Lord of The Rings Barbie Gift Set Released

The Lord of the Rings gift set, with Barbie as Arwen and Ken as Aragorn has just been released and is arriving in stores.

If you've seen the photos of this set, you really haven't seen the set--the photos don't do this detailed gift set justice. The Lord of the Rings set made my Top 10 Hot Holiday Collector Dolls, and with good reason. Arwen (Barbie) has lovely pale skin with detailed eye makeup. Her hair is long and wavy, with two thin ringlets in front, and she sports a headress with rhinestone and bead detailing. Her dress is made of a sea green velveteen with metallic detail. I haven't unboxed a set yet to see if Arwen has elven ears, but I have to assume that she does.

Ken (Aragorn) is one of the best looking Ken dolls I've ever seen (OK, so I have a thing for Aragorn, and he's even on my AOL screensaver...but, no, really, you need to see this Ken for yourself). He sports a 12 o'clock shadow/beard and has long hair. He is dressed in his chain mail and fighting gear. My only complaint is that the sword he is holding and the armour are a bit too plasticy to make this set a 100% home run.

The packaging is also nice--excellent blue box with a pattern from maps of the worlds in Lord of the Rings, and an abbreviated version of the story of Aragorn and Arwen on the back.