Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

Recently on the Yahoo! Department 56 discussion group , they asked about some of the buildings from "A Christmas Story": The Joke Shop, The Firehouse, The Police Station, Pulaski's Candy Shop, The Optometry, etc. -- where did they appear in the movie or book? I reached out to the current owner of the " A Christmas Story " licensing rights, Brian Jones, who offered some insight: "The movie being 94 minutes long not all aspects of Ralphie's home town were shown. So Dept 56 took some creative license with buildings: the police and firemen that helped flick would have had to come from their stations. Ralphie directly mentions Pulaski's Candy store as the place Flick saw some grizzly bears. And to get the fake teeth for the joke on Miss Shield they might have bought them at the joke shop along with the rose that squirts that Flick or Schwartz was going to get their old man. Pulaski's did actually appear in the sequel..." The sequel was actual...

...and this is one of them. The Department 56 blog was created when I was at the height of my affection for the product line. I was collecting the Original Snow Village, the Original Snow Village Halloween, Dickens' Village and the "A Christmas Story" line from Sears. A few years ago D56 was purchased by Enesco. Dealers were complaining about a change in the way they were being treated. Financial struggles forced us to purge our pieces, except for Halloween and A Christmas Story. I lost interest, barely paying attention to new product introductions. I saw dealers closing up shop. Two of my favorite dealers stopped carrying new merchandise. I also happened to become a father -- a blessing which I gladly reallocated time for. Less blogging, more diapers. Now I find myself interested in some other collectibles: Lego, Thomas & Friends, Comic Book stuff, things which he and I share a passion for now. My son is now 2 years and 8 months, and as train tracks lay across my hou...

The kind folks over at A Christmas Story House sent me images of the 5 new releases for Christmas 2010. These pieces will be available online at www.achristmasstorygiftshop.com or at your local Sears. There isn't any descriptive info yet, but the images are enticing:

Brian Jones, owner of the "A Christmas Story" house, and http://www.redriderleglamps.com , let me know that he's just posted the new artist renditions of new pieces for Department 56's "A Christmas Story" series. He added that "All three of this year's new pieces revolve around the police that come to help Flick get unstuck from the flag pole.  The police car in particular should allow collectors to complete the flag pole scene.  I also have listed to exclusive re-releases for this season: The Perfect Tree and The Santa Float.  I expect to have all these in stock in late September or earlier October." Exciting news!

Father's Day this year had many special moments, including finally getting my hands on the new 2009 Department 56 catalog. There were a few items we saw which caught our attention, one of them being the inclusion of "A Christmas Story" in the catalog. We'll definitely be looking to add the accessory where Ralphie is sliding down the slope when visiting Santa Claus. That looks like a classic. Rachael, Liam and I also visited an independent coffee roaster in Bethel, CT: The owner of Redding Roasters , Bill O'Keefe, was very gracious and accomodating.

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...

Image via Wikipedia Everyone's favorite holiday classic "A Christmas Story" is being released in Blu-Ray format as an "Ultimate Collector's Edition". Expect to get it on November 4 in stores everywhere... Click here to read the complete product release story A second press release on the subject : "Here’s an early Christmas present: a new (and hopefully improved) version of “A Christmas Story” is coming to Blu-ray this November. Sure, you’ve probably OD’d on the 24-hour marathon that TBS runs every December 25. However, this “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” stuffs your stocking with a holiday cookbook, an apron and a set of cookie cutters. If there’s no “leg lamp” shape in that cookie set, it will be a disappointment of fruit-cake proportions! Unfortunately, the bonus goodies are all that Warner has announced at this point. We’re guessing there has to be some other tidbits on the disc, considering the movie was first released on Blu-ray in December 2006....

* My blogging has become a bit infrequent, so I apologize. I've had to concentrate on getting my health in order by walking each morning and not drinking a zillion espresso shots to fuel my writing. I've also been incredibly busy with work projects. * Catzilla has been roaming our halloween villages. When we're home, we can shoo him away from nibbling on fences, trees, building tops, pumpkin pieces, etc...but I have to ask, what kind of damage does he do when we're not home??? * We went to the Sears nearby in Manchester, CT, to look at the line of "A Christmas Story" pieces, and they had the two new buildings, "Uptown Theater" and the "Optometry". I read that the "Uptown Theater" is from the literary source which spawned the movie, and that the Optometry is where Ralphie was assumed to go to fix his glasses. The new accessory piece of Ralphie with his broken glasses was not available there. They had several pieces from last year ...

Brian Jones was kind enough to send us a bio of what led up to the purchase of the house from " A Christmas Story ", now a full-fledged museum for the movie, and more importantly, for fans of the movie. The path that has led 31-year-old Brian Jones from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis to “that little house on Cleveland Street” is a result of his love for his favorite movie, “A Christmas Story.” Last Thanksgiving, the ongoing relationship between Jones and his favorite film took on a whole new meaning with the opening of A Christmas Story House. A Christmas Story House takes visitors on a nostalgic journey to the sights and scenes of the classic Christmas film. In addition to A Christmas Story House, visitors can explore the museum where items from the movie are on display, more than 100 behind-the-scenes photos are featured and movie-related memorabilia can be purchased. A San Diego native, Jones had always dreamed of becoming a naval aviator like his father. After gradua...

There are two new buildings for Sears ' Exclusive "A Christmas Story" line, confirmed from two different sources, the Yahoo! Department 56 Collectors Group , who were answered directly by Department 56 corporate , and the flickstongue.com , a news site for " A Christmas Story " information and discussions. The two new pieces are: "Schultz Optometry" item number 56.06283 "The Uptown Theater" Item number 56.06284 The new accessory is Ralphie with his broken glasses. There is no confirmation yet on a release date to Sears but last year I think the "A Christmas Story" pieces came out on November 12. Now I can't remember the Optometry or the Uptown Theater from the movie, but that doesn't mean I won't snag them right away! Flickstongue has a good list of links where "A Christmas Story" collectibles can be found Other posts related to "A Christmas Story": Top Ten Christmas Movies Most searched for Departme...

1) Will Sears be coming out with a third release of buildings and accessories for their exclusive "A Christmas Story" series? 2) What is the verdict on the controversial Department 56 brand stamp issue? 3) What will be the next baseball parks released for Christmas In The City? 4) What happened to the official Department56 magazine? 5) When will Department 56 update their store locator? Please feel free to add more questions via the "comments" tool. I'm going to be submitting these to the customer service department and will publish the answers when I get them.

10) Prancer What starts out as a syrupy, whiney melodrama, as dark as "The House Without a Christmas Tree", with similar themes, turns out to be very Grinchlike as townspeople rally to save the spirit of Christmas. A predictable storyline won't stop children from loving this movie. It might even make some people well up in the old eye sockets... 3 out of 4 elves recommend this christmas movie! 9) Santa Claus: The Movie This movie was so hyped up. I was a freshman in college, and with a buddy of mine who was also a christmas freak, and we drove 40 miles to see the premiere. It was supposed to be "Santa Claus" as if done by George Lucas - special effects abound, and it was, visually, pretty darn impressive. What I didn't like was Dudley Moore - never a personal favorite. Like "The Grinch", perhaps the hype and the expectations were not met. 3 out of 4 elves recommend this movie! 8) The Santa Clause It's hard to imagine Tim Allen as Santa. After a...

This is according to search results on Google for the past month: 5. Department 56 Christmas in the City From the corporate website : "Representing some of the nation's diverse and most striking cityscapes, the unusual shops do a brisk business, restaurants and ballparks are crowded with patrons and street vendors cater to a steady stream of customers." 4. Department 56 Bethlehem The "Little Town of Bethlehem" Series honors the Christmas miracle. The series includes pieces such as "Birth of Christ Nativity Set", "The Church of the Holy Sepulcher", "Nativity" and the "Potter's Shop". 3. Department 56 Alpine Village I admit I don;t know much about this series, but the corporate site says "The intricately detailed lighted buildings and accessories of this series are as unique and diverse as the towns and hamlets in the Alpine and bavarian regions they represent." I'll have to research more. 2. Animated Depar...

I admit it, I'm obsessed with Department 56. I've always loved the village displays at Yankee Candle in Deerfield, MA. That's where it started. From Christmas in the City, to Dickens' Village, to the original Snow Village and the whimsical North Pole village, they struck a chord with me, reminding me of how I've loved Christmas since I was a child. When I first met my wife, she wasn't a Christmas nut like I am. She didn't think much of these expensive ceramic buildings either. She did, however, like Halloween, and so that's where it started. We both dove into collecting the original Snow Village Halloween set. We eventually built an amusement park-themed display, featuring the scaredy cat ferris wheel, spinning pumpkins, mummy carousel and more. She had her set, now it was time for me to select the one I was going to collect. With a love of the movie, " A Christmas Story ", when we spotted a set of buildings and accessories from Department 56 ...