I got quite a treat—a real puzzle—because there’s a lot of confusion surrounding this mold, and I wasn’t entirely sure what had actually landed in my hands. It turned out to be Hatatitla, a horse from the Big Jim/Karl May action figure universe, but as far as the mold itself goes, it’s the very first Barbie horse in the world—Dancer.
However, figuring out exactly what kind of horse this was turned out to be far from easy. I had never handled a Dancer mold before and had no idea its history was so complicated.
When I realized that a horse with the mold of the very first-ever Barbie horse had come within my reach, I didn’t hesitate long—I knew it had to join the herd, no matter which exact horse it was. Either way, today it’s a true vintage piece, the oldest of all my horses.
This horse arrived from Denmark and was sold as a Barbie horse, though I wasn’t entirely sure about that. I wasn’t familiar with the universe of this mold, having never handled it before, and given that it’s a vintage piece, I didn’t expect it to come my way so quickly. As you know, I’m drawn to horses from my childhood, so the 1970s—which we’re talking about here—are generally out of my reach.
What kind of horse is this?
Wow, the history is so tangled that I don’t even know where to start. I’m still getting lost in all of it myself. Maybe the best way is chronologically—let’s start with the mold.In 1970, the very first Barbie horse appeared. Technically, it’s a mare, and her name is Dancer. The ’70s were Mattel’s era of toys with motion bases—this series was called Live Action. Toys from this series are shown on the back panel of the Dancer I packaging.
The car and dolls in the scenes—the three on the left—were battery-powered, while the rest were manually operated, including our horse.
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| Back side of the package Barbie - Dancer (1970) |
Dancer also has a base that allows her to be moved. But let’s get back to the horse itself—I won’t describe it in detail here, since this isn’t a post about Dancer. However, Dancer is the prototype of other horses, including the one we’re focusing on: Hatatitla. So let’s focus on the mold itself.
Dancer has a hollow plastic body, typical of Barbie horses. She has a fixed head and neck, with a plastic mane and tail. This clearly sets her apart from later horses—no real hair. However, she does have 12-point limb articulation, something most later horses lack (with one exception).
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| The first Dancer on its' platform |
Subsequent editions of this horse appeared in the following years—they no longer had the hole in the belly or the base, which was exclusive to the very first version. The color of the accessories, the body, and the type of saddle also changed. As we can see, the first Dancer had a Western-style saddle and the same type of bridle.
She also had metal joints—that is, the movable connections were made of metal.
Now, let’s take a look at the next editions of this horse: Dancer II.
In the photo above, we can already see a noticeable difference – the color is different, more reddish, and it has a side saddle for a female doll as well as a bridle in a different color than the original. The rest, for now, remains the same.
Here we have plastic joints. A different type of saddle – this time an English-style saddle – but again, the color is different. I assume this is the 1976 version, and my Hatatitla arrived with this very saddle.
It’s worth mentioning that some sets included two saddles – English and Western, or a side saddle for a female doll and a Western saddle.
In the next photo, we see a representative of the youngest line (most likely) – this horse also has plastic joints.
The next Dancer with plastic joints also features shading.
It’s worth mentioning that horses on this mold were produced in four locations worldwide – in the USA, Spain (Congost), Germany, and Italy. I’ll end the discussion about Dancer here and move on to the main point of the post – as you can see, my horse is actually different from Barbie horses.
Hatatitla
In 1972, Mattel launched the Big Jim action figure line, and in the mid-1970s, the West series – also called Friends of the West or Karl May – appeared. I haven’t delved deeply into the history of Dancer II, but the confusion surrounding it is nothing compared to this other Mattel toy line, where the mold of the original Dancer was used.Now focus. Barbie and Big Jim are two separate toy lines – yet both feature the same horse shape (mold), which first appeared in 1970 in the Barbie line as Dancer. To make things even more confusing, the Big Jim toys in the Karl May-inspired series were sold under three different names (though they were the same models) – the name depended on the place of production and distribution.
In the Karl May version, these toys appeared in the USA, Canada, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and West Germany. They were mainly developed in Europe, since Big Jim in the USA was only available until 1978. In countries where the series wasn’t called Karl May, it simply became part of the Big Jim line. This involved different packaging designs and even different names for individual characters. But that’s not all – additional characters were introduced in these countries, outside of Mr. May’s book universe. At this point, you should begin to understand what I meant earlier when I said it’s very confusing.
I haven’t read Mr. May’s books, and I’m not sure I’ve ever watched a Western from this universe – I’ve heard of it, but I’m neither a connoisseur nor an expert. To avoid further complicating things with Mattel and Congost (the Spanish company that produced Mattel toys under license) – they already made it complicated enough. Where the series was called Karl May, it referred strictly to the books – the characters had the same names as in the novels. The main characters were the cowboy Old Shutterhand and the Apache chief Winnetou.
Of course, each of them had their trusty horse – Winnetou had a dark bay mare with a white marking on her head and white socks, named Iltschi (which means “wind”). Old Shutterhand had a chestnut stallion with black socks, named Hatatitla (which means “lightning”).
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| German catalogue |
As I mentioned, there were also countries where this series was absorbed into the main Big Jim line and became an integral part of it. In those cases, the packaging followed Big Jim’s graphic style—but that wasn’t all. The characters had different names, and additional figures were created outside of Karl May’s literary universe, specifically to expand the series.
In Italy, under the Big Jim brand, the series was called “Gli amici del West di Big Jim”, which translates to “Big Jim’s Friends of the West.”
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| Italy 1977 |
In these two cases—as I mentioned earlier—the characters had different names: Old Shutterhand was called Dakota Joe, and Winnetou was called Geronimo.
Horses also had different names - Hatatitla = Tempest and Iltschi = Pinto.
The packaging, as I mentioned, had a different graphic design—though the illustrations were the same.
Today, we are focusing on the cowboy’s horse—Hatatitla—because this is the horse that joined my collection. It took me some time to determine exactly which model I was dealing with, and I think it’s now clear why… The previous owner simply assumed it was a Barbie horse, but aside from the mold, does it resemble any of the Dancers?
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| My horse - picture from the ad |
It does resemble a Dancer, but one thing doesn’t match—the black markings on the legs. Dancer didn’t have any markings or variations. That’s why I knew that with this mold, you can’t jump to conclusions.
In the Karl May series, the packaging shows a horse with black markings covering more than half of the legs. Looking at my specimen, again, something doesn’t add up.
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But on the side we can see a horse with black socks.
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Inside this packaging, there were both horses with socks and horses with stockings.
In some catalogs, he appears with socks, in others with stockings – it’s really enough to drive you crazy trying to figure out which horse is which!
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| Fremch catalogue 1978 |
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| German catalogue 1977 |
And on the side of the Italian packaging, we can see pictures of the horse with socks:
Finally, after long searches for sense in all this madness, I found a reasonable explanation on one blog: in 1976/77, this horse had socks, and from 1978, it had stockings. In the early years of production, it had metal joint connections; in the later years, plastic ones.
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| on the left - metal joints, on the right - plastic joints |
How can you tell what kind of joints a horse has? The metal ones are visible on the body, while the plastic ones are not. Above is an example with the Big Jim horse – Thunder.
There’s also a Karl May version packaging where the picture showed Hatatitla labeled as Iltschi. Someone at the factory must have been really bored, and quality control probably didn’t exist.
Other horses
Why am I so particular about these markings? Because there’s another horse from this universe – Amigo! And he had stockings from the very beginning. He also comes in the same packaging as Tempest.
Besides Amigo, there are also Fury and Thunder. These horses were introduced as additional figures, outside the original universe of the novels – the same goes for the Native American and cowboy characters.
Fury was produced in Spain by Congost and looked just like a younger Dancer II – although it reportedly had a slightly darker shade of brown.
In the same packaging as Fury, Thunder was also sold, a buckskin-colored horse – just like on the illustration on the box.
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| Thunder |
In the same packaging, there was also a horse that was simply unnamed – a Big Jim horse, in a more yellow-brown shade, referred to by collectors as “Curry.” Some claim it was a second color variant of Thunder, because his instruction sheet showed that name. It also appeared in packaging like the one below:
A total mess!
The last Big Jim horse was Tornado/Ouragan – it looked like Hatatitla/Tempest/Amigo, but it was the only one with a real hair mane and tail.
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| Tornado had a white marking on the head |
Finally, to wrap up this investigation, I’ll just add that Mattel did the same thing with Barbie – the best examples are Lord, the dog with many names, or the Western Fun/Suncharm series.
These horses often don’t have any markings although some examples are marked, like this Thunder below – Dancer should have a marking on the inner side of the hind leg.
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| Markings in Big Jim/Karl May and Barbie are the same |
Big Jim/Karl May horses also came with silver stickers for decorating the harness and saddle – something that didn’t happen with Barbie.
The Big Jim/Karl May western saddles and bridles also differed in small details from Barbie’s.
Hatatitla is a stallion, although at first glance the name might seem more feminine. The name means “lightning” or “thunder” in the Aztec Nahuatl language.
Hatatitla in my collection
This is how he looked when he arrived. It’s the first horse in this mold that I’ve had in my hands, so it’s time for some exploration.
His front legs are in a strange position because someone had locked them by bending them too far backward. I had already noticed this flaw in the ad.
There were paint chips visible on the mane, tail, and eyes, though considering its age, I think it’s in great shape.
The bridle seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t place which horse it belonged to – it’s definitely not something from that era.
After a closer analysis, I determined that the bridle comes from one of the Cali Girl horses from 2004.
The saddle clearly appears to be from Dancer II. On the underside, it bears markings – Mattel Inc. 1976 TAIWAN and the numbers 9900–2019. It is made of very flexible plastic, almost rubber-like. As you can see, despite the years, it has retained its stirrups. It is also not as sharply curved as newer saddles of this type. The top of the saddle has a texture resembling leather.
The horse’s body, in the areas around the joints, is slightly scratched – both on the shoulder and the hips.
The head of this mold is completely different from most later horses – more natural and quite solid. Its shape is closer to a rectangle rather than a triangle, as seen for example in Prancer from 1983.
The shape is even – the muzzle and eyes are aligned on the same level. It’s a very nice, well-shaped head, quite natural and proportionate.
Dancer, despite a slight taper at the front, does not have the characteristic narrowing at the withers.
Its joints are very similar to those of my Joey, and they make the same clicking sound when bent, with those strange little protruding dots on the inside. Most joints function properly, but unfortunately, one of the hind legs no longer clicks, which sometimes causes Hatatitla to splay. The paint on the legs is in very good condition, with only minimal chips.
The details of the hooves are remarkable, showing both the horseshoes and the inner part of the bottom of the hoof accurately.
Restoration Process
Hatatitla underwent a standard preliminary wash. Since he has no hair to brush, there wasn’t much work in that regard. After washing, I used a hairdryer to warm the plastic around the blocked joints and managed to press them back into their original positions, allowing Hatatitla to lift his front legs again. Unfortunately, this procedure wasn’t without complications—even after warming the plastic and applying a lubricant, a small piece of plastic cracked. After drying the horse, I glued it back in place. There’s a small scar, but even without reattaching the piece, it wouldn’t have been a disaster.I also decided to restore his paint—the eyes were the most worn. I filled in the missing paint on the mane, tail, and legs. The eyes received a layer of glossy varnish, giving the horse back a sense of life.
Accessories
I also made him a saddle pad by sewing together a piece of felt with a light brown suede-like material, which I recently used for Skye’s pad.
Some time ago, I acquired a set of various saddles and bridles, including a Western saddle from the era of horses on the Dancer mold, along with a matching bridle. Judging by this bridle, I believe the set actually comes from Dallas on the Dancer 1970 mold—the clue is in the noseband. On Karl May/Big Jim horses, it looked like a plain browband; the segments were separated by grooves rather than raised bars. If you look closely, you can see subtle grooves on the browband of this bridle. Another clue is the holes in the reins—they are arranged transversely and are larger than those on the earliest horses.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the original girth for this saddle, so for now I used a girth from a similar silver saddle. It looks a bit odd, but the saddle stays securely in place.
After the makeover
After the refresh, my Hatatitla looks really nice. He’s not a typical Barbie horse, so there’s no spectacular transformation here. He’s a vintage piece, even older than me, and currently holds the title of the oldest horse in my collection.
I took a few photos of him in the garden. The weather was nice but windy, so I didn’t have much patience for composing the shots. I also decided to test taking photos with my phone and was disappointed with the results—nothing beats a real camera.
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The refreshed eyes gave him some character; thanks to the layer of varnish, they now shine beautifully.
The saddle and reins are a bit too light, which makes them blend with his color – the originals were much darker.
I wanted to pose him in motion, but it didn’t go very well due to the gusty wind, his loose joints in one of the hind legs, and the uneven grass. I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but this horse is very light, so he stands little chance against stronger gusts of wind.
A few shots with Jackie (Summer Cali Girl Horseback).
I think Hatatitla is roughly the same size as Baja, although he might be a little taller. I haven’t had the chance to place them side by side yet – now that I have a few articulated horses, I think that could make a nice idea for a separate post.
How does this horse look with a doll on its back?
With the Big Jim figures, in my opinion, he looks better. For Barbie, he still reads more like a pony than a full-sized horse.
Since I still had Elsa on hand, I took a few photos of them together.
Since Hatatitla is an articulated horse, I tried to pose him similarly to Prancer.
Hatatitla has longer legs, so he’s naturally taller than Elsa. Still, he looks quite nice in this pose—very light and graceful.
VIDEO
https://pueppishorsesandmore.jimdofree.com/pferde/big-jim-gelenkpferde-70er-jahre/
https://bigjimsmile.blogspot.com/2018/11/karl-may-gli-amici-del-west-oeste-1975.html
https://fashiondollz.de/barbie-horses-sets-first-generation-1970-1982/#!
https://pferde-horses-fantasy-beasts.jimdofree.com/i-horses-mattel-jointed/karl-may-horses/old-shatterhand-s-horse-hatatitla/
figurerealm.com
barbiepedia.com
bigjimforum.com
plaidstallions.com
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