lennon

The wonder that is John Lennon's estate has come up with a new collectable toy that many Beatle fans will no doubt give to their kids in the hope they'll grow up into a Beatlenut rather than a goth or a rap artist or something...

The John Lennon Talking Doll... yes, a doll. And before anyone gets KinKy, it's an action figure doll... like a decent version of Barbie's Ken... or Sindy's Paul who was incidentally named after Mr McCartney. Sindy's dog got named Ringo, and they didn't name anything after George thank goodness! I have to say that a friend and I did get very hysterical one night after a few glasses of scotch reading a 1960s Sindy Annual which had Ringo doing some rather suspicious sounding things... anyway, I digress. [giggles]



...it doesn't actually look too bad... if you like grumpy looking dolls that look like they should be grimacing their way through the next edition of Die Hard. But I reckon if you stood the doll next to Ken and asked Barbie to choose, she'd flatten the Lennon talking Doll within seconds and forget who Ken was. LOL!

Worried what this doll is going to *sound* like too... will it use actual recordings of John (which will freak me out completely), will they have it saying John phrases in an unconvincing American accent and totally the wrong voice, or is it going to sound Taiwanese and say something along the lines of "Hi, I'm John, let's go visit Barbie"?! YIKES!

...and more importantly, is it going to have a change of clothes such as a collarless suit and a set of teeny tiny miniature cuban heels?

Thoroughly freaked out. But if I was about 7 years old I reckon I'd want one.

...for those into 60s objects who are also finding the whole thing fascinatingly hilarious, you should go check out this site we've been discussing at the Vintage Fashion Guild that chronicles the life and times of Barbie's Ken.

The Herman Munster lookalike "mod hair Ken" with stick on beard and sidebuns (we've gone back into tribute Beatle land again... if they bring out a Ringo action figure with an array of noses, someone high up in the toy factory will wish they'd never been born once I track them down!) that comes with a ruffled shirt and flowery jacket is particularly hilarious.

"New Good Looking Ken" would baffle everyone, "Great Shape Ken" is not something you'd want to bump into on a dark night... and the "Hot Rockin' Fun Rockstars Ken" is just a New-Romantic nightmare!

...and while you're there, check out the Legolas (LOTR) and Shaggy (Scooby Doo) versions. Really freaked out.

The man behind the doll

1 comment:

  1. Wot???? I wished I would have visited here sooner.
    This is crazy, no?

    I had the real Beatle dolls, btw, and yes, they made it to Goodwill sometime in the late 60's. I never liked them, (the dolls) as they didn't really look like my guys!!! They, (The Beatles) were my first LOVE. Really! I knew what romantic love meant, the first time I saw them....though I was only barely 4 years old.

    See you around TBWHM....I am sure ;0)

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