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Still think Pika-chu is the latest and cutest? Think again...
You may have heard of "Tare-Panda," the cuddly panda with
chronic fatigue syndrome, or you may have come across the
likes of "anpan-man" on acid called "koge-pan."
However, you may have only caught a glimpse of the latest
Ban-Dai creation from the stationery division San-X called "Afro-Ken."
Afro-ken is basically a dog with a huge Afro.
The popularity of afro-ken is growing fast
as this latest craze in
kiddy toys, quickly bought up by Japanese high
school girls
and closely followed in popularity by trendy
clubbers world-wide. It may eventually
reach the mainstream and children's toy boxes,
but don't count on it happening for a while.
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"Afro-ken" meaning "dog with an afro hairdo"
now has a whole range of "friends" including
a complex assortment of dogs with hairstyles
including dreadlocks,
curly hair (like a mozart wig), chomage (samurai ponytail),
plain ken (no hair), mohawk ken, as well as
an assortment of dogs trying to disguise
themselves as inanimate objects like a bowl of rice or tonkatsu.
These shy dogs come with a same sized model of the thing they are trying
to look like, you really just have to see it for yourself.
A personal favorite is the Afro-ken that comes with more than one wig, so you can use the same ken doll and give
him a different look depending on your mood.
Another new edition is the giant afro-ken who's adult-sized
rainbow wig you can borrow whenever you like.
The creators of Afro-dog claim their idea came from the
latest permed hairstyles of teenagers in Japan.
"Seventeen ice" the 100yen ice-cream machines have also
gone afro-ken crazy, offering ice cream that looks like the different dogs, or is it the dogs that
look like the ice-cream?
Other products include floor rugs, mugs and glasses, stationery,
keychains, denim products, plastic versions for the bath, and Afro-ken sweets.
Find out more
Afro-ken is sold at game-centers and toy shops
throughout Japan, but you can also buy
your favorite kens online:
Dreamkitty
website(English)
Afro-ken's official website (Japanese)
Product List at
Wizzywig.com(English)
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