Brock -
Some less than the most serious collectors, incorrectly (and likely unknowingly), use the terms experimental and prototype interchangeably.
There is a distinct difference in the meaning of these two words, especially for the most serious collectors.
Prototype - the original model of something.
Experimental - an item made to discover, test or demonstrate something.
The meaning of these terms becomes even more blurred for the average person when they see Bear bows that are obviously a prototype, but are marked EXP. It is also important to note that some obvious vintage Bear prototypes are not marked.
Although I have seen many vintage Bear bows that were undoubtedly prototype bows, not sure that I have ever seen a vintage Bear bow marked "Prototype" or "Proto".
In the case of the EXP 1959 Kodiak, using the facts offered in my earlier post clearly prove that it is not a prototype.
mangonboat -
I agree with your suggestion that the bow was likely made later in the thin grip run. However, it is important to note that a thick grip could be easily sanded or routed down to be a thin grip at the factory.
The purpleheart SW likely places the EXP 1959 after the initial run of 64" maple SW bows of approximately 1,000.
John -
I believe in years past that we had a thread that pictured Kodiaks with a factory compass in the handle from each year from 1953 to 1959. I personally have a total of 15 different Kodiaks in the collection with factory compasses in the handle from 1953, 1954, 1954-1/2, 1958, 1959. Would not be surprised to learn of others.
In addition to a change in glue being responsible for designating a bow as EXP, other significant factors such as change in supplier or makeup of glass fibers, change in temperature, pressure, or cycle time in the press (plus countless other variations), could have been responsible for an EXP designation.
Like many factories, lots of variables did change over the course of an entire production year. To me, Bear seems like a typical small factory environment of the era.
Don't really think "Strange things were going on at Bear back then" as you suggest. They were simply trying to make money by producing archery tackle as opposed to documenting every detail of every bow in anticipation that 50 or 60 years later a group of anal retentive collectors might not have sufficient investigative skills to be able to figure out every detail of every bow produced by Bear in that era.
Topic: 1959 Kodiaks - the Rarest Model ??? (Read 6518 times)
