Who is this hot new man? Was it his sun-bleached hair or surf-bronzed skin that caught her eye? Whatever it was, the two have been as close as the tide to the sand since summer ended...

Introduced at Toy Fair 2004, Mattel announces that Blaine is back in the play line, although he has a whole different background, and is being introduced into the expanded Cali Girl™ line! The new Cali Guy™ Blaine® doll comes with a lot of facts about him that are listed on the box text and in the "Cali Girlzine" magazine, including "He's a risk taker who loves to rip the waves on his boogie-board".

Cali Girl™ Blaine appears on store shelves late June 2004, in the second wave (editions) of Cali Girl™ dolls.  The first wave featured editions of Barbie, Cali Girl Ken, Lea, Teresa, Christie and Cali Girl Steven.  Second wave dolls are Barbie, Teresa, Christie, Blaine and another new doll "Summer" who happens to be Blaine doll's sister.  This is explained in the Cali Girlzine-Ken or Blaine? magazine, that says he's "The most amazing hot new guy in town.  The brother of Summer®, he has lots of charisma and attitude".  These second edition dolls feature existing molds that have been enlarged.  They still have the correct earlier dates/markings on the backs of their heads, but they are obviously larger.  These dolls will preview this slight change that will be apparent on all 2004 play line dolls.

Mattel uses one of the best Ken® head molds (2001 Ken® Collectibles) for the new Cali Girl™  Blaine doll.  And it looks as though Cali Girl Ken® doll will have some competition from Blaine doll, as a summer romance between Blaine and Cali Girl Barbie® will be explored (See Feature Story Archive 02.12.04).

ABOVE:  Blaine™ doll is the new guy for Barbie®, winning the popular vote at Barbie.com.

To promote the line, voting was conducted at Barbie.com to choose who Cali Girl™ Barbie® will date .  Five different choices were available:  Life partner Ken®, who's portrayed as "sweet and fun, loves to surf", Steven™ "Super easygoing, into nature" or newcomers Blaine™ who is "So totally cute, great at sports" or Diego™, "Terrific swimmer, digs new adventures".  All four guys appear in the "Cali Girlzine"!   It's no surprise that Blaine™ doll won the popular vote at Barbie.com, and will now fill Ken® doll's shoes as Barbie® doll's new "boyfriend", with Mattel promising "they're gonna have the raddest times together!"

Birthplace: Sydney, Australia

Favorite Food:  Mexican

Hobbies:  Extreme sports-surfing, snowboarding, skydiving

Pet:  "No time for pets, dude!"

Favorite Color:  Black

There was another choice as well...having Cali Barbie® "stay single".  All of the voting choices were neck-to-neck, with over a million votes recorded.

The vote, like the Cali Girl™ PR campaign follows a carefully crafted script that tetters on making a big splash or belly flopping.  An advertising campaign starts in June 2004 on television featuring the Cali Girl™ dolls.  Like  simmering pots, Ken® collectors have been sitting on the stove wondering where this campaign of terror will lead, and after viewing the brief commercial, at least in my case, the pot has finally boiled over.  Time will tell if this type of advertising will play well with the core market, which is really what matters most to Mattel. 

I strongly advised to skip watching the commercial if you have any respect for Ken® doll.  For me, it was like watching 43 years of dignity, and five years of creating a niche for Ken® collectors come crashing down in 30 (or was it 15?) seconds.  The commercial is similar to the "Charles Atlas" ads found in the back pages of comic books from my generation.  Blaine™ is Charles Atlas, and Ken® is the guy getting sand kicked in his face.  You get the picture...the commercial represents a lifestyle change, not a style change, and it portrays Ken® doll unfavorably.  The Cali Girl™ line is obviously about living in the moment of what's popular, with no respect to lifetime play line memories.  To be successful, it will require turning bread and butter into bread and mustard.  These feeling can best be summed up by a post on the Barbie Collector.com bulletin board by user "kendu" who posted, "I do think that the current Cali-Girl ad campaign is a nasty example of reverse sexism. Barbie and Ken are not depicted as a nice couple who decide to see other people. Barbie is depicted humiliating Ken in public, mildly assaulting him, and taunting him with news of her new beau. Even worse, the recent Cali-Girl voting contest depicted Barbie flirting with four different men: ex-beau Ken, new guys Blaine and Diego, and old pal Steven. Now I know that Steven was never specifically anyone's boyfriend, but I think that a lot of people paired him with Christie or Teresa. But the current ad campaigns eliminate the idea that Christie, Teresa, or Lea, could possibly have boyfriends. The only males in the line are potential dates for Barbie. They can't date anybody else, but Barbie can date anyone she wants. It's like she has a harem. This is not progress in my book, and I refuse to believe that it mirrors "acceptable" behavior among today's teens. Mattel would never get away with broadcasting an ad showing Ken dumping Barbie in the same way she dumps him, nor would they depict Ken dating several of Barbie's gal pals, even though several exist. What's bad for the gander should be bad for the goose".

But you have to admit...Cali Girl™ Blaine is a hottie!

Cali Girl™ Fashions

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"The coolest place when the sun goes down!"

M#:  C6792  BD:   2004  HC:  Two Tone Rooted Medium Blonde/Light Brown.  C:  Light khaki cargo pocket (3 pockets) shorts with attached silver chain.  White knit baseball shirt with tan sleeves with tropical print graphic l/s.  Navy sheer shirt with white ribbon (down right front) accent s/s.  Rope necklace with bead.  "Blaine®" wrist tag.  A:  Pieced white with navy/white tropical print (sides) board shorts.  Pieced navy with light blue sleeves nylon baseball style surf top with appliqué l/s.  White knit skull cap with appliqué.  Brown with black sole boots.  Orange boogey board with sticker front and attached black cord with ankle sleeve.  Light blue with orange tip swim fins.  Two chipboard energy bars.  Whit plastic with sticker lotion bottle.  Clear plastic with sticker water bottle.  Silver rim with smoke pink lens sunglasses.  "Cali Girlzine" magazine (Spring 2004/Vol. 1 No. 1)

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M#:  H4476  BD:   2003  HC:  Two Tone Rooted Medium Blonde/Light Brown.  C:  Pieced white with navy/white tropical print (sides) board shorts.  Pieced navy with light blue sleeves nylon baseball style surf top with appliqué l/s.  "Blaine®" wrist tag.  A:  None.  NOTE:  SSE, that is shrink-wrapped together with Barbie doll  Model #C6461.  The fashion includes accessory pieces identical to ones included in Model #C6792.

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M#:  G8667  BD:   2004  HC:  Two Tone Rooted Ginger/Light Blonde.  C:  Beige w/ brown dip-dye palm print board shorts with brown string (at waist).  Pieced brick red color with black sleeves nylon baseball style surf top with appliqué s/s.  Frost goldenrod sunglasses (attached to head).  A:  Multi-color chipboard surfboard.  White plastic with sticker suntan lotion bottle.  NOTE:  Doll is scented like suntan lotion.

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M#:  G8667  BD:   2004  HC:  Two Tone Rooted Ginger/Light Blonde.  C:  Same as above.  A:  Same as above.  NOTE:  Doll is scented like suntan lotion.  First Edition doll box is clear plastic on all sides with flower shape holes on the right and left sides.  Second Edition doll has a cardboard panel on the left and back side, and the holes on the right side are now circle shaped.

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M#:  J0699  BD:  2005  HC:  Two Tone Rooted Ginger/Light Blonde.  C:  Pieced orange (right side)/white multi-color print (left side) board shorts with attached white multi-color print and blue flap pocket (right side).  Medium blue t-shirt s/s with navy lines and sun applique.  Clear aqua sunglasses (attached to head).  A:  Copper plastic with sticker suntan lotion bottle.