The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Does this look like the "real" thing? Is it possible to tell from this one picture when this particular Nipper was made? I understand that there are reproductions.

It's a Nipper but a very recent one. It's probably ten or fifteen years old. Jerry

I have this same Nipper, which I purchased from an individual from
a nearby town a few years ago. This person told me that it had come
from an RCA store in rochester,ny and was used for display during
the late 40's or early 50's. Mine is very heavy chaulkware and is about 15" high,
has alot of nice patina to it and displays very nice next to my 1904 Victor Type E,
so enjoy yours it looks very nice.
Gene

They may be similar but I believe those are two different Nippers. I could be wrong but the first nipper has a dopey look to me. Now that marijuana is being legalized, at least in Oregon, maybe that Nipper will be accepted. I think if you had the two dogs side by side, you'd see the difference. Jerry

I have one like that also.edisonplayer

Lori and I acquired a Nipper like that one at the Chicago Coin Op Show several years ago. We suspected it might be a copy, but didn't care. We confirmed it was a reproduction later. One clue is that the mouth has a funny little grinning smirk to it, but that may not be the best and only way to tell. A better rule is; any time you see a Nipper that looks new, it probably is. Anytime you see one that has patina, it probably is old. Lori found a Nipper at the Oregon Antique Mall last weekend that looked like it had been doing marijuana recently, with eyelids low and a funny little smile on its lips. Russie Ofria

The really weird ones are made of plastic from China and instead of slanted eyes they have slanted jaws...

Made by a gentleman in Chicago roughly 25-30 years ago. He actually had an original mould. Did a good job. He sold hundreds and hundreds of them. I actually visited his home several years ago.