D is for ♫♪♪♪ Dog Days Are Over! ♫♫♪

Aaannnd . . . we return to the 'probably not Rubinstein' trope of a year ago! Indeed, while I have spent that year diligently (occasionally) searching (checking feeBay), and have seen a few more of the sets covered in those posts last year, I have still not found a single pack, or fragment of packaging linking Rubinstein to these dogs!

But, despite the complete lack of empirical evidence for a connection, people keep insisting they are Rubinstein, just as some persist not only in using 'LP' for LB, when they could just use the donor Lik Be (to retain a modicum of credibility!), or keep calling limbers 'caissons' or vise-versa (despite a long, cogent thread on the subject on Treefrog, or a Blog somewhere), the continued use of DGN ('design') is another one, but it does sort of explain Trump, Brwreakshit and a dozen other pointers to our careering toward the end of Western hegemony, or even full extinction!

I think this is actually the seller's image, and again, full sets, multiple lot-listing, not ex-shop stock, but, like yesterdays HK/Tim Mee set, ex-factory stock or ex-out-painter stock, not that either set was known to be painted, but you know what I mean, somewhere in the UK at least two people, had sackfuls of stuff which some collectors would have you believe - through their false narratives - shouldn't be here!

 

The American names for these are, from the left; Boxer, Pug, Boston Terrier and [Dobermann] Pinscher, but to my eyes the pug looks more like a Bulldog, leaving a Mastiff and Boxer as the white pair?

 

German Shepherd (Alsatian), Pointer (gun dog), Irish [Red] Setter, Beagle and Cocker Spaniel. Again, if they were in-scale, which they are clearly not, the Beagle would be better described as a Foxhound.

Dachshund, Scottie (Scot's Terrier), Toy Poodle, Basset Hound and Chihuahua.

 

Greyhound, Russian Wolfhound (Borzoi), Airedale (Terrier) and Collie.

And while most of these are white plastic, there are a few of the Nabisco silver/gold/copper-bronze ones, as made for Kellogg's and Nabisco (and Peke Freans et al.) as soldiers of all nations (under various titles), by Tatra Plastics, who also did a few white plastic soldiers?

Now, I'm not saying these are by Tatra, I know nothing about them as far as this apparent UK stock goes, they could even be Peak Freans premiums? But I am saying they, like the soldiers have as yet to be presented in Rubenstein packaging, and now we know Rubenstein were just another 1970's rack-toy jobber, they were probably last to this story if they turned-up at all, far better to call the Soldiers 'Kellogg's' (as they issued them in more territories that Nabisco or 'Freans), and the Dogs 'Nabisco' as the only named carrier, until more evidence comes to life.

Personally I suspect Tatra, but they didn't claim them when they were in contact over their 50th anniversary, and while they promised to look in their archive, once they'd had their publicity here, at Small Scale World, they went very quiet, and then, ironically given the number of companies they'd swallowed over the previous few decades, got swallowed!

And as to issuer . . . Nabisco have to be up there with Peak Freans, but ice cream, lucky-bags or Christmas cracker issuers (Tom Smith?) have to be serious considerations, suffice to say someone was clearly planning on issuing them here, even if they didn't.

 

Along with yesterday's these are still available on evilBay.uk, I think. Someone in the 'States has a set of these for over 100-quid on Etsy, while a seller in the UK will let you have them for a tenner! Interestingly Nabisco issued a book on dogs (as National Biscuit co.), and in their Australian territory, a set of cereal premium dog collector-cards, so they were a bit hung-up on dogs!

25-10-2024 - I got my copy of PW196 today, and read with interest the anticipated article on Rubenstein,; and nothing above, nor anything I wrote fourteen months ago needs to be corrected! It's actually quite amusing, only confirming some of my past mutterings, and I'll deal with it fully in a future post!