Name: Original Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids
Made by and When: Coleco, 1983-1984
Material: Vinyl heads, brown polyfill-stuffed cloth bodies
Doll 1 (brown pigtails)
Marks: © COPY R. 1978. 1982 / ORIGINAL APPALACHIAN ART WORKS INC / MANUFACTURED BY COLECO IND. INC. / 28 (on the left) 3 (on the right) (the body tag is missing.)
The right buttocks is signed in black: Xavier Roberts. According to a CPK reference site, the black signature indicates this doll is from 1983.
Height: 15 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Two long brown yarn pigtails with yarn that frames the face, brown painted eyes, smiling mouth; has a dimpled left cheek
Clothes: Redressed in a separately-sold red/white/blue/yellow Hasbro-tagged Cabbage Patch Kids top, white pants, and white Cabbage Patch Kids shoes.
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Doll 2 (short brown yarn hair)
Marks: (Head) © COPY R. 1978. 1982 / ORIGINAL APPALACHIAN ART WORKS INC / MANUFACTURED BY COLECO IND. INC. / 19 (on the left) 3 (on the right); (Body tags) the back of the second body tag reads, Cabbage Patch Kids ™ / ©1978, 1982 / Original Appalachian Art Works, Inc / Mfg. for Coleco Industries, Inc. / Amsterdam, NY 12010 / Made in China Reg. No. 1044
The right buttocks is signed in black: Xavier Roberts ’84.
Height: 18 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Short brown yarn hair, brown painted eyes, smiling mouth; has a dimpled left cheek
Clothes: Original ©1985-tagged white dress with navy blue and white check sleeves, navy blue and white check panties; the navy-blue socks with white ribbon ties were added by the curator.
***
Doll 3 (Cabbage Patch Preemie)
Marks: © COPY R. 1978. 1982 / ORIGINAL APPALACHIAN ART WORKS INC / MANUFACTURED BY COLECO IND. INC. / 28 (on the left) 4 (on the right); (Body tags) the back of the second body tag reads, Cabbage Patch Kids ™ / ©1978, 1982 / Original Appalachian Art Works, Inc / Mfg. for Coleco Industries, Inc. / Amsterdam, NY 12010 / Made in China Reg. No. 1044
The right buttocks is signed in green: Xavier Roberts. In 1984, green was used for preemies.
Height: 14 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Brown yarn tuft of hair on the top of the head, brown painted eyes, open mouth to accommodate a pacifier which is missing; has a dimple in each cheek
Clothes: Originally wore a yellow gown and a diaper; redressed in a lavender and green floral-print dress, white undies, and white ribbons tied around the ankles
Other: In The Legend of The Cabbage Patch Kids, with the help of a bunnybee, a 10-year-old boy named Xavier discovered orphaned kids and babies in a cabbage patch near the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia.
The original Coleco Cabbage Patch Kids created the 1980s frenzy for parents to acquire the first mass-produced, signed, adoptable dolls for their children. The dolls came with a prenamed, dated, and signed birth certificate with the opportunity for the doll to be renamed through a mail-in process. Unless they are bald, the original dolls have yarn hair, hand-stitched fingers and toes, sculpted navels, dimpled knees, and outstretched arms.
Gallery and Slideshow
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