The American Football Chess Set
This is one of the gems in my entire collection. It was a 25th Wedding Anniversary Gift that was purchased to somehow balance the X-tra Large Diamond received by my Bride. I mean EXTRA LARGE! The Chess Set players, which include the 49ers as the opponent, are hand made from Old English Soldier metal castings and hand finished and painted at Studio Anne Carlton in Hull, England. The tallest piece is about 3 1/2" and the set has considerable weight to it. Chess Sets like these range in value from $800-$1,000.
Hartland Statue
There are certain items that I see on Ebay every once in awhile that I really think that I should have, but I refuse to pay the price that eventually wins. One item in particular was a Hartland Plastics Chicago Bear Statue...It stands about 8-9" tall, made of all plastic (of course) and mounted on a plastic stand. It was manfactured somewhere between 1959-1963, and two versions were made for the 14 NFL teams at the time: Running Back and Lineman. I believe that sticker decals were provided originally, so one could use the number of their choice.
These rare figures command anywhere from $200 -$400,that's provided everyone knows that it is a "Hartland", and the last Chicago Bear sold on Ebay for $400. The one I bought last year was listed by a consignment seller and was listed as "an old Chicago Bear plastic doll"...NOT ONE WORD SAYING IT WAS A HARTLAND! Some guy thought he was going to sneakily buy it at $25.00, but I sniped him at the end for $40.00......$40.000....Wow!
I had never seen one of these before and I should have known that they existed...but in 1977 I was studying girls and beer in College...It's a 1977 Action Team Mate. Action Team Mates were made well before Kenner's popular Starting Lineup Figures. They were first manufactured in 1977 by Pro Sports Marketing and continued until the early 80's. They are 7 1/2 inches tall with movable limbs held together by rubber bands.
The Team Mates were only available through Sears and J.C. Penny's toy catalogs which means there aren't a lot of them floating around. All 28 teams were available in both black and white figures. There was also a field and benches that were produced that went with the figures.
In 1987 GI Joe introduced it's 2nd 3 1/2" doll based on a real life person: William Perry from the Chicago Bears. Hasbro originally intended the issue to feature Sylvester Stallone as Rocky, but Rocky toys became licensed under a Rambo toy line name. Anyway,Here's the scoop on Fridge's "file" card:
The Fridge
mail-order
Physical Training Instructor
E-5 (Army sergeant)
File Name: Sgt. William Perry
Primary MOS: Physical Training Instructor
POB: Aiken, SC
Secondary MOS: Special Services
Appearance: African-American; black hair and moustache; gap in teeth; sleeveless blue football shirt with white "72" on front; red, white, and blue wristbands; green pants with brown belt, red pockets, and white boots with grey kneepads
Accessories: black football attached to a chain.
Filecard Information: G. I. Joe training procedures are tough to the max and no expense is spared in insuring [sic] that G. I. Joe personnel are prepared to deal with the worst possible scenario. Regular troops tackle standard obstacle courses like fences, crawl pipes, and water traps. The G. I. Joe obstacle course consists of only one obstacle–The Fridge.""If lacrosse is the little brother of war, football must be the rich uncle. Note the similarities: Strategy (offensive and defensive), teamwork, violence, camaraderie, television coverage, parades for the victors, and humiliation for the defeated. Using The Fridge to train the Joes is logical and practical . . . Besides, The Fridge likes to see the looks on their faces when they look up from the mud and see who they have to get past–to pass the course!"
I also have Sports Impression figures from 1992 and 1993 of Walter Payton, Gale Sayers and Jim Harbaugh. These are porcelain figures and are the shorter 6 " versions. I also have 8-9" Collector Plates for those three players, and a small 3" plate for Payton.
Other action figures of lower value include a 1996 Rashaan Salaam Headliner, a 1998 Curtis Conway headliner, and 1 998 Curtis Enis XL Headliner (large). In addition I have 2 Series 5 McFarlanes of Anthony Thomas, both 'Variants', one all white uniform, and one white mouthpiece figure.
Check some of other posts for more figures and figurines...all of my Urlacher stuff is together, there's a couple of figures in the Payton post, and the Starting Lineup post is loaded with figures.
Here's an add on that I have: Old Soldier Field replica, serial #'d:
