The Cabbage Patch Kids were dolls produced from 1983-1989 by Coleco. They had large,
round vinyl heads and soft fabric bodies.
The gimmick of the dolls was their uniqueness. No two were exactly alike; each
doll had a different eye color, facial features, hair, and outfit. The subtle differences were introduced with a computer for
each run. Each came with a unique birth certificate signed by
their creator, Xavier Roberts.
They were the must-have toy
one Christmas. Parents across the United States flocked to stores to try to obtain one of the Cabbage Patch Kids for their children with fights
occasionally erupting between parents over the hard-to-find dolls. In later years, Coleco introduced variants on the original
Cabbage Patch Kids, and derivatives of the original line of dolls continued to be marketed.
Although the Cabbage Patch Kids fad has largely passed, there remain a significant number
of die-hard collectors.
Cabbage Patch Kids were later parodied with the typically grotesque Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. The parody led
Roberts to sue Topps, the maker of Garbage Pail Kids, for trademark infringement. The parties eventually settled out of court, with Topps agreeing to redesign the
cards so that the artwork would not resemble Cabbage Patch Kids so closely.
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