Male Dolls - Hot Under the Collar

by Pam North

	It has been a long journey for mainstream male dolls. Older doll collectors will remember when male dolls were limited mostly to those that accompanied the bride as wedding cake toppers, and those “men” were simply female dolls with painted short hair. Even innocent kids knew that men didn't have a curvy bosom. Later improvements included a masculine head and chest, but underneath the molded trunks there was no hint of any male gender. Barbie's Ken came on the scene in 1961, again rather innocuously portrayed, and he soon sported his own fashion wardrobe. Ken's somewhat murky relationship with Barbie reflected a shift in men/women dynamics, as Barbie 's existence as a star female in her own right often overshadowed Ken's secondary importance. Hasbro's G.I. Joe, introduced in 1964, combined male musculature, articulation, and military macho, pushing things up a notch, and in the process making dolls acceptable as a toy for boys' amusement. Anatomically correct baby dolls also came on the market, to the shock of some parents who were not prepared for their small tots to learn about gender differences via their playthings. In 1977, Gay Bob was proclaimed as the first openly gay doll, packaged in his very own closet from which to emerge. Fast forward to 1997, when  Gay Billy was introduced, and subsequently a variety of other dolls that paid homage to every level and nuance of maleness imagined, entwining fashion and fantasy into the mix as well. The lid on imagination and daring had come off the box, and the sky was the limit.. Now there are even pricey life-sized and lifelike sexed male “dolls”. At last men have been allowed to be men in the doll kingdom.
	Overall, male gender representation in dolls has metamorphosed, finally letting it all “ hang out”, so to speak. Starting from complete omission of the physicality of the male gender, to simple recognition of their difference, sexuality is now acknowledged and emphasized. Even at this stage of the game, some people are still appalled, while others delight in the liberation. Today's male doll can encompass any variety and degree of sexuality, intellect, and culture reflection. Sensuality, androgynous beauty, ambivalent sexuality, and gender-bending tease the senses and social mores as prime components in many of  today's  astounding array of male dolls. 
	To add to the whimsy, a complex, full-fledged persona often is wrapped into a doll's presentation. Take Klode Gaspar. Dollmore's latest star in their Glamor Model male doll line. The boy sculpt is sold as a basic doll, with a random color pair of glass eyes, random wig and random underwear. He is cast in normal skin resin. Options for Klode Gaspar include seam sanding, a default or special request face-up, and body blushing (hands and feet or full doll). At 75 cm in height, he is described by Dollmore as a 23-year-old Bachelor of Engineering graduate who is very intelligent, with an attractive and kindly exterior, but inside he is a coldly calculating and rational man. Because he is very emotionally distant, it is difficult for him to close that gap with others in order to have close relationships. In his obsession for calculation and logic, he even unconsciously measures the physical distance between him and his girlfriend. Klode Gaspar likes wearing a leather jacket and leather shoes, and enjoys the sound of his own precise heel taps as he walks. He has a hobby of using a magnifying glass to see the words in the book and to check the quality of the paper and printing skills, Commuting via rapid transit, Klode Gaspar amuses himself by trying to guess people's front hairstyles from what he can see at the back of their heads. He looks through half-closed eyes over spectacles, sizing up and appreciating the geometric abstract of perfect forms, but he forgets their infrequency in natural life. While Klode Gaspar's personality hardly would seem endearing to many, he reflects a challenging unattainability that is very attractive to some segments of collectors who like his techie persona, He is a safe fantasy.
	Dollmore, a South Korean doll manufacturer since 2002, produces  a quality variety of male and female ball-jointed SD-sized and MSD-sized dolls, and associated items (wigs, shoes,, clothes, eyes, eyelashes, doll stands, furniture and miscellaneous accessories). The company has produced many edgy, sensual male dolls in their Glamor Model line, most often in limited editions of 10 to 20. Some of these are the wildly exotic Tattoo Nayuta Kenzo, in three separate series of Blue Epoch, Broken Routine, and Entangled Routine; the coolly disdainful Calix; the Cruising Rider, Mettaa, who radiates a hard-edged, “bad boy” sensuality;  and the Homme Lion, Legend Lyon, in both its sinister black and elegant creamy versions. The Glamor Model resin dolls have 13 joints, with double joints on the arms and knees.
	Dollmore plans to make more male dolls in 2015 in various sizes, focusing on classic and romantic styles. Watch for Lusion Doll Boy, and Mokashura Doll Boy later this year.

Contact Information:
Dollmore
Telephone: 011-82-2-3432-4993
Website: http://www.dollmore.net
Email: help@dollmore.net or necking@naver.com