Jim Bowie

Mike Jackson’s Hartland Photos:
Jim Bowie & Accessories

Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008

Jim Bowie: #817

This figure is exactly the same as Crockett except for the dark brown jacket and the green pouch. Apparently, after the Crockett craze fizzled out, Hartland repackaged the set to become Jim Bowie. This would have been a simple transition by using the the hat from Wyatt Earp sets and the knife from the Cheyenne mold (being created the same year), then changing the jacket color and creating a new box. The figure has only the one mold and colorization, but he did have two slightly different horses. Since this set was produced from 1957 to 1961, it is one of the more common sets.

First Horse Variation:
This later style Chubby horse was shown in the brochurse. It has the molded on and painted black bridle, black mane and tail, and brown over white paint job. This variation seems to be the most common to me. The brown on this horse is not as red as on Crockett horses.

Second Horse Variation:
As with the first Cheyenne horse (and possibly Buffalo Bill horses), Hartland changed from painting brown paint over white plastic to molding the horse in brown and adding the white stockings and blaze. I’ve had quite a few of these horses, but I don’t think they are as common as the brown over white versions. I don’t believe you would have ever been shipped a Bowie figure on a Chubby horse without the white stockings and “Blaze”.

Number	Show Name	Star’s Name	Figure’s Name	Studio	Show Years	Brochure Years
817	The Adventures of Jim Bowie	Scott Forbes	Jim Bowie	Louis Edelman producer	1956- 1958	1957-1961

Some information in this chart from “Total Television” by Alex McNeil 1996, 4th Edition

The Jim Bowie box is very similar to the Crockett box, changing the hat and replacing the trees with the Alamo. Crockett’s horse “Streak” was replaced with Bowie’s horse “Blaze”. The tag shows his trademark Bowie Knife, printed in blue on the round style tag. Bowie is shown correctly with his normal Chubby horse.

Jim Bowie Saddle:
This special saddle is shared by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, also both from the same mold. It is fairly hard to find loose. This saddle is similar to the Cochise saddle except for the molded on bed roll and a slight difference in the stirrups.

Davy Crockett #807

Bowie Hat:
This hat is identical to the Wyatt Earp hat, except this one is left unpainted while Earp hats were painted black. No number or letter inside.

Bowie Weapons:
The Bowie Longrifle is identical to the Crockett Longrifle, although they vary quite a bit in color. The first Bowie knife may have been the sames as the Cheyenne long knife, however, I believe a smaller scalloped knife was later created and used with this set.