Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of soft sculptured dolls created by Xavier
Roberts and registered in the United States copyright office in 1978.
As a 21 year old art student, Xavier utilized the quilting skills he learned
from his mother and the historic technique of "needle molding" to develop
his own line of fabric sculptures. He called these hand-stitched,
one-of-a-kind, soft fabric sculptures "The Little People". His Little People
were not offered for sale, but were "adopted" each with their own individual
name and birth certificate. Many other soft sculpture dolls dating back to the
1800s were created using similar needle molding techniques, but the execution of
Xavier's own design has been certified to be unique and copyrightable as a work
of art. The Little People were first offered at
arts and crafts shows, then later at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland,
Georgia. The doll brand went on to become one of the most popular toy fads
of the 1980s and one of the longest-running doll franchises in
America. The name change to Cabbage Patch Kids
was made in 1982 when Xavier's company, Original Appalachian Artworks, began to
license a smaller version of the hand made creations to a toy manufacturer
named Coleco. An abbreviated version of the discovery legend was reproduced on
every Cabbage Patch Kids product from 1983 onward. Parker Brothers published
the original story retitled "Xavier's Fantastic Discovery" in 1984 and two
Albums that went Gold. The characters appeared in many other Cabbage Patch
merchandising products ranging from animated cartoons to board games:
Xavier Roberts was a ten-year-old boy who discovered the Cabbage Patch Kids by
following a BunnyBee behind a waterfall into a magical Cabbage Patch, where he
found the Cabbage Patch babies being born. To help them find good homes he
built BabyLand General in Cleveland, Georgia where the Cabbage Patch Kids
could live and play until they were adopted.
BunnyBees are bee-like creatures with rabbit ears they use as wings. They
pollinate cabbages with their magic crystals to make Cabbage Patch babies.
Colonel Casey is a large stork who oversees Babyland General Hospital. He's
the narrator of the Cabbage Patch Kids' story.
Otis Lee is the leader of the gang of Cabbage Patch Kids that befriended
Xavier. Production history
= Coleco years = The dolls attracted the attention of toy
manufacturer Coleco, which acquired a license from Original Appalachian
Artworks and began mass production in 1982. The Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids had
large, round vinyl heads, and soft fabric bodies, and were produced from
1982 to 1989, many at a factory in Amsterdam, New York. The first two years
production was all from the Far East, with nine head variations produced and
computer-matched with bodies to ensure each doll was "different." It was, in
fact a marketing ploy that worked quite well as a wide range of variations
resulted.. After Coleco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Cabbage Patch
Kids were later mass-produced by other companies, including Hasbro, Mattel,
Toys R Us, Play Along, Jakks Pacific and currently Wicked Cool Toys.
At the peak of their popularity, the dolls were a must-have toy for
Christmas. Parents across the United States flocked to stores to try to
obtain one of the Cabbage Patch Kids for their children, with fights occasionally
erupting between parents over the hard-to-find dolls. In later years,
Coleco introduced variants on the original Cabbage Patch Kids, and
derivatives of the original line of dolls continued to be marketed.
= International Variations = In the 1980s when Coleco was producing
the dolls for the North American market, the global craze was fulfilled by other
companies: Jesmar Toy Company made the dolls for
the European Market, Including Spain, Italy and Germany.
Lili Ledy Toy Company made the dolls for Mexico and South America.
Triang-Pedigree Toy Company made the dolls for South Africa.
Tsukuda Toy Company manufactured the dolls for Japan and Asia.
The Dolls manufactured by each of these companies, and along with the factories
that produced the dolls for North America, produced dolls that were
slightly different from one another. Dolls that were made for consumers in
other countries than the United States hold a higher value in the eye of some
American collectors. = Hasbro years =
Hasbro took over the rights to produce Cabbage Patch dolls in 1988 as Coleco
went bankrupt, and continued to make the dolls with various gimmicks, including
dolls that played kazoos. Some of the more popular doll lines to come out
under the Cabbage Patch Kids name included the "Birthday Kids", "Splash
'n' Tan Kids", and "Pretty Crimp and Curl". Hasbro gradually began making the
dolls for younger children, which led to smaller and smaller dolls. Although
Cabbage Patch dolls were still best selling toys, Hasbro never really
revitalized the Cabbage Patch market. In 1994, Mattel acquired the licensing
rights to the dolls from Original Appalachian Artworks.
= Mattel years = In 1994, Mattel took over the Cabbage
Patch brand, including production.the first Mattel babies and 'Kids hit the
stores in 1995. The Mattel Cabbage Patch dolls are not
limited to cloth bodies and included dolls made from vinyl, which produced a
more durable play doll. The Mattel dolls are mostly sized 14" or smaller, and
most variants were individualized with a gimmick to enhance their collectibility,
e.g. some dolls played on water-toys, swam, ate food, or brushed their teeth.
Some memorable Mattel lines include the updated Kids line of basic cloth dolls
that came with birth certificates, the OlympiKids that were made to coincide
with the 1996 Olympics, and the Cabbage Patch Fairies. Additionally, to
celebrate the dolls' 15th anniversary, Mattel created a line of exclusively
female dolls with a new molded fabric face, dressed in a custom outfits and
packaged in collectible boxes. These were 16 inches tall, the same
measurement of the first Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids.
= Toys "R" Us Kids = In 2001, retailer Toys "R" Us took over
the Cabbage Patch brand from Mattel, producing 20-inch Kids and 18-inch
babies, both with cloth bodies and vinyl heads. They were packaged in cardboard
cabbage leaf seats. In 2001, the 20-inch dolls debuted in the Times Square
flagship store. These were created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the
line, and were available both online and in stores around the US.
= Play Along Toys = The Toys "R" Us line lasted until Play
Along toys obtained exclusive licensing rights to produce the Cabbage Patch Kids
doll line. In 2003, Play Along launched a Cabbage Patch Kids 25th Anniversary
collection using some of the original head sculpts from the very first Coleco
editions. Play Along also partnered with Carvel Ice Cream in a co-branding
campaign. The resulting co-branded Cabbage Patch Kids were packaged with a
Carvel-branded ice cream cone. = Jakks Pacific =
JAKKS Pacific acquired Play Along Toys and assumed the master toy licensee for
the Cabbage Patch Kids. Jakks introduced a 14-inch Cabbage Patch Kids
Fashionality(TM) line and other Cabbage Patch Kid products. In 2013 Jakks
Pacific released the Celebration edition to commemorate the 30th Birthday of the
licensed Cabbage Patch Kids. = Wicked Cool Toys =
Wicked Cool Toys is now the current master toy licensee for the Cabbage
Patch Kids. Cabbage Patch Kids brand
The original 1982 Cabbage Patch Kids license agreement with Coleco Industries
was negotiated by Roger L. Schlaifer on behalf of Schlaifer Nance & Company, the
exclusive worldwide licensing agent for Roberts' company at the time.
Following Schlaifer Nance & Company's signing of Coleco Industries, SN&C
signed over one hundred and fifty licenses for branded products ranging
from the first children's licensed character diapers and low-sugar cereal
to clothing, backyard pools, and thousands of other children's products —
generating over $2 billion in retail sales for 1984, alone. Total sales
during the Schlaifers' tenure exceeded $4.5 billion. While sales of the dolls
and other licensed products declined precipitously in the late 1980s, the
dolls have become a mainstay of the toy industry, and one of the few
long-running doll brands in history. Porcelain Cabbage Patch Kids
These dolls are available by direct mail from the Danbury Mint. They have a rigid
fabric body with porcelain legs, arms, and head.
Talking Cabbage Patch Kids An extension to the line was the
"Talking Cabbage Patch Kid"introduced by Coleco, equipped with a voice chip,
touch sensors, and an infrared device for communicating with other such dolls.
The touch sensors enabled the toy to detect when and how the toy was being
played with in response to its vocalizations, e.g. the doll might say
"hold my hand" and give an appropriate speech response when the touch sensor in
the hand detected pressure. A more remarkable effect occurred when one doll
detected the presence of another through its IR transmitter/receiver. The dolls
were programmed to signal their "awareness" of each other with a short
phrase, e.g. "I think there's someone else to play with here!", and then to
initiate simple conversations between the dolls themselves with enough
randomness to sound somewhat natural. Babyland General Hospital
Babyland General Hospital is the "birthplace" of Cabbage Patch Kids and
is located in Cleveland, Georgia. Roberts converted an old clinic into a
"Hospital" from which to sell his dolls, originally called "Little People". The
facility is presented as a birthing, nursery, and adoption center for the
Cabbage Patch Kids. In accordance with the theme, employees dress and act the
parts of the doctors and nurses caring for the dolls as if they are real.
Babyland General moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Cleveland, Georgia
in 2010 and has been voted one of the Travel Channel's top 10 toylands.
Controversies and hoaxes Cabbage Patch Kids were parodied by the
Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. The parody led Xavier Roberts to sue Topps,
the maker of Garbage Pail Kids, for trademark infringement.
One line of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, the Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids, was
designed to "eat" plastic snacks. The mechanism enabling this was a pair of
one-way smooth metal rollers behind plastic lips. The snacks would exit the
doll's back and 'magically' appear into a backpack. The mechanism could be
de-activated by releasing the back pack. They were extremely popular during
Christmas 1996. The line was voluntarily withdrawn from the market following an
agreement between Mattel and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in
January 1997 following several incidents where children got their fingers or hair
stuck in the dolls' mouths leading to safety warnings from Connecticut's
consumer protection commissioner, Mark Shiffrin.
One Cabbage Patch Kids urban legends included rumors that owners sending
dolls to the manufacturer for repairs are issued death certificates.
Timeline 1978: The first "Little People
Originals" were delivered by Xavier Roberts, who incorporated Original
Appalachian Artworks, Inc. 1981: There was coverage of the dolls'
popularity in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and Atlanta Weekly.
1982: Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. signed a long term licensing
agreement with Coleco Industries to produce the dolls in August 1982.
1983: Cabbage Patch Kids were introduced with great fanfare at the International
Toy Fair in NYC. By October, riots were occurring in stores around the country.
The dolls made the cover of Newsweek before Christmas and stories of their
success were heralded around the world. 1984: Sales for Cabbage Patch Kids
branded products, from toys to children's apparel, came close to the
record setting $2 billion mark. The CPK record produced by the Chapin Brothers
for Parker Brothers' music went Gold and Platinum.
1985: Cabbage Patch Kids low-sugar breakfast cereal and real children's
character art diapers were introduced. The Cabbage Patch Kids Christmas Special
was number one in its time slot on ABC. 1986: The first talking Cabbage Patch
Kids. 1988: Coleco Industries, filed for
bankruptcy, but dolls continued to be made, with the licensing rights being
granted to Hasbro Industries and later to Mattel.
1992: Cabbage Patch Kids were named the official mascot of the 1992 US Olympic
team and members of the team were given their own dolls to take to the games.
1996: The Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids were released.
1999: Popular vote selected the dolls as one of the 15 commemorative US postage
stamps representing the 1980s. 2008: All US Presidential and Vice
Presidential Candidates had their own Cabbage Patch Kids. Barack Obama was
depicted with a blue suit. John McCain was depicted in a suit with grey hair.
Joe Biden was also depicted in a suit with his hair slicked up. Sarah Palin
was depicted in a trademark suit and skirt with high heeled pumps. Also,
Palin's signature hair and eyeglasses were featured.
References Further reading
Hoffman, William. Fantasy: The Incredible Cabbage Patch Phenomenon.
Dallas: Taylor Publishing. ISBN 9780878333868. OCLC 10996773.
External links Cabbage Patch Kids Official Site
Cabbage Patch Kid Restoration Official Site
Cabbage Patch Kid mania Urban Legends Reference Page on Cabbage
Patch Kids legends Urban Legends Reference Page on Cabbage
Patch death certificates Whatever Happened To Cabbage Patch
Dolls?