Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the collectible Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts.
Roberts, a 21-year-old art student discovered craft artist Martha Nelson’s Doll Babies. With the help of artist Debbie Moorehead, he called the hand-stitched dolls called ‘The Little People’. These Little People were not for sale but could be ‘adopted’ for prices ranging from $60 to $1,000 USD.
In 1981, at the height of Roberts's success, he was approached by licensing agent, Roger L. Schlaifer. His goal was to build the first and largest mass-market children’s brand in history. Coleco in China were chosen to create the dolls.
In 1982, famed doll designer Judy Albert, devised an industry first: one-of-a-kind, plastic-headed Cabbage Patch Kids doll with cuter features, softer bodies and much cheaper than the original dolls.
At the peak of their popularity, between 1983 and 1986, the dolls were highly sought-after toys for Christmas. Riots occurred as parents literally fought to obtain the dolls for children.
Coleco cancelled all its advertising as they tried to keep up with demand—shipping a doll-industry record, 3.2 million dolls.
Coleco’s sales continued to climb right through 1986, when they reportedly over-shipped and lost ground in a legal battle with Schlaifer and Roberts. Coleco's sales plummeted from over $800 million in 1986 to nothing in 1988 when the company then went out of business.
The Cabbage Patch Kid brand set every toy industry sales record for three years running and was one of the most popular lines of children’s licensed products in the 1980s and became one of the longest-running doll franchises. Additional Cabbage Patch products include children’s apparel, bedding, infants' wear, albums and board games.
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