Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

From the Original Department 56 Group on Yahoo! , there was rampany speculation as to Department 56 possibly going bankrupt due to not being able to find a buyer. The rumors started when one member of the group stated "Went to the local pizza shop today...he's an avid D56 collector & his mom owns a gift shop in town that carries D56 gift ware. When I walk in, the 1st thing he asks me is "if I heard the news"???? It seems that his mom had contacted her D56 rep to place an order & it took several days for the rep to get back to her. When the rep finally contacted her, his mom asked about the possibility of carrying some D56 villages. Her rep told her that D56 is about to file bankruptcy,that they are going under because they couldn't find a buyer." As another member pointed out, if Department 56 had to file bankruptcy, it doesn't automatically mean they'll be out of business. It means there will probably be a reorganization and a relaunch. One...

First, a correction: the picture I used was not the correct one. A reader was kind enought to post a new comment on the last post " Integrating Lego into your Department 56 villages ": "Actually, that's not the set we're talking about. The set in question is this one: http://shop.lego.com/product/? p=5522&LangId=2057&ShipTo=US (and there's no photo of the box there). A fan uploaded some photos of the box and the exclusive "Golden Brick" onto BrickShelf: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi- bin/gallery.cgi?f=345682 ...and if you're interested in seeing LEGO buildings designed for a more D56-type layout (I haven't mixed-and-matched with the D56 houses, but I suspect it would work), I highly recommend trying out the blog Brick Town Talk -- there was even a house on there recently that showed how to build snowbanks. Also, do you have, by any chance, that magazine from when the LEGO North Pole house came out? If I recall correctly, it includ...

I was browsing the always interesting Department 56 group on Yahoo!, and read about a collector who uses Lego pieces within his villages. He wrote: "I just went to our "New Target Superstore", and found the 50th Anniversay Edition of the Lego Original Set. It is $39.99, well worth it. If you have the Lego North Pole building, it is a great addition to it for collectors. It has all the 1958,1968,1978 and other covers on the box. It really adds a lot to the D56 buildings and accessories. Check it out." That got me thinking of which Lego pieces and sets could be integrated within other villages. I did some more digging on Google. Here's what I found: Several lego holiday pieces on Ebay Here's the Lego 50th anniversary set (some readers and email software will not display the javascript properly. You'll have to come back to the blog to see the items): Related articles by Zemanta Would You Like to Build the LEGO Death Star with Me? The 50th Anniversary of t...

Updates on the licensed "A Christmas Story" series: * Series releases are available now in your local Sears and select dealers. * The Department 56 "A Christmas Story" series will be available to dealers this year. Previously it was available only in Sears. * " A Christmas Story House " giftshop has two D56 exclusives: - Dept 56 "A Christmas Story" Ralphie Visits Santa - A Christmas Story House 25th Anniversary Exclusive for the 25th Anniversary! - Dept 56 - "A Christmas Story" Watching Parade - A Christmas Story House 25th Anniversary Exclusive * New 2008 Pieces include: - "Pulaski's Candy Store" - Lighted ceramic building is a detailed production of the candy store that Ralphie tells his parents Flick saw some Grizzly Bears in front of in an attempt to convince them he needs a bb-gun. - "Pink Nightmare" - Ralphie in his bunny suit, a christmas present from Aunt Claria. Related articles by Zemanta 25th annive...

My wife, baby and I today took a stroll in Old Wethersfield, CT , a lovely little town we both had lived in previously. Main Street featured an annual display of scarecrows - some were great, some just ok, but all were signs of a community which was involved and interested in holiday activities. Some of the scarecrows were movie themed, and some were extensions of the retail stores which sponsored them, such as The Spicy Green Bean Deli and The Red Onion. The town sidewalks were extremely busy today, as people strolled to tour the scarecrows and partake in an ice cream treat at the Main Street Creamery, which was too packed for us to stop in, though my wife wanted a cone very badly. They also only took cash, and we only had our bank cards on us. Our favorite scarecrows were the Little Ukranians, Michael the Angel (from the movie "Michael" starring John Travolta ), the Wicked Witch of the West, the Red Onions, the Fiddler on the Roof, and the fireman rescuing a kitty from the ...

I was browsing through Amazon.com, searching for books on halloween collectibles . I found quite a few that we all would find interesting, including (I used a javascript widget, so you may have to come back to the actual blog to view. Some email readers and RSS feed readers will not display properly): <A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fyankeechristc-20%2F8001%2F7f26ffbf-846e-4ecd-ae64-533f5ead854d&Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</A> It seems like many of the halloween books focus on older, nostalgic halloween collectibles, such as "Timeless Halloween Collectibles, 1920 To 1949: A Halloween Reference Book From The Beistle Company Archive" and "Collectible Halloween: An American Holiday" as well as "Vintage Halloween Collectibles: An Identification & Price Guide". Wha...