|
Mary T's Attic
A Place for Quality Cherished Teddies
Errors: Mold Changes
| |
Mold Changes
Mold Errors: Because of the strict controls within the Enesco factory, mold errors are very rare but not impossible. Usually mold errors are caught at the factory and the piece is never released to the general public. I happened to receive a Priscilla Ann that had never been unwrapped that had a mold error at the end of the paint brush (the end was also never painted). The paint brush held by the Priscilla Ann on the left in the picture below shows the mold error, while the other paint brush shows the normal view (click on the picture to make it larger).
Permanent Mold Changes: Mold changes have been both permanent and temporary. After some pieces broke easily, the mold was changed to make the piece less likely to break. Examples of permanent changes include the following (click on picture for a closer look):
| |
|
Beth and Blossom -- the butterfly on the basket was removed during the mid-1993 production
|
|
|
|
Duncan -- the bagpipes were changed in 1996 at the start of the second year of production
|
| |
|
Casey -- the lantern was removed in 1997, a year after the piece was released
|
Because fewer of these pieces were produced prior to the mold change, unbroken original mold pieces are worth more on the secondary market.
Temporary Mold Changes: Someone within Enesco had fun in 1994 and temporarily changed some popular molds. These temporary changes occurred in some of the following:
|
| Theadore Samantha and Tyler -- a "hole" patch was added to Tyler's foot and the rectangular yellow patch on Theadore's arm was changed to a blue heart patch
|
|
| Jackie -- 1994 variation has white dots on heart patch, no dots in hair and a patch on arm
|
|
| Sara -- 1994 variation has white dots on heart patch, no dots in hair and a patch on leg
|
|
| Karen -- 1994 variation has white dots on heart patch, no dots in hair and a patch on arm
|
Because so few of these pieces were made with the temporary molds, these variation pieces are more valuable on the secondary market.
Mold Size Changes: A few of the molds have also changed sizes during different production years. Beth is a good example, along with the sisters Karen, Jackie and Sara. All these pieces were enlarged slightly around when Enesco took over making Cherished Teddies from Hamilton Gifts.
Other Mold Changes: Other molds were changed in later years to differently handle pieces that could be attached to a figurine. These mold changes were made to the following:
|
| Bessie's Basket -- some baskets are glued to the figurine (early 1993) and others are attached to the figurine (late 1993 and all 1994).
|
|
| Harrison's Wagon -- some wagons are glued to the figurine (early 1993) and others are attached to the figurine (later years).
|
© 1999, Mary Flatman. All rights reserved.