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Revised: 11/17/2024
Counter:
GC Checklist:
2000 2001 2002 2003-2004 2005-2006 |
Grand Champions are the most beautiful collectible horses in the world. The story of the horses began in 1988 and continued until the early 2000s. They are model toy horses made from hard plastic, and had brush able manes and tails. They came in a wide variety of styles, colors, and poses. They measure about 6" tall. The first American manufacture company was "Marchon INC " from Vernon Hills , IL, who had marked the early models on the inside of the leg. Later in 1992, Marchon stepped up by placing brands on the horses; first being a GC; to being a GC surrounded by an oval in the mid 90's. Both was located on their hips. In late '95, Marchon INC. started having issues, and were bought out by a new company called, "Empire Industries" from Tarboro, NC. Empire quickly went under way creating new horses that came out in stores in 1996. They made some changes to the molds they used for the horses, which changed the marks on the legs (from Marchon to Empire) and some of the molds seemed deformed a little. Also at this time, the material for the horses manes and tails had changed slightly, and some of the paint also had changed. The horses' bio cards changed colors and appearance. The boxes had changed in colour and style. Beyond making simple originals, Empire Toys released new horses to the GC line, such as; Sound stallions, Motion stallions, Feed N Nuzzles, Mini horses, Micro Mini horses, Collector Classics, and Action Champs. Grand Champions' Horses, it seemed, were to be the sole survivors of a tough toy world. I n the winter of 2000, Empire Toys declared bankruptcy which brought in a new company which again took over the GC line. This new company was called, "Alpha International", of Cedar Springs, Iowa In June 2001. They promised to make GCs better then before and more accessible. Alpha International kept their promise by releasing new horses, and new items to purchase. The bio cards once again changed in appearance as well as the boxes. At the same time, Mutiny Bay Enterprises" was a partner company and was in charge of mail order, customer services, and providing Grand Champions for sale online.
For a short period of time before 2008, J Lloyd International had the GC line.
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