Roy Rogers #806

Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008
Roy Rogers and Trigger:
It is hard to find a Hartland collection of horse and riders without finding at least one variation of the Roy Rogers and Trigger sets. The three above are the most common versions, however, a semi-rearing version is also found. Additionally, the full rearing version on the right was used on one of the four production lamps sold in late 1959 and 1960. In 1988, Steven Manufacturing re-released the semi-rearing version. This is the only set to be produced from the first brochure right through to the end! Besides the numerous horse possibilities, there are two different Roy Rogers figures, several saddles, and hats which create quite a variety of combinations for this set.
 

Roy Rogers and Champ Trigger with white trimmed saddle:
One of the earliest known dealer sheets for Roy Rogers shows this set with extra trim on the saddle. That sheet shows Trigger with a silver martingale. Click here to view the sheet. Whether this was the first variation of the set, I can’t be positive, but this saddle is very hard to find. One collector confirms getting this set through Sears, so it is possible this saddle was a special run for them.
Blue Champ Style Saddle:
A couple of collectors own blue versions of the Champ style pointed saddles. They might be a unique variation for Roy Rogers...I really don’t know for sure? The original mold for RR would have had his figure, hat, saddle, and pistols in it, so the need for a Champ style saddle is more of a mystery. I don’t own one so I couldn't show it as a possible variation here.

Roy Rogers and Champ Trigger with standard blue saddle:
While not rare, this combination is less common than the walking version of this set. This set has the earliest of the riders, often lacking a mold mark on the back of the left sleeve of the figure. The saddle is commonly called the “Four Star” saddle. There are three small stars, one larger star and one eagle on the tapaderos as shown near the bottom of this page. The Champ style horses always have beaded chain reins. Early sets would have shipped with silver pistols. Most early sets were shipped in generic cardboard boxes.

Roy Rogers & early Walking Trigger—standard blue saddle & chain reins:
This is a fairly common version of the Roy Rogers sets. The early walking style horses had glued-on wavy tails with a notch in the mane as seen above. The early sets would have had beaded chain reins. By roughly 1956, most walking style horses were switched to the leatherette navy blue reins. Since this set was updated after a fairly short time, I added the half star.

Roy Rogers & early Walking Trigger—standard blue saddle, leather reins:
Of all the variations, this one is probably the most common, but maybe equally tied with the slender tailed version shown below. Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger were sets created during the early years and were moved to their newest and most dynamic horses as they produced them. By this time, the set would have been shipping in a four color box along with a tag.

Roy Rogers & later Walking Trigger—standard blue saddle, leather reins:
This set was probably shipping in 1957 with the introduction of the new horse used with Jeffords, Dillon, & some Brave Eagles. Other figures eventually were paired with this style horse. This is a very common variation of the early set.

Roy Rogers & later Walking Trigger—stenciled blue saddle, leather reins:
(I need to re-shoot this set now that we seem to have more information about this saddle) It is impossible to say for sure what happened, but for some reason Hartland substituted a plain "Lone Ranger" style saddle for a short period of time. They simply painted the saddle blue and added the RR letters on the tapaderos. I believe the horse that should be paired with the saddle is the later walking version with blue leatherette reins. The best theory I can come up with is the possibility the saddle included in the original figure mold went bad. To fill production needs, they would have substituted this saddle.

Recently, I scanned one of the mold photos supplied to this site by Hartland Collectibles, LLC. This mold had four saddles—actually two Indian blankets, one Mountie saddle, and one Roy Rogers saddle. When I scanned the photo at high resolution and then zoomed in on it, I was able to see that this saddle was the mystery “Droopy Eagle Saddle” shown on the set below. The stenciled saddle above was apparently a filler used for a very short time.

Roy Rogers & later Walking Trigger—“Droopy Eagle” blue saddle, leather reins:
You have to be looking closely to catch the difference in this saddle and the standard one. The saddle lacks one of the silver stars just in front of Roy’s knee. Additionally, there is a unique Phoenix style eagle just under the knee on each side. This saddle was included in a special four saddle mold shown on the “Historic Molds” page. While not really rare, these are less common than the standard four star saddle. This saddle and the stenciled saddle in the section above ware apparently used to fill the void time until the new Roy Rogers rider, saddle, and horse were ready for shipping, shown below.

New Roy Rogers & Full Rearing Trigger—One Star blue saddle, leather reins:
This is a very popular version of the set. It appears in the brochures the first time in 1958. This horse was also used by Annie Oakley, also introduced the same year. The Lone Ranger and Col. Mackenzie also used this same horse mold, though in different colors. For this set, Hartland created a new figure, new hat, new saddle and the new horse. The figure is commonly called the “horizontal fringe Roy Rogers”. The saddle has only one large star on the tapadero instead of four, plus it had a hole on each side for the cinch strap.

New Roy Rogers & Semi-Rearing Trigger—One Star blue saddle, leather reins:
Some time in 1961, it appears someone at the Hartland factory finally pulled the plug on the Western Horse and Riders. While they may have continued to produce some of their most popular sets, they simplified the production runs. Annie Oakley and Mackenzie had already been discontinued, leaving only Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger to get the full rearing horse. Beginning in late 1961 and in 1962, quite a few sets started shipping on semi-rearing horses. Semi-Rearing Roy Rogers sets showed up in Alden's and Spiegels Christmas catalogs about this time, too. This variation was never shown in Hartland dealer sheets or brochures. More than likely, Roy Rogers got most of the remaining inventory of full rearing horses. Lone Ranger sets with any one of several different Semi-Rearing mold horses are much more common than the Roy Rogers version. To be totally accurate, I might knock off one of the stars above. Most of the Semi-Rearing Triggers that show up are usually in poor shape. You will find a lot more Rebel and Mackenzie horses than this one!
 
Steven Mfg. Roy Rogers sets:
In 1992, Steven Manufacturing started re-issuing a few sets from the old Hartland molds. They were originally offered in a plain cardboard box through J.C. Pennys at Christmas. Afterwards, Steven sold direct and through a variety of re-sellers for $39.95. This set is quite a bit more rough than the vintage pieces. Unlike early Triggers, Steven omitted the white blaze.
The blue saddle is actually molded in blue plastic. The white hat is larger than vintage pieces and this one was pure white. The red paint on the figure is usually a little thin and transparent. The mane, tail and stockings on the horse are painted white instead of the natural white plastic showing through on the vintage pieces. The paint finish on the horse almost has a fine sandpaper texture and is prone to chip and peel. The later sets were sold in a very nice, colorful see through box. The sets were discontinued in 1992.
 
Phantom Roy Rogers sets:
Occasionally, you might hear of a “white V-Fringe” Roy Rogers figure. To my knowledge, this piece in the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, CA is the only one, and were never put into production. His saddle also has silver trim and the early Dale has a special red shirt. More than likely, these were prototypes made for Roy to approve. (Visit the museum by clicking on the link above.)
Over the years, some collectors have customized a few figures to show the special markings and color schemes. I have heard about a Roy Rogers with brown boots, but I am not convinced it is an original factory paint job.
 
Roy Rogers Printed Information
Boxes:
Early sets were shipped in generic cardboard boxes, however it wasn't too long before they started shipping Roy Rogers in this colorful box. The ends and sides were used to identify either Dale Evans or Roy Rogers since the front panel was used for both sets.
Boxes Page
Brochure Photos:
The photo on the left was used on the brochures from 1955-1957. The photo on the right first appeared in 1958.
Roy Rogers Tags:

The tag above was probably the first one. They also created a very similar one for Dale Evans. At some point, probably when they introduced the newer figure and horse, they started shipping the new colorful photo tag.

Tags Page
 
 Roy Rogers TV Show Information
Figure
No.		 Show
Name		 Star’s
Name		 Figure’s Name Studio
Name		 Show Year Brochure Years
806 The Roy
Rogers
Show		 Roy
Rogers		 Roy Rogers Roy Rogers
Productions		 1951-
1957		 1955-1963
 *With a little help from “Total Television” by Alex McNeil 1996, 4th Edition
 
Roy Rogers Figures
Early V Fringe
Roy Rogers
Later Horizontal Fringe
Roy Rogers
Steven Mfg. Co
Roy Rogers
Mold Marks
Roy Rogers: Very early figures have no mold mark.
V-Fringe: “©Hartland Plastics Inc”- back of the fringe on the left sleeve.
Horizontal Fringe: “©Hartland Plastics Inc”-back of the fringe on the left sleeve.
  
Roy Rogers Saddles
Rare white trimmed early saddle Standard early four star saddle
Rare stenciled RR saddle Uncommon “droopy eagle” saddle
Later one star saddle with cinch hole Steven Mfg. solid blue one star saddle
 Roy Rogers Pistols

Early Silver Pistol without site
Regular Silver Pistol with rear site.
By about 1959, many sets started getting brown or black pistols. While I think silver ones were most commonly shipped with Roy Rogers sets, I know some did get the brown ones. Those range in color from reddish brown to maroon to black.
 
 Roy Rogers Hats
Early Roy Rogers Hat (no hat band)
Later Roy Rogers Hat (with hat band)
Note: The Steven Mfg. Roy Rogers hat was done in the same mold as the later one shown just above. Hats Pages
 
This page last modified Friday, October 19, 2007