When did the original cabbage patch dolls come out

They released this in and they were a big hit. Sports cards would now be the main focus for Topps. A lot of the art would focus on a bit of bizarre and weird style but created a gross monster style continuity throughout them, These cards were in the same vein as Mad Magazine and they were being embraced by that community. The Wacky Packages cards were ones that would spoof and mock regular consumer items like cereal or dish soap and they become some of the most popular.

Not on actual fire but they are the hottest toy possibly ever. Since they were so big there was no way to just let it go by untouched and Topps wanted to use this to their advantage somehow. But they wanted to take a regular route and just try to put out a series of Cabbage Patch Kids trading cards at first in Those doll people are real snobs.

Topps said screw this and decided to put out a parody line as they had had success doing this before with Wacky Packages. This was just a single card but the Topps management though this might make a good spin-off series. This series was the idea of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spigelman and he would work together with Mark Newgarden and Len Brown to see this whole thing through.

Newgarden had come up with that original Garbage Pail Kid drawing for Wacky Packages and worked with artist John Pound giving him the job of coming up with 44 different drawings to be released for the first card series. Pound had only 2 months to come up with 44 paintings. The idea was that they would give each card two different names and that would end with 88 cards to make up the first series. THe first packs would cost. Remember all that dust or talcum powder it seemed to have all over it?

They were hard to get at the once convenience store I used to go to; The Hasty Market. And turns out this was the case all across North America. Any convenience store, , gas station or novelty store were selling out as soon as they got them. They needed a ton of art now to be able to make the huge demand for the second series. As the Garbage Pail Kids become more popular so did the opposition to them.

Schools stated banning them, not just because they were lewd but because they were becoming a huge distraction in classes. Of course, I went to a public school that banned the use of marbles at recess as it was seen as a form of gambling. Garbage Pail Kids were so big that they would release 6 different series that year and all the public controversy was just making it more popular.

Every time a negative report, or article, came out dismissing the Garbage Pail Kids, demand and sales went up. When he was asked to help, Roberts agreed to find loving homes for these Cabbage Patch Kids.

The real Xavier Roberts, who invented the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, had no trouble "adopting" out his dolls in , for real kids around the country vied to be one of the few whose parents were able to buy them one.

The real history of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls had little to do with Bunnybees; instead, the real story began with year-old Xavier Roberts, who, when he was an art student, came up with the beginning doll idea in By , Roberts joined up with five of his school friends and started a company called the Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. Roberts would travel to arts and craft shows to sell his dolls, which already had the signature adoption aspect to them. The dolls were a hit even with the first buyers and soon orders started to pour in.

By , Roberts and his dolls were being written about in many magazines, even appearing on the cover of Newsweek. The marketing included a "birth certificate" and "official adoption papers. Consumers were even sent a birthday card on the first anniversary of the date of purchase, established when the customer filled out and mailed the adoption papers to the company. In , Roberts and his friends were unable to keep up with the orders and thus signed a contract with Coleco, a toy manufacturer, which could mass-produce the dolls—which were now to have plastic heads and be called Cabbage Patch Kids.

By the following year, Coleco couldn't keep up either. Kids were demanding the doll, causing a buying frenzy at the end of Later, when Hasbro took over manufacturing to , the dolls shrank down to 14 inches tall.

Mattel, which manufactured Cabbage Patch Kids from to also kept the smaller, inch size. Toys "R" Us produced inch kids and inch babies between — The current official licensee is Wicked Cool Toys since ; the latest inch dolls still feature a unique name, birth date, birth certificate, and adoption papers.

On the left side of every doll's tush, you can find the signature of Cabbage Patch Kids inventor, Xavier Roberts. However, what you might not know is that just about every year the dolls were made, the color of the signature changed. For instance, in , the signature was black but in it was forest green. If you are an avid fan of Cabbage Patch Kids, you can go visit the Babyland General Hospital , and see the birth of a doll. In December, they are featured on the cover of Newsweek.

Space Shuttle. The Cabbage Patch Kids are honored by being named the first official mascot of the U. Olympic Team. Award in the Property of the Year category. Cabbage Patch Kids officially move into their new home on Nov. Open daily to the public with no admission fee. Check our calendar for special events and hours. Each one is looking for someone to love, just like you!