Bosko doll

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Warner Bros. cartoon art collector Eric Calande recently acquired this item through an antique dealer – a Bosko doll. Click thumbnails above for larger images. Is this the first piece of licensed merchandise of a Looney Tunes character? Whether it is or isn’t – it’s damn cool!

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  • Chris Sobieniak

    It sure is!

  • http://dmgermain.blogspot.com David Germain

    How much would something like that cost?

  • http://goldenagecartoons.com Matthew Hunter

    No…way….! That’s awesome!

  • Bugsmer

    It’s ugly as sin, but still pretty cool.

  • http://www.cartoonresearch.com/gerstein David Gerstein

    Wow, what big ears you have…

    Thanks, Jerry. I didn’t actually know Bosko stuffed dolls had been made in the United States. The handwritten rights indication on the foot seems to suggest a small-scale operation, though I could be wrong.
    The large-scale firm of Dean’s Rag Book in England made both Bosko and Honey during the Warner era. They presumed the characters were monkeys and gave them tails. I’ve only ever actually seen the Honey doll, one of which was sold on eBay in January 2007; unfortunately, I can’t find a photo now.

  • joe s

    without a doubt that is tremendous.

  • http://www.warnerart.com Eric

    Here’s a link to an image of Dean’s Bosco and Honey Dolls mentioned above…

    http://www.danielagnew.com/thumbnail.php?gd=2&src=my_item/My%20collection%20005.jpg&maxw=800&text=danielagnew.com

  • Robert Barker

    Didn’t Harman-Ising move the character over to MGM?

  • http://www.cartoonresearch.com/gerstein David Gerstein

    Thanks Eric.
    The Dean’s Honey that I saw had a tail—looks like these examples don’t, though Honey herself otherwise looks consistent.
    Those ugly teeth on Bosko show that they were reusing their Mickey Mouse facial design; Dean’s Mickey and Minnie both had those same gnarly choppers.

  • http://www.warnerart.com Eric

    Harman and Ising did take the Bosko character to MGM and in 1937 the character was completely redesigned. He lost his cartoony chimp-like quality and was made too look like a realistic boy. As seen in this earlier brew post…

    http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/boska_a.jpg

  • Dock Miles

    >He lost his cartoony chimp-like quality.

    I hate to say it, but this suggests a superb theme for a new cartoon starring Bosko based on recent news items.

  • Jenni

    I also have a doll similar to the one you posted (not the Dean’s Rag doll). Mine is a variation of yours, and I have looked for several years online to find any information on it, to no avail. They must be extremely rare as yours is the first additional Bosko that I have seen.

    Originally, I bought it thinking that it was an early Mickey Mouse doll, and after researching I discovered the world of Bosko.

  • Jenni O’dell

    In addition, I have a suspicion that L.A. might mean Louis Amberg, a doll and stuffed animal toy company. The company was in business from 1878-1930, and then sold out to Horsman.

  • http://www.warnerart.com Eric

    Jenni, do you have pics of yours that you could post or email? Thanks fo rthe L.A. info, I’ll dig into that.

  • Jenni O’dell

    Hi Eric,

    I just checked back on this website and saw your reply. In the next few days I will take some pics and post. Still not sure about the maker.

  • http://www.warnerart.com Eric

    Hi Jenni,

    Glad you checked back. You can email pics to me at warnerart at aol dot com too. =)

  • Maggie Simpson

    He looks like a monkey…