From the ABC30 Vault: 1983 - the year of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- 2019 may be the year of the sold-out chicken sandwiches, but crazes like it are nothing new.

We at Action News take you back to December 1983, when Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were the hot new thing that Americans were fighting over.

All the kids wanted them, all the adults were lining up to buy them, and stores across the country were running out. The dolls were so scarce, and demand was so high that riots broke out in stores, and parents were ready to drive hundreds of miles to get one.

Each doll was selling for between $23 and $40, but desperate gift-givers were willing to pay far more.

One Valley store manager had ordered 200 of the dolls, but when only six arrived, he decided to donate them to Valley Children's Hospital. They, in turn, decided to auction off the dolls to help raise money - and ended up making more than $800 on the six dolls.

The dolls, designed by Xavier Roberts, were "born" in a cabbage patch, according to the backstory, and buyers would "adopt" them, an act certified with an official-looking document that came with the toy.