The soft sculpted faces were swapped out with plastic, but the doll bodies remained soft cloth. Coleco licensed the dolls as Cabbage Patch Kids. In 1982, the concept caught the eye of toymaker Coleco Industries in Hartford, Conn. By December 1979, Roberts expected sales of $750,000 on dolls priced at $90 to $110 each. The dolls, originally priced at $55, quickly became popular.
The dolls were created at Babyland General Hospital, where they were customized with belly buttons, dimples, a variety of hairstyles and even diaper rash. The success of the dolls led Roberts to open his company, Original Appalachian Artworks, in Cleveland, Ga., in 1978, where he copyrighted his design ideas. Prospective owners, who took an oath to be good parents, were presented with adoption papers and birth certificates. Roberts added to the doll's individuality by forming a scenario in which each doll could be 'adopted” from a cabbage patch.
Roberts called his technique 'needle molding,” and no two dolls were exactly alike. He enlisted a few friends to help him create the dolls he called 'Little People” for area craft shows and gift shops. Xavier Roberts traveled to art shows in 1977 with handmade, nearly life-size dolls that came with birth certificates instead of receipts. It's been 40 years since a Georgia art student turned a talent for soft sculpture into a nationwide craze.
0 kommentar(er)
