Happy New Year to All

2007 was a year which went by in a flash, for me anyway. I started blogging here in June and kept up a semi-regular pace up until the recent weeks - ironically, as the holiday season came closer, the less time I had to post about D56 or any of the other holiday stuff.

I ended up setting up my Snow Village display across two tables - about 30 pieces in all. Wasn't able to get any real good pictures of it - I think our "Adventure" Orange wall, while a great background for my wife's halloween display, didn't really gel with the Snow Village landscape.

In 2008, I am looking to bring regular posting back up to speed, and find more and more Department 56 bargains out there in the real world and on the web for you. I can always use more "feet on the street" so feel free to comment in with tips on sales you find, or even if you're looking to sell your own collections (humbug!). Speaking of humbug, I have to finish my republishing of "A Christmas Carol". I'll find some additional literature to feature as well, perhaps some that is not as well known.

The "New Series" idea poll is closed, and the results have been sent off to Ms. LitTown and the D56 creative department. A new poll will be added soon.

Thanks for a great 2007 and I hope to hear from you all throughout 2008!

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Tomorrow is Labor Day, Next Up is Halloween!

Hooked on Department 56 has a great article on tips for creating your halloween village . The article features tips and informative links on all of the wonderful and scary options for outfitting your decorative halloween villages, including haunted sounds, spooky lights, and flying witches. The story also features information about The 2008 Haunted Rails Engine & Coal Car, and Rickety Railroad Station, two of Department 56's Halloween village pieces created to mark the ten year anniversary of D56 Halloween. While the train itself is ceramic and non-working, you still get the feel of the haunted railroad. The also is not limited to just D56, as it also mentions Disney Villains from Hawthorne Village. An excerpt from the story: "In 1998, Department 56 introduced the first Halloween village collection. Department 56 Halloween Village features spooky castles, flying witches, skeletons, and gravediggers. Many of the buildings are lighted with fiber optic light effects, that fli...

Lego in the news this week

Olin administrator builds Lego Needham Town Hall It turns out that two Town Halls were built in Needham this year. One was the brick-and-mortar building sitting in Needham Center, which underwent renovations and additions and will be officially unveiled at a Needham300 event on Nov. 5. The other Town Hall is made of Legos. Nick Tatar, Assistant Dean of Student Life at Olin College, built this second Town Hall at Olin over the course of three months, starting in January. Working with Olin professor Brad Minch and seven children and Olin students, Tatar built the Town Hall out of fifteen thousand Lego pieces, sometimes working 10 to 15 hours a week on the project. On Nov. 5, Tatar will break the Town Hall into chunks and transport it to the other Town Hall. At noon, he will reassemble it, then step back and let people admire his handiwork. Tatar said that he decided to build this Lego Town Hall for kids to enjoy during the Nov. 5 Needham 300 gala. “I wanted to see if we c...

Celebrate the arrival of the February/March Village D-Lights!

Fresh in my mailbox was a brand new issue of Village D-Lights , a magazine designed for village collecting enthusiasts, featuring great articles, display tips product information and much more. This edition's cover features the "Canton Tea Trading", a new piece for 2008 for Dickens' Village. Here is what you'll find in this (February/March) issue: * The cover story describes some of the 2008 introductions for Christmas in the City, Alpine Village and Dickens' Village. * A great feature on Randy Miller, president of the NCC . * A spectacular ad by D56 for the "American Diner". * Ms. LitTown writes about the new Department 56 showroom, which is being prepped for the 2008 convention. * A letter from Mrs. Dickens * Brandon Taylor's take on variations of some of the pieces * A Valentine's Day feature on themed pieces for that special day There's also many regular sections of the magazine: reader submissions, letter from the editor, trivia, di...

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