Xavier Roberts (born October 31, 1955, in Cleveland, Georgia) is best known for Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, once immensely popular soft sculpted

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

Early life

When Xavier Roberts was five, his father died in a car accident, 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.

Cabbage Patch Kids development

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. 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 Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

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.

Furskin Bears creation

Roberts would later create a series of country-inspired toy bears called the Furskin Bears.

Accomplishments

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 Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. 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.

References

External links

*Hoffman, William, ''Fantasy: The Incredible Cabbage Patch Phenomenon''.
Sewing Up the Doll Markets
1955 births Living people Toy inventors People from Cleveland, Georgia American manufacturing businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1950s-stub