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Volume 1349

My Collection: The Special Treasures
by
Wayne "Tintin" James
Part VI of the Wayne James Biblio-Pro-Phile

My last chapter covers those things that I consider my special treasures. Most of them are unique, but some are only limited in their production (not necessarily numbered). In most cases we only have one of each of these. Not all of these are done by professionals, but all of them are treasures.

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Figures

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Tarzan statue 596 of 600. I am sure many of you have this limited edition, but if not, they were still available from Bud Plant on December 1st, 2004. Which brings up the question, "Why do I have such a high number if more are still available?" I purchased mine from Bud Plant. Perhaps there are only four more left.

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This ape-man piñata was picked up at an Albertson's super-market in Colorado Springs in 2002. It is distributed by Dos Amigos Distributors. I was just tagging along with Edie, not really looking for anything, when she pointed to the ceiling indicating that I should look up. I figured that a bird had managed to invade the store and was flying around the lights. Imagine my surprise when I saw this figure hanging from the ceiling. It did not take long for me to find an employee to get it down for me.

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These Russian Nesting Dolls were located on ebay.

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I commissioned Sally Webber of Bisque Quick in Englewood, Colorado (wife of our own Tantor) to make this Betty Boop ceramic doll for Edie in early 2000.

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Cakes and Cake Figurines

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My birthday cake for April 2, 1982 from a private little bakery (a German bakery I believe)
in downtown Colorado Springs.

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My get well cake for May 28, 2000 from SAM's in Colorado Springs.

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The following explanation was given us when we purchased these two sets of porcelain figurines from an eBay vendor in Italy.

These hand painted, porcelain figurines come from France. They are made to be put inside a "King Cake" for the "Epiphany" Holiday. This holiday is celebrated every year on January 6th, the 12th day of Christmas. Tradition states that this is the day that the three wise men came to Bethlehem, to honor the baby Jesus. A long running tradition in France is to bake a "King Cake", and insert a bean inside the cake. This bean has been replaced by a ceramic figure.The child who finds the figure in his or her slice, is king for the day. This tradition has been commercial ized, and there is a very wide assortment of porcelain and gold figures that are made for the Epiphany.

Porcelain cake figurines from France

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Artwork On Flat Surfaces

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Most of my coworkers know of my affection of Tarzan and Tarzan related paraphernalia and a few have even brought me things related to Tarzan. One coworker's 12 year old daughter did this pencil art for me after her dad told her I liked Tarzan.

Pencil art by Joann Kenyon, June, 1999

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Tom Yeates' Guy Williams/Zorro commissioned as a birthday present for Edie. Tom has done quite a bit of ERB related artwork, and I do have some of it. However, I chose to use this piece for my writing here because I submitted the basic idea to Tom and he produced my idea on paper. So, while this is not an ERB related piece of artwork, it is done by an artist who does ERB art. Besides, literary license allows me to do this. (Edie is quite protective of this piece and insists that I not post a good picture, so the picture you see is intentionally not crisp and clear.)

Guy Williams/Zorro by Thomas Yeates, 2000

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This next piece of artwork comes with two 8x10 photographs and a certificate of authenticity. I hope to meet the artist someday.

Donations and requests for a piece of Cheeta's Ape-stract art can be sent to:
Dan Westfall Cheeta Primate Foundation
PO Box 8162
Palm Springs, CA 92263

Or email cheetathechimp@cs.com

 

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Our oldest granddaughter, Cassie, painted this rubber painting on a 6 inch mirror for me for Christmas 2002.

Rubber painting by Cassandra Davis, 2002.

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Joe Jusko signed print, 388 of 3000, for which I sent in the a card when I was putting together my Jusko card sets. Other examples of his work can be found at http://www.scanraptor.com/cabernet/joejusko1.htm

"Tarzan of the Apes" by Joe Jusko.

The portion of my print with Jusko's signature is show here. This print is framed and has a dust cover on the back so opening it for scanning is not an option. I had to lay the frame on the scanner and then darken the picture to see the signature.

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Disney's Tarzan artwork that I found on sale at our local Disney Store (when we still had local Disney Stores) in 1999. At that time they also honored our Magic Kingdom card for an additional 10% off the price. Such a bargain I could not turn down.

Tarzan at different ages and at different stages of a swing.

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My first wife used to come up with some pretty good finds herself. One day she surprised me with some Tarzan pictures she had done herself.

Pencil and water paint by Bertie James, March 23, 1981.
 
 

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Clothing

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To make this Disney's Tarzan jacket Edie used a French "Tarzan Encounter" poster as a model.

Hand painted jacket by Edie James, 2001.

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Disney's Tarzan jacket made by Edie for 2003 Dum-dum. It seems that Disney does not know that some children need adult sizes of their clothes so, again, Edie had to improvise. We found some children's coats on sale, purchased them and cut all the embroidery off. Next Edie found some Levi jackets in our size and attached the Disney embroidery and violà, we have Disney jackets... just like the rest of the children.

Edie's jacket

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Miscellaneous

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This candle is from my sister in Huntsville, Texas. She had it made for me in a candle shop in the mall in Coleen, Texas for Christmas 2002.

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We are the proud owners, as many of you are, of Tarzan beer from the 2004 Dum-dum in Fort Collins. This was a case were we were able to purchase three of these, rather limited items, for ourselves.

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Both of my sons wrote Tarzan stories for me when they were very young.

Terry wrote his story in June of 1980. He was seven years old and did not want to actually do the writing, so I played stenographer while he dictated. After the story was complete, but before the final printing, he went through it and marked where he wanted to add puffy stickers for illustrations. As I printed it out, I left space for him to add the stickers. This story is just over four hand printed pages.

His story, which is just over four hand printed pages in length, is an adventure with a pterodactyl. Tarzan uses Nkima, tantor, numa, omtag, and some dynamite to return the pterodactyl to the Earth's core. One of Disney's cartoon episodes follows a similar story line.

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Kevin was four when he decided to write me a Tarzan story. He did not want to dictate it to me though, rather, he wanted to do it on my typewriter. He could not write with a pencil, but he knew he could type. After all he had watched me do it and knew it was easy. His story, from September 21, 1981, is presented here in its entirety because no description, I could render, would do it justice.

 

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My Latest Discovery

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My latest piece of artwork is actually camera art. It is my proof positive that Tarzan does exist. I had the good fortune to meet Lady Greystoke recently and she assured me that Tarzan is real and very much alive. Lest anyone doubt my word, the photograph, taken September 4, 2004 is presented here.

Wayne James and Jane (Porter) Clayton

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