Off with his Head

[maywong]

Has anyone take one of these newer Ken heads off? Also how hard is it to put it back on? I want to take my Harley guy's head off and re-root his head. Thanks.

[DollyKim]

Since he's being rerooted go ahead and dunk his head in some hot water for a few seconds to soften it up then gently work it off. Don't pull hard, watch the doo dad in the neck its self to make sure it isn't turning white from being stressed.

I've seen T shaped claws, disks, and plugs inside them. Once or twice won't hurt, for a general head swap, but they've been made not to do it too often without breaking.

[maywong]

Is there a trick to putting this head back on. Will it effect me being able to turn or pose his head? I did find this article about taking Ken's head off.

Beheading the Newer Ken
Ken's head is attached in a totally different way then Barbie's head. It's attached with a knob, molded as part of the head. This knob, or rim of vinyl, fits down into the body and is glued to a post which is anchored inside the torso. Once this glue, or seal, has been broken, Ken's head will always be easy to remove, and with hard play or rough handling, can fall off. If you wish, you can glue the head back onto the doll's neck post when you are finished working.
The first step to removing Ken's head is to gently push the head up and away from his body. There is a slight -pop- noise as the knob slips past the vinyl rim.
Continue to pull on the soft vinyl head. You will see the bottom of the head and the hard plastic insert that fits inside the torso. The hard plastic insert is the part that is glued to the vinyl head. This insert looks like a post perched atop a flat disk. This insert moves freely around inside the upper neck area of the torso and when attached, it allows the head to rotate.
Sometimes the head will easily pull free from the hard plastic insert and sometimes it's necessary to use a small blade to seperate the soft vinyl from the hard plastic. To do this, just slip the blade under the edge of the soft vinyl. The head will now be free from the body.
You can now clearly see where the head was glued to the post projecting from the doll's body. Push the rim on the vinyl head back into the hard plastic torso to hold the head in place.

[DollyKim]

That's different than my "cheaper" Kens, no glue.

In general their heads push back on and wiggle a bit, like putting on an Obitsu or Volks head. I've swapped a couple of Barbies, one with a Jakks Pacific head, and a non jointed Ken to a jointed one. Once it's back on everything should work fine, I only have a bit of wobble with the JP head.