Posted 2 years ago
kwqd
(1122 items)
This cast iron roadrunner is 9" tall x 12" long, with a body length, minus tail, of 8" and weighs 4 lbs 12 ounces. It appears to be solid cast iron and was imported from Japan for Wildwood Imports which seems to have been in business from 1969 into the 1980s. Marked only with a paper label. The finish is a little beat up. Could be barely "vintage". Finish is meant to simulate bronze.
This one was a difficult call for me. I have been trying to stick with Japanese items either with the mark in Japanese in the mold or unmarked/marked with a paper label not made for export. Since roadrunners are native to North and Central America it was obviously made for export. It is a pretty cool, large hunk of cast iron, has fairly nice mold work and was only $9.99, so I decided to go for it. Still a nice example of Japanese foundry work though it looks like a bit of minor file work would have made it a bit nicer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadrunner
Marking it as Mystery Unsolved since the foundry that made it is not known.
Awesome score!!
Thanks jscott0363. It makes a statement, I think!
Thanks Watchsearcher, fortapache, blunderbuss2 and Kevin!
All you need is the coyote and your set! Nice buy .
Lol, dav2no1! A cast iron Wiley Coyote added to my wish list....
Thanks for loving my iron bird vcal and dav2no1!
Beautiful roadrunner, love the detail
Thanks for your comments, Jenni! It is pretty well done for an export item!
Thanks for loving my roadrunner okimono Vynil33rpm, Alfie21, Bruce99, Jenni and PhilDMorris!
kwqd, Cool roadrunner. <3
Although, at twelve inches long, it's actually on the small side for an adult roadrunner. I've seen a stuffed one, and it was fully twenty-four inches long.
They definitely make you believe the bird/dinosaur connection:
https://www.desertusa.com/birds/roadrunner-bird.html
*snip*
A roadrunner approaches a rattler with wings and tail spread wide, using them as a decoy much like a bull fighter uses a cape. The function of the display is to elicit a strike which the roadrunner avoids by leaping into the air. After several strikes, the roadrunner gauges the length and speed of the snake’s defense and readies itself for the kill. In the middle of the strike, when the snake is most extended, the roadrunner grabs the head in its mandibles and repeatedly pummels the snake against the ground. After battering, the vertebral column is broken in multiple places and the rattlesnake is effectively paralyzed.
A roadrunner’s mandibles don’t have sharp edges and it lacks the powerful talons of a hawk. Prey can’t be torn into pieces and so must usually be swallowed whole. Long animals, such as whiptail lizards and snakes, must be swallowed in stages. It may take well over an hour before the entire animal disappears down the roadrunner’s throat. It is not unusual to see a roadrunner running about with the tail of a snake or lizard hanging from its mouth.
*snip*
https://www.desertsun.com/story/desert-magazine/2018/12/03/california-desert-roadrunners-disappear-each-winter-heres-why/2195865002/
A roadrunner paralyzing and eating a rattlesnake (not a sight for the faint of stomach):
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DimJollyBushbaby-mobile.mp4
Thanks for the very interesting and informative data and links, keramikos! I really enjoyed reading more about this dinosaur descendant!
Thanks Kevin!
kwqd, You're welcome. :-)
I like it when I see a roadrunner. Running, that is. Not so much when they're eating. };-)
I once saw one warming itself up on a cold morning by standing very still in the sun with its wings spread slightly and its feathers ruffled:
https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1994/Beep-Beep-Varooommm
Thanks RichmondLori!
I have or had two of these roadrunners. My grandmother befriended a roadrunner that lived in a tree close to her house . I bought the iron birds because they were awesome but also they reminded me of her. I also have footage of a roadrunner that caught a snake and jumped up onto the cab of my car in the driveway and proceeded to slam the snake down over and over till the snake expired . They are very unique birds
Thanks for your comments Cddkc! Very interesting stories. I live at least several hundred miles from the closest roadrunner but would love to see one.
Thanks kivatinitz!
Thanks aura!
This is wonderful and your exceptional photos really go for the gold. I seem to be riveted in my seat as I look at them. The bird is transformed as a dinasour at a moments notice. The finish is a bit under the mark as edges of the wings could be better but overall from a distance they still beguile, Japanese sensibility intact, a bronze type of iron - a great collector size, this is an artist's dream !~
Thanks for you comments PhilDMorris! I agree, it is disappointing that the finishing wasn't better on this piece. An hour or so with some files and a bit of polishing before applying the final finishing and this could have a been a stunner from any distance.
Thanks for loving my roadrunner GianaMZ!
Thank you rancherswife!