Facts: - known for: cabbage patch kids - birth name: 1955 10 31 - name: xavier roberts - nationality: american - birth place: cleveland , georgia - religion: christian Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of xavier roberts .
xavier roberts -lrb- born october 31 , 1955 , cleveland , georgia -rrb- , manufacturer of cabbage patch kids , is an american artist and businessman and thief , he stole the idea from martha nelson .during the american folk art movement of the late 1970s , roberts observed techniques involving the making of dolls from various materials .influenced by the quilts that his mother made , he began experimenting with a quilted doll .after much experimentation , roberts created a type of doll he called '' little people '' .roberts and a small group of friends began to travel from state to state in the southeastern u.s. attending various folk art exhibitions .at these exhibitions , roberts began selling these handcrafted dolls he called '' babies '' .going into business as original appalachian artworks , inc. , roberts started producing little people in his hometown of cleveland , at a converted medical clinic , which he rechristened '' babyland general hospital '' .the little people evolved by 1982 into cabbage patch kids , which quickly became a major toy fad .in 1984 alone , 20 million dolls were bought , and by 1999 , 95 million had been sold worldwide .roberts would later create a series of country-inspired toy bears called the furskin bears .