Vintage Allan Dolls

Allan Sherwood was the first buddy doll created for Ken. The vintage Allan doll first came on the market in 1964. His creation mirrored the creation of Barbie's pal, Midge.

Allan was advertised as Midge's boyfriend as well. Allan has the distinction of being the only one of Ken's friends to be given a last name.

The early versions of this vintage doll usually had red painted hair and brown eyes. Just like Ken, Allan was an 11 ½ " doll with straight arms and legs. One of the advertising hooks was that Allan could wear all the same clothes that Ken wore.

An interesting bit of trivia about the Allan doll is that he was named after Barbara Handler's husband, Allan Segal. (article continues below)

Barbara and her brother, Ken were the inspiration for the names of the Barbie and Ken dolls, created by their parents, who founded Mattel.

When Allan first appeared, he was released with blue swim trunks, a multicolored striped beach jacket and blue cork sandals. The beach jacket was made with both horizontal stripes and vertical stripes.

Allan was re-released with bendable legs later in 1964. He retained his blue swim trunks and sandals, but had a red beach jacket with a multicolored stripe of fabric on the left side and the initial "A" on the lower left side.

Allan was discontinued in 1965, although the dolls remained on the shelves until 1966. Ken also disappeared for a few years beginning in 1966. He was redesigned and back on the market in 1969, but Allan did not make the cut. A new friend named Brad was released instead, and Allan dropped into obscurity for a long time. The vintage Allan dolls are difficult to find.

Allan (note the spelling change in the name) was revived in 1991 as part of a wedding set. He and Midge were finally getting married. To this date, these dolls are the only married characters in the entire Barbie line. Allan was redesigned and updated.

Promotional materials were put out featuring the wedding couple as a family with twins, but they never made it into production. Allan again left the shelves, while Midge was able to continue as a friend in the swim line of dolls.

In 2002, Allan was recreated yet again, this time with dark hair and blue eyes. He is the father in the Happy Family series. He is paired with his toddler son, Ryan. In 2003, both Midge and Allan also had an African American version available for the first time.

Midge later joined in as a pregnant mother, which caused some controversy. Both Midge and Allan dolls were pulled temporarily from the market. The tie-in with Barbie (she was a baby doctor) was never pulled, however.

In 2004, the entire Happy Family line was available. Midge is available as an expectant mother again, another Midge is available with toddler Nikki, Allan is available with Ryan, a set of grandparent dolls are available and a set of three neighborhood children are available to go to Nikki's party.