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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

Here's the story on the black Mazzolini figure:

In the 1990s a gentleman in northeast Ohio had the original Mazzolini molds. To his credit, he didn't use them to deceive anyone, and the small number of statues he produced were easily identifiable by their modern, glossy finish (although I do see them pop up on eBay and represented as being original).

Anyway, this gentleman was contacted by a native American group that was meeting with Cleveland Indians management to discuss their disapproval of the Chief Wahoo mascot. They placed an order for a number of modern Mazzolinis but asked that some of the statues be colored black and others a light yellow. They used these statues in their presentation to the team, using the reasoning that management wouldn't think of using a black Chief Wahoo or yellow version because blacks and Asians would find it offensive. That was their thinking, for what it's worth.

The gentleman agreed to make the statues with the understanding that he'd do it at no charge and the statues would be returned to him. They were, and he in turn sold them to a mutual friend, who passed one of the black ones along to me.

Sounds kind of wild, I know. But if you followed the Indians during their return to prominence in the mid-1990s, you'll remember that native American protests outside Jacobs Field were almost a daily happening for awhile. And the source of this tale is a person of unquestionable integrity.

The bottom line is the statue is kind of neat and a small part of my collection, so I've never agonized about the story I received with the figurine. (And best of all, the Mazzolini molds eventually were destroyed.)

Rob