Wyatt Earp - Horse and Rider Sets
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Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008
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 Wyatt Earp & Tombstone: #809
This set was produced initially during the first years of the horse and rider sets, and was popular all through the production years. As a result, it is a very common set (except for the earliest version on the Chubby horse). Initially, I am fairly certain he was shipped with two silver pistols, and not until the Gunfighter version did he get the Buntline and brown pistol. Over the years, the figure stayed the same, but he was paired with several different horse variations. His hat varied a lot in color from a reddish color, to maroon, to wine, and finally black. Stevens Plastics also reproduced the set in 1994, though they changed the color of his pants from green to black along with a few other differences.
Mold Mark: “©Hartland Plastics, Inc.” on the left holster.
Click Here to view the Wyatt Earp Gunfighter
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 Hair Variations:
The figure on the left has very defined sideburns, probably the very first version made, while the later two shown here had softer sideburns, sometimes hardly painted at all. The middle one was the more common early production version and the lighter brown hair seems to be from later years. The Stevens figure is not shown here. |
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Early Style Wyatt Earp on Chubby Tombstone (or Cactus:
Most Wyatt Earp sets shipped with one of the walking versions of his horse. However, I am quite sure that he was initially shipped for a short period of time on a Cubby style horse from the earlier mold. Chief Thunderbird’s horse was originally produced without a molded bridle in 1954. It was probably not until 1955 that the walking horse or the Chubby horse with the molded bridle were produced. This information helps date this variation. The figure on the left, shown in the detail shot above, went with this set. At least two other collectors have confirmed getting a set in this exact configuration, and mine was purchased from a fairly reliable source. |
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Dark Haired Wyatt Earp on Tombstone without stockings:
This is probably my favorite variation of Wyatt Earp, and probably the first “designed” version of the set. It also shows up this way in the early brochures. This set probably didn’t get the Buntline Special gun and brown pistol, but many collectors seem to try to acquire them for their set. This set probably had the beaded chain reins for a while.
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Wyatt Earp on Tombstone with white plastic stockings & blaze:
In some of the later runs of the Earp set, Hartland switched him over to horses with white stockings. I’d have to watch a few of the old shows to confirm whether he rode one like on TV. More than likely, his hair color was switched about this time, too, and he probably started shipping with the trademark Buntline Special. This style horse was originally painted brown over white plastic and probably came before the one with white painted stockings over brown plastic.
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Wyatt Earp on Tombstone with brown plastic and white painted stockings and blaze:
This set is basically the same as the one above, but Hartland seemed to have switched over to molding their brown horses in brown and then painting the stockings and blaze in white. The same basic scenario happened with Ward Bond and his horse, along with a few variations of the semi-rearing horses.
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Stevens Plastics Wyatt Earp Set:
This set was produced by Stevens Plastics in 1994 from the original molds. The quality of this set was not up to vintage sets, in many collector’s opinion. The detailing on the gun belt was eliminated, the shirt is painted off white as opposed to the exposed plastic, and the pants were painted black instead of the earlier green. There were two Wyatt Earp movies released about this time, and both of them had black or dark pants. The set was shipped with the Hoby Gill man style saddle in slightly lighter colored plastic. It also had a silver Buntline and pistol instead of the earlier brown version. |
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Figure
No. |
Show
Name |
Star’s
Name |
Figure’s Name |
Studio
Name |
Show Year |
Brochure
Years |
| 809 |
(The Life and Legend of) Wyatt Earp |
Hugh
O’Brian |
Wyatt Earp |
Robert F. Sisk
Producer |
1955-
1961 |
1956-1963 |
Some information in this chart from “Total Television” by Alex McNeil 1996, 4th Edition
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Photos used with permission of Hugh O'Brian.
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| Visit Hugh O’Brian’s Wyatt Earp Site for additional photos you can purchase. Mr. O'Brian will even sign your statue for you. |
| Also visit Hugh O'Brian's Youth Leadership (HOBY) site for more information on his great youth program. |
| Note: In a recent conversation with Hugh O'Brian, he confirmed that his horse was not named in the TV show...just a horse he rode. However, the name of the actual horse "actor" was "Candy". He purchased Candy after the show ended and kept her until she died. He still owns the vest and props used in the show. |
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  Vintage Brown and Yellow Plain Saddle
Wyatt was one of Hartland’s first characters and remained in production almost to the end. This saddle is fairly common. It is the only figure using this exact style of saddle and I’ve never seen a factory piece with a different color scheme. Stevens plastics recast Earp in 1994 but used the brown rifle holed saddle on the shipping sets. Some of the white blanks created during production show up on eBay once in a while, often painted solid black or brown. |
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 Stevens 1994 Brown Western Saddle with Rifle Hole
This set was recast by Stevens Plastics in 1993 and 1994 using the same molds as Hartland did earlier. The color is slightly lighter but it is still a good look alike without something to compare. Stevens put this saddle with Dale Evans and Wyatt Earp, historically incorrect saddles for both.
Stevens Plastics Dale Evans
Stevens Plastics Wyatt Earp
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 Wyatt Earp Hats:
Wyatt’s hat varied quite a bit over the years. The reddish one here came with my very early style Wyatt Earp set on the Chubby horse. The black one above was molded in white plastic and painted black. There isn't any sort of number in them. The hats range from the two colors shown here to maroon to wine colored. The maroon hats are typically smaller, as they seem to have shrunk at a higher rate than the black ones over the years. The Stevens hat is basically the same as the old black ones, but is slightly larger without the 50 years of shrinkage. The same hat mold was used on Jim Bowie when Hartland scrapped the Davy Crockett set. |
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Brown Buntline and Brown Pistol:
These two were probably shipped from 1958 and later when the Gunfighter version was produced. The Buntline was not mentioned in literature until that time. Prior to this period, Earp probably shipped with two standard silver pistols. |
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Stevens 1994 Silver Buntline and Silver Pistol:
The larger silver Buntline was probably not a production piece by the early Hartland Plastics company, though the standard silver pistol and Buntline were included in the mold used by Stevens. |
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 Boxes, Tags and Brochures:
Wyatt Earp shared his box with the Mounties (O’Rourke and Preston) and Chief Thunderbird. There were at least two styles of tags. I think the one shaped like a star was earlier, and the round one later, also used with the Gunfighter version. The photo shown above was used in all the brochures that showed the set. Some later dealer sheets did show him on the horse with the white stockings.
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1956 Ad for Toy Fair in Toys & Novelties Magazine:
This ad appeared in one of the popular trade magazines of the time. It introduces a few new figures at the top, including Wyatt Earp on “Cactus”. This is the first time I have ever seen that name. Later dealer sheets identify the horse as Tombstone.
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| Wyatt Earp - Original Injection Mold |
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 Wyatt Earp Rider:
This injection mold contains a single rider, two hats, two saddles and three regular pistols. No Buntline! As stated on the Earp page, I never thought they included the Buntlines with the early sets. It was not until they produced the Earp Gunfighter that they created the Buntline and then “maybe” the later Earp Riders got them. Possibly they will turn up a mold with a variety of oddball hats and pistols they would have used to fill orders for modified molds.
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This page last modified Friday, October 19, 2007
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