Hartland Little Leaguer

Founded in 1941, Hartland Plastics was known for making Plastic western toys, such as Cowboys, Indians and Horses. From 1958-1963 Hartland Plastics produced 18 statues of star Major League baseball players, a "minor Leaguer" (4" tall batter) and a Little Leaguer/Batboy. The "Bat Boy" was originally issued as the Little Leaguer but it was changed because of licensing rights. After issuing the "Champion Little Leaguer" statue in 1963, a trademark infringement complaint by the Little League association forced a large majority to be held back leaving only a small number of the "Little Leaguer" blister packs in the market. Many of the header cards were then cut to remove "Little Leaguer" from the top.

Hartland was purchased by the Revlon Cosmetics Company in 1963. Revlon decided to stop the production of the sports figures to solely concentrate on cosmetic perfume cases and containers. In 1987, Dallas attorney William Alley secured the rights to produce a commemorative set of the original 18 players. In 1988 celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the original release, the full series was issued along with the Bat Boy. All the Little Leaguer/Batboy figures featured a © Hartland Plastics Inc. on the back, but the 1988 "Dallas Hartlands" feature a circled (25th).

After the mysterious disappearance of William Alley while on a business trip in 1991, Bill Dunlop purchased the Hartland name, and formed U.S.A. Hartland Inc. USA Hartland was then purchased by Steven Manufacturing later that year, and moved the company to Hermann, Missouri. In 1993 the Great Missouri Flood completely destroyed the Steven factory which was located off the banks of the river. Hartland closed its doors shortly thereafter.

In 2001 the company re-emerged as Hartland Collectibles LLC. Partnered with Krause Publications, the SCD Authentic series was created. The company manufactured several statues, a Bronze series, and another issue of the original 18 figures. In 2004 SCD brought back a classic Hartland piece. A limited edition Bat Boy was made exclusively for Sports Collectors Digest subscribers. Unlike the original, this figure was was mounted on a base, stood 5 inches tall, and had "SCD" in red on the jersey back.

2004 SCD Hartland Collectibles Batboy Statue


SCD Hartland Collectibles Batboy Statue Back	2004 SCD Hartland Collectibles Batboy Statue Bottom

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