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Xavier Roberts | |
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| Born | October 31, 1955 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Cabbage Patch Kids [1] |
Xavier Roberts (born October 31, 1955, in Cleveland, Georgia) is best known for Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, once immensely popular soft sculpted dolls. [2]
|
Xavier Roberts | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 31, 1955 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Cabbage Patch Kids [1] |
Xavier Roberts (born October 31, 1955, in Cleveland, Georgia) is best known for Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, once immensely popular soft sculpted dolls. [2]
When Xavier Roberts was five, his father died in a car accident, [3] leaving his mother to raise him and his five siblings. Roberts then attended White County High School and then attended Truett McConnell Junior College where he was an award-winning art student.[ citation needed ]
In 1976, Xavier Roberts met Martha Nelson Thomas at a craft fair. He asked her to supply him with dolls to sell in Georgia, where he lived and worked. [4] Thomas briefly let him sell her Doll Babies, but stopped. Thomas sued Roberts and won an undisclosed amount after the case was settled out of court. Roberts created his own version in 1978, and in 1982 he licensed the dolls to Coleco for mass-production under the name Cabbage Patch Kids.
Roberts travelled from state to state in the southeastern United States attending craft fairs and folk art exhibitions where he sold these Chinese-crafted dolls. He won awards for his work, including a first-place ribbon for a doll named Dexter at the Osceola Craft Show in Florida in 1978.
Going into business as Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc., Roberts hired local seamstresses and started producing his dolls in a converted medical clinic in his hometown of Cleveland. "Babyland General Hospital" still exists today in a new location.
By 1982, the Little People had evolved into Cabbage Patch Kids, licensed to Coleco. The Cabbage Patch Kids were a huge hit, quickly becoming a major toy fad. In 1984 alone, 20 million dolls were bought, and by 1999, 95 million dolls had been sold worldwide.
Roberts would later create a series of country-inspired toy bears called the Furskin Bears.
Due to the commercial success of his Little People line, Roberts had already become a millionaire by the age of 26.
Other artwork by Roberts has been featured in galleries such as the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. His creations also became part of the State of Georgia's permanent art collection after Roberts presented three Little People to Georgia Governor George Busbee.
Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar dedicated consoles and ColecoVision. While the company ceased operations in 1988 as a result of bankruptcy, the Coleco brand was revived in 2005, and remains active to this day.
Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage Patch Kids' by Roger L. Schlaifer when he acquired the exclusive worldwide licensing rights in 1982.
Cleveland is a city in White County, Georgia, located 90 miles (140 km) northeast of Atlanta and 128 miles (206 km) southeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its population was 3,514 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of White County.
Parker Brothers was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products were Monopoly, Clue, Sorry!, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, Bop It, Scrabble, and Probe. The trade name became defunct with former products being marketed under the "Hasbro Gaming" label with the logo shown on Monopoly games.
The National Toy Hall of Fame is a U.S. hall of fame that recognizes the contributions of toys and games that have sustained their popularity for many years. Criteria for induction include: icon status ; longevity ; discovery ; and innovation. Established in 1998 under the direction of Ed Sobey, it was originally housed at A. C. Gilbert's Discovery Village in Salem, Oregon, United States, but was moved to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, in 2002 after it outgrew its original home.
Play Along Toys was a Florida-based toy company, and a wholly owned division of Jakks Pacific.
Arnold Greenberg is an American businessman best known as the CEO of Coleco in the 1970s and 1980s. He began his career in law but joined Coleco, a family toy business, in 1966. He worked aggressively to gain a large share of the video game market while maintaining Coleco's position as a manufacturer of other toys. Greenberg's drive to develop and market the Adam Computer in 1982 and 1983 eventually led the company into bankruptcy.
Jay Foreman is an American businessman who lives and works in Boca Raton, Florida. He is president and CEO of Basic Fun!, which began as The Bridge Direct in 2009. Basic Fun! and its related companies, Good Stuff, K'nex, Uncle Milton, and PlayHut, design, develop and market toys for children and adult collectors. The company's product portfolio includes internally developed brands like Mash'ems and Cutetitos, as well as licensed product lines from major entertainment companies, sports leagues and other toy companies, such as Mattel and Hasbro. In 2020 the company relaunched Tonka and Care Bears, which can now be found at major retailers around the world.
Babyland General Hospital is the fictional "birthplace" of the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls located in Cleveland, Georgia. Xavier Roberts converted a former clinic into a retail facility for the sale of his dolls, originally called "Little People." It is presented as a birthing, nursery, and adoption center for premium Cabbage Patch Kids. Although the fad surrounding the dolls has largely died down, this site attracts numerous fans and curiosity seekers.
Roger Martin Bradfield was an American children's books writer, illustrator, cartoonist, painter, and world traveller.
Muriel Norris Fahrion is an American illustrator and the original designer of the Strawberry Shortcake franchise.
PlayMonster is a manufacturer and marketer of family entertainment products that specializes in games, children's puzzles, toys, activities, and teaching tools. In February 2016, Patch changed its company name to PlayMonster.
Strawberry Shortcake is a cartoon character used in greeting cards published by American Greetings. The line was later expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products featuring the character, as well as an extended cast of friends and pets. In addition, the franchise has spawned television specials, animated television series and films. The franchise is currently owned by the Canadian children's television company WildBrain through the holding company Shortcake IP Holdings LLC.
Roger L. Schlaifer is an American graphic designer, writer, inventor and licensing agent. He is best known for his creative development and worldwide licensing of Cabbage Patch Kids and the name and works of Andy Warhol.
The Cabbage Patch riots were a series of violent customer outbursts at several retail stores in the United States in the fall and winter of 1983. The Cabbage Patch Kids toy line was in tremendous demand, and in 1982 Cabbage Patch's parent company Coleco was the best performer on the New York Stock Exchange rising from $6.87 to $36.75 per share. Most stores at the time typically only stocked between two and five hundred of the product, yet with thousands of customers surging the store attempting to obtain one of the dolls, many fought with other customers in order to obtain one of the products.
R. John Wright Dolls is an art doll making workshop located in Bennington, Vermont. Established in 1976, R. John Wright Dolls (RJW) is a privately held company founded by R. John Wright.
Furskins was a series of plush toy bears in different sizes and guises created by Xavier Roberts in the 1980s. Furskins are a highly collectible item, yet are not as highly sought by collectors as Robert's most notable creation Cabbage Patch Kids.
Martha Nelson Thomas was an American folk artist, known for her work in soft sculpture. Thomas was the creator of "Doll Babies," the inspiration for Cabbage Patch Kids.
After his father died in a car accident when Xavier was five, he was raised by his mother, Eula, in a loving but impoverished home.
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