brekkebenden - Hilary's Cabbage Patch Clothes Closet

BBB Mimic Series: 670s-680s

A set of BBB outfits that look remarkably like other BBB outfits . . . but these came out in 1987 and I’m missing a lot of them! Can you help?

BBB Information Summary Post
1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 1 – 190s
1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 2 – 200s

This outfit series came out in 1987, as the 7- on the clothing tags indicate. (For more information about this aspect of CPK clothing codes, visit Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory. ) However, it appears the knit outfits were all designed in 1985 (and copyrighted at that time) but not manufactured until 1987. On the other hand, the terry cloth outfits were designed and produced in 1987. They must have been a last-minute addition. Also, the knit outfits were all produced in West Hartford, CT, whereas the terry cloth outfits were produced in Amsterdam, NY. For more information on the significance of these manufacturing locations, visit Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory.

Picture of a cabbage patch kid clothing tag from the WS factory. It was copyrighted in 1985 and made in West Hartford CT. Outfit number 7-673D..

Picture of a cabbage patch kid clothing tag from the SS factory. It was copyrighted in 1987 and made in Amsterdam NY. Outfit number 7-684E.

Like other CPK kids at this time, these kids came with slightly different coloured boxes and newly formatted birth certificates. The new text is blockier, and on the boxes, the BABIES is in purple rather than aqua. Like the previous BBB kids, they also came with a footie outfit, a bonnet, a blanket, and a white felt diaper.

1987-1989 Cabbage Patch Box for a BABIES doll with a bald, white kid inside. The doll is wearing an aqua outfit with a white bonnet.

Unsent birth certificate for a BABIES Cabbage Patch Kid all laid out. Each of the individual pieces can be seen.

I call this the BBB Mimic Series, as many of these outfits look similar, or mimic, outfits that had already been produced. (See below for details.)

This series goes from #670 – #684. It may go as high as #688, as I know the next series starts at #689, but I have no evidence for that yet. At the moment, I am missing information on at least one-third of these outfits: #671, #675, #677, #678, #679. They may not have been produced at all. I do not know.

Most of this series is knit, like the previous BBB outfits, but the last few are made of terry cloth. This is a significant change that carried on in later BBB outfits. These outfits were manufactured by the SS and WS factories, but SS appears to be the primary factory at this point, as it is most frequently recorded. (See the pictures above.)

The Outfits

The outfits came in at least eight different pastel colours that were used in a variety of combinations. Unlike the previous BBB series, the colours do not correspond to a code letter. (See Series 1 for details.) Like the previous BBB series, I have created names/descriptions for these outfits because I am unaware of any conventionally accepted ones.

#670 - Blue and white knit onesie with a tie at the waist. It has white striped decoration on the shoulders and hat and white feet. — 670 – Scalloped neck, waist tie onesie

Outfit Colours

#676 - Mint green and white knit onesie with a sailor tie at the neck. It has white striped decoration at the yoke and feet. — Blue

Version Information

My goal is to record every version of every outfit that was produced. Below is a record of the outfits in this series that I have recorded. To understand clothing codes, factories, and variations, please refer to What are Clothing Tag Codes? and Factories and Companies.

If you have an outfit that is not recorded here, I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.

Caring for BBB outfits

Similar outfits

671 is similar to #192. There are no holes in the sleeves and booties of #671 and the necks are very different.
#672 and #681 are similar to #203 and #193. They are all dresses.
#673 is similar to #194 and #202. The chest area is the most obvious difference for all three.
#674 looks similar to #195, #199, #201 and #679. They are all two-piece outfits with sweaters and footie pants. The hat and the pattern on the sweater are the most obvious differences.
#676 is similar to #197. The collar style is the most obvious difference.
#670 and #680 are very similar to #202.
#682 is almost identical to #400. (FUTURE POST)
#683 is similar to #128, with the number of chest ruffles being the obvious difference.
#684 is similar to #103, #130, and an outfit with the number #12_(complete code unknown).

Other Information

> Unlike the previous BBB series, these outfits do not have ribbons used anywhere except for the odd bow.
> The 670s appear to be harder to find outfits than the 680s. This may change as more information is acquired.
> At this point, I believe the outfit hardest to find in this series is outfit #672 – Dress set, two bows at the waist. Having said that, those unrecorded at this time also likely fit in the HTF category!

> Fun fact: Examples of these outfits can be found in the 1987 Coleco Catalogue on page 7. The picture shows a combination of Series 1 outfits and Mimic Series outfits. Can you determine which one is from is which?

Picture of 6 BBB kids wearing knit outfits with blankets scattered amongst them. They are wearing various colours and outfits.

Twin Outfits, Part 2: 1986 and other interesting info.

Twins continued to be produced in 1986 but with some differences. Also, information on other types of twins, prototype outfits, and more!

Twin Outfits, Part 1 : 1985

Coleco continued to produce Twin sets in 1986 wearing the original four outfits, but they also started to use twin sets as a dumping ground to get rid of overstock. At this time, it wasn’t unusual to find a variety of combinations in twin boxes, for example:

Red haired twin girl cabbage patch kids wearing white Fun Fur outfits, in a twin box. — Twins wearing Fun Furs, animal sleepers, and World Traveler outfits. I have confirmed that they used all 5 WT outfits on twins.

Lemon haired girls wearing pink rabbit animal sleepers in a twin box. — Twins wearing Fun Furs, animal sleepers, and World Traveler outfits. I have confirmed that they used all 5 WT outfits on twins.

Especially in the Canadian market, it wasn’t unusual for the dolls wearing these non-twin outfits to be Jesmar as it was at this time that Coleco was looking to rid themselves of the remaining stock from the recently closed foreign factories. (See Jesmars and J Clothing for details.)

Bald boy Jesmar cabbage patch kids wearing Russian World Traveler outfits in a twin box. — Jesmar dolls wearing World Traveler outfits in twin boxes, or who came as twins.

Red haired Jesmar paci cabbage patch kids wearing Holland World Traveler outfits in a twin box. — Jesmar dolls wearing World Traveler outfits in twin boxes, or who came as twins.

The dolls used for twins in 1986 weren’t always P/OK factory and weren’t always the same factory. For example, there are records of sets being OK and PMI. (Ref #4, March 1988, p. 4) This was rare, but apparently, it did happen.

They also dumped twin outfits by putting them on individually boxed regular kids and Cornsilk kids in 1986 and 1987.

A blonde Cornsilk Kid wearing a T1 Party Dress Twin outfit in a Cornsilk Kid box. — Courtesy of Christy Ho.

A custom shag lemon haired #16 boy with blue eyes wearing a red T4 twin outfit in a 1987 regular Cabbage Patch Kid box. — Courtesy of Christy Ho.

Finally, in a last-ditch effort to get rid of stock, twin outfits were sold packaged separately. Often these packages didn’t come with accessories like gloves or shoes.

Green velveteen girls twin outfits (T3) packaged on a board, to be sold separately.

Other Cabbage Patch Twins

> The Tsukuda factory is the only foreign factory that manufactured Twins (Ref #3, p. 247). Their twins wear regular 1983 outfits with the word “TWIN” silkscreened on them. These sets are very highly valued by collectors.

Brown haired, blue eyes, paci Tsukuda boys wearing jean rompers and red shirt with the word TWIN on the romper. — The first two photos are courtesy of Carolyn Dahl.

Brown haired, blue eyes, single ponytail paci Tsukuda girls wearing red shoulder-tie dresses with the word TWIN on the dress. — The first two photos are courtesy of Carolyn Dahl.

> Preemie twins were never produced, but prototypes are visible in catalogue pictures from 1986. (Ref #3, p. 178, 192)

Pg 84 of the Coleco Catalogue in 1986 showing two sets of preemie, dresses as Twins. — 1986 Coleco catalogue, p. 84-85

Pg 85 of the Coleco Catalogue in 1986 showing two sets of preemie, dresses as Twins. — 1986 Coleco catalogue, p. 84-85

Prototype Outfits

Many prototype outfits can be seen in catalogues from 1986. The outfits aren’t exact, but they’re pretty close! It’s too bad the white dresses were never produced, they’re very pretty.

Picture of two sets of girl twins wearing very frilly white dresses. One set has red braids, the second are AA dolls with brown hair. — JCPenny Catalogue 1985

Sets of Cabbage Patch twins sitting on movie theatre seats. They are dressed in prototype outfits. — Coleco 1985 Catalogue, p.6-7

Sewing Patterns

Butterick produced only one of the twin outfits as a sewing pattern. They are numbered #390 and #3564.

Butterick sewing pattern #390 for the velveteen girls and boys twin outfits. The outfits shown are grey in colour. The dolls are lemon haired, one boy, one girl.

General References

Ref #3, p. 104 – 110

Ref #2, p. 71 – 72

PTP: Have you seen a Donkey Patch before? (Update Jan 9)

Have you ever seen a donkey patch on a cabbage patch outfit before? I know I hadn’t until now!

This young man is wearing a mystery. He’s a Jesmar, wearing a Jesmar outfit. However, the donkey patch adorning his romper is a bit odd. Has anyone else seen one like it? Anywhere?

Wheat haired blue eyed boy with freckles wearing a brown romper and white shirt. The romper has a donkey patch on it.

Picture courtesy of David Compeau.

There are a few unusual patches that can be found on Coleco outfits (bunny, sheep) but they’ve been seen on more than a few. ( PTP: Plentiful Patches Pt. 1 ) This is the first time I’ve ever seen or heard of a donkey!

Close up of the donkey patch. It is brown with a yellow belly.

Now, it’s not difficult to add a patch, and many of the Jesmar rompers came without one, so this could be just an after-purchase addition. Or, maybe a Spanish seamstress decided to have some fun and add something different.

What do you think? Do you have a theory?

UPDATE: Jan 9, 2022

Special thanks to Erin Cavil for sending me this photo. It appears that this is a ‘vintage’ patch, so the time frame is correct, but it was also publicly available for use. Who do you think added it?

Twin CPK Outfits, Part 1

Official Cabbage Patch Kid twin sets wore special sets of beautiful clothing. At least, they did when they first came out!

Official Cabbage Patch Twins became available starting in 1985. They continued to be sold in 1986, but with some differences (see Twin Outfits, Part 2). They came with specially designed boxes, birth certificates, and hand tags. When they introduced Twins, they also introduced a few new hairstyles and hair colours.

Boxed Cabbage Patch Twins. They are wheat haired poodle double ponytail girls with green eyes, wearing light yellow velveteen outfits. — Courtesy of Hall Walls.

Large mailed version of the Twins Cabbage Patch Kid birth certificate and US hand tag. — Courtesy of Hall Walls.

Although called twins, the dolls were not always identical. They always had the same colour of hair and eyes, but the head moulds were often different. Most Twin dolls were made by the P factory, but there were some OK factory sets. Although billed as a Limited Edition, it quickly became apparent that they weren’t limited and that they weren’t selling very well.

For more detailed information on the doll’s traits, visit Fundamentals of Cabbage Patch Kids, p. 104.

Twin Outfits

Twin clothing consisted of four different outfits and had a separate coding matrix, T#. The great majority of twin clothing was manufactured by the P factory; however, at least a few were made at the KT factory. I’ve seen only one example of this.

There are between five and seven versions of each twin outfit. The two additional outfits appear to be caused by a change in fabric colour. In a few cases, there are two distinct colours associated with the same code. I theorize that they could no longer source the original colour and so carried on with the second (C2, E2). “It would seem that the rarest velvet to appear was burgundy, which appeared on only a few 1985 sets.” (Ref #5, p. 82)

T1 – Party Dresses

These dresses come in two versions, one made of a cotton damask fabric with a velveteen waist bow, and the other a shiny satin fabric. The structure is the same for both. I believe there are only three versions of the satin dress (yellow, light purple, vivid blue), although I do not know why.

Blue damask fabric version of the twin cabbage patch kid T1 Party Dress. Picture also includes the white lacy tights and net gloves. — Damask Version

Blue satin version of the twin cabbage patch kid T1 Party Dress. Picture also includes the white lacy tights, mary jane shoes, and net gloves. — Damask Version

These dresses came with fancy mesh gloves with line patterns, white lace tights, a regular diaper, and Mary Jane shoes. They came only on girl/girl twin sets, and the dresses were always the same colour.

T2 – Knit Overalls

This outfit consists of a knit long sleeve shirt under a pair of knit coveralls and a matching knit hat. It came with a regular diaper and lace-up shoes. It was worn only by boy/boy twin sets.

Blue knit twin CPK outfit with matching hat.

Yellow knit twin CPK outfit with matching hat.

It is this outfit that I believe the BBB Twin outfit is based upon. For details visit PTP: The Twin Outfit That Isn’t (It’s BBB)

T3 & T4 Velveteen Outfits

These two outfits came on the only boy/girl twin combination that was produced but could also be found on boy/boy and girl/girl twin sets. Same-gender sets were much harder to find. (Toyland: What to Buy Report. Feb 4, 1986. p. 2)

Both outfits are made primarily of velveteen and come with a regular diaper and lace-up shoes. The girl’s outfit (T3) consists of a dress-like top, pants, and a matching tam, while the boy’s outfit (T4) consists of a white dress shirt, shortalls, a matching jacket, and a bowtie.

Dark navy blue velveteen CPK twin outfit with white lace accents and a matching tam. — T3

Red velveteen twin boys outfit, pieces al put together. — T3

Spreadsheet record of the T3 and T4 outfits.

Wacky Fact:
T1 and T2 have rectangular-shaped tags, while T3 and T4 have square ones. I have no idea why, as they were all produced at the same factory!

Picture of a CPK clothing tag from the P factory. It is a rectangle shape.

Picture of a CPK clothing tag from the P factory. It is a rectangle shape and says T1B.

a row of CPK boys wearing the velveteen boy twins outfit (T4). The colours include: steel blue, royal blue, green, yellow, light yellow, burnt orange, burgundy, red, deep red. — Photos courtesy of Eric Botelho.

Continue to –
Twin Outfits Part 2: 1986 and Onward

1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 2 – 200s

These outfits are the same as the 190s outfits and yet not. What makes these BBB outfits different?

For general information on Babies, visit Babies – A Summary

1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 1 – 190s

The 1st BBB outfits came out in 1986 on Babies. (The 6- in their clothing codes indicate the date they came out. For details, visit Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory.) However, I do wonder if the outfits in this series (#199 – #203) may have been a secondary set produced or designed after the 190s. These outfits all have a few oddities about them.

I have recorded four outfits in the 200s, and all are in this series of outfits, plus #199. I believe #199 belongs in this group because, it is separated from the 190s series by the missing #198, unusual code letters were produced for it, and it is very difficult to find. Additionally, none of the recorded #199 outfits were manufactured by the WS factory, and the 200s outfits don’t appear to have been manufactured by the WS factory, just the SS and AF factories.

The primary factory for these outfits is the SS factory.

Tag for a Cabbage Patch Baby outfit. Code 6-194C, SS factory.

Each Baby comes with a footie outfit, a bonnet, a white felt diaper, and a blanket. The blanket trim matches the dominant colour of the outfit.

Picture of the BBB blankets with mint green, purple, pink, and blue edging, as well as the felt diaper both open and closed.

The Outfits

As I am including outfit #199 in this series (as well as the 190s), there are five outfits in this series. I have assigned outfit names, as I am unaware of any conventionally accepted ones. I think there are between four and eight versions of each outfit.

White with peach accents BBB outfit #199, Hearts Sweater. — 199 – Hearts Sweater

White with peach accents BBB outfit #201, Flowers Sweater. — 199 – Hearts Sweater

Like the 190s series, in general, the letters in the clothing code (A – G) are associated with a specific colour. For example, if you have an A, the outfit will be mint green no matter the outfit number. However, there are some odd situations, even more than in the 190s Series. (See the chart below.)

A – Mint Green                  D – Baby Pink                     G- Peach
B – Baby Blue                     E- Yellow
C – Purple                            F- White

Version Information

If you have an outfit that is not recorded here, I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.

Of the ‘additional’ letters J, N, P, and Q, I have only recorded one outfit per letter. (UPDATE May 2022: A second Q outfit has been located.) For H, I have two, #196 and #201. I have no idea why these random additional letters were produced. I don’t know if they produced these letters for all the outfits or just a few.

AF Factory Outfits (updated)

I have recorded AF (Thailand) produced outfits for only #200 and #203. Incidentally, these are also the most difficult to find of the 200s outfits. Were they produced by the SS factory? If not, why not? Do you have an SS version of one of these outfits? It seems many of the 190s series were made by the AF factory, but I’m not sure how many yet.

White with peach accents BBB outfit #200, Frilly footed onsie. — #200

White with peach accents BBB outfit #203, Diamond Decoration Dress. — #200

Factory Variations

I cannot see any consistent factory variations. If you observe any, please, let me know.

Care of BBB Clothing

Similar Outfits

The 670s series is what I call a ‘mimic series’ as many of the 670s outfits look similar to those in the 1st BBB outfit series. It came out in 1987.
#199 and #201 look similar to #674 and #195. They are all two-piece outfits with sweaters and footie pants. The hat and the pattern on the sweater are the most visible differences.
#200 is similar to #673, where the frill is missing from the feet.
#202 is very similar to #680, except #680 has pom-poms at the feet.
#203 is similar to #672, #681, and #193. They are all dresses.

Other Information

> HTF Info: Outfit #200 appears to be the hardest to find. Then outfit #203.

> The ribbon in these outfits can be easily removed and replaced. Refer to the Babies summary post for additional information on cleaning and care.

> Fun fact: Prototype versions of these outfits can be found in the 1986 Coleco Catalogue, p. 86 & 87. None of these outfits were actually produced.