Footnotes: Plastic Parallels - G1 Stablemate Knock-offs

Last summer we got a look at some of the metal G1 Stablemate copies that are floating around, this time we're going to check out some of the plastic knock-offs. Over the years I have seen many, many fake Stablemates, unfortunately I usually didn't take any pictures.

One G1 Citation copy some may be familiar with is the Micro Mini-sized Ertl horse (scroll down a ways) from the early 90s. This little horse was made with rubbery plastic and came in a few simple colours. I have a few of these models, but they currently reside in my Lego bin in a storage unit in Houston.

Lori Ogozalek provided this interesting group of micro-mini scale copies. They are of a hard plastic like Britains figures and some of them are marked made in China. The standing Saddlebred Mini Whinny and the metal G1 Morgan Stallion copy are to show scale.

Models and picture owned by Lori Ogozalek and used here by permission.

The poses are mirrored and altered slightly, but their inspiration is clear:

Morgan Mare

Model and picture owned by Heather Forrest.   Models and picture owned by Lori Ogozalek and used here by permission. 

Morgan Stallion

Model and picture owned by Heather Forrest.   Models and picture owned by Lori Ogozalek and used here by permission. 

Quarter Horse Mare

Model and picture owned by Heather Forrest.   Models and picture owned by Lori Ogozalek and used here by permission. 

Saddlebred

Model and picture owned by Heather Forrest.   Models and picture owned by Lori Ogozalek and used here by permission. 

There are a bunch of G1 Saddlebred copies floating around eBay. In addition to the grey and the black shown below, I have also seen a dark grey with white underside, golden bay, and red bay. They are slightly smaller than the original and are made of a firm, slightly bendy plastic.

The following models came together in a pack of ten labeled "Party". They are still available on Amazon.com if anyone is interested in some rather weirdly coloured Stablemate copies. These guys are slightly larger than micro-mini scale and are a bit more bendy than the Saddlebreds above. Like the earlier copies, these guys have been altered enough to skirt the copyright law.

Morgan Stallion

Seabiscuit

Silky Sullivan

Thoroughbred Mare

These guys aren't copies of Stablemates, but they are mini copies of some other Breyer models. Anybody recognize them?

The Mini John Henry is slightly larger than Micro-Mini size and the Mini Western Horse is a big bigger than Stablemate Scale.

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Many thanks to Lori Ogozalek for sharing her plastic knock-offs!

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Heavy Metal - Stablemate Knock-Offs: Models of Mystery

Earlier today we had the Durham Steel Stallions models which are fairly well documented for knock-offs. The origins of the following models are a bit more mysterious.

The owner didn't know anything about these guys, but it doesn't look as if they are from the Durham Steel Stallions line as they are unpainted and are lacking any type of mold stamps.

They do, however look very similar in finish to other Durham miniatures and are, with the possible exception of the G1 Saddlebred, molds which Durham would already have on hand. It stands to reason this G1 Saddlebred Knock-off probably spawned the rumors of the Hagen-Renaker 5-gaiter mentioned in the Durham Steel Stallions post.

Models and pictures owned by Pam Pramuka and used here by permission.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Heavy Metal - Stablemate Knock-Offs: Durham Steel Stallions

The following models are the results of copyright infringement due to the unlawful production of certain Stablemate and Hartland molds by a third party, which is wrong. That being said, let's look at some really cool fake Stablemates!

Some time around 1977²¹, model horse enthusiasts began noticing some interesting horse-shaped objects in their local stores such as Kmart²², Woolworth²³, Skaggs drugstores ²⁴, and Kresge's²⁵.

These Stablemate-sized models, mounted on blister cards blazoned with the name Durham Steel Stallions, all three looked quite familiar. They were in fact copies of Breyer's G1 Thoroughbred Mare and G1 Morgan Stallion. The third model was shown on the back of the packaging as a G1 Quarter Horse Mare, but the actual model produced looked more like Hartland's Tinymites Morgan.²⁶ They weren't exact copies as there were a few tiny changes to each mold, but their provenance was clear.

The original molds
Hartland Tinymite Morgan, Breyer G1 Morgan Stallion, Breyer G1 Thoroughbred Mare