Imperial Zulus with "rosy" cheeks? (1 Viewer)

[Drum]

Hi folks,

I have been reviewing online pics of various Imperial sets and comparing them with the same sets in our collection in search of variations among Imperial Productions sets and I came across this pic of Zulus up for auction on ebay;

Those Zulus have "rosy" cheeks!

I compared these with all the Zulus in our collection and did not find a single Zulu with cheek blush. How about you guys? Any of your Imperial Zulus have cheeks like these Zulus?

There is little question (in my mind) that these are actually Imperial Zulus in the auction (same figures and otherwise the paintjob is nearly identical to our set #30) and I am aware that Cowe once had "teams" of painters, but this seems like a big difference.

Sure, there is ALOT of variation in the various Town and Around sets, but this is the first "variation" that I have noticed when comparing Imperials' military-themed sets. Have any of you guys noticed any significant differences between different examples of the same sets?

Cheers,
Drum

 

[kilted vampire]

Hi folks,

I have been reviewing online pics of various Imperial sets and comparing them with the same sets in our collection in search of variations among Imperial Productions sets and I came across this pic of Zulus up for auction on ebay;

Those Zulus have "rosy" cheeks!

I compared these with all the Zulus in our collection and did not find a single Zulu with cheek blush. How about you guys? Any of your Imperial Zulus have cheeks like these Zulus?

There is little question (in my mind) that these are actually Imperial Zulus in the auction (same figures and otherwise the paintjob is nearly identical to our set #30) and I am aware that Cowe once had "teams" of painters, but this seems like a big difference.

Sure, there is ALOT of variation in the various Town and Around sets, but this is the first "variation" that I have noticed when comparing Imperials' military-themed sets. Have any of you guys noticed any significant differences between different examples of the same sets?

Cheers,
Drum

They are Imperial! I am real familiat with those poses having just painted some to match existing one. I will take a closer look to see if any such exist with mine though doubtful. Congratulations on a possibly rare find! Mike T any comments??????

 

[vandilay]

My collecting probably doesnt span a long enough time frame to
have seen discrepancys in painting styles , but the only zulus i,ve
seen do not have rosy cheeks .
I believe their where some imperial knock offs floating around at one point from what i,ve heard .
But i,ve never seen these first hand so I dont know how they compare.

 

[maddadicus]

Why don't you ask the Imperial mfg., that is still making the figures...they ought to know their old production details......Michael

 

[Drum]

Thanks for the replies.

First, this is not a pic from a set that I bought on ebay. Someone else won that auction. I just found the pic interesting.

I also am not saying that these are "fake" or knockoffs. Other than the deviation with the rosy cheeks, these appear to be exactly the same as our set.

Finally, about emailing Mr. Cowe with this question... well, I guess it is just too trivial an observation to be bothering him or his staff about. I would hate for him to have to put down a soldier he is painting to answer this minor curiosity.

So... maybe someone here has a set of Imperial Zulus that look like these guys or this is a set that one of Cowe's newbs painted before learning that, typically, the Zulus are portrayed in featureless dark brown.

Cheers,
D.

 

[ucla1967]

Just checked my Imperial Zulus and none of them have rosy cheeks. I would be surprised if they are "mistakes" from his painters, because they were very particular about who they ultimately used to paint their figures. They usually went through several weeks of training before they were used for production figures. My guess would be that they are knock-offs or they were modified by some collector who fancies himself to be a painter and didn't like the originals.

 

[kilted vampire]

I do not know Mike. I would like to think that they are early production. They tried something that did not work well. But the "dab hand" with the paint brush is as good as guess as anything. Your guess is probably right though. Mine is more wishful thinking.

 

[Yosmanos]

I have a highlander without the check blush, which looks like a mistake, but check out this artwork on some 91st highlanders here on eBay. Not sure if this is regulation facial decoration

http://cgi.ebay.com/IMPERIAL-Set-No-32-91st-Highlanders-1879-/180661477292?pt=Toy_Soldiers&hash=item2a10435fac#ht_1347wt_922

 

[Drum]

It looks as if someone took some liberties with the facial hair on a few of those figures!