If you saw the Barbie movie this week, chances are you enjoyed Michael Cera’s performance as the long forgotten Allan doll. Cockburn must admit he doesn’t have much experience with kids’ toys (thanks to his lawyers, who fight paternity suits like pitbulls), but even he’s surprised at how lucrative a market the doll market is becoming.
After its opening weekend, where Barbie raked in an estimated $155 million, now anyone with an Allan doll can make their own small fortune by selling it. Over the weekend, several eBay listings for old Allan dolls increased their prices. Before the film came out, some were priced as low as $30; now, the valuation has increased to over $300.
Since the movie’s release, Allan has turned into a fan favorite. But despite his newfound fame, Mattel recently announced that they will be keeping Allan off store shelves. The Allan, which was modeled after Barbie creator Ruth Handler’s son-in-law, was first rolled out in 1964 as a friend of Ken’s, but was discontinued a couple years later due to low sales.
In an interview, Michael Cera said, “Allan is sort of like a person without a group that he belongs to, he’s kind of a loner, in a way. I think the joke about that, at least how I interpret it, is that Allan the doll… didn’t have a very successful run. He’s sort of this marginalized person in this world of Kens.”
Last year, Out speculated that Ken and Allan were, er, more than friends. “According to his original packaging, he’s Ken’s ‘buddy.’ You know, the kind of buddy you hang out with shirtless. The kind of buddy you share all your clothes with. That kind of ‘buddy.’”
Cockburn isn’t too fussed about the implication, but rest assured: he’ll be rooting through his nieces’ old toyboxes on a hunt for the week’s whisky fund the next chance he gets…
