If you have received an e-mail from me in the past few days, whatever it was, it wasn’t me. It appears that my Google account was spoofed. I’ve already taken all the necessary steps to remedy the problem, with the tiny bit of spare time I had at my disposal today. (Yesterday’s two hour window of "free time" was hogged up by the dog, who insisted on some intense "warm lap" therapy. I’ve missed you too, Vee.)
I probably won’t be able to (genuinely) respond to anyone’s specific questions until the weekend, at the earliest, so anything you get from me before then is also probably not me.
And on top of all that, it looks like I’ll have to add "new desktop computer" to my list of things I’ll be needing to buy in the next few months. There’s been a lot of whining and screeching emanating from my office lately, and for once it ain’t coming from me.
But, enough of my troubles. Here’s a little gift to assuage the tiny bit of suffering I have inflicted upon you, albeit accidentally: the flier for the 1976 Re-release of the Donkey and Elephant.
It seems silly in retrospect, but for several years the hobby community was a bit mystified by these models. We knew they were from 1976 - the date was on the box - and that they must have had something to do with 1976 being an election year. But that was about it.
The reason why is obvious: we weren’t the target market for them. 1976 was not only an election year, it was also the Nation’s Bicentennial: it seemed like an excellent opportunity to re-market a couple of old regulars for a slightly different clientele - those wanting to express their patriotism via the purchasing of tastefully (or not) themed tchotchkes.
I have a few duplicates of these fliers from the newly acquired archive, but as you might have guessed, it’s going to be a while before I get around to doing something about them.
4 comments:
The 1st time I ever saw this donkey someone had crafted a harness for him and hitched him up to a wooden cart that looked like a high school woodshop project. The harness was well done IMO but once removed 2 holes remained on his withers where the rein terrets were positioned.
My sister and I bought a pair of the elephants new in these boxes off of eBay back in 2002, their original shrink wrap unopened, and 1976 catalogs inside.
Both of them turned out to be chalkies, and what's more they came from a guy in Kansas City, MO, the location of the Republican National Convention in 1976. He said he'd found several cartons in a warehouse downtown.
Do you think they were leftover dealer stock? Or were they sold at the convention itself, and these were simply left over and forgotten?
I have a random question. Last year.. or the year before... I recall you thinking of doing a post about the various Breyer dolls have that come out. I don't know about anyone else, but I for one would love to know more about them. As well as your witty remarks about their odd costumes and features.
GWR - I found an unopened elephant in that box, in an antique mall about 40 minutes south of K.C. sometime around the mid-90's.
It was unopened as well (stil in shrink wrap,) Sold it on Ebay for peanuts. (Around $10-$15?) Never had the nerve to open it!
Thanks for the info on the convention, it all makes sense now.
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