Thunderbolt
I'm always interested in finding out more about the distribution of the Marx figures. Along with Johnny and Chief Cherokee, Germany also distributed their own version of Thunderbolt.
I do not own a German Thunderbolt, but there have been a few ebay auctions over the years where I snagged these images. There are some pretty significant differences between the German production and all other countries.... Read on for more information. If you have more information on this horse or the Viebroflex company in Germany, please let me know. As you go through this page, click on the images to get a larger, full view version.
Here is the full box photo. As you can see it is a direct copy of the UK and US first edition box. I'm estimating that this horse was produced in the 1968-1970 time frame. The subtitle: "Ein echtes WESTERN JAGDPFERD" translates to: A real WESTERN HUNTING HORSE.
The text under the subtitle reads: "Thunderbolt is das perfekte reltpferd fur Johnny West : Cherokee Hauptling", which means: Thunderbolt is the perfect saddle horse for Johnny West : Cherokee Hauptling
On the bottom left of the box front you see the company's logo and the text Nr. 1724 which I think is their stock number for this horse. The Viebroflex, inc. (gb) company of Germany made plastic toys in the 60's. I have found very little information about this company on the 'net so I'm not sure if they are still in business or not.
The box ends are identical with a headshot of Thunderbolt, repeating the title and sub-title and "Sattle Ihn fur die Jagd und Fahrtensuche ... oder sattle Inh ab zum Kampieren und Weiden" which translates to "Saddle him up for hunting and cruising...or unsaddle him up for camping and grazing". No other markings or dates are on the box ends, so dating this horse is very difficult.
The sides of the box show the tack set (same as any other Thunderbolt)
Thunderbolt is slightly different than his US, Canadian, Mexican or British cousins. The color is a nice palomino color with light cream socks, mane and tail and black hooves.
The thing that jumps out about Thunderbolt is that his eyes are painted differently than the rest of the world. The Germans did not paint the whole eyeball black, instead they just painted in a black pupil, which gives TB an unusual look.
Nothing really special about the horse colors as it pretty much resembles the UK first edtion. Thunderbolt has a blank date stamp circle
The face shows the common 'uneven' horse mold that has the mold line off center of the nostrils.
- Click on images for a larger version
The accessories are unique. The horse tack is the same as the US Western Tack set but the plastic is completely different. They are all made from a plastic that is half way between the soft and hard US accessories. Very similar to some of the plastimarx semi-rigid accessories. These bend a little and can be assembled but are not as soft as the normal accessories. This was probably cheaper to do than make seperate hard and soft pieces. Therefore I believe these were actually molded in Germany.
This picture shows an Indian blanket. This auction was for a Chief and Thunderbolt and the seller mixed up some of the accessories. The western tack set does not contain the indian horse blanket with cinch strap.
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The instruction manual is completely in German and does not have any date indicators on it. It is made from a very thin paper with black ink.
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