VARIOUS: BARBIE AND KEN CALL IT QUITS AFTER 43 YEARS OF BEING THE WORLD'S PRETTIEST PAIR

Record ID: 863052

  • Title: VARIOUS: BARBIE AND KEN CALL IT QUITS AFTER 43 YEARS OF BEING THE WORLD'S PRETTIEST PAIR
  • Date: 26th February 2004
  • Summary: (L!1) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) KEN AND BARBIE
  • Embargoed: 12th March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Business,Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVABQ0QOGEH939TQCAQ5OFZ6HKUC
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  • Story Text: Yet another celebrity split - Barbie and Ken call it quits after 43 years of being the world's prettiest pair.
    Ken and Barbie have joined the ranks of countless other celebrity couples and called it quits.
    After 43 happy years together the glossy perfect pair are going their separate ways.
    The most popular fashion doll in the world hooked up with Ken way back in 1961, and it was love at first sight when they first met on the set of a movie set, according to manufacturers Mattel.
    At this year's Toy Fair in New York City, Mattel President, Matt Bousquette announced to the world, "Barbie and Ken need a little space and so Ken is going to go off and spend a little time with his friends and Barbie has been seen at the beach and not alone."
    This new beach-loving Barbie has been given a new image to help ease her over the breakup. Her latest incarnation is as Cali (as in California) Girl Barbie.
    Befitting her new found singledom, Cali Barbie dons surfing shorts, bikini top and a much deeper tan.
    It's a major makeover for the Barbie that was born in 1959 and who has been everything from rock star to astronaut to princess.
    Perhaps it was all those bridal Barbies which scared off Ken, who may just have a commitment phobia.
    Bousquette elaborated, "The question is we think Ken may have a commitment problem, we are not sure and Barbie has met some new people in the Cali Girl world that she has befriended."
    One person in particular Barbie has befriended in her new world, is Blaine, the Australian boogie boarder.
    Will there be any hostility between Ken and Blaine? Mattel assures us that there won't be, with Ken and Barbie remaining good friends.
    The big question now is who will be the first to sell the details of their decades old relationship to the tabloids? Meanwhile - at the rest of the Toy Fair, technology was the driving force behind many of this year's new hot items.
    Even some of the classic names are getting a technological makeover this year, such as GI Joe and Batman.
    Neil Friedman, President of Brands at Fisher-Price said, "I think you are seeing a lot of innovation this year probably more than ever before because the affordability of the electronics is much better and the things that can be done in the micro-technologies to be able to be put into toys is much stronger."
    The high-tech innovation can be found across the toy industry, like a traditional slot car set, which now contains cutting edge digital chip technology to speed the car along the tracks.
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