Victor Medina Here’s an interesting look at a rare Hartland item, and it isn’t a statue. It’s the contract Hank Aaron signed in 1963, authorizing the continued use of his likeness for its baseball statues line.
This item was auctioned off by Sotheby’s in 2006, and shows the signed agreement between Aaron and Robert B. McGuire, President of Hartland Plastics, Inc. The image of the contract, shown below, is not very clear, but appears to show that Aaron was paid $300 to use his likeness on figures for a year. The contract is dated February 2, 1963.
During that pre-union era of baseball, Hartland only had to negotiate directly with players to acquire the rights to make figures. The contract renews the terms Aaron initially agreed to in 1957, when the statues were first made.
Unfortunately, Revlon would cancel the Hartland Statues line later that year, after they acquired the company. Revlon wanted Hartland to focus on making makeup compacts.
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