Cabbage Patch Kids in the Cabbage Patch

It was 1983 and Christmas was knocking at the door but parents in the U.S. did not have time to enjoy and prepare for this wonderful holiday because they were running around looking for Cabbage Patch Kids. I remember that for some reason because I was already a young adult I had no desire to have a Cabbage Patch Kid but my girlfriend who was some years older than me had to have one at all cost. We were going out to dinner and by the time she found her adoptable and expensive if I might add darling I was practically starved. However, lots of people young and old felt that way and children had to have one, or life couldn’t go on. Wonder where everyone’s Cabbage Patch Kid is now.

Cabbage Patch Christmas

Anyway back in 1983 that Christmas was tough as parents found themselves in very long lines or had to be put on very long waiting lists and some stores simply had a first come, first served policy. At the end of this year around an amazing 3 million Cabbage Patch Kids had been adopted for a considerably large cost. For those of you who remember and for those of you who never heard of this doll a Cabbage Patch Kid doll was a 16-inch doll that had a plastic head, a body made of fabric, and its hair was of yarn. They were adored for their uniqueness, and wow they were adoptable and came with birth certificates.

It was like adopting a doll of your very own except that you had to pay a price. It was advertised that each Cabbage Patch Kid doll was unique by itself. There were different head molds, eye shapes and colors, hairstyles, and clothing options. A lot of people looked to find a Cabbage Patch Kid who looked just like themselves as kids or who resembled their own children or could be their brother or sister. Inside the Cabbage Patch Kid box, you got a birth certificate with your particular kid's first and middle name.

The Inventor

There was an official Cabbage Patch Kid story that told about a young 10-year-old boy whose name was Xavier Roberts. He was led through a waterfall by a Bunnybee, then down a long tunnel and out into a magical land where there was a cabbage patch in which grew these Cabbage Patch Kids. It was there that Xavier Roberts was asked to help to which he agreed and in turn had to help find good and loving homes for the Cabbage Patch Kids.

The real Xavier Roberts who was the inventor of the Cabbage Patch Kid doll came up with one fantastic idea for a toy and found that people were eager to buy. For him, 1983 was a banner year. Born in Cleveland, Georgia on October 31, 1955, Xavier Roberts is of course best known for being the inventor and manufacturer of the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. By profession, he is an American artist and businessman. The dolls continued to be a successful sell in 1984 in which year 20 million dolls had been sold and by 1999 a total of 95 million had been sold worldwide. Now that was an innovative marketing idea.

Little People

Let’s take a look back in time when there once was an American art student named Xavier Robert who in 1978 created dolls called ”Little People”. These were cloth dolls that were sold at local craft shows and later on at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia. This is a wonderful toyland where admission is free but most likely if you bring children you won’t leave without buying a doll. With a name change and becoming a very popular toy fad in 1983, this is one of the longest-running doll franchises in the U.S. The dolls first caught the eye of toy manufacturer Coleco and the company began mass-producing Cabbage Patch Kids in 1982 at their factory in Amsterdam, New York. When the company went bankrupt other companies were ready to take over such as Hasbro and Mattel among others. Cabbage Patch Kids became the must-have dolls for Christmases.

Toy Company Creations

The very first known Cabbage Patch Kid doll was known as Hailey Theeuwen. In 1988 Habro was producing the dolls and began making them with various gimmicks such as kazoos. From this developed popular doll lines such as ”Birthday Kids”, ”Splash n’ Tan Kids”, and ”Pretty Crimp and Curl”. Soon Hasbro also started making dolls for much younger children and these were smaller dolls. It was in 1994 that Mattell took over. Under Mattel, the dolls were not only made of cloth but also of vinyl. Their size was mostly 14” or smaller and some of the dolls included interesting things like ones that played with water toys, swam, ate food, or brushed their teeth.

The production line also included the OlympicKids made to come out at the time of the 1996 Olympics and the Cabbage Patch Fairies. For the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls' 15th anniversary, Mattel produced a line of female dolls in period outfits and they came in collectible boxes. These were the first to be made 16 inches tall. In 2001 Toys ”R” Us took over and began producing 20-inch kids and 18-inch babies which both had cloth bodies and vinyl heads. These were made to celebrate the 20th anniversary.

In 2003 Play Along Toys got the right to produce Cabbage Patch Kids. They had a partnership with QVC (home shopping) in order to be able to produce a special QVC limited edition keepsake edition doll only available from QVC. Things progressed as far as the Talking Cabbage Patch Kid seeing the light of day. It came with a voice chip, touch sensors, and an infrared device for communicating with other such dolls. However, its success was short-lived due to its high price of $100 or more.

You can go online to see the Cabbage Patch Kids site at Babyland General Hospital - http://www.cabbagepatchkids.com/

All of the pictures of these adorable ”adoptable” dolls come from this site. Here you can also purchase the dolls but the prices will be rather high, especially for the original type Cabbage Patch Kids. However, there are sites such as ebay and Amazon that offer these dolls for lower prices.