Play Visions Mini Dogs, A numbers mystery

Thank you for sharing! I'm glad Roger is making sense of all the numbers! I will be keeping an eye out for the missing dog, it's a mission now . . .

These have been interesting threads, thank you!

The 'Brittany' looks almost more like a Mastiff to me, I itch to repaint it fawn lol.

pipsxlch wrote:

The 'Brittany' looks almost more like a Mastiff to me, I itch to repaint it fawn lol.

I agree with mastiff of some kind. He would look good in a new coat. :) (they all would!)

Another TAW question - I'm just being lazy in my pajamas this evening and poking around everywhere.

The horses and cats that are represented on Play Visions catalogue have now been sorted under Play Visions Minis, I think - should these dogs perhaps be the same? They are Dogs to Go right now, but that was a guess before I saw the catalogue which matches them exactly. The Domestic Dogs link on the Play Visions Minis doesn't lead to anything.

Not to give you even more work to do, Roger, as you have the "luck" of following these threads.

(The animal world series also isn't on there yet, but maybe there is a reason for that, too!)

Jill wrote:

Another TAW question - I'm just being lazy in my pajamas this evening and poking around everywhere.

The horses and cats that are represented on Play Visions catalogue have now been sorted under Play Visions Minis, I think - should these dogs perhaps be the same? They are Dogs to Go right now, but that was a guess before I saw the catalogue which matches them exactly. The Domestic Dogs link on the Play Visions Minis doesn't lead to anything.

Not to give you even more work to do, Roger, as you have the "luck" of following these threads.

(The animal world series also isn't on there yet, but maybe there is a reason for that, too!)

Well, instead of moving all the dogs to Play Visions, I linked the Play Visions Minis directly to the page of the Club Earth Dogs to Go. We don't have what seems to be two distinct series as it happens with cats so I fear having all the work to move them to Play Visions if the Club Earth are the exact same.
About the Animal World I haven't listed yet because I don't know exactly where to put them. Do you suggest that I list them as Play Visions Minis?

That works as far as I'm concerned! The less having to move things around I imagine the better. For the animal world, since they match the catalogue picture with the dogs, cats, and horses, does it make sense to also put them there?

Jill wrote:

That works as far as I'm concerned! The less having to move things around I imagine the better. For the animal world, since they match the catalogue picture with the dogs, cats, and horses, does it make sense to also put them there?

Yes, I haven't uploaded them yet because I haven't decided if I list them as Club Earth or Play visions Minis. Though, whatever they are, better to put them before they get forgoten.
I am leaning to list them as Play Visions Minis since they match the figures on catalogue.

I lean that way, too, but mostly because I only know that set from the catalogue and only thought they might be related to the horses because of how they were stamped (same for the dogs). The Play Visions page was really the most helpful clue for all of these for me!

Just sharing these here because they are interesting to me. Half this set clearly uses the same molds as these Play Visions dogs. They have the same breed stamps (including the misspelled Mulamute), and some of them still have the numbers (though they are very hard to read). Most are painted similarly to the PV set, except the poodle, which is totally opposite! They are just a little smaller than the PV dogs.

The rest of the dogs are in very different molds. I am not sure they were originally sold together or not, though they have similar paint jobs and I would believe they were.

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Aren't these complex puzles? I have no idea what are these, the same writing, smaller size, etc. I think the Poodle will be the key.

This is such an interesting, and wonderful set of dogs that you found!
I quite often find this too, that many sets like this are a compilation of copies from a few other brands- and as you said, this one seems to have the lovely PV ones!
The really interesting thing is that we've just been trying to solve the mystery of the Wild Republic dogs, and it seems that the dogs on the right after the poodle are the same ones or copies of the dogs from the earliest tube by this brand, which we have been trying to find information on! I recognised that Dalmatian coloured Boxer(?)/ Bull Terrier(?) and the darker boxer from the topic where we've just been discussing them! Even if these might be copies they are certainly an interesting clue as to what lovely dogs were part of this set- thank you so much for discovering them!

The poodle really is a weirdo. The malamute could easily have fooled me except for the tiny bit smaller size, so it's handy that the others are distinctly different.

I'll have to check out the Wild Republic dogs, that's interesting! These have the breeds stamped on them, too, so it will be interesting to compare.

Jill wrote:

Bonnie wrote:

The dog topic, very exciting!

I'm glad they were exciting to see for someone who already knows so many dog figures! I appreciate your input on them.

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I love that Pom, but I was just wondering whether the one I saw in the Ebay lot is a slightly lighter colour?

If that photo is true to life color, then yes, much lighter! Mine are see-from-space orange, which is not my favorite look.  

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And then the dogs- I love these little models, and I completely agree that if they were repainted they would look fantastic! I am so tempted to buy the set from the link you sent- and maybe if I do, I'll buy two and repaint the second lot!

That sounds like a fun idea! If you do get them, please share what their numbers are, I am so curious now if they are just several sets all mixed up and put back together randomly . . . .

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Even though they are quite basically painted these models have some lovely details- the pug unlike some models is so recognisable as this breed with the folds of skin around the nose, I just love this model!

The pug is one of my favorites of this set for sure. I am partial, because I had a pug for many years, but this one has such perfect wrinkles. (I would love to see him NOT the color of a Cheeto, though that is what I've named him).

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And the little Yorkie, if I look past the basic painting I can see such a beautiful sculpt again, especially on such a small model! They must be very small considering how they compare to the pins- maybe an inch and a half or so?

I don't have one in front of me right now, but yes, a little over an inch. :)

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And that gorgeous Scottie too- again such a wonderful sculpt with that little bearded chin,

I wish the black models showed up a little better in the photo, they have such nice expressions, especially the dachshund.

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and that delightful Pomeranian- I love this model, from some angles especially it looks just how the breed does!
The mystery Westie has so much character too- and would also look lovely repainted as a Cairn- he has a very similar face to this breed!

I agree, he does look very like a Cairn!

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Another of my favourites has to be that little Rough Collie too- I can never have enough collies and this one really brings out the sweet nature of this breed! Even if the legs are a little thick and it's lacking the ruff around the neck slightly, it's these things that make it look so similar to how this breed looks as a puppy, and I'm sure it would look lovely with a few adjustments to the colour of its coat!

I remembered you said you a partial to the collies and wondered what you would think of this little one. You're right, such short, chunky little legs!   They did best in my opinion on the toy and small terrier breeds, it seems harder to get the large breeds to work on the scale.

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The poodle's texture is very nice- and sculpted just how they are clipped! The Alaskan Malamute's interesting too- it seems much more basic than the others and doesn't really represent the breed- maybe because of the solid black painting!

I certainly agree, he stands out of the crowd as the least-nice, unfortunately. So stiff and without breed details. Almost looks like a poor attempt at a wolf instead of a malamute. Maybe a new paint job would help . . . (I still love him of course, don't tell him I said that   )

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But it's really interesting how they chose to make a Brittany over other Spaniel breeds- again I think painted differently this wonderfully sweet dog would look less like a Bulldog breed and more like a Brittany!

He seems far too wrinkly for a Brittany, and with such a long tail! Maybe the mold was created in a country that doesn't dock tails, so that could explain that, but to me he looks more like some kind of mastiff breed or something.

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And a darling Dachshund and Maltese to finish off, I love how they have done the flowing coat of the Maltese, with all the hair falling in the right directions!

The Maltese has the sweetest face of the whole set, I think, and looks the friendliest. :)

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Thank you so much for all these photos- it's always wonderful when new dogs are added to TAW! Hopefully maybe in the future we will be able to solve the mystery of the numbers too, and find that Lhasa Apso!
Sorry for such a long message- I can never stop talking on STS dog topics!    [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks so much for your thoughts! No such thing as too long of a message, it's fun to hear what you think about them!

Jill - there may be another reason for these different numbers on the same dog. It is likely that to produce each dog there are numerous moulds in the template. For example I see that one breed of dog has up to number 9. Therefore, there are at least 9 different moulds on the template. Numbering each differently would be a production quality approach. For example if on a quality check a dog from mould 6 was defective then they would go back to that particular mould in the template and rectify the issue.

Thanks so much for that information, Chris, I had no idea, but that makes a lot of sense! There's so many variables for stamps out there, holy smokes.

More finds in the wild - there is a natural colored pug out there. Maybe there's yet another set? This lot is unreachable for me, so I can't get it in hand, but wanted to record it here anyway, for posterity.

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A natural coloured pug! That's very interesting, it must be beautiful! It makes sense that Pomeranian I saw was also slightly more realistically coloured, so maybe there is a set like this out there!

More dogs found in these molds, still not sure where else to put them even though they are not part of this set!

An Alaskan Malamute in much more Malamute like colors:
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And a lighter colored Pom that maybe matches that one you saw, Bonnie (probably the same set actually, just a color variation?)
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Not much else to say about them, I just keep amassing dogs in these molds with no idea where they go. But I am hoping hoping hoping that somewhat realistic colored Malamute that's the same size as the Play Visions set (not shrunken like the others I have found) might be from, perhaps, a Club Earth To Go box? Maybe with the natural colored pug . . . ? Oh, the possibilities . . . .

It seems the variations under these molds are countless.

Wow, these are wonderful, wonderful (And confusing ) finds!!
And you found my light pom, I knew there should be others like it out there somewhere, what a sweet little pup! I think that lighter colour works much more realistically than the traffic cone red, but they make an adorable pair! And that malamute has wonderful colours, much more realistic! I can't remember if we had any proof that these were Play Visions minis, because I'm beginning to think that they're copies of the natural coloured ones (pug, malamute and pom), and the natural coloured ones are the actual PV minis? I'd love to spot any other natural ones one day, I'm sure it was a fantastic series whatever they are!
Lovely new dogs though, especially the pomeranian, I'm so glad to have finally seen him again!

Bonnie wrote:

I can't remember if we had any proof that these were Play Visions minis, because I'm beginning to think that they're copies of the natural coloured ones (pug, malamute and pom), and the natural coloured ones are the actual PV minis? I'd love to spot any other natural ones one day, I'm sure it was a fantastic series whatever they are!
Lovely new dogs though, especially the pomeranian, I'm so glad to have finally seen him again!

We know for certain the original set of 12 that includes the traffic-cone orange Pug and Pomeranian are from the Play Visions Minis catalogue (the same as the tiny horses and cats - the original image is on the Cat thread). We also know that Club Earth released a To Go set of the horses in the same molds but painted better, and there is also the set of cats in the same molds but painted better that I am considering a To Go set. It stands to reason that there might be a dog set as well that's better painted, which could explain the Malamute and Pug in better colors (and possibly the lighter pom? But his markings are the same, so I still feel like that might just be a plastic coloration variation).

There's also the Brittany that Taos had for trade that I know you were interested in. I personally think that one would match this theoretical To Go set, because it, too, has a nicer paint job. :) I don't know where that little dog had ended up! But that's my theory (and it's a very loose one based on nothing concrete, haha): that the mystery Pug in the photo, this Malamute, and Taos' Brittany are part of a Club Earth Dogs To Go set.

I could be completely wrong, of course!

Jill wrote:

Bonnie wrote:

I can't remember if we had any proof that these were Play Visions minis, because I'm beginning to think that they're copies of the natural coloured ones (pug, malamute and pom), and the natural coloured ones are the actual PV minis? I'd love to spot any other natural ones one day, I'm sure it was a fantastic series whatever they are!
Lovely new dogs though, especially the pomeranian, I'm so glad to have finally seen him again!

We know for certain the original set of 12 that includes the traffic-cone orange Pug and Pomeranian are from the Play Visions Minis catalogue (the same as the tiny horses and cats - the original image is on the Cat thread). We also know that Club Earth released a To Go set of the horses in the same molds but painted better, and there is also the set of cats in the same molds but painted better that I am considering a To Go set. It stands to reason that there might be a dog set as well that's better painted, which could explain the Malamute and Pug in better colors (and possibly the lighter pom? But his markings are the same, so I still feel like that might just be a plastic coloration variation).

There's also the Brittany that Taos had for trade that I know you were interested in. I personally think that one would match this theoretical To Go set, because it, too, has a nicer paint job. :) I don't know where that little dog had ended up! But that's my theory (and it's a very loose one based on nothing concrete, haha): that the mystery Pug in the photo, this Malamute, and Taos' Brittany are part of a Club Earth Dogs To Go set.

I could be completely wrong, of course!

Oh wow, yes, this definitely sounds right, how interesting! Thank you so much for explaining all this, I have made a note of everything- it definitely all makes sense and is an exciting idea to think that there could be a dogs To Go set!! I have the little Brittany reserved with Taylor so I'll definitely take a loser look once he arrives! Really interesting, I'll try and keep a lookout for the other dogs that are better painted because I'm sure you are right!

Oh good, glad he is going home with you someday! :)

One of WhiteLightningWolf's ebay auctions has a collie in it that I haven't seen before as well. I wonder . . . ? (I can't buy the lot for the one figure, though, unfortunately! )

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Oh wow, yes that does look like the collie!
I recognise it from somewhere too, I'll have to check but I may have reserved another like this from her! Do you have a link to the auction, I'd love to see it if possible?!

Here it is! Link

It would be neat if you have one in the wings. :) I would love to see it closer someday.

Thank you so much for the link! Definitely a tempting lot with that pomeranian too! I checked and the one I have reserved is a bit different- I really hope this collie comes up again! Maybe Fallon would be up to selling it to you separately- it's a lovely little dog!