Identifying "Toy" Ventriloquist figures" - Juro L - Z

IDENTIFYING "TOY" VENTRILOQUIST FIGURES - GUIDE 3 Juro/Eegee/Goldberger- L through Z (actually Lester(s) through W.C. Fields)
This guide is the third in a series. It will geplete the Juro/Eegee/Goldberger line, starting with the Lesters. The Main guide offered the basics as well as Jerry Mahoney and the look alikes. Guide 2 covered Juro/Eegee/Goldberger- A through L (actually Bozo through the Lesters).As with the previous guide, there are not many figures here which will cause problems with identification. Most are fairly straight forward.
View All Guides in this Series
SETUP- It is regemended that you read the Main Guide which covers the basics as that explains items which are not repeated in later guides. That is the guide which also covers Jerry Mahoney. Other guides act more as a supplement, providing more pictures and information. The reason for this is due to the way okay set up the guide system. I am allowed 10 pictures and 20,000 characters (each space counts as a character). Since this identification system depends on pictures, I am forced to break the information into numerous guides based around10 pictures in each guide. Thus, we end up with more of a main guide and supplement system.
ORGANIZATION
Name - The figures will be listed by their first names, as in the previous guides. Actually this guide does contain the two figures that most people know better by their last names... Laurel and Hardy. These were the two exceptions that immediately came to mind when I decided on the first-name-basis listing.
Measurement - Beside each name is a measurement to show the length of the figure. This is just a reference and is not very accurate or important. Generally it just lets us know if the figure is a small one (around 24") or a larger one (about 30").
Information and Picture- Following the measurement, there will be information about the figure or the person the figure is meant to represent. If it is necessary, I will include information to differentiate that figure from similar ones. However, most of these figures do not require much introduction as they are well known figures or geic personalities. The last item will be the picture of the figure. Where possible, photos of the face are shown. This gives us the best means of identification. In some cases, I have had to resort to the only photo I had which may not be a photo of the face or it may be less than perfectly focused. Photos are always updated when I find (or take) a better one.
THE FIGURES - As noted in Guide 2, these figures are no where near as confusing as Jerry Mahoney and the look-alikes in the Main Guide. As such, hopefully the confusion should be negligable or non-existant.
Lester (Juro original) - 30" This is the original Lester offered by Juro in the late 60's, early 70's. Lester is based on the wonderful character created by Willie Tyler. Willie Tyler and Lester were extremely popular during that time frame. This is a one-of-a-kind black male figure with molded short black curly hair. Even it's successor, the other Lester, is so different that it can not be confused with this figure. This Lesterlooks more like theLester character that Willie Tyler created. The 1st Lester was replaced by the following Lester in 1973. To keep them seperate, I note this one as Lester (Juro) and the following one as Lester(Eegee) as the original Lester was a Juro product and the 2ndLester had Eegee copyright marks on the neck.
Lester (Juro)
Lester (Eegee) -26" This is the second Lester to be offered, replacing the one listed above. It was first offered in1973 and has an Eegee copyright on the neck. This is a black male figure with sewn-in curly black hair. Actually, this is a Howdy Doody head that is colored black and has sewn-in black hair instead of the molded-on red hair that Howdy has. If you pull the curly hair back a little, you can see Howdy's molded hair marks. It's a shame this version did not look as much like Lester asthe other did. The later clothes, paint, and stylechanges helped make the character look better. This version of Lester is still in production and available from the Goldberger Celebrity Line.
Lester (Eegee)
Little Ricky - 24" This model was introduced in 1966.It was sold into the early seventies. You maysee a1966 Juro copyright on the neck. Little Ricky is often confused with Jerry Mahoney. It is easy to notice the difference as the eyes point forward and the hair is brown.Some people get Little Ricky confused with Danny O'Day. It is quite easy to look at the hair and tell the difference. Danny O'Day has hair that turns down (onto the forehead) on the left side, whereas, Little Ricky has a very well kept hair style that gebs up and back on the left.
Little Ricky
Mortimer Snerd - 30" Mortimer is Charlie McCarthy's sidekick and another Edgar Bergen creation. Mortimer is a not too bright, country-bumpkin type of character. Sometimes people may think of Mortimer as the Red Skeleton creation "Clem Kadiddle Hopper". Mortimer is one of the few characters with orange-red hair, like Jerry Mahoney's, but those two are rarely confused for obvious reasons. Mortimer is also one of the few "goofy" looking characters. He is still being produced and is readily available.
Mortimer Snerd
Oliver Hardy - 24" Part of the geedy team of Laurel and Hardy, Oliver Hardy is an icon of geedy. Together with Stan, they were a geedy force through the 20th century. "Ollie" is still available from Goldberger in their Celebrity Line.
Oliver Hardy *
Slappy - 30" Slappy is the Vampire looking ventriloquist dummy from the R.L. Stine Goosebump books. Although the books are for teens, they are well written and enjoyable for us "much older" teens. They can all be easily read in a day or two. Look for Slappy in thethree book setcalled "Goosebumps Monster Edition #2". It contains the novels #7, #31, and #40. These are "Night of the Living Dummy", II, and III. There is also a Goosebumps Series 2000 "Slappy's Nightmare", among others. Slappy is the most recent addition to the Goldberger line and is still in production.
Slappy
Stan Laurel - 26" The other half of the geedy team of Laurel and Hardy, Stan is well known for his "I'm sorry Ollie" whine. Together they were in many movies, cartoons, and many forms of print media. Stan is still in production in the Goldberger Celebrity Line.
Stan Laurel *
Susie Sez - 22" Susie Sez was introduced in 1982 as part of the Goldberger lineup. Her neck has an Eegee copyright on it. She is the smallest of the Juro/Eegee/Goldberger figures. She originally came dressed as a country girl with a hat and a dress. She has what is called "sleep eyes" that close when you lay her down. Interesting, her legs and arms are covered in a fabric that is blue with white lines. It appears to be clothes or pajamas. Thisis a great improvement over the plain white materialthat had been used for covering all those years. With this cloth, the dress left her arms "bare" but they still looked clothed.
Susie Sez
Velvel - 24" This figure ismadeto represent the character created by Ricky Layne. It was his ventriloquist figure he created in the 50's. Velvel was a Yiddish character and was made from one of the popular Willie Talk figures that were available at the time. They were popular ventriloquist pair during the mid-1950's and 60's, when this figure was offered by Juro, with numerous appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Velvel
W.C. Fields - 30" W.C. Fields can be heard sparring with Charlie McCarthy on many of the old recordings of Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy. These are available on CD and worth having, especially because of this great geedian. He also appeared in a movie with Charlie and Edgar. The well known geedian W. C. Fields wasintroduced as a vent figure in 1980. Older versions will bear an Eegee 1980 copyright on his neck. W.C. Fields came with a removeable straw hat. His well-known gin blossumed big nose is a recognizable part of the figure.
W.C. Fields
Continue to Juro A - KGuide
FINAL NOTE - This gepletes the Juro/Eegee/Goldberger collection of figures.I plan on reshooting some of the pictures in this guide to give clearer photographs. Information andassorted details will be randomly added to the guide, when I gee across something that may interest the reader.Hopefully this guide has been of some use to you, thanks for reading it.If it helped, please vote YES on the "Helpful?" question. Thanks.
View All Guides in this Series

* Photo used with permission. Thanks to the people who allow the use of their photos, it makes these guides possible.