Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

Thanks to all for the wonderful suggestions for my son's first North Pole piece. I'm not sure which one we are leaning toward, but I will certainly let everyone know. It's funny, because we are space challenged in our condo, and I am going to have to part ways with some Snow Village pieces to give us some extra storage room. I'd gladly exchange Snow Village for North Pole pieces, but I'd definitely have to give up 2 or 3 pieces for 1 so that we end up with more storage space. Here are some of the suggestions which came in: "I have every piece of the village. My recommendation for your first piece would be Santa ’s original house with the two accessories. One accessory is of Santa and Mrs. Claus with an elf and the second accessory is Santa’s sled and eight reindeer. I would follow with the Yummy Gummy Factory. It's a cool piece and has gummy tree accessories that accent the factory." "The one you can find at the greatest discount! By the time he...

As most of you know, this blog has been a creative outlet for me at times, allowing me to write about my favorite holidays and collectibles. I know lately I've been mentioning our first child - a boy - and how excited we are to bring him into the world, teach him right and wrong, help him through different decisions and circumstances, and watch him develop his own interests and hobbies. We'll certainly introduce him to many things, one of them being the joy of Department 56 , of seeing a village collection grow and take form. We've decided to get him started on the North Pole Series - we love it's whimsical themes and colors. Now the question is: Which piece to get the collection started? I'll be gathering suggestions and ideas from the many readers of this blog and the different D56 groups of which I participate. I'll then post a poll of the top suggested pieces. Can't wait!

Dick Stull said would like to sell these pieces as a complete set. You can contact him by email and request his phone number to discuss the pieces/pricing. He also has a Dickens' Village collection up for sale as well as many accessories. 56340 Beard Barber Shop $45.00 56393 Christmas Bread Bakers $60.00 56384 Elfin Forge & Assembly Shop $65.00 56332 Elfin Snow Cone Works $50.00 56398 Elsie's Gingerbread (Limited E.) (smokes) $125.00 56387 Elves' Trade School $100.00 56394 Glacier Gazette, The $55.00 56392 Hall of Records $60.00 56359 North Pole Dolls & Santa's Bear Works (3/set) $110.00 56278 North Pole Express Depot $65.00 56388 Popcorn & Cranberry House $110.00 56391 Route 1, North Pole, Home of Mr. & Mrs. Claus $150.00 56389 Santa's Bell Repair $50.00 56397 Santa's Light Shop $65.00 56294 Santa's Lookout Tower $75.00 56386 Santa's Rooming H...

Penny Miller caught news of this auction: On March 16th at 11 am Gary Ryther Auctioneers will be holding an auction with approx. 200 Dept. 56 pieces of Disney Series, Snow Village Series, North Pole Series, Christmas In the City Series, Dickens Village Series and a large lot of accessories. This auction will also be held live on line on Proxibid . Thanks Penny!

Showing that just because Christmas is over, doesn't mean it's time to take down your snowy scenes...I found this article in the Villages Daily Sun : "Walking in a winter wonderland takes on new meaning when anyone enters the home of Don and Lorraine Crowley. The couple have snowy scenes from the North Pole and Elfland set up in the living room, while the garage is filled with a huge Christmas in the City display, complete with streets, bridges and a baseball park. But for Lorraine, president of the Tri-County Department 56 Collector’s Club, the displays are nothing out of the ordinary, considering many of the club members have similar displays in their own homes. “Everybody has different ways of displaying it,” Lorraine said of the Department 56 collectibles. “You find different things. When somebody comes up with a unique idea, you try and share it. It’s always nice to see somebody do something different.” ... click here to read the rest of the article

One of my readers tipped us off to some department 56 sales today. Even if you don't live in the area, most stores have an online shop as well: "Went up to the Ingleside Gift Store today. They had all retired 60% off and regular D56 50% off, plus more in their shed on the outside of the store where the percentages differ. They also had some snowbabies for 50% off. Ingleside Gift Store is in Holyoke - but then you probably knew that. She also let me know about two other northeast hot spots of Dept 56 activity: "There are two places that I buy from. One of them is the Cape Cod Gift Barn in North Eastham, MA. They are currently closed until April (they will be open for Feb. vacation and they do monitor their emails). They sell retired D56 pieces for 50% off. We purchased most of our older North Pole from him. The other place we have bought from is the Department 56 Flagship Store in Myrtle Beach . They have a bunch of North pole items here for 30% off."

Well, it finally had to happen, I had to take down our 22-piece Snow Village display. With a baby on the way, we need to clear all of the empty Department 56 boxes out of our spare room and get them back down to storage. Thankfully, we have a spare bedroom, because that will become the baby's bedroom. I began the task of putting away our displays last friday night, but I wasn't able to finish on the weekend. I left the entire set of "A Christmas Story" pieces, albeit on another table, all jammed together like an urban cityscape. Those will come down this weekend, and then everything will be put away for another year. I will drag the Halloween pieces out first, so my wife and I have easy access to them next September. I'll then carefully place the Christmas storage bins behind them, making sure nothing is blocking the easy retrieval of my villages. I am extremely excited about having a baby, and now the only question remains...what village will she/he collect? My w...

What got you started collecting villages? A combination of loving miniatures, seeing villages in stores, my Mother's putz houses from my childhood. How many years have you been collecting? 10 years What is your favorite D56 series? North Pole How many displays do you build per year? Christmas is divided into 3-4-5 displays, halloween & fall, 3 easter baskets & may exclude carnival & harbor from these & do them as summer displays. Do you keep a list of all your pieces that you own? Yes, except a few small non-village accessories and handmade accessories. What's the latest piece you've bought? D56 Turkeys/Geese in the Field What's the first piece you bought? A cheap little house at the drug store. How many people have you turned on to D56 collecting? Probably not any. I'm pretty much the only one in my circle that does this. Do you keep track of values of the pieces or not? The retail price, not the sale price I paid. I haven't included the off-bra...