Ken

Barbie first tottered into the world at the American Toy Fair in 1959 and by the end of the year 350,000 of the dolls had sashayed out of the shops. Despite such popularity with young girls, Barbie craved a partner and in 1961 got one - blue-eyed boy Ken.

Bizarrely, just as Barbie was named after her creator Ruth Handler's daughter, so the new plastic beau was named after her son. Which probably doesn't bear too much scrutiny.

Ken was a perfect half-inch taller than Barbie and came as a blonde or brunette with 'flocked hair'. Just as Barbie was launched in a zebra skin swimsuit, so Ken was unleashed in his trunks, with only a towel casually slung over his shoulder to protect his modesty.

The dilemma for makers Mattel was whether Ken should be as anatomically correct below the waist as he was above. The prickly issue of Ken's appendage was solved when it was decided he should be launched with unremovable 'perma-pants'.

The world's first sighting of Ken came in a TV advert where he spied Barbie across a crowded ballroom. It was a match made in plastic.