BBB Outfits - 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.
#675 looks similar to #196.
#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.

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.

Screen cap from page 86 of the 1986 Coleco Catalogue showing two Baby Cabbage Patch Kids in prototype outfits.

Screen cap from page 87 of the 1986 Coleco Catalogue showing two Baby Cabbage Patch Kids in prototype outfits.

Made in Thailand – Up May 2022

These outfits were made in Thailand . . .what the heck? (Extensive revisions made Nov 2021)

Picture of a Beany Butt Baby pink knit outfit with diamond knitting patterns at teh sleeves and across the chest. The outfit is a dress and footed pants. — Courtesy of Sarah Ransom

So far I have found six different outfits that have the AF factory and were Made in Thailand, all of them 1986 BBB outfits. The outfits in the 190s have the AF factory label, the 200s outfits do not. I’m not sure why. For my speculations, visit 1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 2 – 200s. For a list of known manufacturing locations, visit Factories and Companies.

Picture of a tag from outfit 203D which says it was "Made in Thailand". — AF factory picture courtesy of Zoe Milburn

AF factory picture courtesy of Zoe Milburn

Based on the look of the tag and the 6- in the code, I believe that these outfits were manufactured in 1986 with the rest of the outfits, or very soon thereafter.

Why did they hire another factory to produce these outfits?
Why pick a factory in Thailand?
How long did it manufacture CPK BBB clothes?
Did it produce more than just the 6 I’ve already discovered?
Did manufacture anything else?

So many questions! To see which AF outfits have been discovered, visit 1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 1 – 190s and 1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 2 – 200s.

Have you seen any other outfits Made in Thailand?

Special thanks to Sarah Ransom and Zoe Milburn for assisting with pictures and information about these outfits

1st BBB Outfits – Pt. 1 – 190s

Every baby will be snug and warm in these beautiful knit outfits, the first produced for Coleco’s Babies.

For general information on Babies, visit Babies – A Summary

This series of outfits came out in 1986 on the first Babies. (The 6- in their clothing codes indicate the date they came out. For details, visit Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory.) They were made by the SS, WS, and AF factories. There doesn’t appear to be a primary factory for this series. Also, I’m unsure if all three factories produced all of the outfits but there’s a chance that most were produced by the WS and SS factories. I’m not sure about the AF factory.

Cabbage Patch Clothing tag from outfit 194B, WS factory.

Cabbage Patch Clothing tag from outfit 194C, SS factory.

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

There are eight outfits in this series. I have assigned outfit names as I am unaware of any conventionally accepted ones. I think there are between six and eight versions of each outfit.

Picture of outfit 191, a onsie with a large neck ruffle and matching bonnet. Pruple — 191 – Large Ruffle

Picture of outfit 192, a bodysuit with matching booties and matching bonnet. Mint green — 191 – Large Ruffle

Unlike other series, in this series, 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 number. Well, mostly . . . keep reading.

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

Sample of the mint green colour - Letter A — A – Mint Green

Sample of the blue colour - Letter B — A – Mint Green

There are some differences between the letters H, N, P, and Q.

Outfits #196 & #197 – It is the only two outfits with the letter H, and they’re both blue. I haven’t located a letter B (also normally blue) for outfit #196 so I wonder if this H was produced to replace B, which for some unknown reason was not produced? Do you have a blue 196B?

Outfit #199 – This is the only outfit, so far, that has the letters N, P, and Q. It is odd in several ways. I haven’t recorded many of this outfit, odd code letters have been used, and it’s a mimic of another outfit in the same series. Is it possible that this outfit belongs to PT 2, the 200s series? There is no #198, so maybe the 190s (PT. 1) went from #191 – #197, and Pt. 2 started at #199. For more information visit 1st BBB Outfits Pt. 2 – The 200s.

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.

Factory Variations

I cannot see any consistent factory variations. The SS factory may have used darker richer yarn colours, but that could also be the light when the pictures were taken in or a change in the batch of yarn being used. Collector Zoe Milburn noted that the WS yarn is somewhat itchier/scratchy than the SS and AF yarns (Messanger, Dec 2021). If you observe any others, please, let me know.

Similar Outfits

The 670s series is what I call a ‘mimic series’ as many of the 670s outfits look similar to those in the 190s series. It came out in 1987.

#201 and #674 look similar to #195 and #199. They are two-piece outfits with sweaters and footie pants. The hat and the pattern on the sweater are the most visible differences.
#203, #672, and #681 are similar to #193. They are all dresses.
#671 is similar to #192. There are no holes in the sleeves and booties of #671 and the necks are very different.
#673 is similar to #194. The chest area is the most obvious difference.
#676 is similar to #197. The collar style is the most obvious difference.

Care of BBB Clothing

Other Information

> HTF Info: White (F) is either the most difficult colour to find, or not all of them were produced. In general, outfit #199 is the most difficult to find.

> 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 as we see here, although the yellow looks quite a bit like outfit #191.

Three BBB's playing with things wearing prototype outfits. The picture is taken from the 1986 Coleco catalogue.

Two BBB's playing with things wearing prototype outfits. The picture is taken from the 1986 Coleco catalogue.

Babies – A Summary

The smallest of the Coleco kids, Babies have a wide range of adorable outfits to choose from! Find out about BBB’s, their clothing and its care.

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.

Two BBB bodies (minus heads) with the white bean sacks removed. One has just the bean sack, one has the bean sack and a ball of stuffing.

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.

Picture of a BBB and regular paci. For comparison.

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.

Picture of a Furskin and BBB paci. For comparison. — Furskin vs. BBB pacifiers

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.

Picture of a BBB paci covered with vinyl discolouration spots.

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.

PTP: BBB Romper Surprise

This adorable outfit holds a great surprise, if you’re willing to look closely.

Caucasian Bean Butt Baby (Coleco Baby) with a dark blond looped tuft and brown eyes. She's wearing a purple onsie with pink footies and two pink buttons shaped like hearts.

This is Helenna Storm. She’s a Transitional BBB wearing a Hasbro outfit. If you take a close look at this outfit, there’s a fascinating detail.

A purple onsie with pink footies and two pink buttons shaped like hearts. The sleeves and both sides are solid purple, and the middle panel is white with purple and pink words.

If you look closely, the middle panel has words on it. Can you read them?

Close up of the words in the white central panel of the outfit.

Did you get it? Yes! It’s the Legend of the Cabbage Patch Kids that was originally printed on the Coleco boxes.

The story "The Legend of the Cabbage Patch Kids" from the side of a 1984 Cabbage Patch box.

Isn’t that awesome! Someone who’s creative and pays close attention to detail was involved in designing this outfit. I bet they loved CPK’s as much as we do!

I also have this outfit recorded as coming in teal.

Do you have it in any other colours?

An AA Bean Butt Baby (Coleco Baby) wearing a teal and purple version of this outfit. — Source unknown

PTP: H101 Factory – A Short Transitional Period Blip

What is this odd factory code about? What does it herald?

For context read the following posts first:
Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory
Part 2: A code addition

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.

The tag from outfit 106A that shows it was made for Hasbro Inc in Pawtucket, RI. — 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.

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.

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.

Part 2: The Code Addition

What did they add to the code and why?

As noted in Part 1: Tag Codes Continued: A 2nd Theory, I originally thought the first number of the code indicated the year the outfit came out.

E.g. 501 came out in 1985, 630 came out in 1986, 720 came out in 1987

This is true for some outfits, but not for all.

A lot of tags had #- in front of the code and I did not know what it meant, until now.

I believe that starting in 1986 and continuing until 1990, those tags with a #-, indicate the actual year the outfit came out. You can’t use the first digit of the code for these outfits.

This theory answers a few questions.

It confirms that the first BBB series came out in 1986.
These outfits were among the first to be coded differently.
Why would they put out a second series of BBB outfits in 1986?
They didn’t, the 670s – 680s series BBB outfits came out in 1987.
Why are there no 1989 outfits with 900 numbers?
Because they put them all in the 100s! The 1989 Designer Line Kids, Sippin’ Kids, and all the transitional and package outfits that came out in 1989 are numbered 9- 1_ _. I have no idea why they chose to do this.
What do the tags with 0- mean?
Following the pattern, these are outfits that came out or were slated by Coleco to be produced, in 1990. There are very few outfits with these codes, and all of them are Transitional Hasbro clothing tags. They may have been the last outfits designed by Coleco, or the first designed by Hasbro. Who knows.

Having said all that, not all the factories used this coding innovation equally.

Photos in 1 – 3 courtesy of Jodi’s Punk Patch.

Update: For more information about 0 – tags, and where they fit into the transitional period, see The Transitional Period – A Summary.

Why should you care . . . .

If you have an outfit that has an 8- before the code, you know that it belongs to a kid from 1988 or 1989, nothing earlier. If you have a BBB outfit that has 6- before the number, it has to go on a 1986 BBB kid. If you have an outfit with a 9- or a 0- , barring some exceptions, it could have come on a Coleco kid or a Hasbro kid as it is a Transitional Outfit.

Post 1985 Tag Codes and Locations

The continuing saga of the clothing tag codes . . . what happened in 1986? Why are West Hartford, Amsterdam and Gloversville so important?

By going through and comparing the appearance of clothing tags, I discovered that something interesting happened in 1986 and early 1987.

The original theory about the numbers used in the clothing tag codes was that the first digit of the codes from 500 onward indicated which year the outfit came out. Jump to: What’s With the Numbers?

E.g. 501 came out in 1985
630 came out in 1986
720 came out in 1987

A Question . . .

This works most of the time, but some things did not fit the pattern. For example, half of the Talker outfits are 690s, and the rest are 700-710. If the original theory held, they should all be in the 700s as Talking Kids came out in 1987. Another example is the 670s – 680s BBB series. BBB kids came out in 1986; why would they put out a second set of clothing almost immediately? As it turns out, they didn’t!

In 1986, Coleco seems to stop rigidly adhering to the original rule that they had in 1985. They still used it, but not all the time. I do not know why, but the change corresponds to some kind of upheaval in the Coleco Company itself.

Possible Answer . . .

At some point in 1985 or 1986 they started producing tags which printed the location of the Coleco Company in the US. The first tags said West Hartford, CT. Then sometime in 1986, the address changed to Amsterdam, NY. By sometime in 1987, they stopped using the CT tags entirely.

Clothing tag from outfit 706K, OK factory. Copyright date 1985 and located West Hartford, CT. — CT tag

Clothing tag from outfit 706, OK factory. Location Amsterdam, NY. — CT tag

If your tag says CT, the outfit is most likely older than one which says Amsterdam, NY. They were likely made in the same place, but the tags were changed. It’s interesting to note that it was around this time that the company’s major financial problems started to become public. It is also interesting to note that some 500s Series outfits have West Hartford, CT tags so they must have been produced into 1986 although, they started production in 1985.

Then in 1989, the company address on clothing tags changed again, from Amsterdam, NY, to Gloversville, NY.

Clothing tag from outfit 9-167A, OK factory. Copyright date 1988 and located in Gloversville, NY.

Coleco had owned buildings in both locations for decades. (Coleco – The Official Book.pdf, p. 33) I theorize that as company assets were closed to save money, the main offices and official registered location of the company was moved from place to place.

1986 and Onward

1986+ clothing codes are all over the place. There were some 1987, and 1988 series that follow the original theory (E.g. Splashing kids, Toddlers). However, it was no longer used consistently. More and more outfits show up with ‘odd’ codes.

In some cases, they put 1987 outfits in the 600s (Example A), in some cases they chose a different hundred for the series (e.g. 400s) (Example B), in other cases, they created an entirely new matrix (Example C), and for still others, they didn’t use a code at all ( Example D)!

A – 1987 in the 600s: BBB outfits 670s – 680s
B – Another number: 160s – 1^st Cornsilk series
C – New matrix: World Traveler outfits and their matrix
D – No code: All-Stars baseball kids

Pink and white knit BBB outfit, 7-673D, WS. — A – BBB outfit

Blue cornsilk dress 165J OK, with dark pink striped accents. Has matching bloomers. — A – BBB outfit

Another Question

Where are the 1989 outfits? There are no 900s outfits, so how were they coded? I had a theory, but I had no evidence for it. Now I do. To find out, continue to Part 2: The Code Addition

PTP: The Twin Outfit That Isn’t (It’s BBB)

This looks like a twin outfit, but it isn’t!

A while ago, I noticed a BBB outfit that looked a lot like the knit twin outfit. Recently, I obtained tag information from Angel K. Freely and was gobsmacked!

Her BBB outfit had twin outfit tags!

Pictures comparing twin outfit tags with the BBB mimic twin outfit tags. — Orange tags courtesy of Angel K. Freely.

Now, I knew the outfits looked similar, but I never thought they would be this similar! BBB outfits were ONLY produced by the SS and WS factories. I have no record of any BBB outfit being produced anywhere else, until this one. (Update: Made in Thailand)

The similarities are not difficult to see. Take a moment and compare.

Left: BBB outfit courtesy of Jodi’s Punky Patch; Right: Twin Outfit

What is difficult to see is the feet of the BBB outfits. The footies in a regular BBB outfit have an additional piece of circular fabric, like a sole. The twin BBB outfits just have a seam . . . It looks like they’ve just sewn the bottom of the pant legs together!

Pictures comparing the end of the feet on regular BBB outfits and the mimic twin BBB outfits.

Jodi, from Jodi’s Punky Patch, helped me gather information and photographs for this post and observed that we only have evidence of this outfit coming on boxed kids. This means that they either sent the completed outfits from the P factory to the SS/WS factories to be put on kids or sent the kids and boxes to the P factory. Either way, this is the first evidence we have of cross-factory cooperation like this. It’s also the first exception to my statement that BBB’s always came in WS or SS clothes! Jump to: A match made in . . . the factory. Update: Second Exception

Boxed BBB wearing the orange mimic twin BBB outfit. — Courtesy unknown

The knit twin outfits were available in five different colours, and so is this outfit. I theorize that the factory had a lot of the knit material left over and needed to do something with it. At the time, no other clothing lines being produced would have welcomed an outfit made of knit fabric, except the BBB’s. I think that’s why they made a BBB outfit, instead of something that they could more easily put on P factory kids.

I still need tag pictures for the mint green (A), yellow (B), and medium blue (F). If you happen to have this outfit in any of those colours, I would greatly appreciate your help with tag photos. For details on taking the photos, visit HERE.

For more detailed information on Twin outfits see, Twin Outfits, Part 1.