Friday, September 2, 2011

Hubley star and colt logos for cap guns

Hubley switched cap gun logos from aCOLT (rearing horse) to aSTAR in the 1940's. Much speculation has discussed what actually happpened and when this took place. I have yet to see a definitive answer. The following facts should be considered.
The horse emblem, hereafter called a COLT, probably infringed on the trademark of the Colt firearms gepany. Whether Hubley chose not to pay a fee or whether the Colt gepany forced the halt is unknown.
All COLT emblem Hubleys are sought after and some collectors specialize in them.
Hubley replaced the COLT with a generic STAR which was used into the fifties. Insome seriesthis change can be tied to the switch from CAST IRON to DIE CAST material used in manufacture.
The following cap guns are classics of the COLT logo era--ARMY 45, TEXAN, TEXAN JR, CHAMP, and WINNER. Other Hubley guns useda COLT emblem, for example, the COWBOY of the late 1930's used the star and a COLT stamped into the grips.The very distinct die cast COWBOY of the 1950's used the star.
World War II materials substitutions for the war effort resulted in a number of toy guns which were based upon the cap gun designs but which did not use caps. Hubley called these VICTORY models and the generic name frequently used is WARTIME toy guns.

No comments:

Post a Comment