Xavier Roberts was born in Cleveland, Georgia, in October ; he is best known as the father of the Cabbage Patch Kids and the creator of a toy phenomenon that had never been seen before. But you might not know about that. You also might not know that a Kentucky artist named Martha Nelson Thomas originally invented the cute little dolls, but her design was stolen and transformed into a multibillion-dollar franchise that dominated the decade.
She shopped for them. She dressed them. They were expressions of her. In , a young art student by the name of Xavier Roberts met Thomas at a craft fair, and was taken by the dolls and their sculpted faces. Roberts began purchasing the Doll Babies from Thomas to sell at a profit at a Georgia State Park gift shop where he worked.
After several dolls were sold, Thomas decided to stop supplying her handmade dolls to the shop due to a dispute over pricing with Roberts and also because she was concerned he might take the idea away from her. With his supply of Doll Babies cut off, Roberts decided to create his own version of the dolls. Roberts was a skilled artist in his own right, so with the help of artist Debbi Moorehead, he began making soft sculpted dolls himself, which he called Little People the name was to change later.
Together they renovated an old building in Cleveland, Georgia, and turned it into a clever little shop that would become known as BabyLand General Hospital. Instead of sales clerks, Roberts turned his employees into nurses and doctors, giving them uniforms.
A woman who had purchased one of his dolls in the Georgia area approached Thomas at an art fair to congratulate her on selling her dolls at the Atlanta Airport. By the following year, Roberts and his friends at the BabyLand General Hospital were unable to keep up with the orders and Roberts licensed the dolls — which were now to have round vinyl heads — exclusively to Coleco for mass-production under the name Cabbage Patch Kids the Xavier Roberts signature remained on the bum, although they were no longer signed with a felt-tip marker.
The dolls were now being mass-produced, but thanks to advances in manufacturing technologies, no two dolls were ever the same. Computerized machines were able to create infinite randomizations by varying several aspects of the dolls, including hair, dimple locations and skin tone. Their names were also unique. The Cabbage Patch Kids came with a new origin story that was printed on every box.
The media ate it up, and the Cabbage Patch Kids were quickly featured everywhere, including a cover story in Newsweek before the end of the year. Nobody, including Roberts or retailers, had any idea what would happen next. Christmas wish list The consumer response was so great, Coleco cancelled all of its advertising as they tried to keep up with demand — shipping a doll-industry record of 3.
By November , Cabbage Patch Kids were so scarce and so in demand that parents were willing to camp outside of local toy stores or drive hundreds of kilometres just to buy one. Most stores at the time typically only stocked between and dolls, but there were thousands of eager customers, which meant that frustration was brewing. Some stores held draws to keep things orderly, while others left things to be a free-for-all.
Not surprisingly, a frenzied resale market began, with desperate gift givers willing to pay big bucks to get their hands on the dolls. Then mini-riots began to break out in stores across North America. Archival videos of news stories which are readily available on YouTube show pandemonium at stores in the United States and Canada, with boxes containing Cabbage Patch Kids being flung about. There were violent occurrences in major retail stores like Sears, J.
At a Simpsons department store in London, Ontario, a shopper named Bonnie Jeffries described the chaos she witnessed when she went looking for a doll in November. At a Zayre department store in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a riot broke out, with a store manager grabbing a baseball bat to protect himself.
People were grabbing at each other, pushing and shoving. It got ugly. I think we all worked very hard. Cabbage Patch creator Xavier Roberts copyrighted his design in and sold the rights to company Giant Coleco in Dolls that were made prior to the Coleco handover are worth the most.
The Little People Originals were all hand-crafted by Xavier himself and were signed in permanent marker on their bottoms. Every second little girl was asking Santa Claus for one in , even so much so that the shopping centers who sold these were crowded with moms trying to get their hands on one in time for Christmas before they sold out.
Unlike some of the other big brand toys produced during the 80s and the 90s, Cabbage Patch Kids were often well marked with their year of manufacture. For example, during a true Cabbage Patch Kid or Little People will have a black signature, green was used in , blue was used in , red was used in , aqua was used in , lavender was used in and rose was used in If you have one of the earlier produced dolls, or you are looking to purchase one as a vintage collectible, ensure that the signature color matches up with the proposed manufacture date.
When the Coleco company sold the Cabbage Patch Dolls, the boxes were often marked with the year of manufacture. While the style of the boxes changed over the years, the date was often front and foremost. The Coleco boxes do not sport a banner while those produced in the years following do. The original Cabbage Patch Kids stood between 16 and 18 inches tall while the Preemies measured between 14 and 15 inches. During , Coleco produced special edition kids such as twins, world travelers, and western kids and later in specialty kids such as the astronauts and all-stars were released.
Following this, in , Coleco released a Cabbage Patch Kid designed to be able to be bathed and another kid that could talk. While many of the Cabbage Patch Dolls can see their owner making back their money or making a small amount of money, those handcrafted by Xavier himself prior to see the biggest return.
The condition of the doll, the rarity, the skin and hair color, whether or not the original accessories are included as well as the birth certificate and box all determine how much someone may be willing to pay come auction. For most of the Cabbage Patch Kids, no two are the exact same.
Whether they have different eye colors or hair colors, it was their uniqueness along with their adaptability that made the world fall in love with them time and time again.
While in more recent years, you can find identical Cabbage Patch Dolls, in their earlier years, especially when they were handcrafted by Xavier himself, the dolls were each their own little people. This means that each doll does not have a set collectible value and the price of each really depends on supply and demand. There are a number of things that can make one doll more valuable than another and we mention those in the section above. I have a Cabbage Patch Doll in very good condition with her snacks.
Are their doll collectors who purchase them? If so how do I go about selling her. I have a original Little People doll along with her birth certificate that I cannot find a value on..
I have 2 from in the box and mint condition. Are they worth anything … Tucker Marco and Calvine Claudia…. I have a Cabbage Patch doll that is very similar to the Teresa Ann doll.
Instead of a single pony tail, she has two pigtails. She has the green eyes and single dimple. I have the adoption papers and original dress. How would I go about even knowing how much she is worth? I have a doll blond braids sign by Xavier Roberts. She came with birth certificate l have picture of the adoption in baby land. I have her dress and hat. I have a doll in mint condition.
She has an original signature in her bottom. Need information about value. Just no. The Colecos you listed did not go for the prices you stated. Those mass-market Kids are more valuable than most of the Kids on your list. I object to those who put together lists like this with any knowledge of the secondary Cabbage Patch Kids market.
Is there a way to find out if my cabbage patch dolls are worth anything? I have an original cabbage page doll and I am trying to find out the value. Original, never used.
Bought in I have a doll, never been taken out of the box. Her name is Edith Eve. Any insight on how much she may be worth? I have a Cabbage Patch doll.
Green eyes, dimple on left cheek. Has original Cabbage Patch diaper on. The Preemie dolls I am not able to determine the year without taking them out of the box. All are unopened and in there original boxes with Birth Certificates. Just looking for an honest value on them as it is very hard to determine the value!
Is there somewhere I can look them up by there skew or bar codes that are listed on the bottoms of the boxes? He comes in a Diaper and his name is Neil daren. Could you help me find his worth please? Thank you n God bless. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
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