Key Takeaways
- Cabbage Patch Kids originated from Xavier Roberts' handmade "Little People" dolls, marketed for adoption.
- A partnership with Coleco in 1982 led to mass production and their renaming to Cabbage Patch Kids.
- The 1983 Christmas season generated unprecedented demand, causing retail chaos and a secondary market.
- The dolls' design origin was subject to a lawsuit by Martha Nelson Thomas, settled in 1985.
- The Cabbage Patch Kids craze also spawned the popular "Garbage Pail Kids" parody in 1985.
Deep Dive
- Xavier Roberts initially created handmade "Little People" dolls using a 19th-century German "needle molding" fabric sculpture technique starting in 1977.
- These dolls were marketed for adoption, complete with birth certificates, initially priced around $40.
- Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia, was established for their "adoption" process.
- The dolls were marketed as "Little People" for adoption, not purchase, a concept that strongly appealed to children.
- Initially sold at arts and craft shows and gift shops, like Unicoi Lodge, for approximately $40.
- Roberts founded Original Appalachian Artworks after winning an art show with his "Dexter" doll.
- By 1982, Cabbage Patch Kids' popularity outstripped Xavier Roberts' production capacity, leading to a partnership with Coleco.
- Coleco, known for its Pac-Man electronic game, began mass-producing the dolls, changing the name from "Little People" to "Cabbage Patch Kids".
- Production adjustments included using machine-produced vinyl heads and sizing dolls down to 16 inches, while retaining cloth bodies.
- Coleco's rebranding and strategic pricing around $30 (equivalent to $78 today) generated significant press coverage.
- A December 12, 1983, Newsweek cover story boosted demand, leading to over 3 million sales but widespread shortages by year-end.
- This fueled unprecedented consumer behavior, with reports of parents pushing and driving across state lines to acquire dolls.
- The intense scarcity in 1983 led to chaotic scenes, including a store manager throwing dolls to a frenzied crowd at a Zayre department store in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
- Some stores implemented coupon systems for doll pick-up at loading docks, which fueled a booming secondary and black market.
- Coleco successfully sold $2 billion worth of dolls in 1984, an unusual feat for a toy to span two holiday seasons.
- Cabbage Patch Kids served as mascots for the U.S. Olympic team in Barcelona in 1992 and later appeared on a postage stamp.
- Following Coleco's bankruptcy in the 1980s, the license moved through Mattel and Hasbro; Play Along Inc. currently recreates the original 1983 style.
- Mattel's controversial "Snack Time" doll and a mid-90s shift to smaller vinyl bodies were unpopular until Toys R Us revived 18-inch cloth-bodied dolls in 2003.
- Xavier Roberts was accused of copying folk artist Martha Nelson Thomas's "Little Doll Babies," which used 19th-century German soft sculpture techniques.
- Roberts initially sold Thomas's dolls but allegedly created his own version after a pricing disagreement, leading to a multi-year lawsuit.
- Photographic evidence and a Vice documentary detail Roberts' documented inspiration from Thomas's work.
- The lawsuit, initiated around seven years before the 1983 sales boom, sought $1 million and aimed to prevent the commoditization of Thomas's work.
- Xavier Roberts settled with Martha Nelson Thomas in 1985 for an undisclosed sum, reportedly enough to fund her children's education.
- Despite acknowledging the idea theft in the settlement, Roberts later publicly complained about knockoffs, which the hosts found audacious.
- Topps Trading Cards created "Garbage Pail Kids" in 1985 as a parody, featuring deformed, diseased characters with names like Adam Bomb.
- Art Spiegelman, creator of 'Maus', was involved as an art director in conceptualizing Garbage Pail Kids.
- The series was a commercial success, sustaining a cottage industry for parodies and leading to a TV show and movie, despite legal efforts to avoid direct association.