If you have an ‘unidentified’ fur, there are four options:
- It’s a CPK Coutour Kid fur.
- It’s a CPK Fun Fur.
- It’s an aftermarket fur made for CPK sized dolls, but not BY a Coleco authorized dealer.
- It’s handmade.
1. Coutour Kids
This specialty line didn’t have different head moulds, hairstyles, gimmicks or anything else related to the doll that was different. The only difference was the fur outfit they wore over top of their ‘regular’ clothes and shoes.
Sold in late 1984 and into 1985, these kids were ONLY sold in Canada. They came standing up in a box with a blue liner, a regular Canadian birth certificate, and hand-tag. When they first came out, Coleco advertised them as ‘standing kids’, which they weren’t! Some collectors were rather upset at the deception. Although they sold well in the beginning, sales trailed off quickly which was ironic, as these fur outfits were one of the only truly limited edition items that Coleco ever produced! (Ref #5, p. 63) By Oct 1987, they were already considered rare by collectors. (Ref #4, p. 3)
These dolls had head moulds #1 to #5. (Ref #5, p. 83) and came wearing a regular 1983 series outfit and shoes; however, over top was a fur coat, fur booties, and either a fur headband or a fur hat. As the fur pieces are not tagged in ANY way, we have no idea which factory produced them, and they are easy to confuse with aftermarket or homemade fur outfits.
They came in four different fur patterns. The Canadian Beaver outfit had a hat and came on boys. The Canadian Lynx, Silver Fox, and Timber Wolf patterns came with headbands and came on girls.
The outfits also came separately packaged, but again, they were only sold in Canada.
Eventually, like the Fun Furs below, these were found on twins when Coleco was getting rid of inventory. However, this was very rare. You’re a lot more likely to find Fun Furs on a twin set than Coutour Furs. Visit The Perfect Mismatch (Matching Pt. 2) for more details. (Ref#3, p.103)
(Ref#3, p. 102 & 103, Ref#2, p.68)
2. Fun Furs
Fun Furs started showing up on store shelves in 1985 and, originally, only came separately packaged. They were made by the SW factory in Korea.
These furs are easy to identify as they are lined with CPK Logo patterned silk and have a large label at the neck that says Fun Fur. Each outfit came with a coat and either a headband or earmuffs. These outfits were intended only for girls, none were designed for boys.
Although there are only six displayed on the back of the box, I think they produced more than that. I have recorded outfits that aren’t in the picture, and I can’t find the dark grey version that is in the picture. Here’s what I have recorded so far:
Eventually, like with so many other specialty outfits, in order to get rid of unsold inventory, Fun Furs were put on Twin sets. It is believed that most of them were sold on Canadian Twin sets. For more details on the inventory sell-off, visit The Perfect Mismatch (Matching Pt. 2).
3. Aftermarket
There were a large number of CPK sized fur outfits produced by other companies during the 80s and early 90s. Some even tried to duplicate the label inside the coat. Here are some examples.
4. Handmade
Talented seamstresses also tried their hand at creating these delightful additions to a CPK’s wardrobe. Many used Butterick pattern #374, which was later re-released as #6984.
