Post by oldirish33 on Apr 13, 2022 12:45:02 GMT -5
While some of the names might be familiar, collecting these will most likely resonate with Americans and only those of a certain age that love baseball. I got my love of baseball from my father and remain to this day a San Francisco Giants fan. In the early 60's, I had a friend whose dad was a minor league baseball umpire. I remember the plastic figurines he had in his bedroom of baseball heroes of the day and thinking they were pretty neat. They always stayed with me and in about 2006 I found out that they were made by the Hartland Corporation near Milwaukie, Wisconsin. I also discovered that they were remembered by other collectors, because the cost per figure then was $300-$500. Way too expensive for my budget! Fortunately, there was a lower cost alternative. In 1988, Hartland reissued figures from their original series that ended in 1963, as 25th Anniversary editions. Almost identical to the originals, except for a special logo stamped on them to tell them apart, but much cheaper at $20-$50 per figure. I began to collect the set in memory of my Dad with my son and here they are:
Eddie Matthews - IF - Milwaukie Braves
Hank Aaron - OF - Milwaukie Braves
Warren Spahn - P - Milwaukie Braves
Mickey Mantle - OF - New York Yankees
Babe Ruth - OF - New York Yankees
Hartland was famous for its molded plastic horses and figures of Western heroes such as the Lone Ranger, Wyatt Earp, Davy Crockett, Roy Rogers, etc. and their peak production time was summer in a run up to the Christmas season. In a meeting in 1957, they were looking for ways to keep production going during the slow winter months. The idea of baseball players was decided upon and these figures could be sold at the major league ballparks during the summer months. In 1958, Hartland introduced the original series of five baseball players above and they proved to be extremely good sellers at the average selling price of $1.98. Made from a hard plastic that would stand up to "kid" play, the figures were approximately 8" high and were painted with acetate based paint.
One interesting thing to note, is that Hartland made these figures at a time when sports photography as we know it today did not exist. In order to get realistic poses and "game action", Hartland artists sketched players at the Milwaukie or Chicago ballparks in action (with the exception of Babe Ruth who was done with photos.) In 1960, Hartland began to sign other baseball players to contracts. Hartland introduced Cub's star Ernie Banks and White Sox stars Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox to their figure line. Right behind this came 10 additional players. Virtually the entire group is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ernie Banks - IF - Chicago Cubs
Luis Aparicio - IF - Chicago White Sox
Nellie Fox - IF - Chicago White Sox
Duke Snyder - OF - Los Angeles Dodgers
Don Drysdale - P - Los Angeles Dodgers
Yogi Berra - C - New York Yankees
Stan Musial - OF - St. Louis Cardinals
Willie Mays - OF - San Francisco Giants (Let's Go Giants!)
Ted Williams - OF - Boston Red Sox
Roger Marris - OF - New York Yankees
Harmon Killebrew - IF - Minnesota Twins
Rocky Calavito - OF - Detroit Tigers
Dick Groat - IF - Pittsburgh Pirates
In 1963, Hartland was sold to Revlon Cosmetics and the production of figures stopped to make way for production of plastic cosmetic compact cases, probably before other players could be made as there are some real gaps in great players missing from the original series (Kofax, Robinson, Marichal, Clemente, Ford, Cepeda, Roberts, etc.).
In 1987, the rights to remake the original 18 baseball figures were granted to a Hartland collector and enthusiast and production of less than 10,000 each began on the 25th Anniversary commemorative editions. In 1990, they introduced six new figures of which Roberto Clemente is one. The others were Lou Gehrig, Whitey Ford, Dizzy Dean, Bob Feller and Ty Cobb.
Roberto Clemente - OF - Pittsburgh Pirates
Of the 1990 editions, Lou Gehrig is the only figure I really desire. This exercise has prompted me to try and find one at a reasonable cost. The complete Hartland story is available at Steve Blankenship's website: Hartland History It is an interesting one to be sure!
Eddie Matthews - IF - Milwaukie Braves
Hank Aaron - OF - Milwaukie Braves
Warren Spahn - P - Milwaukie Braves
Mickey Mantle - OF - New York Yankees
Babe Ruth - OF - New York Yankees
Hartland was famous for its molded plastic horses and figures of Western heroes such as the Lone Ranger, Wyatt Earp, Davy Crockett, Roy Rogers, etc. and their peak production time was summer in a run up to the Christmas season. In a meeting in 1957, they were looking for ways to keep production going during the slow winter months. The idea of baseball players was decided upon and these figures could be sold at the major league ballparks during the summer months. In 1958, Hartland introduced the original series of five baseball players above and they proved to be extremely good sellers at the average selling price of $1.98. Made from a hard plastic that would stand up to "kid" play, the figures were approximately 8" high and were painted with acetate based paint.
One interesting thing to note, is that Hartland made these figures at a time when sports photography as we know it today did not exist. In order to get realistic poses and "game action", Hartland artists sketched players at the Milwaukie or Chicago ballparks in action (with the exception of Babe Ruth who was done with photos.) In 1960, Hartland began to sign other baseball players to contracts. Hartland introduced Cub's star Ernie Banks and White Sox stars Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox to their figure line. Right behind this came 10 additional players. Virtually the entire group is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ernie Banks - IF - Chicago Cubs
Luis Aparicio - IF - Chicago White Sox
Nellie Fox - IF - Chicago White Sox
Duke Snyder - OF - Los Angeles Dodgers
Don Drysdale - P - Los Angeles Dodgers
Yogi Berra - C - New York Yankees
Stan Musial - OF - St. Louis Cardinals
Willie Mays - OF - San Francisco Giants (Let's Go Giants!)
Ted Williams - OF - Boston Red Sox
Roger Marris - OF - New York Yankees
Harmon Killebrew - IF - Minnesota Twins
Rocky Calavito - OF - Detroit Tigers
Dick Groat - IF - Pittsburgh Pirates
In 1963, Hartland was sold to Revlon Cosmetics and the production of figures stopped to make way for production of plastic cosmetic compact cases, probably before other players could be made as there are some real gaps in great players missing from the original series (Kofax, Robinson, Marichal, Clemente, Ford, Cepeda, Roberts, etc.).
In 1987, the rights to remake the original 18 baseball figures were granted to a Hartland collector and enthusiast and production of less than 10,000 each began on the 25th Anniversary commemorative editions. In 1990, they introduced six new figures of which Roberto Clemente is one. The others were Lou Gehrig, Whitey Ford, Dizzy Dean, Bob Feller and Ty Cobb.
Roberto Clemente - OF - Pittsburgh Pirates
Of the 1990 editions, Lou Gehrig is the only figure I really desire. This exercise has prompted me to try and find one at a reasonable cost. The complete Hartland story is available at Steve Blankenship's website: Hartland History It is an interesting one to be sure!
