Seit vielen Jahren schon steht dieser kleine Mann auf meinem Schreibtisch und hält einen Bleistift bereit.
Woher ich ihn habe, weiß ich leider nicht mehr, und als einzige Kennzeichnung trägt er einen Aufkleber mit „Made in Germany“. Kennt jemand aus meiner geschätzten Leserschaft den Namen und die Herkunft dieses kleinen Mannes?
Dear Gunther, How about this one? See: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/d-forme/item/10000537/ .
Thank you for the link, Wowter! There are quite a few online stores in Asia which offer this figurine but the one you have linked to has the most photos I have seen so far. Unfortunately there is no indication of a manufacturer (I wish the barcode in one of the photos could be read). In Germany ALFI is know for their thermal coffee pots but this ALFI is a different company. I have looked at the Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, but none of the 14 active brands named „ALFI“ has something to do with plastic figurines. Sola from pencils and other things has found out that the gentleman was originally the character for a pharmaceutical company. I will look into that.
Difficult indeed. But there is more on eBay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/ALFI-Kombinationsspiel-Figuren-Puppen-60er-Jahre-/290484437723 . Definitely a German connection. But not easy to trace.
And this one as well: http://www.collectibles-hamburg.de/Comicfiguren/19-Figuren-Anhaenger-ALFI-Maskottchen-Hula-Maedchen-10-cm.html .
Thank you for these links too, Wowter! They are very interesting because they show the same logo as the Rakuten offering and indicate that the company ALFI exists for at least 50 years. I will contact the one behind Collectible Hamburg; maybe he knows more. – Of course it could be possible that the ALFI name has been sold and the figurine is now made by a German OEM.
I have to admit that I am now a little obsessed with the wish to find out where these figurines are made by whom!
Ick denke es wird schwierig. Vielleicht gibt er Leser die mehr wissen.
Ja, es ist in der Tat schwierig, aber das spornt mich an! :-)