Babies – A Summary

Posted on October 22, 2021 by brekkebenden

My BBB Patch July 2020. (Except the one preemie that photobombed the picture!)

My BBB Patch July 2020. (except one preemie that photo bombed the picture!) — My BBB Patch July 2020. (Except the one preemie that photobombed the picture!)

General Information
BBB Pacifiers
BBBs and Vinyl Discolouration (Pox)
BBB Clothing Series Summary List
               Twin BBB Outfit
             BBB or Preemie . . . that is the question
             Transitional and Hasbro Outfits
Care of BBB outfits

General Information

These 11” dolls were called Babies by Coleco, but most collectors call them Beany Butt Babies or BBB for short. They are the smallest of the Coleco dolls and have bags of ‘beans’ in their bum or tummy. If the bag is in the bum, there is stuffing on top at the neck.

Babies were manufactured by Coleco from 1986 – 1989 and then by Hasbro until 1992. (Ref. #2, p. 14) Early accounts indicate that they sold very well (Ref. #4, May 1986, p.5)

Babies’ boxes are quite different from the other Coleco boxes. The doll itself is laid down on its side, so the box is longer than it is tall. The look of the boxes, where the birth certificate was displayed, and the look of the birth certificate changed over time.

Babies were made predominately by the WS and SS factories. I have seen only two BBBs that were made by the P factory. This may have been a factory mistake, but I have no way of knowing.

Coleco made bald Babies with head moulds 1,3,4, and 6. (Ref. #1, p. 97)

Hasbro later used additional head moulds for their kids. Some of their kids had tufts of hair and they had a wider variety of eye colours and skin tones.

Keep in mind that as Hasbro took over from Coleco some rather strange combinations of kids, outfits and boxes occured. For more information visit Transitional Period CPK Outfits – A Summary.

BBB Pacifiers

The pacifiers used by BBBs are significantly different from the original yellow pacifiers. They are made of softer vinyl and are generally translucent. They have a flatter ring for the hand, and the projection for the mouth is shaped differently.

The early pacifiers were the same yellow colour, but later pacifiers came out in a wide variety of colours to match the doll’s outfit. Like the originals, they are marked with the factory, but it is on the flat disc portion. These pacifiers are also used for some transitional Toddlers and for Hasbro Preschoolers.

Finally, Furskin pacifiers look similar to BBB pacifiers, but the mouth protuberance is larger in diameter.

BBB’s and Vinyl Discolouration (Pox)

Unfortunately, early SS factory kids are very likely to have developed or to develop vinyl discolouration. They have the dubious honour of being known as the worst for this, as the type of pox they get is generally darker and often more prolific than P factory kids.

BBB pacifiers, because they are made of vinyl, can also get pox. Unfortunately, zit cream treatment doesn’t seem to work very well on them.

For details on vinyl discolouration and how to treat it, visit Hilary’s How-to Videos .

BBB Clothing Series Summary List

There’s a large catalogue of BBB outfits that were created from 1986 to 1989+.

A: 1986 Knit Series Pt 1. (#191 – 199)
B: 1986 Knit Series Pt. 2 (#200 – 204)
C: 1987 Knit and Terry Series (670s – 680s)
D: Bunting Bag Series (#778 – 781) FUTURE POST
E: 1988 Series (850s 0- 860s) FUTURE POST
F: 1989 100s Series (#100 – 109) FUTURE POST
G: Random BBB packaged outfits, 1989 (#129 – 133) FUTURE POST
H: Random 400s Outfits (#400, #401, #404) FUTURE POST.

Twin BBB Outfit

There is one very special knit BBB outfit that doesn’t have a regular code. You can learn more about it at PTP: The Twin Outfit That Isn’t

BBB or Preemie . . . That is the question

In general, we can say that if the outfit has footies, it’s a BBB outfit. However, a few of the transitional preemie outfits did have footies. So, if it seems too big for your BBB, it may be because it’s actually a preemie outfit. For information on preemie outfits, visit Preemie Outfits – An Overview .

Transitional and Hasbro Outfits

Hasbro manufactured Babies until 1992, and the transitional period (1989-1991) BBB clothing is very interesting. Although Hasbro did start to manufacture their own outfits, they also continued to produce some of the Coleco outfits for a time.

There’s evidence that they intended to take some of the Coleco outfits and make them their own. For example, outfit 682 is almost the same as outfit 400. Why are there two of the same outfit? Because outfit 682 is the original Coleco one, and outfit 400 is the one Hasbro created.

Initially, it appears that Hasbro was going to continue coding their outfits but later changed their mind. Outfit 400 was created during this brief period. Instead of using the original Coleco code, they gave it a new one in the 400s. The outfits themselves are almost identical. The biggest difference is in the hat; one has a large fold-over, and the other does not.

Some Hasbro outfits have tags, generally transitional ones, but most don’t have a tag. In this way, we can determine if an outfit is Coleco or Hasbro, even if they look identical.

Care of BBB outfits

The majority of BBB outfits are knit or terry cloth. Both of these fabrics should be hand washed to reduce damage to the fibres/yarn. I also suggest that before washing, you put small pieces of Velcro on the ‘sticky’ Velcro pieces to stop new pulls or damage from developing in the wash.

They can be soaked in oxi-clean and washed with regular laundry detergent. I suggest hanging knit outfits to dry.

You can also bring them back to life by ‘defuzzing’ them. A sweater shaver works well for most outfits. You may find you need to do the edges or decorations by hand with your ‘defuzzing’ scissors.

Your sweater shaver will also work on the cotton-based outfits as it will remove the pills and pulls.

For more information on defuzzing outfits visit, Hilary’s How to Videos.

BSeries Preemie Outfit #505 – Teddy PJ’s

Posted on January 23, 2021 by brekkebenden

B Series Preemie Outfits Summary

Description

Cotton two pieces PJ’s – The top closes up the front and has a bow in the middle and one at the neck. The front closure, neck, and sleeve hems are all white. Coloured rick rack runs up either side of the front opening, and the left side has a teddy patch and an arched Cabbage Patch kids patch. The bottoms have footies and rick rack around them. The entire thing is the same colour.

Footwear: n/a

This outfit was sold only on dolls manufactured in 1985 and later.

Version Information

My goal is to find every version of every outfit that was produced. Below is a record of each version of this outfit that I have, up to the date indicated. To understand clothing codes, factories and variations, please refer to the suggested readings below.

If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. you have a B505D OK that is purple, not pink) I would appreciate hearing from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details on the pictures required, jump to Taking Clothing Tag Pics.

Variations

> Mimic Preemie Outfits: #715 – Plain cotton preemie PJ’s. The most obvious differences are the lack of a teddy patch and rick rack. In addition, there is only one bow at the neck.

Talking Kid Ensembles

Posted on December 11, 2020 by brekkebenden

Talking Cabbage Patch Kids were only produced by Coleco for approximately one year and started becoming available in September of 1987. (Ref#2, p. 86) They are quite large and came with fancy outfits, cornsilk hair, a Parent’s Guide, special birth certificates, and a ‘magic cup’.

They were a remarkable toy for their time and had many surprises in store for their new parents, including a mobile moving face, numerous hidden sensors, and the ability to respond to their new parent and other talking kids! Two or more together will often be heard singing in around. It’s amazing! (Video) There seem to be a variety of different ‘scripts’ that the kids use when speaking, but the dolls can learn new phrases and words from other talking kids they interact with. (Ref#4, Vol. 2, Iss. 5, p.3) The first 250 sold at their ‘opening event’ were signed by Xavier Roberts. (Ref#4, Vol 2, Iss. 3, p.4)

The dolls came in only two head moulds, T-8 (one dimple) and T-9 (big grin, no dimple). Coleco produced AA talking kids but no boys.

These dolls were pretty fancy, and unfortunately, may have been ahead of their time. Many considered them creepy. It got worse when the first of the Chucky movies was released in November of 1988. These kids were also plagued with poblems, such as:

A high purchase price.
They used a lot of batteries, four AA and one 9V, and went through them like candy!
Many didn’t work when they were purchased or stopped working soon after purchase.
They weren’t ‘cuddly’ like regular Cabbage Patch Kids.

Clothing Information

There are eight different talking kid outfits made by the OK factory, numbers #695 – 702. I believe there are six versions of each outfit, letters A – F; however, they used eight different colours of velveteen fabric overall. (Aqua, Burgundy, Grey, Medium Blue, Navy Blue, Pink, Purple, Red)

Four of the outfits consist of white cotton dresses with a velveteen pinafore and matching cotton bloomers.

The other four have a velveteen dress and a cotton or taffeta pinafore. The outfits with cotton pinafores come with plain white bloomers, and the outfits with a taffeta pinafore come with taffeta bloomers.

The lace used on the bloomers, dress, and pinafore always match. All of them come with solid white tights and odd white or black faux leather shoes. The black shoes seem to come most frequently with the navy blue, burgundy, and red outfits.

There are hints that some talkers may have come with regular lace-up shoes instead of the ‘talker shoes’. I have no proof at this point.

Although these outfits originally came only on Talking Kids, a few can be found on ‘regular’ kids from 1988 and 1989. They likely did this to clear out leftover outfits. However, it is not something you’ll see often.

Recorded Information

I have the following outfits recorded. If you have one of the outfits that I am missing, I would greatly appreciate pictures of the clothing tag and the outfit. For details on taking pictures jump here.

Preemie Outfit # 9 -Romper with Bubble Bottom

Posted on October 5, 2020 by brekkebenden

1984 Preemie Clothing Series Summary

Description

This outfit has two pieces.

Romper. It has one pattern/colour at the top and a solid colour on the bottom. The bottoms and short sleeves are ‘bubbled’. There are lace caps at the shoulders. There is a waist ribbon that is attached at the back on both sides and then ties at the front.
Bonnet. It has a very large lace ruffle that matches the sleeve caps. The colour matches the colour of the bottom half of the romper.

Footwear: Regular shoes and socks

This outfit was most likely sold only from 1984 – 1985. Some packaged versions may have sold later than that.

Version Information

If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. you have a 9B P that is green and white gingham, not pink with pink buds) I would appreciate hearing from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details on the pictures required, jump to Taking Clothing Tag Pics.

Variations

> So far, there are no observable differences between outfits produced at various factories.

> B-Series outfit: #B504 – Blouse with sleeve caps and bubble romper overalls and matching bonnet. Although it is a two-piece outfit, it looks like outfit 9 when on the dolls.

> Mimic Outfit: #Unknown – This outfit looks almost identical to Preemie outfit #9, except it has a white bow at the neck, no bonnet, and came with knit booties. I believe it is a 700s mimic preemie outfit (709 or 713), but I need clothing tag pictures to confirm this.

> 25^th Anniversary Preemie outfit: This outfit appears almost identical to Preemie outfit #9. For more information visit: 25th Anniversary Outfits

PTP: Pretty Patterns – Lacy White Tights

Posted on September 7, 2020 by brekkebenden

Lacy white tights came with outfits in these three series.

160s – Cornsilk Series 1: Beautiful Dresses
718-724 – Cornsilk Series 3: Beautiful Dresses Pt. 2
Satin/Damask twin party dresses

Sateen Non-Sateen

Apparently, the tights come in a variety of patterns. I have found four patterns so far. I named and numbered them to make it easier to distinguish between them.

Theories

I have several possible theories regarding why there are so many patterns.

They vary based on the factory of production.
They vary based on when the outfit was produced.
They vary based on the series they came in (somewhat related to the factory, but not quite).

What I Know

The 160s series was manufactured primarily by the KT factory, but a few outfits were produced by the OK factory. Most of the twin dresses were produced by the P factory, although a few were made by KT, and the 718-724 series was produced entirely by the KT factory.
The 160s Series and the twin outfits came out in 1985 and most likely stopped production in 1986. The 718-724 series came out in 1987 and most likely stopped being manufactured by 1988, if not before.

The Problem

I do not have enough data to even guess which theories (or another unconsidered one) are correct. Can you help?

If you have an outfit with lacy tights, and you know it came together as an outfit, can you please send me the following:

Which lace pattern it is (or a picture if it is a new pattern)
Factory of the outfit
The clothing code of the outfit (e.g. 162H)
If it is a twin outfit, did it comes on a set of twins, or an individually boxed kid?
If it is a twin outfit, is it the sateen version or the non-sateen version?

Extra Bit

One outfit comes with BLACK lacy tights, the Girl’s Spanish World Traveler. This outfit was made by two factories. Do you have an OK version to compare to this PMI version? It looks a lot like #3 Trillium above.
Jump to: World Traveler Wear

How to match bloomers and dresses

Posted on June 2, 2020 by brekkebenden

Many outfits were made using the same fabrics, which can create confusion when trying to determine which pair of bloomers go with which dress. After all, the patterns look the same, why can’t we just match them up?

It’s all about the frill! (Or lack thereof)

For almost 90% of the outfits I have recorded, the lace used around the sleeves is mirrored around the hem of the bloomer leg holes. If the sleeves don’t have any lace, then neither do the bloomers.

If they don’t match, they don’t go together!

This holds true for all the original 1983 outfits and all the 1984 preemie dresses. Of the later outfits (#100+), most of them follow the same pattern.
These are the exceptions that I am aware of:

162 – lace on bloomers, not on sleeves
164 – plain white instead of patterned
165 – lace doesn’t match at arm and leg, but the fabric patterns were not used for any other outfits
168 – lace on bloomers, not on sleeves
505 – no lace on bloomers, lace on sleeves
656 – no lace on bloomers, lace on sleeves
705 – no lace on bloomers, lace on sleeves
726 – no lace on bloomers, lace on sleeves
707 – no lace on bloomers, lace on sleeves

Ho·mo·phone: the same . . . but different *

Posted on May 21, 2020 by brekkebenden

I’m calling this the Homophone Set as they are the same as the 3rd Cornsilk series, but they are also different. These dresses are made of cotton, instead of the sateen and velveteen of the fancier dresses. They don’t come with a special birth certificate, tights, or any of the accessories the cornsilk kids did. However, structurally, they are the same. The only significant difference is outfit #730 . . . more on that later.

This group of outfits (724 – 730) came out concurrent with the 3^rd Cornsilk series (718-723) in 1987. Refer to that post for details on the timing debate. It was made exclusively by the KT factory. They had matching bloomers, socks, and Mary Jane shoes. So far, I have only seen white shoes.

Photos courtesy of Kat Perhouse and Sarah Kimmel.

Based on my research to this point, I believe that the outfit codes for this series work like this:

There were six patterns used for these dresses, and each pattern comes in one to three colour options. There are six versions of each dress, as each dress comes in all six patterns, but in only one option for each colour. Consequently, if an outfit comes in purple with buds, it will not come in mint green with buds.

The Big Yellow Flower pattern might come in two unofficial versions. Some outfits are made of vibrantly coloured fabric, and others are made from fabric that appears faded. I’m unsure if this is caused by photo manipulation, flashes, or if there are actual differences in the fabrics.

Save the Boys for Last!

The last outfit in this series, #730, is a boy’s outfit. It was the only boy outfit produced in this series, and there is no cornsilk equivalent as there were no boy cornsilk dolls produced. It makes me wonder if a ‘fancy’ version of this outfit was created for the prototype Cornsilk boys. What a find that would be!

This outfit comes with a dress shirt, cotton dress pants (slacks), a vest and a bowtie. These outfits came with regular lace-up shoes. It’s absolutely adorable!

I’m not sure which version of B is correct. I need to see a kid who’s been MIB.

Cornsilk Series 4: Wacky and Layered Pt. 2

Posted on May 15, 2020 by brekkebenden

Intro to the Cornsilk Kids Clothing Series
Cornsilk Clothes Series 1 – Beautiful Dresses Pt. 1 (160s)
Cornsilk Clothes Series 2 – Wacky and Layered Pt. 1 (300s)
Cornsilk Clothes Series 3 – Beautiful Dresses Pt. 2 (718-730)

As I mentioned in the 3^rd series, I am unsure which came first, the 3^rd series (720s) or the 4^th series (760s). I do know that these outfits came out in 1987 and came in the same boxes, with the same accessories, as the 720s kids. To review this discussion, jump here: Cornsilk Series 3: Beautiful Dresses, pt. 2

This series was made by the P factory, and they are among the hardest Cornsilk outfits to find. It’s likely that they weren’t produced for very long, and there doesn’t appear to be more than two versions of each outfit. That means fewer to find overall.

I only have five outfits recorded, out of what I think is a possible series of eight, if not more. Based on my records to this point, each outfit appears to have 1 or 2 versions (A, B).

They all come with white underwear. Most come with socks, although #765 has tights. Most appear to have come with white Mary Janes, but a few came with white sneakers and solid-form boots.

The Outfits

#762 -Double shirt and quilted skirt

A – Photo courtesy of Heather McCurdy Minix

#763 – Unknown Outfit

#764 – Unknown Outfit

#765 – Romper dress and blouse

#766 – Double shirt and skort

Photo courtesy of Lisa March Graves Kuhn

#767 – Unknown Outfit

#768 – Windbreaker Outfit

#769 – Terry cloth top and tied pants

I believe that this outfit is part of this series, but I don’t know which of the three numbers it fills: 763, 764, or 767.

Similar Outfits

Outfit #765 is often mistaken for outfits #148, #402-8, and #332.

Outfits #762 and #766 can be confused for each other, as the only difference is the skirt versus the skort.

Outfit #768 and the ruffled unknown outfit are often mistaken for each other and for outfits #516 and #512.

#768
Photo courtesy of Melissa Crick Gore

Other Information

Prototype outfits can be seen in these pictures from the 1987 Coleco Catalogue, p. 7.

Cornsilk Series 3: Beautiful Dresses Pt. 2

Posted on May 8, 2020 by brekkebenden

Intro to the Cornsilk Kids Clothing Series
Cornsilk Clothes Series 1 – Beautiful Dresses Pt. 1 (160s)
Cornsilk Clothes Series 2 – Wacky and Layered Pt. 1 (718-730)
Cornsilk Clothes Series 4– Wacky and Layered Pt. 2 (760s)

Timing

Series 3 came out in 1987. Honestly, I’m not sure which came first, Series 3 or Series 4. Some reference sources indicate that Series 4 (760s) came out before Series 3. (Ref#2, p. 79; Ref#3, p. 150) However, there is also evidence for Series 3 coming out before Series 4.

4 then 3: Outfits in Series 4 are very similar to those in Series 2 (300s).
4 then 3: Series 4 kids seem to come with the earlier ‘flowered’ birth certificate more then Series 3. Most of Series 3 comes with the ‘non-flowered’ birth certificate.
3 then 4: Outfits in Series 4 are much harder to find than those in Series 3. Generally, this means the series was produced for a short length of time. This would have occurred if they had started selling them later in 1987 and then quickly switched to a newer group of outfits in 1988/98.
3 then 4: The codes in Series 3 are numerically lower than those of Series 4. From this, I assume that they planned Series 4 after Series 3. However, this does not tell us what order they came out in. Also, by the time these outfits were produced, Coleco was not always numbering outfits in order anymore.
Same time: The 3^rd Series was made by the KT factory and the 760s by the P factory. Did they come out at the same time, but were made by different factories?

Description

This series (3rd) consists of six very pretty dress styles. I believe they initially came in the same boxes and with the same birth certificates as the 2^nd series, but when those ran out, they changed. The newer boxes looked the same, but the ribbons were in plastic sleeves attached to the box liner, and the hand tag and birth certificate changed to have a modern look.

The dresses generally came with matching bloomers, lacy white tights, and white Mary Jane shoes. However, I have seen one example that came with socks, and a few of them came with black Mary Jane shoes. I don’t have enough information at this time to list which came with which. I need more information! I also need more information on their undergarments. I think they came with the white underpants, but I’m not sure. Do you know?

The Outfits

There are 6 outfits in this series and they were made entirely by the KT factory. I believe that there are six or seven versions of each outfit: 3 sateen (A, B, C), 3 – 4 velveteen (E, F,?). Using the Cotton Version Series as a reference, it appears that they did not create a D.

Photos courtesy of Jodi’s Punk Patch, Callie Cabbies, and Cassidi Carroll.

There are 6 to 7 colour options for each fabric (6 sateen, 7 velveteen). As there are only three to four versions of each dress, only three colours were used for each one. There doesn’t appear to be a pattern for which colours they chose for which outfits.

Confused yet? It gets better!

The Cotton Matching Series

For every dress in the ‘fancy’ series that came on Cornsilk Kids, there is a ‘less fancy’ cotton version that came on regular kids. (#724-729) They came out at the same time.
For more information, jump to: Ho·mo·phone: the same . . . but different *

Breaking the Rules

Some of these Cornsilk outfits were later found on ‘regular’ kids. I believe they did this when they were getting rid of extra stock in late 1987 or 1988.

What’s With the Numbers?

Posted on March 8, 2020 by brekkebenden

# 1 – 20 (1983 Series)

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.

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?

For information on regular preemie outfits with a B in the code jump here: Preemie Clothing Summary and 1984 Series.

Year by Code Addition

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

The 100s

The 100s include many series.

100 – Regular kid ‘mimic‘ windbreaker outfit
101-106: Transitional BBB outfits (1989)
119-149: Transitional outfits (all types) (1989)
150s: Designer Line outfits (1989)
160s: Series 1 Cornsilk outfits (1986)
160s series 2: Sipping Kids outfits (1989)
170s-180s: Designer Line outfits (1989)
190s: BBB Series 1 outfits (1986)

The 200s

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.

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.

The 600s

650s – 660s: Regular kids Mimic outfits (1986)
670s – 680s: BBB outfits (1987)
689 – 684: PJ series (1986)
695 – 699: Talker outfits (1987)
Coleco Pets (Cats, Dogs, Bears)

The 700s

700 -702: Talker outfits
703 – 706: Regular kid dresses
707-716: Preemie Mimic series
718 – 730: Cornsilk series 3 and Homophome Series
750s – 790s (intermittent): Splashing Kids
760s: Cornsilk series 4
778 – 781: BBB outfits (bunting bags)

The 800s

800 – 815: Regular kids outfits
840s: Growing Hair kids outfits
850s – 860s: BBB outfits
870s & 890s: Toddler Outfits

To see examples of outfits from each ‘series’, jump to: Series Information in Pics

For more information on clothing tag codes, jump to: What are Clothing Tag Codes

For information on how to locate clothing tags, jump to: Where are clothing tags located?

For more information on matching clothing to kids, jump to: A match made in . . . . the factory