The Polar was introduced in 1950 as a 62" sinple reflexed longbow with the woven glass and the aluminum lam. Wedged leather shelf with a straight grip.
1951 - 62" bow with unidirectional blond glass and the aluminum lam, though that was stopped mid-year like the rest of the Bear line-up. Same wedged leather shelf and straight grip.
1952 - Length increased to 64" with blond fiberglass front and back. Same wedged shelf and straight grip.
1953 - 64" red glass, single cut in shelf with a saddle grip.
1954 - 64" and 68", red glass, dual shelves on a saddle grip. This is the last year the Polar was a simple reflexed longbow.
I got this pic from Wade to show the glass colors. Thanks Wade!
1955 - 64" 'semi-recurve' with brick red glass and dual shelves
1956 - 64" 'semi-recurve with the same brick red glass and dual shelves. For most of the year, there were single white tip overlays and the riser was trimmed like the Kodiak and KSpecials, though none of the catalogs I've seen show this. The '56 I've seen with a plain maple riser, no overlays and silkscreens may have been made in late '55 or early '56, but I've only seen one like that so far.
1957 - 64" semi-recurve, red glass, single shelf and white tip overlays. There's an additional 1/2" of net reflex in this bow vs. the '56. I have seen pics of a '57 with the riser trimmed like the Kodiaks (if you have one, shoot me a PM
) but the standard '57 just had a plain maple riser.
1958 - 64" semi-recurve, red glass, single shelf and white tip overlays. Telling the difference between the '58 and the '57 is tough. There's a full inch
less net reflex than in the '57 and the sow belly riser is a little more pronounced. I've seen one '58 with the rounded sight window, but most still have the scalloped window. I haven't found a transitional Polar yet (sowbelly with the greater reflex of the '57) but I've only had my hands on a dozen '57-58 Polars at this point.
1959-60 - 64" recurve (though just barely), red glass, single shelf and deflexed I-beam riser. Gorgeous bow and in the running of my favorite Bear.
From left to right, 1954-'59
As I said, the riser difference between the '57 and '58 is subtle, but easy to see when you have them on top of one another.
And here are the limb profiles
There is little difference in the '55 and '56 profile, but I hope the pic shows the differences between those and the '57 and '58 well enough.
And the tips (right to left this time)
The 1961 Polar started off as 64" with white glass and just a tad more recurve in the limbs than the '59. At some point in the year Bear switched it over to 66" with more of a working recurve.
I have a small rack of '57 Polars left from figuring this stuff out and a few more on the way. Some of those will be moving off the rack, but one of my personal bows will be getting new tip overlays and a low-stretch string
They are a completely different bow set up that way :D
Topic: Early Bear Polar Identification Guide 1950-1961 (Read 3656 times)
