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Featured D56 Collector #5: Geese in the field
2007-09-27 13:06:00
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 yearsWhat is your favorite D56 series?North PoleHow 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/Gees e 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-brands I bought in the beginning.Wh...
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Universal Monsters - the next great d56 halloween series?
2007-09-25 12:40:00
I remember as a child seeing my brother's collection of models he had built from the classic "monsters of the movies" - Dracula, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Wolfman, and I also remember our cousin breaking them all. What a terrible disaster, I thought. It was a marvelous collection.These reflections must be what are making me want to collect Department 56's "Universal Studios Monsters " series, which includes "Dracula's Domain" (pictured left), "Dracula's Castle", "Frankenstein's Laboratory", and "Creature's Lair".There was also the retired "classic monsters" series, which included "Dracula's Castle", "Curse of the Wolfman", and "Frankenstein's Monster".At Super Stop and Shop I picked up four strecthy versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. They were only $1.99 each and they are kind of cool. They now climbing the sides of my physical mail inbox at the office.Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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D56 spottings in stores
2007-09-24 12:46:00
Sears: multiple collectors have spotted pre-lit trees already up in their local Sears stores. One person has said the new Ralphie with broken glasses accessory from A Christmas Story is available now for $ 9.99. Others have said the "A Christmas Story" stuff went on sale September 16 last year. There goes my November 19 date...bad memory, I guess...Target: all of their Halloween merchandise is out, and some of their Christmas stuff is starting to trickle out, like Ornaments. One collector found many of the M&M ornaments.Home Goods: They have a few Department 56 items on sale. "The Toy Shop" and "Town Church" accents were $16 each.Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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Featured D56 Collector #4: "Morningside House"
2007-09-23 16:25:00
What got you started collecting villages?At lunch with a friend from work and we walked into a Stats store in CA. We both fell in love with the Original Snow Village display and each bought the same house, the Morningside House .How many years have you been collecting? Over 15 yearsWhat is your favorite D56 series? Now, it is Christmas in the CityHow many displays do you build per year? A large Halloween display, at Christmas large mountain/outdoor scene of SV pieces, carnival, and CIC or NPDo you keep a list of all your pieces that you own? Yes and if I looked at it like I should, I wouldn't buy so many duplicatesWhat's the latest piece you've bought? HOWL Radio and Franky's Hot DogsHow many people have you turned on to D56 collecting? FourDo you keep track of values of the pieces or not? Just have the latest Green Book value listed. When I want a reality check, I go to eBay.What else do you collect? Armani figurines, Christmas ornaments, dog f...
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D56 Blog's Greatest Hits
2007-09-22 13:23:00
These are the most popular stories on the blog...thus far!202 views: Retail stores and Christmas/Halloween merchandise99 views: Building a snow village landscape, part one70 views: Off-Topic: The Top 5 Christmas Specials 53 views: Scattered D56 thoughts on a sunday morning45 views: The most frequently asked for Dickens' Village items36 views: Demand rising for halloween information34 views: Ideas for ways Department 56 can extend their brand33 views: The Snow Village Halloween amusement parkDiscover more Department56 Sales today!
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2 new pieces for "A Christmas Story"
2007-09-22 11:26:00
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 56.06284The 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 foundOther posts related to "A Christmas Story":Top Ten Christmas MoviesMost searched for Department 56 licensed propertiesDiscover more Department56 Sales today!
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You know fall is coming when the Big E is open
2007-09-20 12:44:00
Depending on which region of the United States you live in, chances are there is a fall fair which you are particularly fond of or loyal to. In New England, we have "The Big E". It runs most of the month of September and is one of the biggest events in the area. Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Big E has a bit of everything: concerts, vendors, fantastic food, crafts, rides, animals and more.Every year we get together with our friends and make a caravan up to the Big E...this year, we'll be going up on Saturday, September 22nd. We tend to go in the afternoon because it gets nice and cool in the evening and often it can get hot in the midday sun. Some of the highlights we look forward to:* The Super Corn Dog....yummm...getting hungry* The Samuel Adams Beer Tent* "The Christmas House" inside the craft commons - a great place to find ornaments. We've bought several there in the last few years. The Big E has tons of holiday craft booths, from snowman motif to stockings to cou...
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Featured D56 Collector #3: Craggy Cove Lighthouse
2007-09-18 12:19:00
What got you started collecting villages?Looking for a lighthouse for my wife's birthday several years ago. A friend told me about a store in the town I worked in that had one.How many years have you been collecting? Started collecting in 1988 and went nuts for about 10 years, then stopped for about 6 years. Started on a very limited basis last year.What is your favorite D56 series?Snow VillageHow many displays do you build per year? None since 1999, then built one last year at Christmas.Do you keep a list of all your pieces that you own?Yes, an Excel File.What's the latest piece you've bought?5533 Train Station off E-BayWhat's the first piece you purchased?Craggy Cove Lighthouse for my wife's birthday. It's on the site as well.Do you keep track of values of the pieces or not?I used to, but now just a list the price I paid and the original selling price.What else do you collect?My wife does lighthouses etc, I have a garden railroadWhat's the most unique display you''ve e...
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Featured D56 Collector #2: Fort Frightful
2007-09-18 00:38:00
Note: "Fort Frightful" is the codename given to this collector...What got you started collecting villages?I found a local Hallmark store that had a huge display. I thought they looked great, and started looking for my own.How many years have you been collecting?7 or 8 yearsWhat is your favorite D56 series?It is a tie between the original Snow Village, and the Halloween seriesHow many displays do you build per year?2 ? one for Halloween, and one for Christmas. I am a little slow taking down each series, so I display the houses for a good 4-6 months at a time. This past year, we didn?t get the Christmas display down until Mother?s Day! LOLDo you keep a list of all your pieces that you own?YesWhat's the latest piece you've bought?Actually it was a lemax piece for Halloween called ?Bridge of Bones?. The last Dept 56 piece was ?building fort frightful?.What was the first piece you bought?It was either the Monopoly series, or the Snow Village Carousel ? I can?t rememberHow many peo...
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Most searched for Department 56 licensed properties
2007-09-17 14:18:00
This data is from Google and shows the most frequently searched-for keywords for Department 56 licensed properties:Department 56 a christmas storyDepartment 56 christmas storyDepartment 56 disneyDepartment 56 peanutsDepartment 56 grinchDepartment 56 harley davidsonDepartment 56 harleyDepartment 56 starbucksDepartment 56 baseballDepartment 56 wrigley fieldDepartment 56 wizard of ozDepartment 56 coca colaDepartment 56 budweiserDepartment 56 busch stadiumDiscover more Department56 Sales today!
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Featured D56 Collector: Cumberland House
2007-09-16 13:28:00
Yesterday I posted a survey for collectors and received dozens of well written responses which I think many readers will find very interesting. I know I did...I also think many of you will relate with each collectors' story.For the sake of anonymity, I'm going to give each collector a nom de plume - we'll call this first collector by the codename "Cumberland House ". Many of the D56 regulars will recognize her display from her website, I am sure. A picture of her magnificent display is below.What got you started collecting villages?I started buying the house to put under the Christmas Tree w/ a train. I didn't know they were collectibles until years later.How many years have you been collecting?20 years.What is your favorite D56 series?It's a toss up but I guess NP edges out SV by a slim margin.How many displays do you build per year?Still working on permanent display.Do you keep a list of all your pieces that you own?Yes. I use Excel.What's the latest piece you've bought?Sa...
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Our latest halloween acquisitions
2007-09-15 15:00:00
My wife and I went up to the wonderful G+L Christmas Barn in Willimantic, CT, last night, racing to get there before it closed at 7 pm. We arrived about 6:30, plenty of time to peruse the "50% off" retired snow village halloween inventory. Well, we were a few weeks too late. There were only a few items left. We ended up getting a string of bat lights for $ 5.00 which we thought would go well with the ferris wheel in our halloween amusement park (decorating begins today, by the way!).Discouraged by what was left, what was there to do but look over the new buildings and accessories. We were torn between the Howl Radio Station and the Dead Creek Mill. We weren't sure where we were going to use the Mill if we bought it, but the radio station would be the official sponsor of our amusement park...you know, there's always a radio station broadcasting live from an amusement park. We then considered perhaps putting the Dead Creek Mill in a standalone display, perhaps in a halved pumpkin. W...
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Everyone loves Peanuts...especially at Halloween
2007-09-14 11:49:00
Every year when my wife and I hold our annual pumpkin carving party, we play the "It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" on DVD, over and over again for the kids who are too young to be wielding carving utensils and creating artwork out of the pumpkins...and they watch it, over and over again. I still like to watch it as well. Something about Peanuts tv specials holds a special place in everyone's heart during the holidays.This is why their collectibles are so popular, even beyond the Department 56 peanuts line.Snoopy.com is the official website for Peanuts, and there is a lot of good content up there, including a fantastic timeline of Peanuts history."He'll come here because I have the most sincere pumpkin patch and he respects sincerity. Tonight the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch. He flies through the air and brings toys to all the children of the world."- LinusDiscover more Department 56 peanuts halloween merchandiseDiscover more Department56 Sales today!
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Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" part one
2007-09-13 02:59:00
Wow, it's not easy coming up with fresh content every day, even if it's on a topic you love. This is why occasionally I may miss a day or two (or three!) or I may veer off-topic once in a while. I've been getting more and more mail recently from readers, so I think eventually I'll be getting fresh content from my audience as well as from my brain...I've been meaning to start publishing Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol " in twelve weekly installments, complete with D56 pictures, leading up to Christmas itself. Now is as good a time as any to begin:A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles DickensI have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.Their faithful Friend and Servant, C. D.December, 1843.Stave 1: Marley's GhostMarley was dead: to begin with. There ...
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Upcoming Department 56 Artist Signing Appearances
2007-09-09 17:00:00
September 14 - Kristmas Kringle - meet artist Tom Bates - Fond du Lac, WISeptember 15 - Kris Kringl - meet artist Greg Beilke - Leavenworth, WASeptember 15 - Milaeger's - meet artist Tom Bates - Racine, WICheck out the stores by clicking on the links above. Each store has been added to our Google Map of Recommended Department 56 Shops. You can use the map to find directions and map out a cross-country trek!Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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The churches of Department 56
2007-09-07 12:42:00
The following are a small representation of all of the churches Department 56 has produced over the years. Following these examples is a constantly-refreshed list of churches ending soon on Ebay. Some of the Dickens' Village churches were of amazing detail. I couldn't believe the quantity I found..."Whittlesbourne Church" from Dickens' Village."Countryside Church" was from the Original Snow Village and was released in 1979 and retired in 1981."Cathedral of St. Nicholas" from Christmas in the City."St. Martin-In-The-Fields Church" from Dickens Village. Released in 2000, retired in 2002."The Cathedral of St. Marks" from Christmas in the City. Only 3024 of this retired piece were made.Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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Looking for more retail shops to feature...
2007-09-06 13:09:00
If you happen to know any shop owners personally, or are loyal customers to a favorite shop, please send me their details so I can publish a feature story on them. I love promoting the brick and mortar retailer shops that we all love visiting. Online shopping and Ebay might be convenient and fun, but it doesn't compare to walking into a retail shop and meeting a knowledgeable store owner, seeing their village displays, and learning about their store history.It's more important than ever to help these independent retailers market themselves, as they face tough competition online and even from Department 56 corporate themselves, who recently started selling online.You can email me the basics about your favorite stores, and I'll take it from there.Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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Big halloween sale at G&L Christmas Barn
2007-09-05 13:04:00
If you live anywhere near the G&L Christmas Barn in Willimantic, CT, and you collect Original Snow Village Halloween , you should take a drive over there and see what Dave's got for sale. I received a postcard about a September-long Halloween sale. I can't remember exactly what % off he's giving, but I'll confirm the details and update this post.The G and L Christmas Barn website doesn't seem to contain any details on the Halloween sale.My wife and I will be taking classes there on building village landscapes. Should be interesting!Discover more Department56 Sale s today!
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RSS feed of Real Time Department 56 Sales
2007-09-04 23:12:00
You can bookmark this post and it will always dynamically show this list of the "department 56" auction items ending soon on Ebay. You could also add the RSS feed to your favorite news reader. Mine is Google Reader. RSS stands for "really simple syndication" and it is a great way to syndicate your content across the web. If you're already reading this in a news reader, you may not see the javascript-produced list below. In that case, you'll need to come back to the blog.You can go directly to the "Department 56 Auctions Ending Soon on Ebay" RSS feed by clicking here.Sorry to get so technical on everyone!. If anyone would like to get a better understanding of RSS feeds, check out this helpful page on RSS.Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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These Department 56 Diners May Make You Hungry!
2007-09-02 14:50:00
Department 56 diners always make me hungry for a grilled hot dog. Gus's Drive In looks like a fun place to eat. You can't find too many restuarants with car hops these days. I was on a business trip to Chicago recently and tried to find Superdawg - a legendary hot dog emporium - and ended up at the shipping warehouse. Very dissapointed! This piece was introduced in 2001 and retired in 2003. It is from the Original Snow Village.Shelly's Diner, introduced in 1999, is going to be an anchor piece in one of our Original Snow Village vignettes this year.This 1993 piece from Original Snow Village, Dinah's Diner, is a new addition to our collection. My wife saw the burger and shake at the top and we had to have it.The North Pole Series Elf Land Diner was retired in 2005.The Black Cat Diner from the Original Snow Village Halloween is a favorite piece at our house. The cat on the roof looks strangely similar to our black cat, Azrael. She is not the cat from the Catzilla posts...that would...
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Halloween Display T-Shirt Contest
2007-09-01 12:44:00
We're excited to announce the first contest this blog has ever thrown! Beginning now, we are accepting photo submissions of your halloween displays. On October 21, we will select the best overall display photo and the winner will receive a t-shirt which is custom printed with the display right on it. Simply email your photo and contact info and we will consider you entered. The top 5 will be included in the post which announces the winner. The winning photo will be creative, clear and of course, contain plenty of halloween pieces from Department 56. This can include Original Snow Village Halloween , All Hallows' Eve, Sleepy Hollow, or Dept56 halloween decoratives or Halloween Krinkles. Good luck!Below are some of the well done Halloween photos we've come across:This photo, titled Jean's 2005 Halloweenis from the Yahoo! Department 56 Collectors group. They have many photos you can browse. It's a very dedicated and active discussion group.Building New Worlds is a very active socia...
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Another idea for a new D56 Series
2007-08-31 12:46:00
How about a limited edition cross-over (one piece for each existing series) collection of musical buildings and accessories inspired by favorite christmas carols and songs? I think this would be incredibly popular. Here are my ideas for the tunes that should be represented for each series:Dickens' Village: "Good King Wenceslas"Christmas in the City: "Silver Bells"New England Village: "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"The Original Snow Village: "White Christmas"North Pole: "Rocking around the Christmas Tree"Alpine Village: "O Tannenbaum"Of course, every year, they could come out with a new set.If you're interested, here's a link to some Christmas music onsale from Amazon.comDiscover more Department56 Sales today!
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Ideas for ways Dept 56 can extend their brand
2007-08-30 12:56:00
There may be no corporate initiative to extend their brand, or no need exhibited by their passionate customer base for them to go beyond ceramic buildings, but being a public company, there is always a need to build revenue and growth. I came up with a few ideas:* More product placement in movies and television shows* A line of fictional books placed in the different village scenes* Paintings and prints of village displays* A set of collectible trading cards, one card for each building and accessory* Collectible houses for kids, maybe a plastic holiday village, to get them started* More new series ideas. See our poll on the sidebar.Some of these ideas were generated in a previous post on "creative ideas Department 56 should consider". We also had a popular post on ideas for new Snow Village Halloween pieces.Discover more Department56 Sales today!
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The most frequent Google searches for "Christmas in the city"
2007-08-29 13:24:00
These keywords represent what people have been searching for in relation to the Department 56 "Christmas In The City " series:Specific Buildings and Accessories:department 56 christmas in the city empire state building department 56 christmas in the city radio citydepartment 56 christmas in the city radio city music hall department 56 christmas in the city town tree department 56 christmas in the city series coca coladepartment 56 christmas in the city harleydepartment 56 christmas in the city grand centralGeneral Christmas in the City searches:department 56 christmas in the citydepartment 56 christmas in the city seriesdepartment 56 christmas in the city collection department 56 christmas in the city village department 56 and christmas in the city department 56 christmas in the city accessoriesnew dept 56 christmas in the city department 56 christmas in the city saledepartment 56 retired christmas in the cityebay christmas in the citydept 56 christmas in the citychristmas in the cit...
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50% off is always a good thing for Original Snow Village pieces
2007-08-26 14:48:00
Well, we weren't going to spend any more on village buildings until the fall. After all, we have committed to buying a ton of stuff at our favorite shop in Willimantic, CT. Like always, we heard of a sale and could not resist checking it out. I visited a store in Wethersfield, CT on Thursday while killing some time waiting for a dinner meeting. They had a rack with select D56 items at 40% off. The selections were definitely looked over. Not much left. The helpful woman behind the counter told me their parent store in Portland, CT had many more sale pieces, running their clearance sale until the end of August. I couldn't resist.We visited the store in Portland on Saturday. They had 50% off pieces under a large outdoor tent. Not the best environment to store ceramic buildings, but upon inspecting certain pieces, all looked well. There were more sale pieces outside along the front exterior of the shop. We were a bit dissapointed to see there were no Snow Village Halloween items on s...
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What to do when you're space challenged
2007-08-25 11:50:00
If you are anything like me, you want to create a fantastic village display, with incredibly detailed landscapes. You want to set it up in a room and leave it out all year long. When visitors arrive, they'll be awestruck by your dedication and craftsmanship you've used on your village set-up.In reality, our two bedroom condo is less than spacious, and every inch is preciously distributed to something which is required for any demonstration of civilized living.What do you do when you are as space challenged as we are? In my case, specifically, we'll set up multiple smaller vignettes. My wife's Original Snow Village Halloween display will morph into the Halloween Amusement Park (featuring many of the animated pieces, including the spinning pumpkins, the scaredy cat ferris wheel, swinging ghoulies, witch's ride, and more) and a new halloween vignette anchored by Jack's Pumpkin Carving Studio on one end and the Black Cat Diner on the other. Castle Blackstone may require it's own ...
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Brand new shopping search engine to find D56 items
2007-08-23 11:49:00
There is a custom search engine at TheFind .com which automatically finds Department 56 items for sale from all over the web.You can specify a price range, colors, or to display only sale items. Of course, TheFind also allows you to search for any other merchandise.TheFind.com also apparently includes Ebay items in its' searches, which makes it convenient. If it added Amazon and Craigslist, it would pretty much have a complete database of online dept 56 classifieds. Of course, you don't get the charm of a friendly shop owner who knows you by name, nor can you physically view all the brilliant displays like they have at your local retailer.Other helpful links from TheFind.com:Department 56 Halloween ItemsDepartment 56 Snow Village ItemsDepartment 56 Dickens Village ItemsDepartment 56 Christmas In The CityDepartment 56 North PoleChristmas items on saleHalloween items on saleDiscover more Department56 Sales today!
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Halloween issue of Village D-Lights has arrived!
2007-08-22 13:13:00
The latest issue of Villa ge D-Lights , a wonderful magazine of village collecting, display tips and product information, arrived in my mailbox yesterday. It's always well received in our home and stays out on our reading table for many weeks. Note: This cover is from a much older issue - waiting for them to send me the latest cover image.Here is what you'll find in this (September/October) issue:* A feature article on the American Candle store. We'll definitely have to check out that store. They have some nice displays. I'll contact them for a featured post.* 15 years of the NCC - the National Council of Department 56 collectors.* City Lights expansion - a feature on one of the largest christmas store.* Schedule of Department 56 artist signings* A look at early modern architecture used in D56 buildings* Space saving vignette tips* Boo-tiful halloween displays* A display which (witch?) is to die for!There's also many regular sections of the magazine: reader submissions, letter f...
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The Most Frequently Asked-For Dickens' Village items
2007-08-21 12:42:00
Running some keyword research on Google, I have gathered a list of the most frequently searched "Dickens Villa ge " terms. Charles Dickens himself may not be proud of this post, as it is short on commentary or dialogue, but I believe it's intriguing stuff nonetheless. All lists are sorted in order of search volume.First, we'll start off with the individual item list:dickens village big ben dickens village brick abbeydickens village buckingham palacedickens village hospital for sick childrendickens village london gin distillerydickens village london skating clubdickens village milldickens village norman churchdickens village victoria stationdickens village tower of londondickens village train station Specific subsets of Dickens' Village:department 56 dickens village christmas caroldickens village a christmas caroldickens village 12 days of christmasdickens village christmas caroltwelve days of dickens villageStrange Searches for Dickens' Village:department 54 dickens villagedepartm...
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Favorite Halloween Pieces
2007-08-19 12:42:00
I surveyed both the Original Department 56 Group on Yahoo! and the Building New Worlds social network, asking them what their favorite Department 56 Halloween pieces were. Answers could include Original Snow Village Halloween, Sleepy Hollow, or All Hallows Eve series. I received back a flurry of wide ranging answers:- Grimsly Manor - 6 votes - "I like it mainly because it's not modern, it has that classic old haunted house feel to it!", "I like Grimsly because of the sound effects first and then the look of the piece. Just a great feel to it. The accessories are lots of fun too!", "I like the grimsly manor because of the great effects that it has the goes soo well with the house. i love the architecture of the house.", "Grimsly Manor is one piece I like that I have yet to buy.", "I just bought Grimsly Manor the other day, I have put it off sooo many times before because of the price but I finally caved-LOL! It has been out since '99, that made me stop & think that they just might ...
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