The four Bullyland manatees

Actually I wanted to present my marine mammals. But while looking through them, I found a mysterious manatee from Bullyland ( terrible when you already don't know what you have in your collection).

So I went again to all dealer catalogs and consumer booklets, because I found nothing in the forum and TAW. I hope I haven't missed anything.

Here are my results:

All figures run under:
Bullyland Whales and Sharks, Large resp. Sea world Large ( 15 - 18 cm)

1. 67005 Manatee family
This is a set of the figures (old) 2-4.

2. 67370 Mantaee male (straight, 452g, unpainted 452g):
Label in 1999 Animal Highlights booklet: Florida Manatee Adult
TAW: male 19??-2003

3. 67371 Manatee female (bent, 509g):
from 2003 a new figure is assigned to this article number.
New model: 2003 issue: name: Manatee cow (103g)
TAW: female old model 2003-2007
TAW: new model: not included

4. 67372 Manatee Baby (56g/41g, miscast 38g, unpainted 56g):
Label in 1998 catalog                            : Florida Manatee
Label in 1999 Animal Highlights booklet : Florida Manatee Baby
Label in 2003 booklet                            : Manatee Calf
TAW: baby 1994-2004

Items 1-4 are named in the following catalogs / booklets:
1992 Catalog : 1, 2, 3, 4
1994 Catalog : 1, 2, 3, 4
1996 Catalog : 4
1997 Catalog : 1, 2, 3, 4
1998 Catalog :           4
1998 Bullyworld : 2, 3, 4
1999 Magazine Animal Highlights : 2, 4

ATTENTION: here changes the model No. 3
2003 Booklet : 3, 4
2005 Booklet : 3
2006 Catalog : 3

Susanne has already shown the old models 2-4 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And now finally my pictures:
from left to right: 67371 female old, 67370 male, 67371 female new, 67372 baby


67370 old
Here I have 2 figures: standard / unpainted









67371 old









67371 new









67372 old
Here I have 4 figures: standard / slightly different coloring / unpainted gray / failed moulding (see head area) white











Catalogs:
1992
1994
1996
1997
1998
Bullyworld 1998
1999 Animal Highlights A4
1999 Animal Highlights A6
2003 A6
2005 A6
2005 A4
2006 A4

This kind of research, by animal, uses to be the most effective to find some hidden things. Truly amazing job!
So we have an old family of 3 manatees, bull, cow and calf. Later, in 2003, we have a fourth manatee with the same product number as the cow which adopted the calf for a year.
Please let me know if I'm getting it correctly before I fix it on TAW.
The cow on TAW is the old cow and I just need to fix the release dates.
Then, I open a page for the missing new cow, using your pictures.
It is also very interesting to know they were marketed as Florida manatees. It is what they use to be but it is good to know there's an official identification.
So, I will rename the old models to Florida manatee why the newer one will be called just manatee to avoid conflicting page names.

Very interesting, thank you

Roger wrote:

This kind of research, by animal, uses to be the most effective to find some hidden things. Truly amazing job!

Thank you Roger. The research was really fun. I also found so many other figures, some of which I didn't even know about (I also collect comic figures and other stuff from Bullyland). A nice trip into the past.

You summed it up just right. Do you need another photo with a neutral background or higher resolution?

This is what I have found out so far. I'm still waiting for an email from someone who knows Bullyland well. Maybe some information can be added. But I think the TAW can be changed according to your summary. I just don't know what it means when a figure doesn't appear in the catalog. Is it then also no longer produced ? Is every new figure produced in the corresponding year ?
The start of the old series should really be 1992, because it is marked as "NEW".

Thomas, I used these pictures, they're fine and this background works like a neutral one.
I updated the release dates too.
One more manatee entered the Wiki and the old mother returned to her original family.
I have a few questions about the calf. It was originally listed as small and not calf.
It means it was used as an adult for a series of smaller figures.
You write:
"Label in 1998 catalog                            : Florida Manatee"
You show a 1998 catalogue picture entitled "seaworld standard" 8-11 cm
It shows the calf sold as a standard sized adult.  So, this assumption is corret.
It might be interesting to add this information to this page.
Do you know how long it was part of the standard series?

Edit: I forgot to answer your question. The production of a figure does not necesarily match with the years it is shown on catalogue.
Often, the production of a model starts before being presented as new in a catalogue.
For a collector, the release date is the one it is presented as new in a catalogue but this is not mandatory and some collectors love to know when the production started.
Also, sometimes a figure keeps being presented in catalogues after finishing production. It means they still have stock to sell. So, it is available even if it is not produced anymore.

Roger wrote:

I have a few questions about the calf. It was originally listed as small and not calf.
It means it was used as an adult for a series of smaller figures.
You write:
"Label in 1998 catalog                            : Florida Manatee"
You show a 1998 catalogue picture entitled "seaworld standard" 8-11 cm
It shows the calf sold as a standard sized adult.  So, this assumption is corret.
It might be interesting to add this information to this page.

Good aspect. I had not paid attention to that. I have all the catalog pages with manatees in the post. Regardless of under which category they are classified.

But this seems to be quite mixed up:
1992: all in Seaworld large
1994: all in Small Seaworld Animals
1996: the baby in Small Sea Animals
1997: all in Large Oceanworld
1998: baby in Seaworld standard
1999: in Seaworld Sharks & Whales in 15-18cm/6-7'' = large;
But pay attention to the note at the top of page 39: "Seaworld Babies shown in 1998 Catalog)". There is no category "Babies" in the 1998 Catalog. Only the standard size. But this size corresponds to the "baby specimen" for all "families".

Now we could discuss whether the standard version is still a 5th figure:
I have a painted and an unpainted baby figure, which both weigh 56g and another figure with minimally different painting and only 41g weight. But otherwise there are no differences. Even the molding marks are the same.

Bullyland seems to be not very stringent with the naming and categorization. I think that Bullyland simply used the figures in several categories. Unfortunately, I cannot say more about it.

So it's up to you whether to link it on the standard sizes page or not. I always prefer to have more cross-references. You may then have to add a corresponding note to multiple use on the figure's page.

Yes, you are right, those categories are quite confusing and I remmeber Susanne having troubles to find a correct way to list all those models. I admire her job with the Bullyland section. Maybe the way they are sorted depends if it is a collector or dealer's catalogue. Since the small/standard figures are all babies of the larger figures, I think the most important is to list all of them with the corresponding adults. Those are details we can add later, the most important is that you found a missing figure and another incorrectly listed.
About the eventual 2nd baby version, I tend to believe it is the 2003 baby which was probably retooled to go with the new mother.The difference of weight means a less dense material. Interesting, I also like to check the weight of my models, we learn a lot about variations and manufacturing differences. I even check sometimes if they float or not. Did you know a fewSchleich sea life models float? It never happens with the other non sea animal models what shows they did it to turn the figures more playful.

Very interesting!! Love manatees and these are beautifully made!

I was in luck to be able to ask a former Bullyland insider a few questions on this topic. The following
answers are not quotes ! They are summarised by me.  

Q: In 1992 a Manatee family appears for the first time (as family no. 67005; single animals: 67370 male,
67371 female, 67370 baby). The two adults weigh 452g and 509g and are quite rare to find.  

A: These animals were only developed at the request of the US sales team, as these animals were native
animals of Florida and were features in various Water Parks in Florida and . The weight became more
and more a problem, because the material costs became more and more expensive... so over time it
proved ever more difficult to turn a profit with these articles. It was also very unusual that 99% of any
items were sold on the American market... but then, who knows of a Manatee in Germany or even
Europe?  


Q: Until 1997 they still appear, in 1999 the female with baby appears last. In 2003 the baby reappears
together with the mother 67371. However, the female is now a completely different figure, but the
article number has remained the same! In 2005 and 2006, only the new figure appears (without the
baby) and then all the Manatees disappear.  

A: A: I guess the new female is much lighter than the originals above, for the same reason. These figures
never sold in economically iable quantities, probably they had to be produced in advance for an entire
year, to produce them economically and at minimum production requirements. As these figurines were
only popular and bought at a few Zoo’s and Water Parks in the US  they were doomed to disappear,
even though the US Sales Manager and the US Team never wanted to give up these figures.  


Q: Did that often happen at Bullyland, that the number stays the same, but under that number you find
different figures ?  

A: That was not normal and a new figure should always have a new article number, otherwise it would
be pure chaos with over 20,000 articles. There was a very strict and meticulous proceedure. For this
reason, the article numbers were assigned and administered by only one designated employee, it was
like the Bible, no one was allowed to tamper with it. The Sales Team probably wanted to keep the old
number, otherwise they would have had to fight for a new listing with their customers in the USA.  



And some more general questions on the subject of painting:  

Q: On posters/catalogues drawings often appear, even in more recent times. These look sometimes
more, sometimes less similar to the figures that actually appear. So are these only a kind of concept
drawing, which is only meant to make curious how the figure could really look like ?  

A: The catalogues were sometimes decorated with items that were not even fixed as a concept (pose,
size... etc). But since there were expectations, from collectors and consumers, the market in general,
every year the Company had a minimum target of new products to launch. They wanted to get as many
items as possible into one catalogue issue. There were different opinions in the Company, whether to
show concept items in the catalogue or not, but in the end the pressure to have as many new beautiful
figurines as possible, to look forward to and to show to all customers internationally and also nationally
was decisive. The Company also had a healthy competition with Schleich and it was the pride of the
Team to show that even a Medium sized Company could develop and produce many many new
Figurines every year and compete on the international stage with a large producer of Figurines. The
figures that at the end, after various approval stages and development phases, came to be, where
sometimes quite different, than those shown in the catalogues as concepts. This was very often so,
because of technical reasons (de-mouldability, weight, other technical reasons), but sometimes also
because of changes requested by the licensors.`


Q: In catalogues, some figures appear in different paint schemes over the years (partly with new item-
No., partly the same No.). Can one use the painting as a dating method in such cases or does the
representation in the catalogues not necessarily have anything to do with the appearance of the figures
?  

A: These were the illustrations (according to the style guide) that were brought in during the
development of the products because of the lack of real photos. They wanted to be able to show the
new products, but they didn't have any photos because the figures didn't even exist as a prototype yet.  


Q: Are there country-specific differences in the painting ?  

A: No, the painting was just another feature to create 'new' items, and to give the item that might not
perform so well a new start and a new chance for a greater sales success.

Thanks Thomas for this great piece of history and basiically an interview with someone inside the business.
I am very grateful for having the chance of reading it and learning so much.

Is it just me or a few of these old molds were also used by AAA? Look, for example, at the 1997 walrus, harbour seal and sea turtle figures...