Roger Schlaifer Coca-Cola, Rushton Toys and IBM. In 1978 Schlaifer branded an early jogging-shoe roller-skate as Hot Rollers and licensed the Hot Roller brand for kids’ apparel, skates and fashion accessories which sold at stores such as Bloomingdales, Belk’s and Mervyn’s. Building on the success of his licensing Hot Rollers, in 1981 Schlaifer proposed an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with Xavier Roberts’ company, Original Appalachian Artworks, for the rights to "Little People" soft sculpture dolls and Babyland General Hospital. Schlaifer rebranded the "Little People" dolls as Cabbage Patch Kids. In addition to signing up Coleco Industries on August 9, 1982, as its
Robin Roberts Stadium Robin Roberts Stadium Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park is a stadium in Springfield, Illinois. It is primarily used for baseball. It originally opened in 1928 and was renovated in 1977. It holds 5,200 people. The stadium is named after Robin Roberts (1926–2010), a Hall-of-Fame pitcher and a graduate of Lanphier High School, was Springfield's most accomplished ballplayer. The field has been home to a number of minor league teams. The AAA American Association Springfield Redbirds played there from 1978 to 1981. Two affiliates in the Class-A Midwest League also called Lanphier home; the Springfield Cardinals and the Springfield Sultans,