Saddles are always in short supply! Despite Hartland’s early claims of unbreakable plastic, they did break. Later they changed the comment to “rugged plastic”. This page contains a

Blue & White RR Saddle
Roy Rogers is shown in a few Christmas Catalogs riding a similar saddle with unusual trim, but I’m not too convinced many of them shipped with this saddle. It is extremely rare! The early Roy Rogers saddle mold has one large star and three smaller ones, just like this one so we can date it from the beginning .

V-Fringe Roy Rogers #806

Early Blue RR Saddle- Four Stars
This is the more common early Roy Rogers saddle and was used until they made the switch over to the Full Rearing Trigger. Without cinch holes, this saddle would not stay on the rearing horse, but it served the walking version fine for many years.

V-Fringe Roy Rogers #806

Early Blue RR Saddle- Droopy Eagle
You have to be looking closely to see the differences in this saddle from the one above. This one is missing the little star at the front. It also has a different eagle design on the fender right under where the rider’s knee would rest. For lack of a better term, I have called it a “Droopy Eagle”. They are less common but probably not rare.

V-Fringe Roy Rogers #806

Blue RR Saddle- One Star
After a few years of selling Roy Rogers on a walking Trigger, they created a new figure to ride on the new Rearing Trigger which needed a modified saddle with a cinch hole to keep the saddle on the horse’s back. This saddle also have one lare star on the tapadero where the earlier one had four stars. Early RR saddles were molded in white, or marbled white plastic and painted blue over the top, then silver trim.

Horizontal White Fringe Roy Rogers #806

Blue RR Saddle - One Star - All Blue
Around 1992, Stevens Plastics in Missouri began offering this set through J.C. Penney's mail order Christmas Catalog. The set was later sold direct and also through specialty stores. They used the same mold as the later RR sets, but molded the entire saddle in blue plastic. Then they painted the silver trim. This is a dead give-away on this piece.

Stevens Plastics Roy Rogers

Plain Blue RR Saddle - Stenciled RR
This saddle is a bit of a mystery. It is an original factory piece with several collectors owning one. Whether it was a very early RR saddle, or just one used temporarily while waiting for more regular saddles to be produced, we’ll probably never know. It does seem to go with the walking version of the horse based on the style of saddle (without the cinch holes). Mine came with a walking Trigger set.

V-Fringe Roy Rogers #806

Blue Western Saddle with Cinch Holes
While this saddle looks quite a bit like some of the other black saddles, it is molded quite different. It is made for a Rearing Horse mold for Annie Oakley. With the exception of the red saddle used with some Black Beauties, none of the other riders used this saddle which matches the martingale used with all Oakley horses.

Annie Oakley #823

Blue Western Saddle / Punched Holes
This is a very rare saddle. I purchased it in a GEM Mint in the box Annie Oakley set from the original owner. The saddle is molded in black exactly like the standard Lone Ranger saddle and then painted blue with silver trim.

Annie Oakley #823

Blue and Cream Military Saddle
George Washington was the only figure to use this saddle. The cream color around the edges of the saddle are a bit more muted than the saddle Stevens Plastics recast in 1993 and 1994, plus the paint job was a lot smoother.

George Washington #815

Blue and Creme Military Saddle
This set was recast from the original molds in 1993 and 1994 and looks quite a bit like the originals. The paint is not as glossy or smooth and the cream color is much brighter. Of course, the gold eagle medallions are much more bright and vivid.

Stevens Plastics George Washington

Blue and Yellow Mounted Police Saddle
For a long time, I thought there was only one Mountie saddle but a collector did point out my mistake. Yes, there is a difference. You will have to study the two photos to see it, but this earlier saddle flairs a bit near the chopped off back corners near the lettering. This one goes with O’Rourke.

Sgt. Lance O’Rorke #804

Blue & Yellow US Military Saddle
All the McClellan saddles are in high demand from today’s collectors. This one is no exception. It was created originally for George Custer, but was later used with Col. Mackenzie.

Col. Ranald Mackenzie #829
General George Armstrong Custer #814