| In this series of articles on collectible dolls we're going | | | | Roberts himself made were all cloth with cloth |
| to start by reviewing one of the most famous | | | | sculptured faces. The dolls that were made by the |
| collectible dolls of all time, the Cabbage Patch Kids. | | | | toy companies had cloth bodies but vinyl heads so |
| If you're old, or maybe even not that old, you | | | | that they would stand up to more wear and tear. |
| remember the Cabbage Patch Kids. What you | | | | When Hasbro took over they started making all vinyl |
| probably don't know is what happened to these once | | | | dolls but eventually when the dolls were made again |
| hot items that have all but disappeared. | | | | in 2004 they went back to the cloth body and vinyl |
| The first Cabbage Patch Kids were created by a man | | | | head.. |
| by the name of Xavier Roberts. He began making his | | | | Unfortunately, after the initial craze and the mass |
| dolls through his very own Babyland General Hospital | | | | marketing that followed, Cabbage Patch Kid |
| in Cleveland, Georgia in the year 1979. His "sales" pitch | | | | popularity really fizzled after the 80s. There were |
| was to display the dolls in kind of a hospital like | | | | just too many out there and the novelty was gone. |
| setting and putting up a sign saying that they were | | | | Originally it was expected that the value of these |
| "up for adoption". He made these dolls look like real | | | | dolls would someday reach astronomical proportions. |
| babies. Needless to say, they were an immediate hit | | | | But the oversaturated market and the eventual easy |
| and people couldn't get enough of them. When | | | | access to these dolls have made them virtually |
| Coleco toy company saw what a hit they were, | | | | worthless today, though some of the very early dolls |
| they bought the rights to them from Roberts in | | | | can still bring in a nice price on Ebay. Later models, |
| 1982. In 1988 when Coleco filed for bankruptcy, | | | | however, won't bring in much. |
| Hasbro took over production of the Cabbage Patch | | | | Part of the problem was that as the dolls started to |
| Kids. Mattel then took over production in 1994 and | | | | gain in popularity the manufacturer of the time tried |
| then finally in 2004 Play Along Toys and 4kids | | | | all kinds of gimmicks with the dolls instead of sticking |
| Entertainment took over making these things. | | | | with the original concept of a simple baby doll |
| Your standard Cabbage Patch Kid was about 15 or 16 | | | | dressed in baby clothes that needed to be adopted. |
| inches in height. However, as time went by these | | | | The newer dolls were no longer sweet, huggable and |
| dolls were made in a variety of styles and sizes. At | | | | adoptable. The dolls that were reintroduced in 2004 |
| any one period of time there may have been as | | | | went back to the original concept but by that time it |
| many as a dozen different styles and sizes of | | | | was just too late. The Cabbage Patch Kid craze was |
| Cabbage Patch Kids in production. The dolls that | | | | pretty much dead. |