Post #425976 by Tom Slick on Sat, Dec 27, 2008 11:14 AM

Jeff Smith was the last owner of Randotti. The Company was founded by his Father Randy and mother Dotti, hence the namesake. The company produced most of the plaster-styled collectibles for Disneyland as well as Knotts Berry Farm, Magic Mountain among many others. The company was located in Stanton, CA not far from Disneyland, at 7862 Main St.

Jeff has told me among others to be cautious purchasing ebay items, as alot that he has seen listed are newer reproductions and bootlegs using the namesake. However, a couple of authorized pieces are being reproduced from the original molds that were sold off in auctions after the plant closed (i believe) in the early 80s(?). Original Randotti skulls can fetch quite a penny nowadays, so for obvious reasons, the bootlegs have started making an appearance. You can find Jeff Smith a regular user on doombuggies.com messageboards answering as many questions about the history of his fathers business, and explain which Randottis are legit, and which are repros. His username on doombuggies is "Randotti".
http://disneyshauntedmansion.yuku.com/topic/4025/t/Randotti-Historian.html

Jeff has currently wrote a book on the legend of Outlaw Soapy Smith, of which is a distant relative of his. He maintains a website and blog regarding info on Soapy Smith. http://www.soapysmith.net He is a really nice guy and very informative. His childhood stories growing up in and around the Randotti factory are golden! What a childhood the guy seemed to have, I can only imagine. He has also been "pressured" by Randotti enthusiasts to write and release a book with most things related to Randotti products.
Hope this info has been helpful!
-Tom

*revised for details

[ Edited by: Tom Slick 2008-12-27 22:15 ]