ken's been missing before
As a long-time Barbie doll collector (why do you think my Internet name is skippercollector?), I can tell you that Ken will most likely return. Mattel has discontinued the doll before.
A little history: Ken (a much skinnier, preppier version) was sold from 1961 to 1966. After Hasbro introduced GI Joe in 1965, Mattel took Ken off the market to revamp him. No Kens were available in 1967 and 1968. A more buff version, with larger muscles and a completely different head mold, returned in 1969.
As for Blaine, Ken's so-called competition, that boy doll was introduced in 2000. He's popular with adult collectors but I don't know if little girls play with him, and I'm not sure how much longer Mattel will make him. I don't care for Blaine myself because he looks too much like Leonardo DiCaprio. Ken's had competition before, most notably the Rocker Derek doll in the mid-1980s. But Derek lasted only two years.
To further confuse all of you, the Barbie dolls sold in Brazil in the mid-1980s had no Ken at all--her boyfriend there was named Bob!
Mary
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