Jump to – Designer Line Series 2: 170s – 180s
These kids came out in 1989, during the Transitional Period. Hasbro also sold them for a short time from when they took over production in July of 1989 and into 1990.
“According to the 1990 catalogue, these Designer Line Kids had “the cool, casual look that children like for themselves . . .Their new outfits are the latest and greatest fashion designs, and their yarn or nylon hair is fashioned in the hottest looks around.” (Ref #2, p. 104)
They came with new hairstyles, both yarn and cornsilk, and some new head moulds were introduced with these kids (#36, #44, #45). For more details, refer to the sources listed at the end of the post.
These kids came standing in a special box with a new design. In the US they came with a special purple DL birth certificate but in Canada, they came in the regular 1987-89 certificates. I’m not sure about other countries. They, and their outfits, were made at the P factory; however, they don’t generally end up with pox. A few of the early DL kids came with a new ‘artistic’ Xavier Roberts signature, but it was quickly changed back to the original.
The Outfits
Numerically, there are two series of Designer Line outfits, the 150s and the 170s-180s. The 150s outfits came out first and the 170-180s came out second. For an explanation of how we know, visit Transitional Period – A Summary.
Each series has six outfits, and there are five versions of each outfit (A-E).
These outfits came with chunky sneakers and white underpants for boys or white underwear for girls.
UPDATE: Designer Line outfits put on later kids may also have come with Saddle Shoes.
These kids came out at a time when Coleco was dumping material into the market. I don’t have enough evidence to show that the socks and shoes that came with outfits were entirely consistent. It’s possible that the accessory colour changed based on what they had available. If you have a MIB kid that doesn’t match my records, please let me know!
Finally, the 170s-180s outfits were sold packaged by Hasbro, but this series did not. Consequently, of the two DL outfit series, this one would likely be the more difficult to find.
152 – Button Dress (Girl)
The reason for this name is obvious. It doesn’t come with any leg coverings, just underwear. The socks are special in that they too have buttons on them.
153 – Long sweater with leggings (Girl)
154 – Jean dress and jacket (Girl)
Most of the time, the fabric of the dress and the jacket are the same colour. However, for at least one version, they are not.
155 – Shirt, pants, and jacket with hood outfit (Girl)
156 – Jean jacket and pants with shirt (Boy)
I’m not sure that this outfit came with socks. I know that sounds weird, but I got a ‘complete’ kid myself, and he didn’t have any socks. Almost all the pictures I’ve seen of this outfit, and all of the pictures that I have of this outfit, either have no socks or have pictures of odd socks, not DL socks. It’s very strange! Do you have a MIB kid with DL socks on?
157 – Tracksuit with hoodie vest (Boy)
For some odd reason, this outfit appears to show up frequently on kids with the brush-cut hairstyle, even in the yarn hair!
Version Information
My goal is to record every version of every outfit that was produced. With each outfit above is a record of the outfit versions I have recorded. To understand clothing codes, factories, and variations, please refer to What are Clothing Tag Codes? and Factories and Companies.
I appear to have many of the outfits recorded, but if you have an outfit that is not recorded here, I would like to hear from you. This includes any differences in accessories. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
Other Information
These outfits showed up in the Coleco Catalogues in 1989 and Hasbro catalogues in 1990. Many of these outfits were never produced or were done in other colours.
