Under the cabbage leaf: checking another off the list

I actually have had this young lady since October 19th, but now that it's after Christmas I thought I'd share her.  January is dull without SOMETHING to talk about, so...yeah.  We're gonna talk about Cabbage Patch Kids again, and I'm updating my wish list.  The dolls in red are the ones I've checked off.
*A popcorn.  I was able to check this one off the list last September.  Idalia Gale is my beloved popcorn.
*A fuzzy red boy:  My desire to own a specific fuzzy is gone.  Fuzzies are among the first dolls Coleco made, and they were only produced for one year, so any fuzzy boy will satisfy me.
*A Tri-Ang Pedigree gaudy yellow.  My grail.  Tri-Angs are hard to find in the States as it is, and the yellow ones are the hardest.  A non-Tri-Ang with the same aesthetic will also make me happy.
*A Jesmar.  
*A bean-butt baby.
*A Snacktime Kid.
*A Twinkle Toes Kid.
*An Oriental.
*A #30 head.  These are hard to find, but I love a challenge.

Yes, I highlighted the Jesmar in red.  Meet Candela Laura.

Hilary's Cabbage Patch Clothes Closet is one of my favorite resources for Cabbage Patch Kids, and one of her posts includes a rundown of why Jesmar-made Cabbies are so collectable.  Turns out that there's a number of reasons, but I'm not gonna rip Hilary's blog off completely.  The post can be found HERE.  In short Jesmar Cabbies had a short run, had a number of physical attributes that Coleco dolls don't have, and were never intended to be sold in the U.S.  Not legally, anyway.  Hilary's post was an eye-opener, as I had no idea that Jesmars were only around for 1984 and 1985.  Because of this, no known Jesmar dolls have popcorn hair, or gripping hands, or any head mold other than the first four.  Candela is no exception; she has the #4 head, just like Valencia Rose and Shelley Fred do.  As a result she can suck on a binky.

Like many of my Cabbage Patch Kids, Candela sports a hairstyle and a hair color that I didn't previously have.  This is where things get a little interesting.  Candela has a single ponytail, and her hair is gold...

...or is it?  Hilary states that Jesmar was prone to experimenting with hair colors, mentioning one shade called "dark gold."  Dark gold hair is just what it sounds like:  gold-colored hair that's a shade darker than Coleco gold.  I don't know if Candela has dark gold hair because I don't have a Coleco gold Kid to compare her to, but it certainly would be interesting to find out!  Another fun variation is called "salmon": it's wheat-colored like Idalia's, but a shade darker.  Just for funzies, here's how Candela's gold hair compares to Idalia's wheat hair.

I also found it interesting that these ponytail Kids have hairlines BELOW their ears.  I can feel Candela's ears, but I can't see them.

For comparison, Idalia also wears her hair in an updo, but her ears are clearly visible.

EDIT, 2/1/24:  One of my other #4 heads, Valencia Rose, also has her hairline below her ears.

As we'll soon see, Shelley Fred, my third #4, has a higher hairline.  Weird.  End edit.

Jesmar also toyed around with eye/hair combos that Coleco did not, but I don't know if that applies to Candela.  She's got the gold ponytail, and she pairs that with green eyes (I love green eyes).  I had to turn to Diana's Patch for the info on Coleco hair and eye combos (Diana calls it the matrix, LOL).  Diana in turn gets her info from Jaime Mullin's Fundamentals of Cabbage Patch Kids, so I'm pretty sure the following information is right.  Between 1983 and 1985 Coleco produced gold-haired dolls with green eyes...but their hair came loopy, meaning a short style like what Shelley Fred has.  Also note that his ears are small but visible under those loops.

In 1986 and after there were popcorns produced with gold hair and green eyes, but as we saw above there's a big difference between popcorn hair and ponytail hair.  Single ponytailed girls had auburn hair or dark brown hair, period.  Thus Candela shows one more hallmark of a Jesmar:  a single ponytail in a color that is NOT auburn or dark brown.  Thus even if she isn't dark gold Candela is pretty unique.

Now that I've discussed hair ad nauseam, let's look at Candela's face.  

While I'm not sure about the blushing, I know for a fact that these eyes are another characteristic of some Jesmars.  The bottoms of the eyes don't lie flush with the sockets.

For comparison, the bottoms of Idalia's eyes are flush with the sockets.

Up close this effect looks a little weird, but from a normal distance it looks fine.  No, I'm more interested in the freckles.

LOL, I love dolly freckles!  According to Hilary, Coleco dolls were freckled in 1983 and in 1985, but it was only a single head mold each year (I don't know which ones, LOL).  Jesmar didn't freckle ALL their dolls, but all four head molds can be found with freckles.  Furthermore, Jesmar freckles are apparently hand-painted, and the placement varies wildly.  Coleco freckles are stamped on at the factory and all followed the same pattern.  Or they did when Jesmar dolls were being made.  I sadly have no other freckled Cabbies to show this, but knowing myself like I do, one day I will.

Candela Laura came from the same Etsy shop that Cara Raelean came from, MADDOG1313DIECAST.  I thought that Cara and Candela might have been the only Cabbies available from that shop, but last time I looked there were two more available.  But...I'm gonna be very careful with my Cabbies from here on out.  I've got three dolls with the #4 face now, and I want to be a little more choosy with any new Coleco Kids.  Now the more modern Kids, anything is fair game.  Their heads and hair colors vary more, as we'll see in...oh, 'bout a month or so.

Joy to all,
RagingMoon1987