Mike Jackson’s Hartland Photos:
General Lee & Variations

Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008
General Lee: #808
This is one of the more common sets, being produced from some the earliest years until almost the end. Lee does have several variations but usually shipped with a walking white horse with black mane, tail, stockings and breastcollar. The black breastcollar was omitted on quite a few sets in some or the later years. On some sets (probably nearer the end), Lee was also shipped on a head down prancer with the black markings, but missing the black breastcollar. His distinctive gray hat, jacket and pants make him easy to identify. The Head Down Prancer variation is by far the hardest of the group to find. The photos don’t show it, but I am fairly certain most came with a plastic cinch strap with the possible exception of the Head Down Prancer version.
Early Lee:
I am farily certain this is the earliest Lee mold with the two sleeves for the sword as shown to the left. Of the few I have seen, all have the additional connector between the left arm and the chest. Whether this one is more desireable would be up to the individual collector but it’s less common. The earliest sets shipped on a walking Traveler horse with the glued on wavy tail and would have had a beaded chain rein. Since I have found so few of them, it is hard to say if it might have also had a leatherette reins at times.
Lee on Walking Traveler with Wavy Tail:
This is probably the most common version of the set, though the straight tailed version might be very close. This as the Lee with the single sleeve in this coat for the sword and lacks the connector from the previous version. All Lee sets included a silk flag.
Lee on Walking Traveler with Skinny Tail:
Quite a few figures were moved to the newer horses over the years as appears to be the case with General Lee. This version is very common.
Lee on Walking Traveler with Skinny Tail & no Martingale:
Lee appears in the brochures until 1963 when the Westerns were phased out of the Hartland production line. Other walking horses to get a martingale include: Trigger, Silver, Black Beauty and Preston’s horse. By the later years, Roy Rogers and Lone Ranger figures had been moved to the Full Rearing horses and the Preston sets were discontinued, leaving Traveler as the last horse to still get a martingale. A few of the horses show up without the martingale leaving me to only speculate that they opted to leave the martingale off to save a step. After seeing him with the martingale on so many sets, this one looks incomplete!
Lee on Head Down Prancer:
Several of this variation has surfaced still Gem Mint—still in the original boxes with tissue and sealed parts. The horse is less common than many of the Hartland western horses, making this set a little tougher than you might expect. At least on my sets, the plastic cinch straps don’t fit into the saddle rings, so I don’t think they ever had them.
Stevens General Lee: 1993-1994
The hat, figure, sword and saddle on this piece are very close to the early sets. The yellow on the saddle is a little brighter and the stirrup straps are a bit thicker. For some reason, they substituted a “Chubby” horse for the normal “standing walking” horse. They also left off the breastcollar, common on most early sets. The plastic flag pole has a small piece ground down to fit in his right hand better. It came in an attractive see-through box. This version of the set can still be found but it is probably less common than some of the earlier Hartland sets.
Figure
No.		 Show
Name		 Star’s
Name		 Figure’s Name Studio
Name		 Show Year Brochure Years
808 No Series No Series General
Lee		 NA NA 1956-1963
Mold Mark
Gen. Lee: “©Hartland Plastics, Inc.” on the back side of the left glove.
Lee shipped in a colorful box used for his set and also General Custer. Timing would have been a bet questionable on a meeting like the one shown, but Hartland took historical liberties at times. The tag has dark blue lettering on a white shield shaped design. Lee is shown in the brochures holding the sword in his left hand, but since the final mold has his hand closed, it would be impossible for collectors to show their pieces that way. While not clearly visible in the brochure photo, the reins appear to be made of beaded chain on a full sized photo.
General Lee Hat:
This hat looks very similar to a Clayton Moore Lone Ranger hat but it has the insignia and tassles, plus it is painted gray.
Original Gray and Yellow Confederate Saddle
Lee was the first of the generals and is generally easy to find however Lee saddles always seem to be in short supply. To make matters worse, some collectors rob this saddle from Lee to put with their Rebel sets (Probably not the way Hartland ever sent them out).

Stevens Gray and Yellow Confederate Saddle
This saddle is from sets recast by Stevens Plastics in 1993-1994. The paint is not as glossy and the yellow is much brighter than the vintage saddles, but this one is still a nice piece. The stirrup legs are also a little thicker than most originals.

Stevens Plastics General Lee
Lee’s Sword is the same as the one used with Washington and Custer. The 1993-1994 Stevens recast is almost identical. Original Lee Flags were made of very thin silk on a thin bamboo post. Stevens flags were heavier Rayon on a thicker plastic post.