What are Hallmark Prototypes?
By: Don Palmiter
HAND-PAINTED ORIGINALS
A hand-painted original is an epoxy (white body) that is
usually the first out of the mold of the original sculpted wax ornament. These are cleaned up in the Hallmark mold
shop and delivered to the sculptor who sculpted it. The sculptor usually then paints the epoxy to
look exactly like he or she wishes the final ornament to look as a finished
product. Not always has the original
sculptor chosen to paint his or her ornament, but this is not the standard
case.
HAND-PAINTED DUPLICATES
A hand-painted duplicate is done in the same manner a few
days later after the original paint is approved. They are painted by a
duplicate artist to closely match the original artist’s piece. There are, or were usually, four to six of
these.
MOLDED DUPLICATES
Molded duplicates (green bodies) are unpainted epoxies used
in manufacturing all of the parts in an ornament. They are scanned by the
manufacturer for building the injection molds. These duplicates are usually
broken down into several pieces to build mold parts for the ornament.
All of these are or have been referred to as prototypes
because they are used to produce the final production ornaments sold to
collectors. They are not vendor samples. Much of this process has changed in recent
years due to the use of digital technology.
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