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Origin
In May 2021, a picture supposedly showing an “Allan” Doll, a buddy for the Mattel company’s famous Ken Doll, was widely circulated on social media:
This social media user’s caption of “Ken’s Buddy” wasn’t conjured out of thin air. If you look at the bottom of the box, you can see that Allan was marketed as “Ken’s Buddy.”
This is a genuine product that was sold by Mattel. The vintage Ken doll website Somethingaboutaboy.com writes that Allan was first introduced in 1964:
Allan was introduced in the Barbie Fan Club March/April magazine, but his first appearance in the store catalogues (that I’ve discovered so far) is in the Aldens catalogue for Fall Winter (and of course Mattel’s own Barbie For Fall ’64 trade catalogue). His first TV commercial can be seen on Youtube. He came with his own unique beach outfit with blue sandals, black wire stand and booklet. He was marketed as Ken’s Buddy and (to a lesser extent) the boyfriend of Midge. His body is