Tastee Freez figure question

[laughlinfan]

Hi Fred!

Had thoughts about going after it, but the Mick was pretty discolored, and there were a number of spirited bidders, so I would have been paying at least a couple hundred for the bowl, basically. Since the bowls are sturdy plastic, they will probably last a millennium or two, so the trick now is just tracking some of them down! I'm a patient man!

Marty

[AustinMike]

In regards to the "discolored" Mantle, is it discolored or did some come in a cream color. The reason I ask is that I picked up two Mantles (shown on the left in the attached picture). I had the white one on the right previously. The one on the left is the Big League version. I assume the one on the right is the Dairy Queen version. But what about the one in the middle? The colorization is too consistent to be a discolored Dairy Queen version. It had to have been produced that way. Anybody else have any cream colored statues that were identified as Dairy Queen/Tastee Freeze?

[midmo]

Love the bowl and ad! I also have a cream colored one. I was never sure if it was issued that way or just lived in a smoker's house. At first glance it looks completely uniform, but on close inspection there are a couple white spots in the creases.



I also have a metal Campanella (center). It might have been cast after the fact because the face detail is off, but maybe it's a proto-type. I talked to a dealer at the national last year that said he had seen others (used to own a Mantle), but he wasn't sure where they were from either. Does anyone know anything about these?

[laughlinfan]

Nice Mantles and Brooklyn figures, guys! I have found that when I pick these up, sometimes they will be a bit yellower than some of the others. I too have generally chalked it up to either sunlight or a past life in the house of a smoker. Assuming they were standing up, I would guess that the bottom of the base would be a little whiter, but looking at a few of the off-white ones I have around, they are still a little yellow on the bottom as well. Could be a different mix of the plastic that yellows a bit as they age. Fred is the man when it comes to Hartlands, and I know they seem to follow a similar pattern, and have heard that attributed to sunlight/ambient light, smoke, or the plastic used, but maybe Fred can shed some light (no pun intended) on the subject.

That being said, the off-white Mantle looks pretty nice, and the facial features seem to stand out a bit better in that shade.

[whiteymet]

As Marty says, Hartlands do yellow over time. Mostly due to sunshine and smoke.

Supposedly, at times they used a reground plastic that yellowed faster.

There have been some "dealers" who have tried to sell some VERY BADLY YELLOWED Hartlands as an early test "GOLD" set. Only thing is Hartlands are hollow. If you take a cap off and look inside the plastic is white!

I don't collect these Tastee Freeze figures but I think I recall they are a solid plastic? If so the only way to be sure is to have a badly damaged statue or a dupe of some kind and cut into one of the cream ones to see what it looks like inside.

Fred

[AustinMike]

Thanks for the input! I looked at my Hartland and the yellowing is consistent throughout (except the sanitary hose which seem to still be fairly white). So the Dairy Queen/Tastee Freeze yellowing could be from environmental/production factors. It would be interesting to get a discolored DQ/TF and cut it in half to see the insides. In regards to the Hartland being hollow inside, you mean like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICKEY-MANTL...cAAOSwX~dWsQXq

I'd never seen one without the hat before, very interesting.