Cabbage Links

Signatures

1983
Black (no date)

1984
Green OR Black

1985
Blue

1986
Red

1987
Aqua

1988
Lavender

1989
Rose

1990
Mauve

1991
Teal

1992
Royal Blue

1993
Forest Green

1994
Burgundy

1995
Purple

1996
Pine Green

1997
Blue-Grey

1998
Maroon, Black (15th Ann.)

Factories

OK - also referred to as the Kader factory. This was the largest factory. It was located in Hong Kong in 1983, but moved to China shortly thereafter. These dolls are well made and known for their huge feet! These dolls have good quality wool hair. They produced a lot of freckled Kids in 1983.

KT - These dolls have well blended facial paint, their arms and legs are well formed, and they have little bodies. Their hair is very thin. Some of the earlier dolls had embroidered tags.

P - Also referred to as the Perfecta factory. These kids were beautifully formed. They have nicely shaped hands and legs, and long bodies. Some had tanned faces and bodies, and the #2 mold had small eyes and sometimes freckles. P factory kids are known to get "Cabbage Pox," or a deterioration of the plastic that causes dark spots on the inside of the head (but not all P factory kids get pox).

PMI - another factory in China that made Cabbage Patch Kids when demand was highest in 1984 and 1985. These dolls have well shaped, thin bodies and little hands. Many of the #1 head molds have large eyes. This factory's kids were also prone to Cabbage Pox.

UT - A factory in Taiwan that mainly produced clothing, but was contracted to make Cabbage Patch Kids when demand was high. These kids are rare. Their yellowish or porcelain looking faces and blushed cheeks make them the most beautiful kids ever.

IC - Another factory in Taiwan that makes good quality dolls. These dolls have small pretty curls, nicely shaped bodies, perfect eyes, and either pale or yellow tinged or creamy white porcelain looking faces. Many of the 1985 freckled dolls were made by IC, as were most of the cowboy and cowgirl dolls that came with the Show Ponies. A few different IC factories existed, including IC¹, IC2, IC3, IC6, and IC8.

SS/WS - These factories in China produced some of the Preemies and Babies. They also produced clothing for the Preemies and Babies. The bodies of these dolls were slim and very well formed.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Coleco CPKs were produced between 1982 and 1989. The standard Coleco kids were 16 inches tall, but the preemies and toddlers were smaller. A variety of factories were used by Coleco to produce their CPKs.

Jesmar is a Spanish company that was licensed by Coleco to produce dolls for both the European and American markets in the 1980s. The Jesmar kids were also taller than the other Coleco kids.

Lili-Ledy is a Mexican company that was licensed by Coleco in the midst of the craze to produce dolls for the European and South American markets.

Tri-Ang Pedigree refers to CPKs that were produced in South Africa under license from Coleco in the 1980s.

Tsukuda is a Japanese company that was licensed by Coleco to produce Cabbage Patch Kids for the Asian market in the 1980s, and again by Mattel in the 1990s.

Hasbro CPKs were produced between 1989 and 1994, and the standard kids were 14 inches tall.

Mattel has been the producer of CPKs since 1994. The standard CPKs are 14 inches tall, but there are many smaller varieties. Several of the Mattel CPK lines have all vinyl bodies, rather than the vinyl heads with cloth bodies seen in the earlier years.
TRU or Toys R Us Cabbage Patch Kids were introduced in 2001. The launch took place at Times Square Toys R Us in New York. The kids were available to order there, until they were made available to several launch stores in the USA in Spring of 2002. They became available several months later nationwide as Toys R Us exclusives. Several outfits were discontinued, and this became a trend throughout the TRU kids' production. Signature colors for TRU kids were as follows: Royal Purple - 2001; Jungle Green - 2002; Magenta - 2003; Silver - 2003 Anniversary Kids; Royal Blue - 2004.

Jakks Pacific/Play Along kids were released in late Summer/early Fall 2004. These kids were newly designed and look similar to TRUs in body, but they have all new headmolds similar to some of the Mattel headmolds. The kids appear to come from two different factories: SI and PF. The PF kids seem to have better complexions and prettier eyes, while some of the early SI kids' eyes have a zombie-like "glowing" appearance. Millions of hair color/hair style/eye color/eye size/skin color/outfit combinations for these kids can exist. The PA kids have a black signature like the 1983 Colecos and also come in a similar yellow and green box.