Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

It's the last day of July, and though my wife would not want me to wish away the summer, I'll admit the fall is my favorite time of the year. The foliage, crisp evenings, the start of football season, inching closer to the holidays...I can't wait. Even though she loves summer, she's starting to feel the excitement of the fall as well - all of the fun event we attend: The Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts, the Yankee Candle factory trip, the Turkey Bowl (every year about 40 friends gather to share food and play touch football - only one injury in six years!). I'll have to blog about the Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport, ME , an amazing event. All of this being said, my wife's favorite holiday is Halloween, and we began searching for decorations for our pumpkin carving party. Jo-Anns had a few decorations out, and Michael's was beginning to set up their Halloween crafts. We even went to Target but they still were in "Back to School" mod...

This past Saturday I was browsing a flea market while my wife was getting her hair done. There was a little Christmas shop inside the flea market. Of course, I asked the proprietor if she had any village buildings by Department56. She said yes, and showed me three older pieces from Dickens' Village. There was "M Fezziwig Warehouse", "The Flat of Ebenezer Scrooge" and "Old Curiosity Shop". I don't collect Dickens, but I know th at is what I wanted to give my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas. Perfect. I asked her if the lighting worked, and she tested each, and showed me all sides of each building. They were perfect. I was so excited. It was a very good deal, right? It's funny, because before I chose Snow Village, I was going to choose Dickens for my christmas village, basically because I've always loved the movies, including every single remake. These pieces may end up at my office - which I have dubbed "The island of misfit piec...

The Original Yahoo! Department 56 Collectors Group has come up with a brilliant idea for a new series - one that could be appropriate for a Halloween decor, in my opinion. Actually, several people seemed to echo the idea and say that they've sent suggestions to Department 56 . The idea? None other than the world of Harry Potter . The idea is perfect and the number of buildings and accessories which could be released are endless. The idea began when a member of the group posted this question: "Would you be interested in a Dept 56 Harry Potter village?" . Comments flowed back and forth the entire day yesterday: "I always thought the Harry Potter theme would make a great lighted village - can you imagine a Hogwarts Castle or an entire Diagon Alley with all the shops from the book?" "Dept 56 already has a couple of Harry Potter licenses - they made secret boxes and charms and I think a couple of ornaments. That's why I thought it would have been a natural ...

The following shops were recommended to me and I've added them to the Google map of D56 Shops : Grapevine Gifts, Lake Jackson, TX "It's not exactly in the Midwest, but it's my local shop (whom I adore!). The owners are Ronnie Martin and Jeff Rae. Jeff is the one mainly that deals with Dept. 56. They are a gold key dealer and are SUPER nice and knowledgeable. All retired pieces are routinely 20% off. They are about to build a new, 8,000 square foot store. Not too bad for small-town South Texas!" North Pole Village, Oklahoma City, Ok City Lights, San Diego, CA "These are a couple of shops you may want to consider for this site. North Pole Village is happy to ship. City Lights ships free, not sure if there is a minimum. And they have some really neat displays all year round." States without recommended shops: Wyoming Utah Colorado New Mexico Arizona Nevada South Dakota North Dakota Nebraska Iowa Florida Georgia Alabama South Carolina

1) Will Sears be coming out with a third release of buildings and accessories for their exclusive "A Christmas Story" series? "Yes, there will be new introductions for this series in 2007. If you go to the Department 56 website and click on Collecting and scroll down you will see Product Exclusive s. The new 2007 pieces have not been added yet, but they will be up there soon." - This is extremely exciting news! 2) What is the verdict on the controversial Department 56 brand stamp issue? "What controversy? " - I then replied, informing her that many collectors were adamantly opposed to the idea. 3) What will be the next baseball parks released for Christmas In The City? "We have no information to share on any new additions to this series. The next introductions will be in December, 2007." - I should have asked if there will be a new Yankee Stadium to coincide with the construction of their brand new ballpark. 4) What happened to the official Depar...

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...