QUINCO banks
 

This thread will probably have no life, since it deals with (primarily) college football but I wonder if anyone has pictures to share. I think these things are pretty cool. This website gives an overview:

https://vintagemascots.weebly.com/quinco.html

There are many uncatalogued. I picked this one up for 10 bucks. It had originally been Louisiana Tech. It was painted over and I painted over it again to make a Utah Ute. BTW, Utah Utes do exist but I doubted I'd ever find one.

I'll breathe some life into this, if you'll rotate the pics for me. No amount of editing I do works, unless I snap the original pic in "Landscape" mode.

Here are my five...

The only 2 professional teams ever made:
Saints
Bills

And 3 of the many college teams made:
Penn State
Florida
Tulsa (my personal favorite and a real rarity- The Golden Hurricane)

Some of these Banks were made under the BUCO name (not Quinco). The two brands are quite identical, and I think it was a geographical or licensing issue that dictated which school fell under which of the two manufacturers.

Regardless, these are among the most underrated and unheralded memorabilia items out there. Tough to find in nice condition, and impossible to find some of the schools. I am positive there are many that have never even been catalogued.

Nice job restoring that one Rob... looks great! I'll keep an eye out for an Ohio U. example (now that I know you like them!)

Here's another that I've been chasing forever (with no luck). GA Tech apparently has 3 different variations, but this bad-ass example is by far my favorite.

Hopefully we have some other Quinco/BUCO collectors here who can post a few more!

I really like the Saints!

I can rotate them but they get small. I’m sure on my “real” computer I could rotate and keep them big.

That Yellow Jacket is scary! :eek:

These things are so random....sometimes the base will have the mascot name; sometimes the school name; sometimes a bank’s name; sometimes nothing.

Yep, the Saints' Mascot is super cool. His name is "Sir Saint", and his image was only used for a very brief time on their earliest programs, advertising and such. I think they've brought him back recently as one of those on-field Mascots. But not as good-looking as the original (it's never really quite the same... is it?)

It's probably just gonna be you and me talking... but yes, I am fascinated by that aspect as well. Very little regulation took place in the creation of these pieces.

Lots of variation, which makes them great to collect. It's almost as if the "artists" were given free reign to do what they wanted. Either that, or they were just cheap, with minimal attention to detail.

If you look at that website, GA Tech had four variations!

I have this one...any idea of year (ballpark)? And I assume the decal at the bottom is a defect, probably wasn't made that way. Has the original plug too. It's pretty cool, the colors are awesome.

The detail on the mascots is pretty amazing, as compared to my generic guy with megaphone.

1960’s, I would think.

Quinco Bank
 

Here is my Kansas State Quinco

Here is mine only one. It is East Tennessee State. local university (now) a few miles from me. On the bottom is JAPAN sticker. Have never been able to find anything out about it.

That’s a nice college Nodder, but not a Quinco Bank.

My apologies, you are absolutely correct. Bobby, please delete.

Picked this up for some friends who have a son at the University of Georgia.

This guy a Quinco?
 

Can't look at him too long, gives ya the heebie jeebies


https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=32314

Sure looks similar, but if you go to the link in the first post you won’t see any with a square base. Interesting….

Not in my realm of interest to collect

But There are some cool looking ones and I can see these fitting nicely in a display case or man cave

Cool thread! Have had these for many years, and never realized that they were part of a (very large!) set. Love the detail, and some of the college mascots are incredible!

It’s a mystery to me how the Bills got a figure. The only other (known) pro team is the Saints but that makes sense, since Quinco was in New Orleans. The link in the first post says they were in California but I think that’s incorrect. The labels say Quinco, New Orleans; Buco, SF.

Good observation.... Why Buffalo?

That said, I have never seen the Bills Bank without the brown paint. Looks really cool that way, and it's got to be super rare. Probably not super valuable though, as the collector base for these has to be relatively small.

Well, we Buffalo fans have always been a bit rabid! So it sounds like I won't be able to retire on my rare albino Buffalo bank? :) I always though they were pretty neat, but never figured that they were super valuable. As someone who has always enjoyed figural items, I am really surprised I haven't run into any of the college issues in the past 50 years, but guessing these were sold regionally and likely stayed in those regions. Happy to have a couple of Bills banks! Guessing these were made in the late 60s?

Yes.... Late 60s is about as good as we can nail down. These may have been manufactured into the '70s, too. Some teams are rather prevalent, but many of these are super rare.

I always thought earlier 60's but I really have no basis for that assumption. :p

SEC teams are far and away the most prevalent. I have an ongoing ebay search, as I am looking for a Utah Ute. On any given day, there are usually 4-5 Quinco banks on ebay and I'm sure others that do not have the word "Quinco" in the title or description.

This one is on ebay....he has the same heebie jeebie eyes. The seller says it's a Buco, although there is no sticker.

Never saw this one before. So ugly, it's cool. If it looked like a baseball manager, I'd probably get it.

If I were you I would paint a U on his cap and plant him next to your Ute bank!!. The pair would look great!!
jmho....
I have always liked figures banks Ashtrays Glasses but have always understood I was in a small minority. Like I still remember ( can picture it falling in slow motion ) my very large 69 Mets Ashtray getting knocked of a table 38 years ago. (And I am a Yankee fan) The larger and more fragile the more I respect collectors who care for them.
Great Thread.
J

Hmmmm. :thinking: I just might do that. :p

Not sure what to make of this one. It may be the coolest one I've seen, but seller surmises that it's a remake. It still appears to have some pretty good age to it...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13462526280...Cclp%3A2349624

Thoughts?

The “F” on the chest is f’lng terrible. Gators not eating bulldogs, these days.

So you don't like it?

“Like it” as vintage or like it as something I would want? Neither, really. :cool:

Well, I gathered that you didn't like it on a personal basis ;)

Just wondering if you think it's original vintage or a reproduction...

A. It's hard to believe someone would reproduce these, as even the originals are very inexpensive. Why would someone go to the time and expense of creating that mold if they weren't going to mass-produce it?

B. It is well done in my opinion, the gator portion is true to the original, and it appears to have the correct aging and surface wear.

C. With regard to the "F" being poorly painted, I've seen a lot like this. These Quinco Banks were not exactly on a level with Stanford Pottery or even Gibbs-Conner.

So this one is a bit of a conundrum, IMHO. :confused:

My uneducated guess is it is a repainted Florida Quinco with a bulldog, from some other source, stuck in its mouth. The pictures are not that great and you can’t really see the junction of the gator and the bulldog.

Another odd one popped on on ebay today.