Weird Wisent ... is he Duroplast?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Back in 1988, we bought some animals from a dealer's "odds-shelf" which included this beauty. He appears to be an attractively painted Lineol Wisent, identical in size and carved details to any other Lineol Wisent.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Left to right: normal Lineol Wisent; mystery Wisent; Schleich Wisent.

Either he comes from a Lineol mould or a cast taken from a Lineol original.

BUT, instead of being made from composition over a wire armature, he is cast in a brittle , honey-brown material.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The colour of it shows at the soles of his hoofs.

Dennis Fontana, writing in 1991, said " The name Lineol was re-established in September 1985. The trademark Lineol is once again registered ... under Gert Duscha, this 'new' company produces many of the old Lineol toy soldiers in a light, yellow-brown material called Duroplast."

As we understand it, Herr Duscha's company makes ONLY soldiers, not animals. Could this be a Duroplast Wisent? Does anyone have, or know of, any other Lineol copies of this high quality in this material?

castlerigg

Very interesting - I love the original lineol by the way.

It is a very handsome vincent.
Thanks for the great pictures.
Very interesting to read how much you dig into the history of these figueres, Hopefully somebody can help you .

I remember a Lineol Sable and Kudu in this yellow brown material. I don't have them but they were sold on eBay a few years ago.

I also had the Tipple-Topple waterbuffalo in such material. I sold it because I already have the composition original but they were alsmost identical.

Well, i do have 2 of those Lineol wisents in composition, which are in re-pair at Ana's right now...
But i never saw the same wisent model in another material, so that is quit new for me too.
It seems not normal when just anybody has the mould of the originals, so this could only be a collector, or someone who saw money in it, to produce them again.
So maybe this Gert Duscha is that particular guy, but i really don't know!
I have to find out more about that first...
By the way, this brittle hollowcast plastic material is used by Hausser Elastolin in their latest years, and after that by Preiser with the same moulds.
Or is it another kind of material?

"Very interesting to read how much you dig into the history of these figueres,"

Well, Susanne, these animals have a lot of history behind them. We were born in the 1940's, and most of the composition animals in our collection are older than we are!

Christofe, thanks! If you ever hear any more on this subject, please let us know!

Lucky man, to have the Waterbuffalo! We've been trying to get one for years, but have always been outbid!

Willy, we have seen bad casts made from old Elastolin and old Lineol figures - mostly very bad indeed - usually made by people trying to make some cash in the 1950's when times were hard. But this is a very high-quality reproduction, beautifully painted. He is a solid casting, not hollow, and far too brittle ever to be used as a toy.

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

Sue & Lesley
castlerigg

Thanks for the info Sue&Lesley!
Yes, there are some bad casts indeed, but not only that...
There are a lot of good copies on the market too, as in these times, the models are even worth much more then a certain time ago...
The German magazine "Figurenjournal" already warned about that long ago...

Hello everybody,

The wisent is a Neo Form figure made in Denmark. Neo Form recast lineol figures, sometimes smaller than lineol ones.

Best regards and keep collecting.

tiopesao.

castlerigg wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Back in 1988, we bought some animals from a dealer's "odds-shelf" which included this beauty. He appears to be an attractively painted Lineol Wisent, identical in size and carved details to any other Lineol Wisent.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Left to right: normal Lineol Wisent; mystery Wisent; Schleich Wisent.

Either he comes from a Lineol mould or a cast taken from a Lineol original.

BUT, instead of being made from composition over a wire armature, he is cast in a brittle , honey-brown material.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The colour of it shows at the soles of his hoofs.

Dennis Fontana, writing in 1991, said " The name Lineol was re-established in September 1985. The trademark Lineol is once again registered ... under Gert Duscha, this 'new' company produces many of the old Lineol toy soldiers in a light, yellow-brown material called Duroplast."

As we understand it, Herr Duscha's company makes ONLY soldiers, not animals. Could this be a Duroplast Wisent? Does anyone have, or know of, any other Lineol copies of this high quality in this material?

castlerigg

tiopesao wrote:

Hello everybody,

The wisent is a Neo Form figure made in Denmark. Neo Form recast lineol figures, sometimes smaller than lineol ones.

Best regards and keep collecting.

tiopesao.

Hello Tiopesao! First many thanks for your helpful information, than a very warm welcome for you! I see it is your first post but that you are a member for a long time and I see some activity in your points! I'm very glad for your post and I hope to see you more often in our family!

tiopesao wrote:

Hello everybody,

The wisent is a Neo Form figure made in Denmark. Neo Form recast lineol figures, sometimes smaller than lineol ones.

Best regards and keep collecting.

tiopesao.

Thank you very much Tiopesao

It's nice to hear from you and to learn something new. I hope we will hear you more often now and I can't wait to know and to see what king of stiff you are collecting.

Welcome

Kikimalou wrote:

I can't wait to know and to see what king of stuff you are collecting.

Same here Welcome to the forum tiopesao! Thank you for the information, I'm sure Lesley and Sue will be very pleased!

And a warm welcome from me, too
Where are you from ? I am very curious
I never heard about Neoform from Denmark before, you must be an expert

Could you be persuaded into introducing yourself ? Here for instance : *Introduce yourself*

A warm welcome from Saxony tiopesao!!! And many thanks for the very good informations and news!!

Is Neo Form also the name of the brand?

Thanks, tiopesao! This raises another question! Our Wisent has no markings, but we have a Yak and a Sea Lion, both good copies of Lineol originals, clearly marked underneath with the letters NF.

A long time ago, we were told that NF stood for Nardi Fratelli of Italy. Were we misinformed? Could these animals also be Neo Form?

Sue & Lesley
castlerigg

Hi,

If you send some pics I will try to help you. Neo Form Yak is painted in white and black and it is just a bit smaller yhan lineol. You can find a comparision in a picture at http://www.figuren-journal.com/DvqJ3WqzNmZ9QdUolpVjaxSKCg2v1g/Index.cgi?action=articles&articles=detail&id=39

I hope this can help you.

Best regards.

Juan Carlos.

castlerigg wrote:

Thanks, tiopesao! This raises another question! Our Wisent has no markings, but we have a Yak and a Sea Lion, both good copies of Lineol originals, clearly marked underneath with the letters NF.

A long time ago, we were told that NF stood for Nardi Fratelli of Italy. Were we misinformed? Could these animals also be Neo Form?

Sue & Lesley
castlerigg

tiopesao wrote:

Hi,

If you send some pics I will try to help you. Neo Form Yak is painted in white and black and it is just a bit smaller yhan lineol. You can find a comparision in a picture at http://www.figuren-journal.com/DvqJ3WqzNmZ9QdUolpVjaxSKCg2v1g/Index.cgi?action=articles&articles=detail&id=39

I hope this can help you.

Best regards.

Juan Carlos.

castlerigg wrote:

Thanks, tiopesao! This raises another question! Our Wisent has no markings, but we have a Yak and a Sea Lion, both good copies of Lineol originals, clearly marked underneath with the letters NF.

A long time ago, we were told that NF stood for Nardi Fratelli of Italy. Were we misinformed? Could these animals also be Neo Form?

Sue & Lesley
castlerigg

all Neo Form are in ceramic?

Thank you for the link - and yes, that is our Yak!

Sue & Lesley
castlerigg

widukind wrote:

all Neo Form are in ceramic?

The one I had was a copy of an Elastolin model and it was not exactly what we call a ceramic, more like a very very hard pvc or plastic.

Kikimalou wrote:

widukind wrote:

all Neo Form are in ceramic?

The one I had was a copy of an Elastolin model and it was not exactly what we call a ceramic, more like a very very hard pvc or plastic.

I read the article in the Figuren-Journal. But plastic is ok and interesting.

First, a very welcome from the Netherlands to Juan Carlos!
Thank you very much for this information, to which none of us had the answer.
But the link didn't work for me anymore, it only said, that this article was not available in English, haha...

Willy, you can make that link work! Go right to the bottom of the page and click on the German flag. The article will appear in the original German.

Sue & Lesley
castlerigg

Thanks Sue and Lesley!
I found it already out, as i am a member of this site, so i needed a quick search only.

Nice to hear from you again Juan Carlos! :)