Very similar to the Coleco Apron dress, these Hasbro outfits are harder-to-find, having been sold for a very short time. Can you collect all 5?
These dresses came out sometime around 1989/1990 and were worn by regular-sized, yarn-haired, Transitional kids. Consequently, they were not sold for long and can be hard to find.
Photo courtesy of Chris Hansing Tallman.
Like other Transitional outfits, their tags have a Coleco number/letter code but are on Hasbro tags. For an explanation of the Coleco codes, visit What are Clothing Tag Codes.
Photos courtesy of Jodi’s Punki Patch.
I believe these outfits likely came with either ballet flats or a coordinating coloured pair of Mary Janes. I have evidence that 505A came with yellow ballet flats, and 505B came with pink Mary Janes. However, the shoes used may not have been consistent by this time, so the colour and shoe type could vary considerably.
These are the known versions of this outfit. It is believed, by collectors, that this is a complete set.
#505A#505C#505E#505B#505DPhotos courtesy of Jodi’s Punki Patch.
Visit #505 – Apron Dress for information on the earlier Coleco version of this dress. The most obvious differences between the two outfits are the lack of shoulder-ties and CPK logo patch.
Beloved and beautiful, the Apron Dress is a beautiful addition to any patch.
Summary of 500s Series outfits and a list of the outfits: The 500s Series
Description
This outfit consists of a cotton dress with an ‘apron’ overskirt and ribbon shoulder-ties. It is matched with a pair of bloomers and regular lace-up shoes. The apron is edged with scalloped lace and is made of shadow-striped white fabric. There is an arched Cabbage Patch Kid logo patch on the left side of the apron (skirt).
#505J OK
Coleco started selling this outfit in 1985. It likely ended production no later than sometime in 1986. If it is found on later kids, it was likely because the company was using up old stock.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. You have a 504A OK that is yellow, not pink.) I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
> Hasbro Apron Dresses – Hasbro manufactured this series of very similar dresses. They were worn by Transitional kids. The most significant differences, other than the fabric patterns, are the lack of shoulder ties and logo patch.
> Foreign Factories: There were many variations of the #2 Shoulder-Tie Dress made by foreign factories. The Tsukuda factory used them on their twin sets. For information on identifying a Jesmar version, jump to Identifying Jesmar Clothing
Tsukuda, Courtesy of Carolyn Dahl WoodsTriang Pedigree, Courtesy of Shelley LynneJesmar sailboat dress, orangeJesmar Sailboat dress, blue; Courtesy of Carolyn Dahl Woods
Other Information
> Fun fact: This outfit can be found in the 1985 Coleco Catalogue (p. 2). This appears to be a prototype outfit, as there are numerous differences between this dress and the one eventually produced.
This outfit is wonderful for a day on the water! Deck your water baby out in the Sailboat Dress and enjoy!
Summary of 500s Series outfits and a list of the outfits: The 500s Series
Description
This outfit consists of a cotton ‘swing’ style A-line dress with matching bloomers. It has a sailor collar with a ribbon bow, lace, and rick-rack. The same rick-rack runs along the bottom hem. On the left side of the skirt is a sailboat patch, with an arched Cabbage Patch Kids logo patch over it. The bloomers match the dress fabric and have no trim around the leg holes. This outfit came with regular lace-up shoes.
#504B AX
There’s some debate about when this dress began being sold. Although it has a 500s series number, most of which started being sold in 1985, Coleco may not have started selling this outfit on dolls until 1986. (Ref#3 p. 399) It likely ended production sometime in 1986 as well. Consequently, it would have been produced for a limited amount of time. If this outfit is found on a later kid, it was most likely the company getting rid of ‘older’ stock.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. You have a 504A OK that is yellow, not pink.) I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
Factory Variations
> The Collar: The Taiwan factory collars appear to have an extra flap section with rick-rack that the China factory collars do not.
AX Factory CollarChina Factory Collar
> The Lace: It seems that the lace used by the Taiwan and China factories is different. It’s hard to tell, but it appears that the KT and P factory lace are the same, while the AX lace is different.
AX (Taiwan) factory laceP (China) Factory laceKT (China) factory laceTwo photos courtesy of Gia Levato.
> The Rick-rack: The location of the rick-rack around the skirt hem seems to change based on the factory. KT is right along the hem edge, AX is about 1cm away, and P is the furthest away from the hem.
Photos courtesy of Gia Levato and Nicole Sorensen Barnes.
> Foreign: I am only aware ofJesmar, of all the foreign factories, producing a swing-style dress. For information on identifying a Jesmar version, jump to Identifying Jesmar Clothing.
JesmarJesmar
Other Information
> Fun fact: This outfit can be found in the 1985 Coleco Catalogue (p. 5). It looks very similar to outfit #504B, but may in fact be a prototype outfit like so many of the others in this catalogue.
Chester, Destiny, and Bethany all wanted to make cards for the Cabbie Daddies out there!
Let’s help them celebrate all the cabbie Dad’s who rescue, adopt, and love. May your Patch provide you with all the hugs you could need on this special day.
Warm and luxurious, our kids love showing off their moves in this velour jogging suit. Don’t forget the headband!
Summary of 500s Series outfits and a list of the outfits: The 500s Series
Description
Two-piece velour outfit. The top looks like a regular long-sleeved top except that it has a pair of white shorts made of sweatsuit material attached to the bottom. The ‘shorts’ are trimmed with a ruffle, have decorative stitching, and have the curved Cabbage Patch Kids Logo on them. The ‘top’ has small white ruffles at the shoulders and white trim on the sleeves. The bottoms are made of the same colour velour fabric and have white trim at the ankles. As this outfit is so oddly constructed, people will often put it on the doll wrong. Sometimes the pants have been pulled up over the ‘shorts’. This outfit came with a terry cloth headband and pink striped sneakers.
503H OK; Courtesy of Kat Perhouse.503C OK
Coleco started selling this outfit in 1985. It likely ended production no later than sometime in 1986. It may be found on later kids, but this was most likely the company using up old stock.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. You have a 503D OK that is yellow, not pink.) I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
Factory Variation
As I only have three factories recorded as producing this outfit, there is very little factory variation to note. The only difference I can observe is in the curved CPK logo and the thread patterns on the shorts. There seems to be som difference between China factory outfits and Taiwanese outfits in those two areas.
KT VersionOK Version
Other Information
> Fun fact: A prototype version of this outfit can be found in the 1985 Coleco Catalogue (p. 4). As far as I am aware, they never produced this colour.
> Washing Warning! Be careful when washing these outfits; some of the colours run horribly! The red is notorious for this.
Quaint, cute, and often confused with a Cornsilk dress of the same name! Count the patches, you’ll see the difference!
Summary of 500s Series outfits and a list of the outfits: The 500s Series
Description
Cotton dress with tights. The dress is a pinafore style, with a ruffle visible at the bottom and a flower patch at the neck. The ruffle and the sleeves are one pattern/colour, and the main portion of the dress is another. There is a curved Cabbage Patch Kids logo on the left side of the pinafore section of the dress. The dress is paired with tights and lace-up shoes.
502D
Coleco started selling this outfit in 1985. It likely ended production no later than sometime in 1986. It may be found on later kids, but this was most likely the company using up old stock.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. You have a 502D OK that is yellow, not purple.) I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
Factory Variation
As I only have two factories recorded as producing this outfit, there is very little factory variation to note. The only difference I can observe is a slight variation in how the lace is applied.
Other Information
At least two of these outfits came in interesting variations. I have confirmation that 502H and 502J came with two additional versions that had fabric with embroidery patterns on them. They all have the same code and are essentially the same, but the embroidery makes them different. All the embroidered versions I am aware of were produced by the OK factory. The plain versions were produced by at least the OK and IC factories.
502H502J
Similar Outfits
? #167 – Cornsilk Country Dress (Cornsilk Series 1) Take note of the number of patches and the location of the lace. In this outfit, the bottom ruffle is different than the sleeves.
Every girl needs a pair of Fancy PJ’s for PJ parties. These popular frilly PJ’s bring it!
Summary of 500s Series outfits and a list of the outfits: The 500s Series
Description
Cotton two-piece outfit. The top is a short dress with a large bib-shaped piece edged with lace at the front. A curved Cabbage Patch Kids logo patch is on the bib section. Lace also runs around the bottom, neck, and sleeve hems. The bottoms are made of the same colour fabric and are footed. There is a band of lace and a flower patch located at the ankles.
501D OK
Coleco started selling this outfit in 1985. It likely ended production no later than sometime in 1986. It may be found on later kids, but this was most likely the company using up old stock.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. You have a 501D OK that is pink, not yellow.) I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
Factory Variation
As I only have two factories recorded as producing this outfit, there is very little factory variation to note. The only difference I can observe is a slight variation in how the lace is applied.
These shoes came on Hong Kong Jesmars and Early Tag Jesmars. If they’re spanish, why do they say Hong Kong?
The majority of this information is courtesy of Jennifer Pelfrey via various Facebook messenger conversations. In some cases, I have just quoted her! Thank you, Jennifer! Additionally, kudos to Marta Aleman Perez, Callie Anne, Charlotte Ridgers, and Severine Guiguet for their contributions as well.
These dolls were likely those produced within the first few weeks or months of production. See below for theories about the origins of the HK aspects. Remember, Jesmar dolls were likely manufactured for less than two years.
Characteristics
They have a neck-stamp that says Hong Kong. There are at least two different stamps; there may be more. (Photos courtesy of Jennifer Pelfrey.)
They came with either no body tag or with the Early Jesmar body tag. There’s speculation that dolls without tags are the earliest sample Jesmar dolls. “I suspect Jesmar may not have had tags made at that point as they were still in the sample-making phase.” (Jennifer Pelfrey, FB, May 16, 2021)
HK Jesmars share many of the same qualities as Early Jesmars, such as glossy eye paint, softer heads, neck connection is a string, a dark signature, etc. They may also have unusual hair colours or hair/eye combination which were not mass-produced later. i.e., soft orange vs. the later regular red. [insert picture of hair comparison]
They may only have had six freckles. How many does your HK Jesmar have? (Charlotte Ridgers, FB, May 18, 2021) For more information on Jesmar freckle patterns refer to Ref #3, p. 199 – 200)
Courtesy of Jennifer PelfreyCourtesy of Callie Anne Courtesy of Jennifer Pelfrey
‘Early’ Jesmar Shoes
These shoes look and feel quite a bit like Hong Kong shoes. They are characterized by:
the tongue has not been cut out; the shoe is one full piece
soft, pliable vinyl
rough/bumpy textured bottoms
badly formed interiors (appears ‘runny’)
thicker laces (though some came with standard laces). [insert picture comparison]
a lack of markings on the inside
Hong Kong Jesmar Shoes (Courtesy of Jennifer Pelfrey)Hong Kong Coleco ShoesThey are very flexible!
These shoes are not found exclusively on HK Jesmars. They have also been found on kids with early tags and Made in Spain neck stamps. “Personally, I’ve found them most often on Early Tag/Made in Spain kids with odd hair colors, but they were sometimes used on Early Tag kids with standard hair colors as well.” (Jennifer Pelfrey, FB May 17, 2021)
“There has been some debate over whether these shoes are actually Jesmar made, or whether they were made in Hong Kong and supplied to Jesmar when they were starting out. There are obvious similarities between these shoes and those that we know were manufactured in Hong Kong. So, depending on who you ask, some will say that these are Hong Kong shoes while others will say Jesmar. Until formal documentation surfaces we may never know.” (Jennifer Pelfrey, FB, May 14, 2021)
Why do they say HK? Some Theories
One collector called the Hong Kong Jesmars a hypothesis. She described them as series of tests so that the Jesmar Co. could figure out what they were going to produce. (FB Conversation, May 17, 2021) Here are some theories as to why their heads are stamped Hong Kong and why the shoes have Hong Kong like qualities.
1) There were unused shoes that had been manufactured in Hong Kong laying around, so Coleco gave them to Jesmar to use until Jesmar could manufacture shoes of their own.
2) “Supposedly, HK moulds were loaned to Jesmar so that they could make sample heads. The samples then went through a review process with Coleco and OAA.” (Jennifer Pelfrey, FB, May 15, 2021) It is supposed that once Jesmar was approved for mass production, shoe moulds and Made in Spain embossed head moulds were provided to Jesmar for ongoing production.
These 16 outfits came out from 1985 to 1986 and are some of the most beloved for CPK collectors. It includes the Teddy Bear Overalls, Portrait Dress, Snowsuit, Country Dress, Apron Dress and more!
There are 16 outfits in this series. This equates to between 140 and 150 different versions of the outfits. They came on regular kids from 1985/1986. They can also be found on later kids and in separate packages as Colecogot rid of overstock between 1987 – 89. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Russell.
It’s believed that most of the 500s Series came out in 1985 but that some came out in late 1985 or 1986. It is interesting to note that the outfits believed to have come out in 1986 are also those considered harder to find. This makes sense as they were likely manufactured for a shorter period of time.
Like other Series, certain letters seem to have been produced primarily by specific factories. I call these the Primary Factory for each letter. For example, I think the KT factory produced the letters A and B (if they produced the outfit). Other factories may have made them, but not always consistently.
To the right are my theorized primary factories.
It would appear that not every letter was created for every outfit. In fact, we are quite sure that one outfit only has four options while the largest number for one outfit seems to be between 10 and 14.
For some outfits, there’s more than one version of a code. This is generally caused by variations between factories. This is why it is vitally important to look at both the clothing code AND the description when determining if the outfit has been recorded. For example, the IC version and the KT version might look slightly different.
AX FactoryKT Factory
Taiwan factory outfits (e.g. IC, AX) have been recorded in the 500s Series; however, they are rather rare. At this time, the Taiwanese factories were more focused on producing specialty outfits.
The PMI factory only operated for one year, between 1984 and early 1985. As a result, it only produced 500s Series outfits for a short length of time. (Ref #3, p. 30) Consequently, PMI outfits in this series are the rarest to find. I am unsure how many 500s Series outfits the PMI factory produced. I have a record of only three, the Snowsuit, the Multi-coloured Jogging Suit, and the Aerobics Outfit.
Courtesy of Kat PershouseCourtesy of Jodi’s Punk PatchCourtesy of Vera Burford
Tags
The clothing tags in these outfits are generally in either the shirt or the dress piece. The single exception is the windbreaker outfits, which are labelled in the jacket.
The P and PMI factories continued to use stickers for their codes (for details visit HERE). This can make it very difficult to record the complete code. We know that it was made by the P factory but don’t know the letter. If you have an outfit from these factories with the sticker, please check if it is recorded!
Some OK tags in the 500s Series also have stickers. I think this was done when they ran out of a tag and needed to use the tags for another outfit. They just covered the original code with a sticker showing the new one.
Shoes
As for shoes, they were specific to the outfit. Certain outfits came with certain shoes, but there were only three options: Sneakers, Mary Jane’s, and lace-up shoes (sometimes called high tops).
Note: The names I used for these outfits are either used extensively within the CPK Community I frequent or were created by myself where no consensus seemed to exist. If you have another possible name, please contact me.
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Russell.
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