A sign of the 80’s, these Solid Form Boots/Sneakers are unique to certain CPK outfits. Find out which ones.
I call these shoes Solid Form Boots, but I’ve also heard them called High Top Sneakers as they look a lot like the sneakers that came out in the late 1980s and 90s.
Ava Sneaker 1989Cabbage Patch BootAvia photo reference; Boot picture courtesy of Callie Anne.
I know Boots came with Cornsilk outfits #321-324, #326, #328, #332, and #333, but the transitional outfits are more difficult. Transitional outfits came on both Poseable Kids and regular transitional kids. It’s possible that these outfits did not come with a consistent shoe type. At the moment, I know that the outfits below came with Boots, but they may not have come exclusively with Boots. Other options include Ballet Flats, Striped Sneakers, and coloured Mary Janes.
Purple boots photo courtesy of Monica Sholvic. Black boots photo courtesy of Carolyn Dahl Wood.
Like most Coleco shoes, Boots have a factory mark. It can be found on the top opening edge. Likely, the boots that came with Cornsilk outfits were only manufactured by the P, KT, and OK factories. Later transitional Boots are likely marked with CHINA or have no mark at all.
Photos courtesy of Callie Anne.
So far, I have nine colours recorded. Do you have any others?
Large photo courtesy of Callie Anne.
Special thanks to Callie Anne for providing pictures and incentives.
This, the second Cornsilk series, came out in mid-1986. It is characterized by bold colours, wacky looks, and layering. It came in a rectangular box with a window arrangement at the top and no ‘vanity’ or other details inside. (Ref#3, p. 150) They still came with the flowery birth certificate, bag of hair ties, brush, hairstyle guide, and were handhold kids.
1st photo courtesy of Nicole Snow.
I’m not sure how many outfits are in this series. It starts around #320 and goes to at least #333, but could go higher. I am missing #331, if it exists. I do not know how many versions of each outfit were made, but I think it’s around six (A-F). The highest letter I have is F. For more information on the outfit codes, jump to What are Clothing Tag Codes.
They were manufactured by the OK, P, and KT factories. However, instead of each factory making a code LETTER, in this series (so far), they made specific outfit NUMBERS and all the letters in those outfits. This holds true for all the outfits except #332 for which I have two factories recorded., P & KT.
These outfits came with brightly coloured socks that were larger and structurally different than the original socks, had underpants not diapers, and either solid-form boots or ballet flats. For more information on shoes, visit Shoes: Overview and Summary Links.
BootsBallet Flats
#321 (OK) – Boots
#322 (KT) – Boots
#323 (P) – Boots
#324 (OK) – Boots
#325 (P) – Ballet Flats
#326 (KT) – Boots
#327 (KT) – Ballet Flats
#328 (OK) – Boots
#329 (P) – White Ballet Flats or Boots
#330 (OK) – Ballet Flats
#331 – outfit unidentified
#332 (KT, P) – White Boots
#333 (OK) – Boots
The Outfits
#321 – Sweatsuit
#322 – Knit top with Skirt and Leggings
Courtesy of Christine Marie.Courtesy of Callie Anne.
#323 – X Sweater and Skirt
#324 – Pocketed jacket and tracksuit
Photos courtesyof Susana Isabel Torres.
#325 – Aerobics Dress
#326 – Double shirt with matching waist tie
Courtesy of Dani Bryant Nelson.Coutesy of Carey Reiss Jarchow.
#327 – Knit sweater vest with skort and jacket
#328 – Double sweater with a jacket
Courtesy of Jonelle Geathers.
#329 – Pocket sweater outfit
#330 – Double sweater outfit
#332 – Romper Dress
Courtesy of Chris Hansing Tallman
#333 – Sweater and pants outfit
If you would like to send pictures, if at all possible, please include a ‘pieces’ picture like the one below. The layers in these outfits make it difficult to see individual pieces. This makes it difficult when trying to determine which outfit a single piece goes with. The first time I saw the sleeveless shirts, I was very surprised! However, if the kid is MIB or NRFB, a picture of the doll wearing the outfit is fine. For additional instructions, visit Taking Tag Pictures.
Other Information
Some of the outfits can be more easily identified using sweater patterns.
#324#330#330, #333#328#324#330
These outfits would continue to be found on MIB kids until 1987.
Some of these kids came in the older Cornsilk boxes. This was probably done during the transition from the older styles to the newer style.
Similar Outfits
Almost all the outfits in this series are similar to those in Cornsilk Series 4.
The first outfit numbers in 1983 started at 1, which makes sense.
The first twenty outfits, created for the regular-sized kids, came out in 1983, and some stayed in production for many years. Many of the foreign outfits are based on the outfits in this series. (Visit: Jesmar Clothing)
When they created the first line of preemie outfits in 1984, they used the same numbering convention. Unfortunately, that means that if you don’t know whether an outfit is a preemie outfit or a regular kid outfit, they can be easily confused. You have to know by looking at it. (Jump to: Preemie Clothing Summery and 1984 Series)
Year by Number
It was eventually pointed out to me (Ref #4, Vol. 3 Issue 9/10/11, p. 6) that the code numbers used seemed to match the year they were produced.
500s in 1985
600s in 1986
700s in 1987
800s in 1988
This makes sense! For some specific lines of kids like the Toddlers, Growing Hair kids, Splashing Kids, Talkers, and a few others, this theory works.
Talking KidToddlerSplashing Kid
The second preemie series (BSeries), which came out in 1985, also uses the same year-based numbering convention. They are numbered as a 500s series, but most are numbered B5__. Consequently, they are easier to distinguish from the regular kid 500s outfits. I wonder, did they consider the regular-sized kids outfits the A series?
The first theory about the code number being the year it came out works for many outfits, but not for all of them. Starting in 1986, some outfits no longer fit the pattern. A small addition shows up in the code to assist. To learn more jump to: Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory
Series by Hundreds
Which series can be found in which hundred. To see examples of outfits in each series jump to: Series Information in Pics
There’s only a handful of 200s and they are knit BBB outfits. It’s like they didn’t realize how many numbers they’d need when they started making the series, and just continued into the 200s. That’s it.
200201202203Pictures 2 & 3 courtesy of Jodi’s Punki Patch. Picture 4 courtesy of Sarah Ransom.
The 300s
The 300s contain only the second series of Cornsilk outfits that came out in later 1986. I call these the Wacky and Layered Cornsilk Series 2. That’s it.
Picture 3 courtesy of Carey Reiss Jarchow.
The 400s
There are two different 400s series.
Series 1 – Sold in 1988, they have the 8- in their codes. They are all packaged regular-sized dresses produced by Coleco. So far only 4 are recorded.
Series 2 – Sold in 1990 (Transitional Period), they have the 0- in their codes and often have Hasbro tags. I have 4 outfits recorded and they are all BBB outfits.
Oddly enough, the 14″ Furskin outfits produced in 1986 are also recorded in the 430s.
The 500s
Only one series of regular outfits came out in 1985. For more information visit The 500s Series.
