More Bear-ied Treasure coming soon!!(Pics added 5-13)

[johnnyrazorhead]

Got time for more goodies.This is an interesting little bowcase.Never saw one quite like it before.I've seen the larger Bear soft cases that hold a riser and two sets of limbs with the red lining.Lets take a look see,shall we?
 
 Very cool.Holds a riser and one set of limbs.And the lining is yellow.Hmmm....
 
 Ah.Very nice.A wood C-riser.I didn't have one of those.
 
 Looks like a dandy.Clean.Nice small grip.
 
 
 It's got the brown bears on the latches.My favorite!
 

[johnnyrazorhead]

Nice set of white limbs with black tips.And the recessed wedges.I love that!!
   
   
   
 How cool.A set of White Knight limbs.I believe those were named after Victor Berger,right? Or not.Either way,I love 'em.
   
 What's this on the side of the riser?More writing?What does it say I wonder???
   

 What a great looking riser,and "Customized by Bear".I've seen that on one other C-riser I once owned years ago.Got it from a former employee that shot for Bear.Wonder who this one was made for.Oh well,we may never know the answer to that question but another very cool piece of un-earthed treasure.Hope you enjoyed seeing it.
Finally,the family is complete.
 

[johnnyrazorhead]

Ah,what the heck.One more,then it's off to bed.Picked up this cool set of take-down limbs with the other stuff as well.Now,I've seen some like these in the past.I even have two other sets like them.And I know of a couple others.All of the sets I've seen like these have been #2 limbs.Why,I don't know.Maybe a set of #1's or #3's will pop up somewhere.Anything is possible.
  These limbs also had the small piece of white tape on them marked EXP.Now,for those of you that might think I'm just putting all these little pieces of white tape on these things and writing EXP on them to make it interesting...
 SHAME ON YOU!!!! I would never do that.This is how I got them,O.K.?Just wanted to clarify that.I'm not sure what riser these would look good on.They're sort of a pea green or mustard colored glass and the core is some sort of maroon colored phenolic or something.
 I guess when you consider the time frame when they were experimenting with all these different things at Bear I suppose it seemed "normal" at the time.I mean,it was the late 1960's you know.Hippies,Woodstock.LSD.Maybe they were experimenting with alot more than just bows in that R&D Dept.I'm just throwin' it out there.Maybe Bowdoc would know.Anyhow,I want to hate them but I find myself being strangly attracted to their unique appearance.What do you think? Thumbs up or thumbs down? and how many others have seen or own limbs like these?Just curious.
     
     
 Here's the EXP sticker that I DID NOT put on myself!!
     
 The limb specs written backwards compared to most limbs,starting with the C,then the B,and finally the A.
     
 The silkscreens in black:
     
     
 And white tips.I may have some with black tips,I'm not sure.I'll dig 'em out and see.
               See ya later!!

[hayslope]

Damn John - do you live in one of those "vortex" areas like the Bermuda Triangle?  Weird Bear stuff sure seems to find its way to your area of MI.

Nice finds........those are some unusual limbs!

[Jack Shanks]

John,

 You always come up with the cool stuff! Nice!

[johnnyrazorhead]

Hayslope- Things have "sucked" here in Michigan for so long with this economy that I suppose I could be in some sort of vortex.LOL.So many manufacturing jobs have left this state.All this weird stuff is just evidence of  the good ol' days when that little factory along the shores of the AuSable River in Grayling was in it's prime cranking out all this great stuff and making history in the process.Bear Archery was definitely one of the bright spots in Michigan's past.Thankfully some of what remains of those days is still popping up around me.Just gotta dig a little bit.
 I agree,the limbs are certainly unusual.

[johnnyrazorhead]

Thanks Jack.But I gotta tell you,that beautiful 70# 1964 Kodiak you found is pretty impressive.I think we need to hang out a little more.You're a pretty good treasure finder yourself buddy.  

[Larry m]

Wow John
More cool stuff. That Customized C Riser with the limbs are a treat for the eye's. Neat Stuff Indeed!!!!!!

[alaskabowhunter]

you're such a bow tease John....

[alaskabowhunter]

hmmm, yea, I got a camera around here somewhere...

[Hobow]

Originally posted by hayslope:
Damn John - do you live in one of those "vortex" areas like the Bermuda Triangle?  Weird Bear stuff sure seems to find its way to your area of MI.

Nice finds........those are some unusual limbs!

X2, I'm with hayslope on this one, keep finding this kind of stuff and I think the "BEAR-muda Triangle" would become the perfect name for your collection John...

That is a pretty unique grip, it would seem to be easy to recognize, I'll keep my eyes peeled as I go through my old magazines.

Great stuff as usual and keep it coming!

Brad

[johnnyrazorhead]

Brad- I like that,the "Bear-muda Triangle".I don't know how you guys come up with stuff like that.I may just use that if I need a name for a display in the future.

 Chuck- Get that camera out!!! I know you're sitting on a treasure-trove of Bear-ied treasure yourself.Time to share 'cuz I'm running out of stuff!

[johnnyrazorhead]

I have a few more items to show you from my recent "Bear-ied treasure" find and wanted to save the best for last.But with little time to take pictures and post them in the order that I would like,I decided to get these pics up while time allowed.
 Fred had always wanted a bow that could be broken down for travelling.He was flying all over the world hunting all kinds of animals with his bow and travelling with a full length recurve didn't always work out the best.Being able to break his bow down in a smaller carry-on package was a huge plus for him.At that time I'm sure one could easily board a commercial airline with a bow disassembled and cased.Not so much today.Fred messed with the idea of a take-down bow for awhile before him and the boys in R&D finally came up with the ultimate idea.Not actually a "take-apart" bow that required some sort of tool to assemble/disassemble the bow,but one that could be taken apart without needing any sort of tool.You know the system I'm talking about,one still being made and used today.These are examples of two of the earliest versions ever made.I have,over the years,referred to these bows as the "brass bears" as they have small brass bears mounted on the latches as opposed to the more familiar plastic brown bears we find on the early production bows.I was told that as these bows were getting ready for introduction to the sporting goods industry,Fred sat down and drew up these small bears and had the boys in the tooling dept. make up a few sets.These brass bears were brazed to small screws and mounted on the risers.I was told that less than ten sets of these "brass bear risers" were made,making them truly some of the rarest "Bear-ied treasure" known.Fred wanted a few of these risers completed,bears and all,for the upcoming trade show where they were to be shown for the first time.
 Sit back and enjoy a couple of these pre-production,prototype,whatever you want to call them,take-down risers.Truly history in the making as the take-down bow was Fred's favorite bow of choice,his Holy Grail,and the last bow he ever hunted with.
   
   

 Serial numbers are very low and in sequence on these two.B1007 and B1008
   

[johnnyrazorhead]

Here's a couple of pictures of the "brass bears"
 
 

 Here's a couple alongside a plastic brown bear on an early production riser:
 
 

 You can see how much the production riser(top) was trimmed down compared to the prototype version:
 
 

[johnnyrazorhead]

A couple more pictures:
 
 

 The inside of these latches are marked "Model B" as opposed to "Model 10" as found in the production sockets.Sockets and latches are pretty much the same as on the production models except for a couple of early changes that were made out of necessity.I was told an interesting story about these changes and will share it with you here,along with photos so you can see them.These were last minute changes made to correct a problem that Fred discovered shortly before these bows were to be at that trade show.
 Unfortunately it is past my bedtime so I will leave you with this one last picture until I can finish the "show and tell" on the latches.
 (You're right Chuck,I am a tease!)LOL    
 

[hayslope]

 

You definitely live in the Bearmuda Triangle!

Great finds!!!!

[OldSkoolArcher]

WOW. That is awesome. I am truly jealous. Thanks for sharing!!!

[jcar315]

 

Can't get enough of the TD inside info!!!

[zepnut]

Nice John  

[vintage-bears]

Thanks for sharing those handles John.
Museum stuff right there........