The Cabbage Patch Kids Secret That Even The Biggest Fans Didn’t Know About
Back in the ’80s, folks across the nation pushed, shoved, and elbowed their way to toy store displays to grab themselves a Cabbage Patch Kid. Adorable dolls with a quirky adoption gimmick, they sold like hot cakes up and down the land — making their creator a whole shedload of money. Or did they? When one woman came out with an extraordinary claim, trouble threatened to erupt. And all the while, fans had no clue...
The biggest craze
The 1980s were a big decade for toy fads. The Rubik’s Cube, My Little Pony, and Transformers were all snapped up in their millions. Every kid wanted the latest novelty under their Christmas tree. But if there was one toy that really captured the hearts of children — and some adults — during the ’80s, it was Cabbage Patch Kids.
Huge money-spinner
In 1984 alone, the dolls — along with the clothes, cereals, lunch boxes, and heaps of other Cabbage Patch merchandise —brought in more than $2 billion in revenue. And the toys themselves created a desire that verged on hysteria. Fights even broke out when some stores couldn’t meet the public demand.
The guy behind it all
The guy responsible for this soft-doll obsession? Xavier Roberts, who had a classic rags-to-riches backstory. After losing their father in a car crash, Roberts and his five siblings were raised by a single mother. And to put himself through college, he did pretty much every odd job there was.
Experimental artist
“I wasn’t too smart in school. My only As were in art,” Roberts told The Washington Post in 1983. “I used to make things — pots and clay figures, kind of wild things — and sell them to the other students.” It was during this time that the future doll maker apparently began to produce art made from textiles.
