These specialty outfits offered us the freedom to pose our Cabbage Patch Kids. What a cool concept!
These outfits came out in 1985. They were designed to help you pose your doll and were intended to be worn underneath other outfits. There were six different colours available (I think).
The boxes say that they were made by factories in China (P), Korea (IJ), Haiti, and Mexico. As far as I know, this is the only CPK item produced in Haiti.
Photos courtesy of Marta Aleman Perez.
Packaging
Actionwear ONLY came packaged. I’ve seen zero evidence that they were ever put on boxed kids. This makes sense; they were never intended to be the only outfit on a doll.
They originally came in packaging designed specifically for them (1). Then they started showing up in packaging designed for the Occupation Rompers (2). Eventually, they were part of the ‘overflowing inventory’ that they had to get rid of, and they started coming out in basic cardboard packaging (3-5).
12345Picture 2 courtesy of Tamars Treasures
One minor problem . . .
For anyone who has handled Actionwear outfits, you know that it isn’t uncommon for the outfit to be sans the wires. The wires tend to burst out of the outfit, like an underwire bra! However, some may have been sold WITHOUT the wire. The following was noted in 1987:
“A liquidation firm sold off a large number of outfits on boards that did not have the wire in them. They were not labelled as “Action Wear” but sure looked like them! The tag says Mexico!’
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My favourite cabbies in my collection . . . just because I can.
What shoes did the Jesmar factory produce and how can you identify them?
Disclaimer: My research into Jesmar clothing is only an addendum to my research into Coleco clothing. As such, I do not have access to a significant amount of information. This is a compilation of what I know about Jesmar shoes, based on the resources to which I have access. Shoes produced by the other foreign factories are not covered here as I have even less access to them, and I cannot provide sufficient information for identification.
Jesmar produced their own versions of all four types of original Coleco footwear: lace-ups, Mary Janes, sneakers, and knit booties. However, there are distinctive characteristics that allow Jesmar shoes to be differentiated from Coleco shoes.
Unlike Coleco shoes, Jesmar shoes do not have a factory or location identifier. However, they do have other marks that make them identifiable.
Mark 1 – The Funky Shape
This mark is often found in the heel of many Jesmar shoes. There are no factory or location identifiers.
Mark 2 – Left over molded vinyl bits
Sometimes in the heel, you can see small circles of left-over vinyl that appear to be an error in the mould.
Mark 3 – Different Pattern
Some Jesmar lace-up shoes have a different sort of pattern on the front. Instead of the flower shape, it’s a diamond. Therefore, Jemsar shoes can have both patterns.
Version 1: These shoes have a VERY prominent edge around the sole of the shoe; it’s almost square. The vinyl tends to be very malleable, and they have extremely prominent embossed stitching. They have the flower shape on the front (Mark 3). Inside, in the heel, they often have the extra mould material (Mark 2 above).
Version 2: These shoes are made of much harder, smoother, almost glossy vinyl. They have absolutely no lip or edge at the sole, and the pattern is debossed. They have a diamond shape on the front (Mark 3). Inside, in the heel, they often have Mark 1 from above.
Comparison – Coleco vs. Version 2 vs. Version 1
There are some excellent aftermarket replicas that look a lot like Jesmar lace-ups. For details, visit These aren’t CPK shoes?!
Mary Janes
Jesmar Mary Jane shoes are generally very smooth with almost glossy vinyl. The front section is pointier than regular Coleco shoes. Although there is no edge/rim at the sole, if they have not been trimmed well, there can be a sort of edge created by extra vinyl material.
Comparison – Coleco vs. Jesmar
Sneakers
There appear to be two different versions of the sneakers, again a difference in the malleability of the vinyl. However, the pattern and shape do not appear to be distinctly different.
Jesmar sneakers have a slightly different shape then Coleco, and it is very well defined. They are also pointier than Coleco shoes.
Jesmar produced white, blue, and pink striped sneakers. Some pink stripes can fade over time into a peach colour. (Facebook Conversation; April 7, 2021)
Comparison – Coleco vs. Jesmar
Knit Booties
Jesmar only produced knit booties for their version of the #9 Bubble Romper outfit.
Photo courtesy of Jenna Young.
Like Coleco booties, Jesmar booties have a distinctive knit pattern that matches the pattern in the sweater.
Photo courtesy of Heather Day.
Jesmar Socks
Jesmar socks are very different from Coleco socks. They have no cuff and are made of nylon/pantyhose type of material.
Coleco vs. Jesmar socks
Fun Fact
Jesmar continued to produce these shoes and use them on other dolls through 1986 and 1897. (FB Conversation, Jennifer Pelfrey, Aug. 2021) Note that the socks also appear to be the same.
A small number of outfits and dolls have the factory code H101. I have only seen a 1989 preemie and a Babyland Kid with this factory code, and all of the clothing tags with this code have been found on BBB outfits with outfit numbers 0-101 to 0-106.
These tags are from the first factory that produced Hasbro Cabbage Patch items, located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Photo courtesy of Shilo Smith.
H101 Tags
H101 tags look like Coleco tags and have Coleco-like outfit codes, but if you look closely, you’ll see that the item was made for Hasbro Inc. It is likely they wanted to create a factory code for the new Hasbro factory and chose H101. H is likely for Hasbro, and maybe the 101 represents the number they were starting at.
Outfit #103Outfit #106Doll tagH101 Preemie dollH101 Babyland KidPhotos courtesy of Rebecca Russel and Shilo Smith.
However, it appears that this tagging system did not last long, probably only for a short period in 1989. There are very few examples of these outfits, and by 1990 they had moved on to more obvious Hasbro tags, and the factory code vanished.
0 – additional tags
The next step seems to be clothing tags with the code addition number 0-, as discussed in the Code Addition post. All of these outfits are 400s numbered outfits.
Outfit #400Photos courtesy of Sabrina Vanissa Adams.
These outfits may have been the last new outfits created or co-created with Coleco during the transitional period.
For more detailed and up-to-date information about the H101 Trsntiional time period, visit HERE
For a complete list of companies that produced CPK’s and Coleco factories click HERE.
I think all the outfits in the 1987 Preemie Mimic Series, #707 – #716, came with OK factory-made booties. I still need to confirm one or two through MIB kids.
Variation
So far I know that booties were manufactured by the following factories:
OK
P
KT (only made Bubble Romper booties)
PMI (only made Bubble Romper booties)
IC (only made Bubble Romper booties)
SS (only made preemie booties)
FW (only made preemie booties)
CC (only made preemie booties)
FD (only made preemie booties)
It seems that each factory used a different knitting pattern. You can see visual differences between them. I have one pattern that I cannot associate with a factory, but I think it might be the CC factory. I am still missing examples of many factories. Do you have them?
KT Factory
SS factory
Unknown – stretched
Unknown – normal
The booties also appear to come in two different sizes, but I do not know why. It would make sense that the larger ones were for the #9 Bubble Romper outfit and regular-sized kids, while the smaller ones were for the preemie outfits. However, I have seen the smaller-sized booties in yellow, which never came with the preemie outfits.
Finally, there is a Play Along 25th Anniversary version of the Bubble Romper outfit. These booties look like OK factory booties, but the yarn is thinner and finer.
Other Information
I have never seen booties separately packaged like other CPK shoes.
Foreign factories did produce booties. The Triang-Pedigree are a lot like P factory booties.
What do you mean these aren’t Cabbage Patch Shoes? How can I tell?
Hundreds of different doll shoes fit on CPK kids, but only a handful are considered to be ‘real’ CPK.
To be real, they must have been manufactured by Coleco, or one of the other companies that made CPK products, FOR CPK dolls.
All other shoes are considered to be aftermarket. There is nothing wrong with these shoes. Many were created with the intention that they be worn by Cabbage Patch Kid dolls; they just weren’t created by the original company.
This post focuses primarily on Coleco shoes; however, the shoes produced by other companies (i.e. Hasbro) were generally labelled CPK in some way. Consequently, they are easy to recognize.
Photos courtesy of Becky Alvrey, Callie Anne, Cathleen Mary, and many unknown sources.
Typically Confused Shoes
* As it is the 21st century, we are even starting to see 3D printed shoes. However, the examples I’ve seen so far are also visually different and will be easy to separate from the original shoes.
* My Child doll shoes are frequently confused with CPK shoes. They are not CPK.
Source unknown
* These shoes look VERY similar to Jesmar CPK shoes. However, they have MADE IN HONG KONG stamped on the soles of the shoe and are believed to be aftermarket. Special thanks to Sherri Evans Downey for these pictures.
Looks like Jesmar insideLooks like Jesmar outsideBut it’s not Jesmar!
