A crush on Corkies :-)

On ebay I saw some Bullyland which were supposed to consist of 70 % cork !

As I had never heard about that, I mailed my friend, who used to work at Bullyland, and asked me if she could confirm it.

She told me that it was right, she remebered it well.

At the Nürnberg Toyfair in 2010, Bullyland was going to launch them as a brand new, never-seen-before product range.
They had succeded to find a material that was both lighter, unbreakable and more environmentally friendly, because it contained a good deal of cork.

Unfortunately the material turned out to stick to the moulds after a while, and would eventually ruin these expensive tools.
Also the paint was a problem, - and the customers weren`t interested in paying a little more because of the material

So the project was dropped even before it really got started

But she might be able to find a few for me, she wrote

So last week I got a large box, and inside there was this mysterious and beautyful sack
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Inside the sack were several of these wonderful models, beautyfully packed in tissue paper
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The material looks almost like cheramic, - or perhaps a bit like wood
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They vary in colour, which I love very much
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I absolutely adore them, I can`t stop looking, and when I told her, she got hold of still more models for me
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Yesss A fourth variant of the mammoth
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A third variation of the satrachotomus
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As usual the t-rex can`t stand without a bit of help
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It is such a beautyful material, what a shame it would have been to paint it !
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Isn`t it great ?
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I hope you also like my Corkies

Really collector animals!! Really rare!!! BIg Congratulations Susanne!!

Thankyou, Andreas

They look surprisingly nice,the Rhino is really beautiful!
CONGRATULATIONS,Susanne and a big hurray for your friend!

Very interesting and unusual looking material.

But I love it!

I wonder what they looked like painted...

Would there have been pictures in their catalogue for that year?


~ Sue

Oh Susanne!! What finds! They are truly beautiful, they look so majestic like this Massive congratulations, your friend is fantastic to have found you these gems.

They're wonderful Susanne

Thankyou, dear friends
I am SO happy that you also like them

Suebeedo wrote:

I wonder what they looked like painted...

Would there have been pictures in their catalogue for that year?


~ Sue

They would probably look almost like ordinary models if they were painted, - perhaps with a bit more uneven surface
Wouldn`t it be a terrible shame ?

They aren`t in any catalogue that I have seen

Since Bully did not use PVC for their toys, I believe this is the chemical mix from the factory. The animals are unpainted, or maybe even prototypes. That makes them ultra-rare!

And what's with the aCANDERS trademark on the side of the bulls?

Wildheart wrote:

Since Bully did not use PVC for their toys, I believe this is the chemical mix from the factory. The animals are unpainted, or maybe even prototypes. That makes them ultra-rare!

And what's with the aCANDERS trademark on the side of the bulls?

They are from a test-run, I think. But still very rare

The picture isn`t so clear, - it says WICANDERS.

It is a cork floor covering compagny with a bull as logo : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Wildheart wrote:

....., or maybe even prototypes. That makes them ultra-rare!

Look at the price of a prototype here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

No, that price isn`t a typing error

They are beautiful. Congratulations on these rare beauties. I would hold on to them forever. What an amazing friend you have to send you such wonderful figures. Thanks so much for sharing them with us.

Thankyou Amy

Yes, she is a fantastic friend !!!!!
She also sent me a huge stack of various dealer`s catalogues, the new Schleich key-ring, and pencils with dinoes on, all the stuff she could find for me on the Nürnberg Toy Fair, - and a CD with photoes she took from the various stands !!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you had an awesome time opening that box.

aandmkw wrote:

Sounds like you had an awesome time opening that box.

Yes, did I

I have done nothing but drroling, reading and more drooling since I got it, - apart from feedin my critters, of course

Wow that's really interesting! I never knew!

That woolly rhino looks great in that material.

And those must be really rare, so congratulations, Susanne!

Thankyou very much Krista

Congrats Susanne! you are going to be rich or another suggestion put in the bank safe-box. I believe many eyes are eying on it.

I think not, Ken

If they had been Schleich it had been another matter ...oooohhh, wow

But I don`t care, I just love them

These are fantastic, what a unique concept! I've never heard of anything similar, wonder how they came up with that idea. Wonder how durable these models would've turned out if Bully had decided to go ahead and market them?

Susanne, thanks for the link for this extraordinary topic!
I'm late here but fortunately in time to read a fantastic story of an experience of a brand with a material so important in Portuguese tradition! :)
Also a topic about really rare and special figures that work perfectly with this concept.
... and last but not the least, a story of 2 generous and good friends!

I also saw this topic late Wow, what a beautiful material ! How different these animals look when they are made of it, beautiful And what a story I like them so much, what a shame they couldn't continue this idea, it would be great if they could
Congratulations Susanne for Your rare and fantastic items And also they seems to be more "eco"

wow
,amazing figures,,
you hit the Jackpot with those animals

great catch susanne,well done

a friend who worked at bullyland
a source from inside,,
cool

maybey you must do another question

ask between the line about the neandertal's

maybey he/she kind find our missing guy's

martien

Thankyou, Roger, Ana and Martien

I am happy you found my Corkies, because I consider them perhaps the most rare and interesting models in my entire collection . There may only exist a few in the world, and they probably aren`t going to be made again

Yes, Martien, I am very lucky to have this friend. She doesn`t work by Bullyland any more, she has retired, but she obviously has lots of friends there after 30 years.
But most important, she is such a wonderful, interesting and generous person

I can ask about the neandertalers, but I think they are complicated to make, and not the "easy money" like the others. Also they have changed the paint because of envionmental considerations, so they wouldn`t look like the old ones if they made them now

Those are very interesting. Too bad they caused problems with the molds. I like the looks of them, especially with the mammoth and wooly rhino