Oh. My. God! Do you ever get frustrated when watching Friends that you can’t just reach in and control the characters?
All six of the Friends made some excruciating decisions over the years. From Ross getting drunk with the ‘girl from the xerox place’ to Chandler not just telling Joey about his feelings for Kathy right away to Phoebe getting back together with Mike (when David was obviously the better choice), these were the moments that had us covering our eyes with the sofa cushion or yelling “don’t do it!” at the TV.
But that’s the deal. If the writers didn’t get fans squirming, eventually we’d get bored and stop tuning in. (We didn’t: Friends was still getting 25m weekly viewers until the end.)
But here at TheToyZone, we are not about watching passively. We prefer to play. So, after reviewing dozens of Barbie sets and following our Queen Elizabeth II Barbie collection, we got inspired to give the Barbie doll treatment to America’s royalty: Ross, Joey, Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, and of course, a certain Holiday Armadillo.
Ross’s Leather Pants Set
Ahead of a date with the comically named Elizabeth Hornswoggle, Ross decides to experiment with leather pants. He looks surprisingly okay in them – when he can get them on. But it’s pure torture for Chandler, who has bet Ross $50 that he can last a week without making insults.
We’ve included some greasy cosmetic products to help you get Ross’s leather pants back on (or make yourself a pair of paste pants) and a 1990s-style mobile phone so he can call Joey for advice. Now, all you need is a talking Chandler doll to finally quip: “Phone call for you, Ross: Tom Jones. He wants his pants back! And Hornswoggle? What, are you dating a character from Fraggle Rock?”
Turkey on Monica’s Head Barbie
Some serious backstory is unveiled in The One With All The Thanksgivings, including the origins of Rachel’s nose and some early flirting between Chandler and Monica. We also discover that more than one character has wound up with a turkey on their head in the past.
After Chandler discovers the truth about how Monica caused him to lose his toe way back in ’88, Monica resolves to win him over by… dancing with a (real) turkey on her head. Which leads to Chandler’s first expression of love for her and Joey getting terrified, of course.
Joey Wears Chandler’s Clothes Set
Could Joey be wearing any more clothes? Actually, yes. In The One Where No One’s Ready, Joey wears all of Chandler’s clothes at once in an act of revenge for some missing underwear. But in real life, Joey’s thrift shop look was created by cutting strips from Chander’s early Friends wardrobe and sealing it at the back with Velcro for Matt LeBlanc’s convenience.
We’ll leave it to you to find out whether Joey is truly ‘going commando’ under there. Just find somewhere stable to prop up your ‘exasperated Chandler’ doll while you manipulate plastic Joey into a series of lunges.
Ross Dressed as an Armadillo
It’s the ultimate Hanukkah/Christmas gift for the 38-year-old Friends fan in your life. When NBC debuted its Friends season 7 festive special in December 2000, nobody expected it to disrupt the corporate Judeo-Christian hegemony with, well, an armadillo suit. But Friends still had some surprises left to spring.
Ross is looking after his son Ben over the holiday season and resolves to verse Ben in his Jewish heritage. But when Ben insists that only Santa can complete his Christmas, Ross finds that it’s too late to rent a Santa suit. So he invents the Holiday Armadillo instead. And then Chandler turns up as Santa. And Joey turns up as Superman. But that’s a whole other copyright minefield, so here’s the Holiday Armadillo Barbie!
Joey Pretends He Owns a Porsche
Joey finds the keys to a Porsche. Unfortunately for him, the owner (who lives Upstate, of course) takes it away. So, to convince people that he still has the Porsche, he becomes a ‘Porsche guy.’ Porsche cap. Porsche bomber jacket. Porsche fanny pack. “Did a Porsche throw up on you?”
Of course, all of these garments and accessories lend themselves perfectly to the Barbie doll concept. Joey’s Porsche obsession may only be a subplot in The One with Joey’s Porsche, but we’re sure you’re going to play with it the most – and it’s a lot safer than a plastic gun!
Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe: Girls Sat in Wedding Dresses
Everybody loves a wedding. And everybody loves a wedding episode. The One With All The Wedding Dresses is neither of those things. But so enthralled is Monica with the concept of getting married that she wears Emily’s potential dress for half the episode anyway. Phoebe joins in cos the dress feels comfortable, and Rachel joins in… well, for emotional comfort.
The Friends writers got to have their (wedding) cake and eat it – all three leading actresses in a wedding dress, without ruining the “on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again” tension by actually marrying someone.
But what do you think? Will you be playing with Porsche Joey all day – or is there another Friends Barbie doll you’d like to see us create?
Meet the Artist
A big thank you to concept artist Margarita Zhitnik who worked with our art director and the rest of our design team to create these imaginary Barbie doll sets. You can check out her work on https://www.behance.net/xsti
Fair Use Statement
Do you like our Friends-inspired Barbie sets so much that you want to republish them? That would be awesome! Let us know if you’d like the high-res versions via https://thetoyzone.com/contact and please make sure to credit TheToyZone by linking back to this page. That way our team will get the recognition it deserves for all the time, hard work and thought they put into this project, whilst giving your readers a chance to see all the other cool toys we created based on pop culture icons.
| 💡 Tip: If you want to create your own Barbie designs then be sure to look at the Barbie coloring pages we commissioned. |
