Polk???

[Dave]

Goodguy asked me to post these photos to get members opinions of this figurine.

Here is some information he provided

Other photos show much detall of the carving, and close inspection of the gun. I believe it is an original, considering there were only two known with two arms and holding guns. Thia ia not a simple matter to produce. There is some fine carving of the boots, and details on the shits cuffs I would like the Forums SlotCowboys experts opinion.. I think i is petty exciting discovery.

[Anglobritish]

In my opinion, this is NOT a polk, it is as good a copy as you will get, I have every postcard that was produced showing the Polk figures on location, I have most of the pictures of those that went for auction, there is only the John Wayne character that shows this configuration. I will now go through all of my Auction catalogues, if this was ever auctioned it will be shown in a cataloge. Also John Herman in L. A. would know or perhaps Swami who is a member of this Forum.

Very interesting find, there was a guy who did some cowboy figure carvings down south, I would bet this is one of his.

Freddy Bailey

[tsparts4u]

To me , it looks like a Harris figure. I have one that is similar but without the gun. I believe that mine is an early Harris figure.
Later Harris figures had a pan for gold instead of the hand with the gold nuggets. In the past, I also had a Pirate figure and the Indian Medicine Man figure, but those were made by Dick DeLong.

[goodguy]

In answer to TSPARTS4U- and theHarris Figure--THis is not a nock on the harris figure,
all the figures are terrific, Lets look closer. First
the shouldersd and arms are entirly different , the lower body structure
on the harris figuree is thinner, finally studay the face, the shape, the
expression the moustache. and I cannot see the hair, but my figure is a meticulous carving.
The right hand on Harris is like the miner,
the left hand holds a rope. The posture, shape and carving are entirely diffeerent from
the Harris figure. The arms with the guns make a big difference. Who ever carved my figure
did a great job. Thanks for your photo. goodguy

[Anglobritish]

I agree, the Stan Harris figures to me were the poorest effort at coming close to a Frank Polk figure, ( Stan & Rosanne Harris were at the auction in L. A. in 1980 when I bought the two Polk soldiers), I think the figure that we are talking about is the closest I have seen to the REAL thing. it is not a Stan Harris, it is not a John Calor, James Schafer only had a limited amount of originals models to work from, and if you look at the leg's on his models they are all the same). it could be a Polk, but if it is why as it not appeared in any picture of his work. or at an auction. (See the comparison of the leg's that I have put together

Freddy Bailey

[Midcoast Vintage]

BILL Harris made figures, NOT stan harris.
Bill harris, at one time ... 2 times actually, owned the COIN SLOT magazine, which he initially purchased from JOHN CALER.
BILL Harris went on to start ROYAL BELL LTD., and put out all those reproduction gold war eagles, golden nuggets, rolo-a-tops...that rolled nothing... etc.
His early figures were wood. I had a few, and they were decent.
He early on stopped making them out of wood, and made them out of some type of synthetic stuff...hydrocal come to mind, but that may not be correct.
STAN HARRIS, (no relation to Bill) was an exceptional colector and gentleman collector from Philadelphia who amassed one of the premier collections of coin-op machines.
He was also a long time operator of coin machines on the east coast.

[Anglobritish]

I stand corrected of course it was Bill Harris, and of course Stan Harris was one of the old time operators from Philadelphia, I knew him socially, he had one of the best collections of Gumball and trade simulators around. I also knew his daughter Sharron. at one time Sharron wrote for the British Coin Slot magazine, and visited many of the trade shows.
I stand corrected Mr. Midcoast Vintage.

Freddy Bailey

[Swami]

This is NOT a Polk. Frank Polk did make Two Bandit's with Two Arms but this is not one of those. This is also NOT John Wayne. The John Wayne Polk is an early 19th Century Fur Trapper. He has a Coon Hat and a Rifle. He is also a Sit Down Figure. I have photos of Polk with the John Wayne figure but they are not easily available at this time. Instead here is a Head Shot of John Wayne an location as well as an older Loose Change Magazine with John Wayne on the cover.

This is also NOT a Jim Schafer figure.The Figures Jim Shafer reproduced were all copies of "Smokey" an Original Polk One Arm Bandit. Jim bought that figure from Ron Brooks. He took it all apart and copied it Exactly on a C&C machine. All the Schafer figures are of the same carving. Jim painted them all differently, but they are all the same.

This is also not a Royal Bell. All the Bill Harris figures have "Lumpy Legs" These legs are Polk Copies.

There has been some reference to John Herman and his Superior knowledge of Polk figures. I have known John for a long time and he is the Finest Gentleman I have ever known. I learned everything he knew about Polk Figures and then did extensive research on my own to take as far I as could. I am proud to call John my friend. However, he is 82 years old and does not use a computer, so I wouldn't look to him for any Polk information on this blog.

In the mid 1970's John did a project with GAMES in Van Nuys and they reproduced some figures. They are quite good and I suspect the one in question could be one of those. Although the facial features are not so good so perhaps not.

Freddy has mentioned the Soldier's he once owned so I tought he might like to see some photos of them. Here's a picture of Freddy and Ron with a Miner.

The Yellow Two Armed Figure I uploaded has been Re-Painted and is not very desirable or valuable.

Enjoy,
Chris

[Anglobritish]

Chris,
You have made my day with these pictures, the one with me and Ron Brookes was taken in 1980 at his home/store in Virginia City, the Miner was the first Polk I ever bought, I paid him $9,000 for that machine, and that was after having to drink a couple of bottles of Jack Daniels with him, I also bought his Auburn Roadster, in those day's although I had my factories in England, I had a route in L. A. Joel Gilgof who owned G.A.M.E.S in Van Nuys became my distributor for the video games I manufactured. It was Joel who introduced me to John Herman and is charming wife who lived in Beverley Glen, Like Chris said John Herman was the most charming and laid back gentlemen I have ever met. I think the mystery of the two armed bandit as been solved.

The Polk Pace Miner, was the only machine to survive the fire when I lost my collection, it stood at the bar in my office in Nottingham, after I sold the ashes to my ex partner Bob Durose (We operated an arcade in London together and a gift shop in Great Yarmouth) for $15,000 dollars I gave the Polk Pace Miner to my still close friend Henri Krijnen (I just sent Henri 5 of my books only today) So Chris, you really have made my night here in New Jersey, the only pictures I have was one taken for a trade paper and the postcard from Virginia City, but I really will treasure the one with Ron Brookes, he was truly a real character, and Frank Polk loved that guy who was an ex Hell's Angel, god rest his soul. Chris if you get to Chicagoland, I will buy you dinner, let me know.

Freddy Bailey

[Midcoast Vintage]

The three photo's below are from LOOSE CHANGE magazine.
The two black and whites show the Hermann's POLK MINER with a $1 Pace 8 Star Bell slot machine.
The color photo shows a GAMES bandit, which if i remember correctly was called "BLACK BART".
All of the Games figures I ever saw, had a pipe coming out of the rear end of the figure for stability.
Whether they all did, or not, I am not sure, but, i saw a few, and, they all had it.
Another maker of carved figures, who has not been mentioned in this thread is Dick De Long.
He has made a wide variety of figures.