Caparison Comparison

[Hadoque]

Old thread but vastly due for an update.
Here is the current chart. Just added was number 3 finally thanks in part to our friend GrahamB. I am still missing the proper white and silver lance, someday perhaps but at least I have the rest put together finally.

Concerning the Color Tournament-knight;

The info I have from some German & Dutch collectors, and from a 3624 Color Tournament MISB-set that I recently acquired myself (*), is that the shield and horsesattle in this set only came in black.
The white shield as shown in your picture comes from set 3660 Kaufmannszug. If the sattle is white as well on your 3624-knight, then it must also come from another, older Color-set with horses.

(*): the box isn´t sealed with transparent tape or glue, so it can be opened at the side to have a look at the content, which is still in the original sealed plastic bags

[Tiermann]

That's interesting. The box of 3624 clearly shows the white shield but not the saddle. Perhaps it was white sometimes and black sometimes? The white shield seems too common to have only been in a set as rare as 3660.

[GrahamB]

That's interesting, Hadoque. The box picture for 3624 clearly shows a white shield (the saddle is not visible), but you have a sealed set where both are black. This wouldn't be the first time the set contents were different from the box picture, of course!

Is the white shield only found in set 3660? I know Tiermann has one (it's in the photo!), but I had to paint a modern (purple) one white for my Caparison collection!

[Tiermann posted his reply just before I posted this and made the same two points as I did!]

Would you consider posting pictures of your MISB 3624 in Datenbank-Setinhalt at Klickywelt? There are only pictures of the box on there at the moment, so even pictures of sealed bags would be an improvement (but you could open them if you want!). There are quite a few gaps in the Datenbank, so any pictures of pre-1990 set contents could be very useful.

[Hadoque]

I too was convinced the shield would be white, as shown on the box (not sure about the saddle, like you say it isn´t visible on the box´pictures).
But it turned out to be black, like the saddle.
I´ve asked around with some Color Collectors to know if there were perhaps several versions of the set, but the answers I got all point to the black shield and black saddle. (I still have to get answer from another  reknown Dutch Color expert)

I know the white shield came with the famous Kaufmannszug 3660 (released 1979), I meanwhile assume also with set 3661 (released 1978) and probably 3703 (released 1978) as well. The Color Tournament-Knight Set 3624 was released with a gap of 2-3 years, in 1981, so that might perhaps explain the change...

When I´ve time I´ll take pictures for Klickywelt Datenbank-Setinhalt (still have to take a lot of pics from new custom-figures too).
But I can´t really promise the bags will still be sealed by then... you know me, I´m The Belgian Ripper   
I must add the set I got has the 2 Color-klickies with moveable hands, so it probably is from a production batch later then 1981?

[GrahamB]

This is a good example of problems I have found when researching set contents of early sets:
1. The set contents sometimes don't match the picture on the box
2. The set contents sometimes change during the lifetime of a set (e.g. Fixed wrists changed to moveable hands)
3. Even quite common sets have no pictures of contents online

Thanks for sharing, Hadoque.

[Hadoque]

Today I learned that only the early production-batches of 3660 "Kaufmannszug" came with the white shield (and white weaponry).
I knew later batches were produced with chromed weapons instead of white ones, but not that the white shield also was changed (to black).

[GrahamB]

That's interesting too; quite a few sets seem to have had their contents changed, with or without a change in packaging (in Collector, only a change in packaging seems to merit a new Version number). I wonder why they switched from white to chrome weapons? In many cases, later set versions actually had fewer accessories than earlier ones, presumably to cut costs?