How "Golden Memories" Became "Just a Memory"
-Peggy Whiteneck
Golden Memories (GM) was originally conceived as a series
within the NAO brand. As such, it was a loosely defined thematic category
that was essentially indistinguishable from the rest of the NAO
collection. Then, for some unknown reason, the company decided to launch GM
as a separate product line in 1992, a move which proved ill-fated.
Golden Memories had its own logo (a child lying on his stomach in grass
and flowers with a little dog in front of him), and the logo and series
name were incorporated into a light green backstamp. The copyright dates
on Lladró
models are generally the year before issue date, so the dates on the
base of Golden Memories figurines are 1991 through 1993,
corresponding to issue years
of 1992 through 1994.

This little guy is titled "Come Home Soon!" (Golden Memories
number 33012), a model from the ill-fated brand's first year. The facial features
on these first year models had the most affinity with other Lladró.
Note the uncharacteristically bright pink of the toy dog and phone.
(Photo by the author from her own collection.)
The faces of the first-year figures (1992, © 1991) had the greatest affinity with the
rest of Lladró. The first-year models were
very thinly potted, of a distinctive ceramic formula and matte texture markedly
different from Lladró's regular matte porcelain, and translucent as fine porcelain is supposed to be but
rarely is in figurine form. The colors in these models were
much more vivid pastels than normally associated with Lladró.
The facial features on Golden Memories figurines were completely revamped
in the second year of production (1993, © 1992), and a more traditional
glazed surface was adopted for the line, though the items remained
thinly enough potted to be translucent. The eyes were round, large, and
uncharacteristically dark for Lladró.
In the third year (1994, © 1993), the facial design was
revamped yet again and became downright unattractive. The big, dark eyes
developed for the
second year figurines were retained, but the faces and noses were flattened
most unflatteringly. I have always thought of these ugly-duckling, third-year models as
the proverbial "faces only a mother could love."
Golden Memories was a brand in search of an
identity it never quite found, and it is difficult to discern a rationale
for its introduction. The best theory I've heard on this is that it was
Lladró's attempt to capture a part of the modestly-priced but
volume-lucrative market niche occupied by Enesco's popular "Precious Moments"®.
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