A
COLLECTION OF FRIENDS
98/206 A Collection of Friends
Special Edition 1998;
McRand exclusive (numbered)
Dated 1998
Original selling price: $22.00
Introduced: April 1998
Issued: 1998
Retired: 1998
7,500 produced
This exclusive could only be purchased at Edison, N.J., and Rosemont, Ill. International Collectible Expositions in 1998. The remaining inventory not sold at these shows was offered to retailers.
Below on the left is a photo of the actual piece and to the right is the picture from the box. On the actual piece there is a butterfly on Binkey's leg, the book is off the rug and Lydia is not on Stewart's tail. On the box photo, the book is actually resting on the rug, Lydia is on Stewart's tail and there is no butterfly on Binkey's leg.
A collector purchased a piece at Rosemont with no butterfly on the piece. Because there wasn't even a butterfly inside her box she thought it defective and exchanged it for one with a butterfly. To this day she is still wondering what she exchanged, a defective piece or perhaps a rare sample?
The reason A Collection Of Friends was limited to Mackenzie, Reginald, Binkey, and Stewart (and assorted bugs) is that there wasn't room for all of the Squashville gang. Originally it had everyone in it, but the size was too big to be made affordable.
A collector who has a prototype of A Collection of Friends has described her piece different from the actual piece. The book is further down and tilted out at the top so that the characters can be seen better. The painting and colors are much sharper and done with more detail. The arch around the expo sign has each dent painted white and the base is the same color as the rug rather than white like the actual piece. Their is no under stamp marking but there is an affixed white label with a red line around it and the item number is written in ink.
(Images may take some time to load. All original photos are the subject of copyright protection. Thanks to Scooter for the photos.)
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Revised: 02/20/06.
