In The 80's It Was A Cabbage Patch Craze

By Caitlin | Oct 14, 2023

Cabbage Patch Kids were the toy industry's biggest fad of the 1980s and one of America's longest-running doll franchises.

Imagine the insanity of Black Friday combined with the frenzy of the first iPhone launch, and you have the Cabbage Patch Kids craze, or "Doll Mania."

News reports claimed that they were "the best selling, scarcest dolls of all time" causing department store pandemonium as grown adults scrambled and fought for the hand-stitched fabric sculpture dolls.

The dolls were created by a 21-year-old art student named Xavier Roberts whose initial design of "Dexter" won first place at the Osceola Art show.

Check out creepy little Dexter - the doll that started it all!

Roberts developed the marketing concept of adoptable Little People with birth certificates and realizes after the success with "Dexter" that people would easily pay a $40.00 "adoption fee" for one of his hand signed Little People Originals.

Authentic Little People Pals from the early 80's were hand signed by Roberts and had differently shaped facial features compared to the later, more popular Cabbage Patch Kids.

In the early 80's these dolls sold for about $40 USD. Today, collectors are asking for over $1000 USD per doll. The doll above, sold for $280 USD on Ebay; the one below is selling for $1,249.99 on Ebay.

What the actual heck. Doll Mania is alive and well people.

After the success of the weird-looking Little People Pals, Roberts and five of his friends incorporate their business - Original Appalachian Artworks Inc and open "BabyLand General Hospital" to the public. This would be where the Cabbage Patch Kids "wait" for their forever homes.

Much like the iPhone of today, reports emerged in 1981 that many people were "re-adopting" the dolls for as much as 100 times their initial adoption fee.

By 1982, the demand for these dolls was so high, that Original Appalachian Artworks Inc signed a long term licensing agreement with Coleco to manufacture a smaller version of the doll with a vinyl head and "adoption fees" under $30 USD.

Near the end of 1983, Newsweek announces that 3 million Cabbage Patch Kids toys had been "adopted," but the people wanted more.

In 1985, they sent one into "space," because, marketing, so why not?

By the end of the decade, about 65 million Cabbage Patch Kids toys had been adopted making the brand among the top 10 best selling of the year.

Even though our parents KNEW that this was a ridiculous craze, that didn't stop them from doing everything they could to buy us one for Christmas. Watch the NBC interview with this father - he flew to ENGLAND to buy his daughter these dolls.

Would you go this far for a doll?

ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Let us know in the comments below! Don't forget to Like & Share!

Retro

Toys 'R' Us Is Back For The Holidays - Here's How To Find Your Nearest Location

By Zachary 4 months ago

Since Toys 'R' Us filed for bankruptcy last September, Toys 'R' Us Kids of all ages have been anxiously following the struggling chains ups and downs.Last month, we shared the surprising news that investors planned to reopen the iconic toy store as a pop-up chain just in time for Christmas.Now, we know more about where these pop-up stores will be, including almost 600 locations in 30 states.Home For The HolidaysGeoffrey the Giraffe is the face of the new Geoffrey's Toy Box chain.KrogerOn Friday, Kroger, the country's largest supermarket chain, announced they would be opening

Toys

30 Toys From The Sears Wishbook We All Wanted Under Our Christmas Tree 30 Years Ago

By Tanya 4 months ago

I think we can all agree that one of the best things to do while growing up was digging through the Sears Wishbook to try and make our Christmas lists.It was around this time every year that we started to get really serious about it, even though Christmas was still a ways off. We obviously needed a lot of time to plan out our lists for Santa Claus, and we weren't about to make the same mistake as the year before and forget to send one! The Wishbook was an important part of that and while it may not

90s

This One Teen's Tweet About Burning CDs Will Honestly Ruin Your Day

By Tanya 4 months ago

All of us who would consider ourselves to be 80s and 90s kids aren't really that old, right? We are still in the prime of our lives, and a lot of us still feel like we're just getting started on our path to being a "real grown-up." Maybe it's not the greatest that a lot of us still feel young, but times have changed since our parents were in their 30s. We've learned how to chill out and take our time in our lives. There's no rush, so let's all just relax and try to stay young longer.Here's the

Fads

Ikea Is Bringing Back The Couch Of Your Nightmares, And People Have A Lot To Say About It

By Tanya 4 months ago

Remember when you were growing up and you'd go hang out in the living room for hours and hours, never leaving your spot on the couch? Well, honestly I can't pretend much has changed, other than the fact that the couch has fewer flowers on it than ever before. Most people stick to a single color now, but back in the day there was apparently nothing more desirable than a good floral pattern. Big flowers, small flowers, pinks ones, or blue, every combination was waiting for you. We've all seen a lot of bad couches in our days, but when