Another referral post here. This time, to a blog about vintage toys. Tracy - the blogger - has these photos of Allan that are worth viewing for vintage Allan fans. I have the two-toned shoes myself, but I don't have the red striped socks. Uber cute. If you like vintage fashions, of course.
My favorite PhillyCollector post featured Allan as a stand-in for Ken: curious? If you don't mind nude dolls and action figures, stop by to read that post. I did a brief social commentary in it. Thanks if you choose to stop by ... I'd LOVE to get feedback on that one.
in 2008 blog, you compare Ken and GI Joe. Ken did not get a fair deal. ken was smart, he went to college. Whereas GI JOE was train to kill by the military. Remember the Vietnam War was just beginning. canuc236
ReplyDeleteI hadn't realised Allan was only produced for such a short time. I went back and read your post - no wonder it is your favourite. Ken is definitely a secondary figure to Barbie in Australia. There are very few in comparison to female dolls. In fact, that holds true for every doll line. While Liv made it to our shores, no Gavin's came with them and male Monster Highs are extremely rare. (Yet another reason why my dolls put out their own rubbish.)
ReplyDeleteI like Allan too. It was great to see him.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, Carrickters, and Ms. Leo! Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - yes, I think of Ken as a college man, too. I think he has a good life in spite of his second-string status.
As for G.I. Joe - yes, he was military and initially a soldier ... trained to kill. (Later Joes took on the adventure motif.) That is/was a heavy load for him to carry. While I usurped my Joes and pulled them into my civilian stories, I recognized that they came from a different background than Ken. I'll do a post about that aspect in future. Thanks for reminding me of that distinction between Joe and Ken.
@Carrickters - oh, yes. The more recent Alan is not the exact same Allan.
Re: my Ken-Joe post. I want to re-visit it. Flesh out the topic more. But yes, I believe that Ken's bum rep everywhere is because he's the male supporter of an assertive female entrepreneur ;-)
@Ms. Leo - yes, Allan is a cutie. Glad you liked seeing him. I have other posts about him here.
Is it wrong that I'm amused by how much more manly GI Joe seems with his muscles and full beard? I have no doubts who would win that fight!
ReplyDeleteThat was a great article though, and I had no idea that male dolls were harder to get in certain places... I wonder why? (although I can understand why GI Joe might not be everywere -_-;; )
Heather, Old Joe - the particular Joe in that post - understands what you mean and why you'd find him more manly. He's flexing his muscles as I type this ;-) Alan made a face. He isn't keen on tackling any of the Joes.
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes male dolls are harder to find because we snap them up as soon as we see them.