Collectible Dolls – Cabbage Patch Kids
In this series of articles on collectible dolls we’re going to start by reviewing one of the most famous collectible dolls of all time, the Cabbage Patch Kids.
If you’re old, or maybe even not that old, you remember the Cabbage Patch Kids. What you probably don’t know is what happened to these once hot items that have all but disappeared.
The first Cabbage Patch Kids were created by a man by the name of Xavier Roberts. He began making his dolls through his very own Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia in the year 1979. His “sales” pitch was to display the dolls in kind of a hospital like setting and putting up a sign saying that they were “up for adoption”. He made these dolls look like real babies. Needless to say, they were an immediate hit and people couldn’t get enough of them. When Coleco toy company saw what a hit they were, they bought the rights to them from Roberts in 1982. In 1988 when Coleco filed for bankruptcy, Hasbro took over production of the Cabbage Patch Kids. Mattel then took over production in 1994 and then finally in 2004 Play Along Toys and 4kids Entertainment took over making these things.
Your standard Cabbage Patch Kid was about 15 or 16 inches in height. However, as time went by these dolls were made in a variety of styles and sizes. At any one period of time there may have been as many as a dozen different styles and sizes of Cabbage Patch Kids in production. The dolls that Roberts himself made were all cloth with cloth sculptured faces. The dolls that were made by the toy companies had cloth bodies but vinyl heads so that they would stand up to more wear and tear. When Hasbro took over they started making all vinyl dolls but eventually when the dolls were made again in 2004 they went back to the cloth body and vinyl head..
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DOLL CLOTHES SEWING PATTERN BOOK 18″ & 24″ SIZE DOLLS CABBAGE PATCH, COROLL $3.50 |
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OOP! 16″ & 20″ CABBAGE PATCH DOLL JACKET SKIRT HAT SEWING PATTERN Butterick 5158 $17.99 |
Unfortunately, after the initial craze and the mass marketing that followed, Cabbage Patch Kid popularity really fizzled after the 80s. There were just too many out there and the novelty was gone. Originally it was expected that the value of these dolls would someday reach astronomical proportions. But the oversaturated market and the eventual easy access to these dolls have made them virtually worthless today, though some of the very early dolls can still bring in a nice price on Ebay. Later models, however, won’t bring in much.
Part of the problem was that as the dolls started to gain in popularity the manufacturer of the time tried all kinds of gimmicks with the dolls instead of sticking with the original concept of a simple baby doll dressed in baby clothes that needed to be adopted. The newer dolls were no longer sweet, huggable and adoptable. The dolls that were reintroduced in 2004 went back to the original concept but by that time it was just too late. The Cabbage Patch Kid craze was pretty much dead.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Collectible Dolls
Article Source: Collectible Dolls – Cabbage Patch Kids
Cabbage Patch Kids
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DOLL CLOTHES SEWING PATTERN BOOK 18″ & 24″ SIZE DOLLS CABBAGE PATCH, COROLL $3.50 |
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OOP! 16″ & 20″ CABBAGE PATCH DOLL JACKET SKIRT HAT SEWING PATTERN Butterick 5158 $17.99 |
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Encyclopedia of Cabbage Patch Kids: The 1980s (Schiffer Design Books) $26.96 Since 1978 when Cabbage Patch Kids*r dolls were “born,” children have cuddled them and added new members of the clan into their hearts. This book presents the many varieties in 60 specialty lines made by three major U.S. toy companies (Coleco, Hasbro, Mattel) and many foreign companies (including Jesmar, Tsukuda, Tri-Ang Pedigree, Lili Ledy) in the 1980s. Over 750 color photos with descriptions an… |
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Legend of the Cabbage Patch Kids $14.98 … |
