Good-Win Paint Your Own Walt Disney Figures in Pottery

Good-Win (Strome & Co Ltd) of London, England was a manufacturer of games and puzzles in the early to mid-twentieth century.  While I have been unable to find much information on this company, they appear to have primarily made dominoes, jigsaw puzzles, and a few other games as well.  The parent company of Strome & Co. does appear in the catalog for the British Industries Fair from 1947 as a maker of a variety of toys and games.

To date only one Disney series has been identified from Good-Win, a series of three Paint Your Own Figures sets featuring ceramic pieces manufactured by Weetman.  These date from 1952 or earlier based on the characters available:  Mickey & Donald, Tweedle Dee & the Mad Hatter, and Flower & Thumper.  It is possible that other items exist since the box for this item pictures additional Disney characters from Cinderella, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Pluto, and the Three Little Pigs.

All items by Good-Win carry their logo of a boy crossing the finish line of a track race with the words Good-Win Reg Trade Mark.

The Paint Your Own Walt Disney Figures in Pottery set for Alice appears to have been made at the time of the film’s release in the UK, 1951 or 1952 at the latest.  A hand-written price on the label of 6/3 equates to about $0.88 in 1951, and $14.14 in today’s dollars.

The set for Alice contains figures for the Mad hatter and Tweedle Dee, as identified by the label on the bottom of the box.  The contents consist of one each of the small white ware figures manufactured by Weetman, with a paint brush, tray, and four tubes of paint.  An instruction sheet is also included, with some advice on how to glaze the figures with some sort of varnish when you are happy with your results - varnish not included of course.

We Made Some Ink! Washingtonian Magazine July 2022

Being residents of the greater DMV (that's DC, Maryland, Virginia for those not in the know), the Washingtonian is our version of New York Magazine or Los Angeles Magazine, with features on local interest, published monthly.  And this month has a one-page feature on the Alice collection, only 6 years in the making!  Pictures below of the cover and our single page, and then an annotated page.

In the photo below, the numbered its are:

1. Regal Mad Hatter Teapot
2. Gund Queen of Hearts Vinylite Stuffed Toy
3. Regal White Rabbit Creamer
4. Zaccagnini (Italy) Cheshire Cat Figure
5. Disneyland White Rabbit Press/VIP Gift from 1984 Attraction Re-Opening
6. Neevel Doll Wardrobe Case
7. Lars (Italy) Bill the Lizard Stuffed Toy
8. 1970s Disneyland Child's Sunglasses
9. National Leather Mfg Co Schoolbag
10. Madame Alexander Doll
11. Larceram (France) Lamp
12. Chad Valley (England) Nursery Play-Toy Tin Stacking Blocks
13. Unknown Tweedledee/dum String Holder (likely unlicensed)
14. Enesco Head Vase
15. Sni-Dor (Canada) Record Player
16. Goebel (Germany) Dodo Smoker Ashtray
17. Unknown (England) Meal Time Dish Set
18. Hassenfeld Bros (Hasbro) Nurse Kit
19. Linemar Mad Hatter's Sky-View Taxi Tin Friction Toy
20. US Time Watch in Teacup Box

Zaccagnini Auction Result!

Today an amazing collection of Zaccagnini figures was auction, including a King of Hearts!  The result of the auction were mixed, but the king did especially well, realizing 6x his original high estimate.  Congratulations to the winner, he is indeed exceptionally rare.

Weatherby & Sons "Falcon Ware" - Walrus and Queen of Hearts

This is my first pass at the section on this manufacturer in my in-progress book.  As I (hopefully) unearth more information on this company and figures, this section will expand.  Or not.  Who knows?

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Falcon Ware by J.H. Weatherby and Sons (UK)

Falcon Ware was a company located in the English town of Stoke-on-Trent, home to Weetman and approximately all the other pottery companies in the UK.  This company had a long and storied history, dating all the way back to 1891 under the parent name of J.H Weatherby and Sons, Ltd., and closing permanently in April, 2000 after 109 years of continuous operation as a family run business.  Sadly the buildings themselves no longer exist.

Image courtesy thepotteries.org

Falcon Ware takes its name from the name of the pottery works itself, which was an existing, though disused, pottery works when purchased by Weatherby in 1891.  The majority of its output in the first half century were traditional table ware, but in the 1950s they began to make nursery items, and novelty animal figures.  Enter Walt Disney.

In 1958 Weatherby planned a series of at least seven figures based on Disney's Alice in Wonderland.  On February 2-6 of 1959 they exhibited at the Blackpool Gifts and Fancy Goods Fair at the Imperial Hotel.  By this the range had been reduced to six figures consisting of Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Walrus, the Queen of Hearts, and the Cheshire Cat.  The figures and their appearance at Blackpool was advertised in at least one periodical in the UK (Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review, February 1959), and price sheets from Weatherby are known to exist.

Advert from Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review, February 1959

Sadly the deal seems to not have been completed or perhaps canceled, and most of the range never produced.  But, there does exist an archive photo from the Weatherby family that I have reproduced below.  I have been unable to contact either the author or the Weatherby family, and the publisher is no longer in business.

Image courtesy of Susan Jean Verbeek, The Falcon Ware Story, (Pottery Publications, 1996)

Fortunately at least two of these figures appear to have been sold in some fashion.  Multiple examples of the Walrus and the Queen of Hearts have been seen over the years, and they are presented here.  Unmarked as they are, for years I suspected these might be Disney, but more likely knock-offs.  It wasn't until I discovered the Verbeek book that I realized their true history.

The Walrus

This was the first Weatherby Falcon Ware figure I acquired.  While I had no idea what it was, and it was not sold as Disney, it just looked right.  The design and style of him just screams Disney, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Weetman figure.  Not surprising given that the two factories were less than four miles apart.

Scarcity:  🔎🔎🔎🔎

Value: 💲💲💲

The Queen of Hearts

This figure of the Queen of Hearts is what led to my discovery of the history of the Weatherby Falcon Ware.  The auction listing actually referenced the Verbeek book in the description, and I was able to get a copy of the book even before the auction closed.  The look of this figure marks it as clearly Disney.  I am not aware of any other incarnation of the Queen that has the same color scheme and design as in the Disney version.  All this figure is missing is the black stripes in the front of her dress!

Scarcity:  🔎🔎🔎🔎🔎

Value: 💲💲💲

Goebel DIS 084 Dinah - Color Sample (!)

It has been quite some time since I've posted here, and as the world has almost COMPLETELY changed it is not surprising.  But, during these crazy times I have still been on the lookout for new additions to the Tulgey Wood, and boy did I find a doozy.

This is the (already super rare) Goebel Dinah figure (DIS 084), but in test colors that are actually film correct!  That's right, the Goebel company actually create color samples of the Dinah figure in the correct colors, submitted them to Disney, and were rejected in favor of the incorrect black color.  One can only assume that at the time the color had not changed, or that the person in charge of approving these things did not know that the colors had changed and was relying on previously distributed color guides.  You can see my previous extensive post on the production version of this figure here.

The key to understanding this piece is the "MM" painted on Dinah's chest.  MM is the abbreviation Goebel used for "Malmuster", which translates (loosely) to Color Sample.

Note that this is a production ready piece, complete with standard Goebel markings on the underside of the figure.

It is unclear exactly how many of these kinds of color samples were made, presumably not very many.  They do turn up from time to time, but this is the first I've seen from the Alice set, and perhaps even from the Disney set as a whole - at least of the vintage 206 figures.

While it is unclear exactly what the origin of this piece is, it was included in a lot of other Goebels, some of which had the archive tag (plombe) attached, which leads me to believe this was part of the massive Goebel archive sale that took place in Germany back in early 2012 - which was the source of the Final Four of my collection.

Many thanks go to my friend Alfred Stumböck for his invaluable assistance in figuring out exactly what this figure is.

A Quick Interview at D23

So we’re at D23 this week helping some friends out, and I got interviewed about the Dinah Goebel figure I brought to sell. Check it out from Provost Park Pass at the 3:15 mark.

A Fun Preview of a Book Item

We had some fun photographing the Model Craft Molding Set...

Zaccagnini Cheshire Cat Redux - I Love the Internet!

Some of you may remember a few years ago I unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a Zaccagnini Cheshire Cat on eBay.  The auction gods did not smile on me that day, but lo' and behold:  this past June the internet gods (far more powerful) did smile upon me, and now this guy is safely ensconced here in the Tulgey Wood.  And there was much rejoicing.

This reduces the number of known figures not in the collection to two:  the Queen of Hearts and the Walrus.  Hint, hint.

Zaccagnini Queen of Hearts - I just missed it :-(

This just in from my network of spies, a sighting of the Zaccagnini Queen of Hearts - sadly by the time I found out about it, it was already sold, but at last a full color image of it!

UPDATE:  The original seller of this example was kind enough to send me a VERY nice image.  Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers out there.  I promise to get back in the saddle in 2015 - after all it is the year of Alice, being the 150th anniversary of her publication.  Until then, enjoy this Christmas figurine from 1996.

30th Anniversary of the Re-Opening of Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland Attraction

We interrupt the feedsack series for this special post.

Thirty years ago today, Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland attraction re-opened following a multi-year rehab (trailing one year after the rest of the Fantasyland rehab) and opened to much acclaim.  The new attraction, while removing a few beloved scenes (the Upside Down Room) saw a huge improvement in the overall quality of the experience.  To celebrate the opening, there was an exclusive event at which this figure of the White Rabbit was given out to very special guests.

The entire theme of the promotion was something like "Don't be late", so naturally the White Rabbit was the official mascot of the promotion.  Issued in a very limited edition of only 60 pieces, this particular example is #55.

Signed, dated and hand number by the artist, it is very hard to come by.  I was fortunate enough to acquire this one many years ago, probably in the second or third year of my collecting.  I've only ever seen one other example for sale, that one was particularly cool because the watch was a Mickey Mouse watch.

2013 Year in Review

This year was a sporadic one for the blog, but we covered some interesting topics.  The majority of the year was spent on animation art, in particular animation drawings. I even tried my hand at a little animation myself :-)

We also looked at a variety of Italian movie posters

A new Zaccagnini discovery

Some David Hall storyboards

A few cels

And who could forget the Vinyl Aprons!

A variety of trading cards from around the world

Some really cool dolls

And some early attraction tickets

And last but not least, some really big leaves!

I wish every one of my faithful readers a safe and prosperous new year.  See you in 2014!

RIP WDCC

While not earth-shattering in the grand scheme of things, I did receive news this week that surprised me:  The Walt Disney Classics Collection is no more.  In a nutshell here's what happened.  Late last year (2012) Enesco announced they would not be renewing its license for WDCC and that the license would go to another vendor.  In early 2013 it was announced that PMI (that's Precious Moments Inc) had acquired the license.  This was met with skepticism by the WDCC community, but when some images 'leaked' of some proposed figures (see below), the internets exploded.

While I do have a few WDCC, I can say that it is not a focus of my collection, but even I have to say these look pretty bad.  Anyway, PMI stated that these were only mockups and not production figures, but lo and behold these were later released under the Disney Showcase imprint.  Then this past week PMI announced on their Facebook page that they and Disney had jointly decided to not move forward with the WDCC line.

Meaning, WDCC is dead and gone.  It may resurface one day, but I doubt it.