Life in Plastic Is Fantastic for 'Mad Men' Barbie Dolls

By PopEater Staff Posted Mar 10th 2010 07:30AM

Move over, Ken. Don Draper is coming into Barbie's world. Following three successful seasons of 'Mad Men,' Mattel plans to bring out versions of Barbie and Ken styled after four of the show's characters. The collectors' series will include Don Draper, the show's leading man; his wife, Betty; his colleague at the Sterling Cooper agency, Roger Sterling; and Joan Holloway, the agency's office manager who was Roger's mistress, NY Times reports. The dolls are scheduled to be released in July to promote the fourth season of 'Mad Men,' which will begin that month on AMC.

There will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each doll, to be sold in specialty stores and on two Web sites, amctv.com and barbiecollector.com. The dolls are part of a premium-price collectors' series for adults in the Barbie Fashion Model Collection, with a suggested retail price of $74.95 each. Mattel is licensing rights to the characters from Lionsgate, the studio that produces 'Mad Men' for the AMC.

While the dolls will come with period accessories such as hats, overcoats, pearls and padded undergarments, no cigarettes, ashtrays, martini glasses or cocktail shakers will be provided.

"The dolls, we feel, do a great job of embodying the series," said Stephanie Cota, senior vice president for Barbie marketing at Mattel. "Certain things are appropriate, and certain things aren't."

The creation was "do things in a way that is appropriate for 'Mad Men,' high quality and sophisticated," said Charlie Collier, president and general manager at AMC in New York.

'Mad Men' creator Matthew Weiner admits the dolls are "a realization of a fantasy, in a weird way" because "on some level it's such a measure of success to see your characters embodied by Barbie."

"Anybody who likes the show for its attention to detail will get that from the dolls," Weiner added.

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Actor Jon Hamm (L) and actress Jennifer Westfeldt arrive at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at Sunset Tower on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Sunset Tower West Hollywood, CA United States March 7, 2010 Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.com To license this image (17185538), contact FilmMagic.com

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Jon Hamm Snapshots

Actor Jon Hamm and actress Jennifer Westfeldt arrive at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Sunset Tower on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals Sunset Tower West Hollywood, CA United States March 9, 2010 Photo by Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com To license this image (59840150), contact WireImage.com

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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 07: Actor Jon Hamm (L) and actress Jennifer Westfeldt arrive at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter held at Sunset Tower on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jon Hamm;Jennifer Westfeldt

Jon Hamm Snapshots

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 07: Actor Jon Hamm (L) and actress Jennifer Westfeldt arrive at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter held at Sunset Tower on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jon Hamm;Jennifer Westfeldt

Jon Hamm Snapshots

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 07: Actor Jon Hamm (L) and actress Jennifer Westfeldt arrive at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter held at Sunset Tower on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jon Hamm;Jennifer Westfeldt

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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 07: *EXCLUSIVE* Actors Hilary Swank and Jon Hamm attend the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at the Sunset Tower Hotel on March 7, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. ***EXCLUSIVE ACCESS SPECIAL RATES APPLY; NO NORTH AMERICAN ON-AIR BROADCAST UNTIL MARCH 14TH, 2010*** (Photo by Chris Polk/Getty Images for Vanity Fair) *** Local Caption *** Hilary Swank;Jon Hamm

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Comments

(10)

Wednesday 10 March

By Laura Whitley

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i'm not sure joan is anatomically correct. at least not from that angle

By I Am Sally Draper

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These are fabulous -- but they really need to "enhance" Joan's boobs and hips some more. Actually, I think Joan and Roger are pretty spot on.

By cheercurlz

I love it! The "Don" doll looks like my first Ken doll that I got in 1963. And the clothes! They look like the clothes that Barbie and Ken wore when they were first issued in the late 50s and early 60s. What a cool idea. Pricey ... but cool.

By Debbie

The dolls would be fun to own but not at those prices, collector items or not.

I hope Mattel issues clothes for the dolls as well. All they'd need to do is pull up the designs and patterns from the Barbie clothes that were sold 45-50 years ago. Most of the original Barbie clothes were gorgeous.

By Pam

Wonderful idea and thoughtfully interpreted. But in these tough economic times, I wish Mattel would consider also releasing the fashions separately. I own some of the Silkstone dolls already and they look a lot like the Betty and Joan dolls, so it would be nice to just buy the fashions and dress up the dolls I already have.

By jessi

uhm, can you add an option in the "Are you ready for Season 4 of 'Mad Men' to start?". I don't actually like the show, but I have seen in. So, No I am not ready for it to start. Also, the wording of the survey is strange, because me being "ready" is not the same as being "excited".

By Foosmom

So when they scream "Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!!" It's not the same as saying "are you excited about the game?"

By Lauren

Where is the Peggy doll? Geez.

By Inwood

Joan is far too thin. What's fabulous about her character is her smarts and physicality. It's difficult to put smarts into a doll, but the measurements should be easy.

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