Mike Jackson’s Hartland Photos:
Non-Hartland Sets and Parts

Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008
Breyer Sets and Accessories: (Photos & descriptions courtesy Sande Schneider)
For more reading and photos on Breyers, check out:
Nancy Young -email
268 Ross Ct.
Claremont CA 91711-3139
"Breyer Molds & Models: Horses, Riders, and Animals 1950-1997"
by Nancy Atkinson Young. (published by Schiffer Publishing) The book
is available directly from her at the address above. Prices and other
information are available at her web site: Nancy Young Books.
I hate to spend too much time on this web site talking about Breyer Horse and Riders because they have about as many variations and combinations as Hartlands. Hartland's Roy Rogers showed up in a Christmas catalog in 1955, right beside the two figures shown to the left. I am not too sure which company had the jump start in the beginning. The section below will illustrate the core of the Breyers fairly well. According to Gail Fitch’s books, Breyer copied the Hartland pieces a lot more than the Hartland executives had wanted—in other words they came out after the Hartland Champ sets. Once you see a Breyer Champ style horse up against a Hartland Champ style horse, you will never be fooled again. Maybe someday I will show some of the differences, but for now, you will need to pick up a copy of Gail Fitch’s newest books. Below are a few of the sets and small parts that might turn up.

Cowboy & Lucky Ranger
(guns & hats shown below)
Robin Hood & William Tell
(probably a Hartland bow)
Breyer Mountie on a Prancer:
I found one of these saddles a long time ago and could never figure out which figure it went with. It looks very much like a US Military saddle without the letters and saddle seat. Hat has cloth hat band threaded with gold. Two different molds on the head of the mounties. This one has the better paint detailing. Some have a gray hat and gloves, while others have brown gloves and a brown hat.

Breyer Kit Carson
Here’s a mint Kit Carson, courtesy of Sande Schneider, showing him complete with the tag. Sande told me that some of his hats are hard plastic and some are made of softer rubber. He has a rifle exactly like the cowboy, usually in dark brown/maroon, but rumors exist of a gray one. The scarf is also rubbery and is either orangish red or possibly light gray. He has a hard plastic brown knife, identical to Breyer's Davy Crockett knife. The figure itself is identical to the Breyer Davy Crockett mold, just painted in different colors.


Some of the Breyer Prancers had a wind-up musical box inside them and play “Home on the Range”. A black & white pinto prancer also plays a different (unidentified) tune. There are unsubstantiated reports that some of the white ones play “The William Tell Overture” (theme song for The Lone Ranger).

Some Crockett sets were attached to wooden bases that also featured MasterCrafters clocks. Some other Crockett sets, and some Cowboy sets were attached to lamp bases made of plaster and molded to look like barren terrain, complete with a small cactus.




 

 

Breyer Indians:
Originally it was thought that the the Chiefs had blue breeches and the Braves had buckskin breeches. It appears it could have actually been and either/or situation and in some cases Breyer just called them “warriors”.

The felt blankets came in two different color patterns. The Indians sets usually shipped with a metal bow (but not always). The plastic knife, quiver, arrows, tomahawk, warbonnet & feather have a similar look and feel as Hartlands (tenite). The feather could have been a solid color plastic or even possibly a real feather? Early chiefs shipped with a cardboard warbonnet.

The Indians did come in two different color breeches and a couple different warpaint patterns for a total of three configurations. One rare variation of Indian with blue pants (shown in the middle) features the warpaint and simpler trim designs usually found on the Indians with the yellowish-buckskin pants. Two of those pieces have been confirmed. It was probably shipped with a Black Beauty horse.

From left to right:
Mountie, Cowboy, Crocket, Kit Carson, Indian Chief, & Indian Brave. Kit Carson had an accessory scarf in red or white flexible plastic. He also had a special hat, different than the cowboys.
The horse on the left is a Hartland and the one on the right is a Breyer. Notice the mane is on the right of the Hartland horse and on the left of the Breyer. The Breyer saddle is very similar to a standard Hartland Champ saddle except for the gold painted rivits and they usually have a plastic snap style cinch. Most Breyers have gold painted bridles and breastcollars, where Hartland used a variety of other colors but never gold.
Hartland tails were glued onto the horse's rump while Breyer tails were molded in two halves along with the body halves. There is quite a bit of difference in the breastcollar when viewed from the front. Hartlands typically have bead style chain reins while most Breyers used a woven chain.


The gun on the left is a Breyer Cowboy pistol. Some were very dark brown and others were molded in gray plastic. They look fine but are a little thinner in the handle. The shape is quite a bit different overall. You might end up getting one of these with a Hartland someday and not realize it. These Breyer pistols are still hard to find for Breyer collectors and do have some value.

Breyer knives are similar to Hartland knives and I might have one or two stuck in the holster of a Chief Thunderbird somewhere. The ones I have seen have very fine ribbing on the handles and the blade appears more like a butter knive than a dangerous weapon to me. You will chuckle when you see one, especially if you remember my butter knife analogy. When they are inserted in the holster, it is hard to tell it is not a Hartland yellow knife. Apparently, the Crockett (and presumably Carson) knives are from a different mold than the Indian knives. They are longer and narrower and have an "S" shaped hilt.

The Indian weapons can be found in several colors, all of which are molded-in colors, not painted-on colors. Some are opaque red, translucent red, yellow, rusty brown and possibly white.

The Breyer Longrifle is about 5" long and otherwise looks very similar to the Hartland rifle which is roughly 7.5" long. The Breyer Rifle seems to have been shipped with the Cowboys. It is 3-5/8" long. A third rifle variation is supposed to exist for the Kit Carson set.
Breyer’s Crockett’s coonskin caps are quite different than the Hartland Crockett cap. Breyer caps are a bit more rubbery in feel, have a longer and more pronounced tail, and the tip of the tail is usually painted with white stripes.

The Crockett picture above came from a 1955 Sears Christmas Wish Book.

The hat on the left is a Hartland Jim Hardy Gunfighter maroonish hat and the one on the right is a Breyer Cowboy hat. I have had one of these before and it took quite a while to figure out who it went with. This one was sent to me incorrectly as a Josh Randall hat. It is longer than most Hartland hats and it rougher around the edges than any Hartland hat that I have ever seen. Like all small parts, they are still hard to find.
The Breyer Cowboy was re-released in 1998, shown here. From what I understand, these are limited editions, being offered for 1998 only. They can be purchased for $40-70 but supplies are limited now, so if you want one don’t wait too long. The hat, gun, and rifle for this set are in the small plastic bag at the lower right of this box. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hear they are re-releasing the Robin Hood set for 1999.