Designer Line - Hilary's Cabbage Patch Clothes Closet

Transitional Period CPK Outfits – A Summary

As Hasbro took over production of the Cabbage Patch brand, chaos ensued. Find out what collectors means by ‘transitional’ and how this is reflected in the clothing.

Quick List/Links

9 – #101 – #152 (BBB, Preemie, Toddler, Regular kids) (Future Posts)
9 – Designer Line Kid outfits (150s, 170-180s)
9 – Sippin’ Kid outfits (160s) (Future Post)
0 – 400s (BBB outfits) (Future Post)

Transition: the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.
(Google Dictionary)

In this instance, we’re referring to the transition from Coleco to Hasbro as the manufacturer of the Cabbage Patch brand, 1989 – 1990. This progression, and the chaos it caused, can be seen in the tags used in their clothes. It occurs in five stages.

Stage 1 Tags: 9 – Amsterdam and Gloversville, NY – Coleco

Coleco began using the location Amsterdam, NY, on their tags in late 1987 (I think) and continued until sometime in 1989. Then they switched to Gloversville, NY, the last known Coleco location used on their tags. Consequently, Gloversville tags only occurred in outfits that came out in the first 6-months of 1989. These outfits all have 9 – in front of their outfit code. (See Part 2: The Code Addition for an explanation). Some of the outfits produced in 1989 were designed earlier but weren’t sold until then.

Coleco Cabbage patch kid clothing tag with Gloversville, NY, as the location, clothing code 9-167A and factory OK.

Outfits series sold at this time (that I know of):

9 – #101 – #153 (BBB, Preemie, Toddler, Regular kids)
Designer Line outfits 150s (all Gloversville)
9 – Sippin’ Kid outfits (160s)

Stage 2 Tags: 9 – Pawtucket, RI – Hasbro

The codes in these outfits have the 9 –, indicating they are also from 1989, but they are made by a different company. These tags have a Coleco-like clothing code and factory code but are now listed as being made by Hasbro out of Pawtucket, RI. They introduced a new factory code H101, likely intending the H to indicate Hasbro. This happened because Hasbro bought out Coleco in July of 1989 (Ref#3, p. 176).

Hasbro Cabbage patch kid clothing tag with Pawtucket, RI as the location, clothing code 9-106A and factory H101. — Courtesy of Jodi Issacs

Outfits series sold at this time (that I know of):

BBB outfits #101 – #106
Toddler outfits #116 – #120
Preemie outfits #130 – #133
Designer Line 170s (all Pawtucket)
9 – Sippin’ Kid outfits (160s)
Hasbro version of outfit #505 – Apron Dress

Stage 3 Tags: 0 – Pawtucket, RI – Hasbro

Following along with the year labelling convention, if 9- is for 1989, then the 0 – would be for 1990. So, these outfits were sold in 1990. However, the tag looks more Hasbro-like than Coleco now. In addition, there are very few outfits with this code. The only outfits produced at this time were the BBB 400s. series (Future Post). These outfits are likely the last of the Coleco designs Hasbro used OR their first attempts at their own designs. My guess is the latter, as all four outfits in this series mimic the look of earlier Coleco-produced outfits.

Hasbro Cabbage patch kid clothing tag with Pawtucket, RI as the location, clothing code 0-100D and no factory code.

Stage 4 Tags: Hasbro tag

By this stage, the tags are all Hasbro, and there are no codes on them at all. It appears that, although they considered or tried to keep using the Coleco coding system, they gave it up rather quickly, likely sometime in 1990.

Hasbro Cabbage patch kid clothing tag with Pawtucket, RI.

Outfits series sold at this time (that I know of):

Outfits #148, #151
Outfits #116 – #120
Hasbro produced versions of some 800-815 series
Some early Hasbro BBB outfits
Some early Hasbro regular kid outfits (generally a duplicate in some way of a Coleco outfit)
Many Poseable Kid outfits
Some Splash and See packaged outfits
Hasbro Fashion Separates Line – packaged
Hasbro Deluxe Fashions Line – packaged
Hasbro Fashions Line – packaged (likely but not confirmed by tag yet)

Stage 5 Tags: No tag

By 1991, Hasbro was producing their own kids and clothes. None of the outfits are tagged. Some of these lines include Babies (BBBs), Babyland Kids, Poseables (replaced the regular kids), Birthday Kids, Preschoolers, Designer Line Kids and Kissin’ Kids. (Ref#2, p.104))

Transitional Dolls

Although many dolls were sold in these two years, what most collectors refer to as a ‘Transitional doll’ is very specific and quite sought after, as few were produced. These dolls are an amalgam of Hasbro and Coleco parts. One might have a Coleco head, Hasbro body, and Coleco outfit. Or a Coleco body and head, but wear a Hasbro-tagged outfit. There are several possible combinations. (Ref#3, p. 176)

Selling off Coleco Stock

During the Transitional period, you could find odd packages of Cabbage Patch clothing and accessories that were being sold off by Coleco and Hasbro. For example, you might find a Coleco outfit on a Hasbro board and in others, it’s a mishmash of items that don’t belong together on what looks to be an unauthorized board, but isn’t. Hasbro used a variety of avenues to rid themselves of leftover stock. Refer to PTP: Packaged Outfits: Questions and (Some) Answers for more information.

Designer Line Duds – Series 2 (170s-180s)

Dressed to impress (in the last 1980s) these kids have outfits that were all the rage. This is the second set of outfits that were carried on by Hasbro.

Jump to – Series 1: 150s

These kids came out in 1989-9, during the Transitional Period. Hasbro also sold them for a short time from when they took over production in July of 1989 and into 1990.

“According to the 1990 catalogue, these Designer Line Kids had “the cool, casual look that children like for themselves . . .Their new outfits are the latest and greatest fashion designs, and their yarn or nylon hair is fashioned in the hottest looks around.” (Ref #2, p. 104)

They came with new hairstyles, both yarn and cornsilk, and some new head moulds were introduced with these kids (#36, #44, #45). For more details, refer to the sources listed at the end of the post.

These kids came standing in a special box with a new design. In the US they came with a special purple DL birth certificate but in Canada, they came with the regular 1987-89 certificates. I’m not sure about other countries. They, and their outfits, were made at the P factory; however, they don’t generally end up with pox. A few of the early DL kids came with a new ‘artistic’ Xavier Roberts signature, but it was quickly changed back to the original.

Red crimp haired Cabbage patch kid girl with freckles wearing a purple jacket and matching crazy patterned pants and chunky teal shoes. She is standing in a DL box and had a DL birth certificate. — Canadian Certificate

Picture of a Canadian 1987 - 89 aqua coloured birth certificate and associated paperwork. — Canadian Certificate

The Outfits

Numerically, there are two series of Designer Line outfits, the 150s and the 170s-180s. The 150s outfits came out first and the 170-180s came out second. For an explanation of how we know, visit Transitional Period – A Summary.

Each series has six outfits, and there are five versions of each outfit (A-E).

These outfits came with chunky sneakers and white underpants for boys or panties for girls. In this series, the panties may also come in different colours.

UPDATE: Designer Line outfits put on later kids may also have come with Saddle Shoes.

White panties and white cotton boys underwear worn by Designer Line Cabbage Patch Kids.

Finally, these outfits came packaged by Hasbro, but the 150s series did not. Consequently, of the two DL outfit series, this one would likely be easier to find.

Purple skirt with matching patterned jean jacket and sweater top on a Cabbage Patch Kids packaging board. It has a bright orange sales sticker selling it for $4.98.

Clothing Notes:

The tags for these outfits are located in the jackets, which is highly unusual.
The sweaters may have been switched among outfits #182, and #183 as they are all very similar. The tags are in the jackets so this would be possible.
Designer Line socks are different from regular Coleco socks.
I’m not sure if the boy’s outfits came with socks at all.

These outfits were likely made by Hasbro, who may not have been as diligent at making sure the same accessories always went with an outfit. I just don’t have enough evidence to show that the socks and shoes that came with each outfit were entirely consistent. It’s possible that the accessory colour changed based on what they had available. If you have a MIB kid that doesn’t match my records, please let me know!

178 – Jock Jacket and jeans (Boy)

This outfit consists of a jacket, dickie, striped dress shirt, slacks (solid colour), underpants, socks (I think), and chunky shoes. I’m pretty sure this outfit came with socks, but I’m not completely sure!

Picture of outfit 178B. It has a jacket with a purple trunk and red sleeves and aqua trim. There's a CPK patch on the right breast. The shirt is striped aqua and white and there's a pair of grey pants. — Dickie

This picture shows the dickie that is supposed to come with this outfit. It is visible under the shirt and pants here and is dark pink. — Dickie

179 – Sweater jacket, sweater, and skirt outfit (Girl)

This outfit consists of a sweater jacket, sweater, and skirt (made of sweater material). The shirt has a large decal on the front that is a triangle or rectangle, and the skirt that is a solid colour. It comes with undies, chunky shoes, and socks. It’s very similar to outfit 183; the only real difference is the jacket.

Outfit 179B. The jacket is pink, aqua and purple check with thick gold trim. The sweater has a purple check trunk and aqua sleeves with gold trim. The skirt is made of sweater material and is solid aqua. — Photos courtesy of Jodi’s Punky Patch.

180 – Overalls with jacket (Girl)

This outfit consists of three pieces, chunky shoes, socks, and undies. The prints used are all colourful and crazy!

Jean jacket with large flap pockets
Solid coloured long-sleeved shirt with coloured trim
Overalls with large leg cuffs and three buttons up the middle front

Outfit 180D. It has a jacket that has a patterned base (had animals) and pink pockets and trim. The pockets have flap closures. The shirt is gold with aqua trim. The overalls are the same pattern with pink cuffs and button strip. You can also see the purple undies and purple and white shoes. — Pictures courtesy of Sarah Galt.

181 – Coveralls with long jacket (Girl)

This outfit consists of two pieces, socks, chunky shoes, and undies. The first piece is a long jacket that’s half a solid colour and half a pattern and has rucked pockets. The second is a set of coveralls with a waist tie and three buttons up the middle front.

Outfit 181A. It has a funky patterned long jacket with large ruched pockets and matching sleeve tops. The coveralls are all one colour/pattern and are purple with aqua shoes attached. — Photo courtesy of Kristi Prieto Sams.

182 –Leather jacket and sweater (Boy)

This outfit consists of a leather jacket, sweater, and slacks. It comes with socks (I think), shoes, and underpants. The sweaters all have a large decal on the front. Some of them say CPK Airborne Division.

Shows a #19 cornsilk boy with a brush cut wearing outfit 182B. It's a brown leather jacket with a sweater underneath and grey slacks and aqua and white shoes. — Photo courtesy of Vanessa Brisson.

183 – Skirt, sweater, and jean jacket (Girl)

This outfit consists of a jacket with large solid-coloured pockets, a sweater, and a skirt (made of sweater material). The shirt has a large decal on the front that is a triangle or rectangle, and the skirt is a solid colour. It comes with undies, chunky shoes, and socks. It’s very similar to outfit 179; the only real difference is the jacket. It’s possible that they all came with gold socks.

Outfit 183E. The jacket is had gold pockets and the main part is red with black diamonds. The sweater has a gold trunk and aqua sleeves with purple trim. The skirt is made of sweater material and is solid black. You can see the gold socks and red and white shoes as well. — Photos courtesy of Kristi Prieto Sams.

Version Information

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

I appear to have many of the outfits recorded, but if you have an outfit that is not recorded here, I would like to hear from you. This includes any differences in accessories. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.

Other Information

DL kids and outfits can also be found in ‘regular’ kid boxes of the same time period.

These outfits showed up in the Coleco Catalogues in 1989 and Hasbro catalogues in 1990. Many of these outfits were never produced or were done in other colours.

Sources:

Ref #3, p. 170 – 175
Ref #2 p. 104 – 111

Designer Line Duds – Series 1 (150s)

Dressed to impress (in the last 1980s) these kids have outfits that were all the rage. Check out these cool duds!

Jump to – Designer Line Series 2: 170s – 180s

These kids came out in 1989, during the Transitional Period. Hasbro also sold them for a short time from when they took over production in July of 1989 and into 1990.

They came with new hairstyles, both yarn and cornsilk, and some new head moulds were introduced with these kids (#36, #44, #45). For more details, refer to the sources listed at the end of the post.

These kids came standing in a special box with a new design. In the US they came with a special purple DL birth certificate but in Canada, they came in the regular 1987-89 certificates. I’m not sure about other countries. They, and their outfits, were made at the P factory; however, they don’t generally end up with pox. A few of the early DL kids came with a new ‘artistic’ Xavier Roberts signature, but it was quickly changed back to the original.

The Outfits

Each series has six outfits, and there are five versions of each outfit (A-E).

These outfits came with chunky sneakers and white underpants for boys or white underwear for girls.

UPDATE: Designer Line outfits put on later kids may also have come with Saddle Shoes.

These kids came out at a time when Coleco was dumping material into the market. I don’t have enough evidence to show that the socks and shoes that came with outfits were entirely consistent. It’s possible that the accessory colour changed based on what they had available. If you have a MIB kid that doesn’t match my records, please let me know!

Finally, the 170s-180s outfits were sold packaged by Hasbro, but this series did not. Consequently, of the two DL outfit series, this one would likely be the more difficult to find.

152 – Button Dress (Girl)

The reason for this name is obvious. It doesn’t come with any leg coverings, just underwear. The socks are special in that they too have buttons on them.

Red, yellow, and aqua version of outfit 152, the button dress. — Courtesy of Sarah Galt.

Spreadsheet showing which outfits I have recorded for outfit 152.

153 – Long sweater with leggings (Girl)

Pink and yellow version of outfit 153. — Courtesy of Kristi Pierto Sams.

Spreadsheet showing which outfits I have recorded for outfit 153.

154 – Jean dress and jacket (Girl)

Most of the time, the fabric of the dress and the jacket are the same colour. However, for at least one version, they are not.

Aqua version of outfit 154, the jean dress.

Aqua version of outfit 154, the jean dress. Picture shows the outfit pieces.

Spreadsheet showing which outfits I have recorded for outfit 154.

155 – Shirt, pants, and jacket with hood outfit (Girl)

Purple and aqua version of outfit 155, the girls jacket with hood outfit. Picture shows the outfit pieces. — Courtesy of Carolyn Dahl Wood.

156 – Jean jacket and pants with shirt (Boy)

I’m not sure that this outfit came with socks. I know that sounds weird, but I got a ‘complete’ kid myself, and he didn’t have any socks. Almost all the pictures I’ve seen of this outfit, and all of the pictures that I have of this outfit, either have no socks or have pictures of odd socks, not DL socks. It’s very strange! Do you have a MIB kid with DL socks on?

Jean jacket lined with white fur and matching pants with green shirt. This picture shows the pieces of the outfit. 156

Spreadsheet showing which outfits I have recorded for outfit 156.

157 – Tracksuit with hoodie vest (Boy)

For some odd reason, this outfit appears to show up frequently on kids with the brush-cut hairstyle, even in the yarn hair!

Outfit 157 which has a blue sweater with red twin and red, blue and yellow hoodie vest.

Picture showing the pieces of outfit 157 which has a blue sweater with red twin and yellow, red and aqua hoodie vest.

Spreadsheet showing which outfits I have recorded for outfit 157.

Version Information

Other Information

These outfits showed up in the Coleco Catalogues in 1989 and Hasbro catalogues in 1990. Many of these outfits were never produced or were done in other colours.

Sources:

Ref #3, p. 170 – 175
Ref #2 p. 104 – 111

A Match Made in . . . the Factory (Matching Pt. 1)

How do you know if an outfit originally came with the doll? Here’s the first step to finding out!

There is no way to know what outfit originally came on a doll. The choices were made randomly. However, you can match the production year of the doll to the production year of the outfits, and in some cases, the factory information.

1983 – 1985ish: A Match!

Coleco dolls produced from 1983 to 1984 (and some stuff in 1985) generally came with clothing made at the same factory. So, if the doll was OK factory, the outfit and shoes were also OK factory.

KT Boy OK Girl

Dolls wearing 500s outfits which came out in 1985 also matched factories.

The 500 series outfits on dolls, sitting on stairs, to display the outfits.

However, I know of at least one collector who admits to taking kids out and switching clothes AT THE STORE, so even if you bought a kid from the store and it didn’t match, that doesn’t mean it didn’t originally come with the correct outfit!

Series Specific Pairs . . .

Some lines of kids had specific clothing created just for them. In many of these cases, the dolls and the outfits always match. There may be two factories producing them, but there is always a match.

Talking Kids	OK
Circus Kids	P, KT
World Travelers WT White shirts	OK, PMI CC, SS
Designer Line	P
1^st Cornsilk Series (160s)	OK, KT
300s Cornsilk Series	OK, KT, P
Baby outfits (BBB)	SS, WS	Exceptions: #1, #2
PJ Series (689-694)	KT
720s series Cornsilk and regular kid outfits	KT
760s Cornsilk series	P
Growing Hair	KT
Toddlers	OK
Koosas	OK, KT

Continued in: Part 2: A Perfect Mismatch!

What’s With the Numbers?

Why 15? Why 125? Why not 485? Who knows, but here’s some thoughts.

# 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)

1983 Regular kids outfits. The original 20. The dolls are wearing the outfits and sitting on stairs. The outfits are numbered.

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)

1985 Preemie series outfits. Dolls wearing the outfits are sitting on stairs and the outfits are numbered.

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

Where are tags in clothing located?

Oh where, oh where does the clothing tag hide . . . . oh where, oh where can it be?

Oh where, oh where, can it be?

By clothing tag, I am referring to the information tag found inside the outfit, not the silk flash with Cabbage Patch Kids that is often found on the shoulder of shirts and dresses or pant legs.

Coleco only tagged one piece of each outfit, often leaving the other pieces unmarked in any fashion. This means that that the unmarked pieces can be easily lost and often go unrecognized as Cabbage Patch. This makes it difficult to put an outfit back together. How do you know which pieces belong in an outfit? Well, that’s a question for another post (or a bunch of posts).

In this post, I’m just going to tell you where to look for the informative little things. There are three options when it comes to tag situations.

1. My outfit has no tags

If the outfit has no tag there are four possible explanations:

It’s a foreign CPK outfit.
It’s a fake/aftermarket/handmade outfit.
They’re all pieces of Coleco CPK clothing but didn’t all come together. OR They all came together, but at least one piece is missing.
It is a CPK piece of clothing produced by a later company. eg. Play Along, Wicked Cool Toys

At least one piece in each Coleco outfit MUST have a tag.

2. My outfit has A tag

Regular Tag Locations

Inside the shirt or dress piece of the outfit. If there is more than one top in the outfit, it is generally located on the piece worn closest to the doll’s body.

2. Along the side or back seam of the romper, sleeper, onsie, etc.

NOTE: There are a few outfits that can have them in either location. For example, the ruffled overalls may have the tag in the shirt OR the overalls, but not both, and not neither!

Unusual Tag Locations

There are some exceptions to these rules (of course), most of which involve later outfits (Post 1986) or jackets.

1. The Designer Line outfits that have jackets have the tag inside the jacket, not the shirt, as does the 500s series windbreakers and outfit #100.

2. ‘Made in USA’ outfits tend to have the tag in the pants, if the outfit has pants.

3. Splashing Fun Kids clothing have the tag on the most substantial piece of the outfit, generally the robe, the jacket, or the wrap.

4. Talker dresses have the tag on either the underdress or the pinafore. I see no pattern as to which was chosen.

5. A small number of later outfits (1989 and later) have the tags in an odd location. So look carefully.

3. My outfit has TWO (or more) tags

If your outfit has two or more tags, here are possible scenarios:

It’s a Jesmar outfit. Jump to: Jesmar Clothing Tags
You have two pieces of Coleco clothing that did not originally come together. For example, if your elephant romper has a tag, and the white shirt has a tag, they didn’t originally come together.

For more information on tags (if you haven’t already seen them), jump to:

What are Clothing Tag Codes: An explanation of the codes on Cabbage Patch clothing tags. Learn about the letters and numbers that started it all!
Oddball Tags: Not all clothing tags were made equal. Some have codes, some don’t. Which do? Which don’t?
What’s With the Numbers?: Why 15? Why 125? Why not 485? Who knows, but here are some thoughts.