Secaucus Highlights (long)
Lisahp
all. We did get to meet a few RCVers which was great. We do apologize
for any confusion ahead of time with the meet-up information. Ron and I
did try to email all who had requested pins...but it was late on Thursday
and it would of been better to coordinate this more ahead of time, we
learn as we go along and will be more organized for future gatherings!!
The Best Village Display: Probably Lefton although there were many other
smaller displays!! Villages were everywhere.
Collectible I have to get: Disney Enchanted Places Jewel Mine from Snow
White (although Ron was partial to the Three Pigs Houses).
Best Village Giveaway: Victorian Metal Pine autographed by Bill Job of
Forma Vitrum. But many of the other village collectibles also had nice
giveaway pins.
New Villages to watch out for: SnowTown from Kurt S. Adler and Chocolate
Town from Amazze (more on these below).
Real Hospitable Village Artists in Attendance that we encountered: Shelia
(from Shelia’s Collectibles), Bill Job (from Forma Vitrum Vitreville), and
Brian Baker (from Michael’s LTD). (Note, we really didn’t interact with
some other cottage/village artists like the Lilliput or DWC people who
were probably also very nice as well. We also didn’t interact with the
Lighthouse artists).
First, I’ll give general trends I noticed in village collectibles, then
I’ll talk about the Swap and Sell, then I’ll talk about the expo. itself.
General Village Trends I noticed...
1. More glittery, shiney outsides of buildings...the artists seem to want
the villages to really capture your eye.
2. More figurines and accessories of all sizes to go with the buildings
(especially, the real little figurines to go with the Lilliputs and David
Winter’s and also, the Gaults). Everyone is into accessories!
3. Expanded use of materials for village beyond porcelain and ceramic
(the new village lines we saw were big on wood/resin combos. and stained
glass).
4. A growth of village-related items (including lots of ornaments,
magnets from Lefton Colonial, night lights from Vitreville, etc.)
5. Villages/buildings for figurine lines, the Enesco buildings and
Silvestri’s Squashville are good examples of this.
6. The insides of buildings...the newest village collectibles (SnowTown
and Chocolate Town) focus on the insides of the buildings as well as the
outsides. Actually, I also liked this about the Enchanted Places Jewel
Mine--you could see jewels in the middle!! Absolutely enchanting.
7. Interlocking pieces...both the Illuminations line from John Hine and
Shelia’s have interlocking village pieces.
8. Lighthouses and beach scenes. You can’t beat the desirability of
lighthouses now. Everyone is adding lots and lots of lighthouses and the
lighthouse collectibles are really flourishing. It will be nice to
compare and contrast artistic styles here and to watch how people display
these lighthouses!! Everyone enjoys a good ocean/water scene.
Swap and Sell Highlights...
OK, here were my purchases...
3 Brian Baker Deja Vu pieces (2 buildings one of which was retired (Old
Country Cottage in blue) and 1 door). These I got for less than issue
price
3 Hallmark ornaments from the Nostalgic Homes and Buildings Line. Now I
have 4 out of the 12.
1 Cat’s Meow piece (the Pearl S. Buck Club Piece from 1993).
Ron hunted for D56 which was all over the place but didn’t see any
exceptional buys. He can probably clue you in more on the D56 market in a
separate post.
The Swap and Sell seemed really big to me. There was a lot of D56, David
Winter, Precious Moments, and Hallmark Ornaments. Slightly less abundent
were Lilliput Lane, Swarovski, and Barbies. Mostly, other village lines
were either non-existent or rare. But I did see, the Cottontail Lane
Chapel selling for $325 (I thought that was really high), a Pleasantville
1983 piece from Flambro (the Bandshell), a few Lefton Colonial Village,
Vitreville, Swarovski Crystal City, and Enesco North Pole pieces.
On the downside, especially on Sunday the Swap and Sell was cold (drafty)
and dark so it was hard to get a good look at some of the collectibles.
A Tour Around the Expo...(i’ll try and be alphabetical here)
Amazze Chocalate Town
Amazze makes Century Lights, stained glass lighthouses and they
had a very nice display of those (a nice beachy scene). But we were
really excited about their stained glass Chocolate Town (Hershey, PA).
They are expected to have a mix of real Hershey buildings and made-up
ones. They are not only an affordable (around $75 per building) stained
glass village collectible but they have lighted detail scenery inside!!
Look for them in the fall (and we hear they may have another brand name
village coming out after that!!).
Band Best Friends, America’s Covered Bridges, and Barns
This was the first time I saw the Riversong Village facades (which
support a figurine line) which are curved and glittery and designed to
have a votive candle light them up. They are sweet. We also got to get a
look at their covered bridges line and barns series. If you like barns or
covered bridges, you should check these out. We also liked their
healthcare worker figurines. They have an EMT figurine.
Brian Baker Deja Vu and Summer’s Breeze (Michael’s LTD)
Michael’s LTD had many, many current pieces displayed with their
names which was Great!! Really helps the new collector out. Brian Baker
has styles that will go with every decor. He really is someone to be
watched if you are looking for a specific style of architecture. And his
facades are really meant to go on a wall. And everyone has wall space.
His window and door treatments (also these in the Summer Breeze line) are
super for small wall space in your home. I feel very lucky because I
picked up the pieces at the swap and sell and then I was able to get him
to sign them!! I’m joining his collector club soon.
Bristol Waterfront and Township (Pacific Rim)
I’d never seen the Bristol pieces in real life before. The
lighthouses are fabulous, they had a nice display. This is a good line to
display in the summer with a beach or waterfront scene. Its also a good
village to have if you like the earth colors. I was familiar with the
Bristol felt groundcover (cobblestone, brick looks, etc.) cause they sell
it at Mitch’s store--Holiday Tree and Trim. Its great cause it can be
easily cut into any size and shape and its flat enough for me to put my
facades on.
Cavanaugh Coca Cola Town Square
Again, this was the first time I saw these buildings in real life.
Ron commented that one building (I believe it was a toy store) would fit
right into his D56 North Pole collection!! We also appreciated how subtle
the Coca Cola aspect was of all the buildings.
Collector’s Information Bureau
The new price guide is completed and will ship shortly. I highly
recommend this. I used their most current one at the Swap and Sell. What
was also nice is that they had representative items from the companies
within the bureau so I saw a new Midwest Piece (the Creepy Hollow Castle),
new Cat’s Meow (the fairy tale line), and a R and R Creations piece.
D56
At D56 we got to see the new pieces. I really like their Disney
display. It was nice to see the Grapes Inn which is a magnificent piece
and the Ice Castle (I agree with those that feel that it really doesn’t go
with Snow Village but its a great piece). D56 big village displays were
very simple and kind of hard to see. But I liked their small displays
(the gas station on the tire, the gift tray’s of coffee and tea, the pizza
gift tray, the mantel with North Pole, etc.) and I really liked the way
they did Upstairs/Downstairs Bears and All thru the House.
Ron asked Ronda Ritchie (editor of the Quarterly) about the
Nashville rumor and she said she knows nothing about them making a
Nashville line!! She also stated that they had nothing to do with the
survey that was on the Web earlier in the year!!
David Winter/John Hine/Media Arts
With apologies to these collectors but I always get the companies
confused on these. They had some wonderful collectibles displayed here--I
loved the interlocking Illuminations pieces (they are lighted and as Ron
noticed...they have one cord!!)...the London by Gaslight (a different
Illuminations line, I believe), the Shoes Series by Jon Herbert
(????-going off my memory here), the Father Time series (with the clocks),
and my favorite--the Woodsey Wise (wonderful). I also enjoyed seeing all
the traditional David Winter cottages and especially the Seaside
(Boardwalk) pieces. Wonderful.
Disney Enchanted Places
Groan. I have loved these pieces since they came out. And Disney
keeps making more. We saw many of the first year’s pieces and lots of
pieces for this year, the Mine, the 3 Pigs houses, Geppeto’s Toy Store,
the Peter and the Wolf house (covered in snow). They are expensive but
they stand alone as eye-catching collectibles.
Figurines and Collecibles Magazine
Since we can never find this magazine, we were happy to get a
complimentary issue with the subscription card which we will send in right
away, yeah!!.
Forma Vitrum
FV was SO hospitable. I have long wanted their Brookside Bed and
Breakfast which is a hot hot collectible on the secondary market (it sold
out right away). I was happy to hear that FV is coming out with another
Bed and Breakfast for Vitreville in a couple of months. I was told that
if I like the Bed and Breakfast, then I will like this new one. It will
be a Victorian with a turret. Bill Job also told me that they had
approved a new design for another Christmas Collection piece the day
before the show. (I love their Christmas line). Their nightlights are a
must have item. FV also has votive holders in the stained glass
(beautiful) as well as a woodsy series and stained glass lighthouses.
They are a very high quality collectible.
Fraser, Intl.
Fraser is a Scottish firm and they have wonderfully detailed
buildings that are many known landmarks. These are on the order of DWC
and Lilliput. Similar-type of style. The variety of buildings they had
was astounding and the detail was not to be believed.
Gault
I was so excited to finally see the Gault miniatures in person
(although, it was strange, they were on one side of the Lilliput booth and
I didn’t see anyone associated with them. We have talked about their
buildings reminicent of Provence but I fell in love with their Paris
buildings. They also had London buildings as well as the Provence ones.
And they had little appropriate accessories for each set of buildings.
Not to be believed. These buildings and accessories had the most
personality of all the lines. I felt like I was there!!
Kurt S. Adler
A wood and resin village--sounds like Brandywine Country Lane,
right. Except these are lighted and have an inside!! The back of the
inside also has a scene depicted (it appears to be a flat picture on the
back. They are fantasy-oriented, whimsical, and they outsides are resin
and wood with glitter!! These should be out in the fall. Its a SnowTown
but they also said they are planning a village for another season of the
year. Guess which???? Can’t wait to see both villages.
Lefton Colonial (and also their Diners)
Lefton had two wonderful displays that I noticed. The Colonial
Village which was all set in levels of stone with a big mountain, a lake
and running water. You could also walk around the whole display. Lefton
offers some wonderful accessories in addition to a wonderful variety of
lighted buildings. And their diner display was awash in nostalgia. In
fact the display was a 50 diners counter with stools. Lefton is really
having a lot of fun with their collectibles. They also had some nice
magnets of their village items.
Lighthouses (Harbour Lights, Spencer Collin, Century Lights, Vitreville,
and Lefton)
OK lighthouse collectors--what did you think? I don’t really know
much about the lighthouse collectibles although I’m partial to the Spencer
Collin line because of her emphasis on the surrounding venue for the
lighthouse but the choices in lighthouses are astounding. It seems as if
there is a general trend toward including some of the surrounding area
with the lighthouse but what other trends are there?? There were some
outstanding lighthouses displayed at the show. Harbour Lights, in
particular had a very large display.
Lilliput Lane
Lilliput had a wondeful booth and had many examples of the
differently sized Lilliput collectibles. I love the Ray Day (do I have
the right name) pieces, esp. Afternoon Tea and the Victoriana piece (did
he do that one also?). These pieces really set the mood. Lilliput is
also putting out some nice accessories. Like Disney, they had ample
magnification to see the details of the buildings. We also got a chance
to see the new Coca Cola Lilliputs which were sweet. Lilliput really
appeared to be popular with collectors.
Precious Moments Sugartown and Cherished Teddies Dickens Village (Enesco)
I spent some time looking at the Enesco figurines. These are
incredibly popular with collectors. The line was incredibly long for
Priscilla Hillman (Cherished Teddies) and Sam Butcher (Precious Moments)
was the Artist of the Year. Enesco is taking a leadership role in
developing buildings for their popular figurines to congregate in. We
look forward to seeing more buildings from Enesco which build on the style
of their figurines.
Shelia’s
The Shelia’s booth was another incredibly hospitable booth. I
loved seeing all the new collectibles (buildings, accessories, and lots of
ornaments!!). Shelia signed 7 buildings (5 old, 2 new club pieces) and
one ornament for me. We gave her a RCV pin. And we talked a little bit
about the Internet. They are exploring an Internet presence but she
confessed that she doesn’t know too much about it!! Shelia was very
popular with the collectors and many people bought collectors kits at the
show!!
Village Chronicle
Ron subscribed to the Village Chronicle at the show. Many of you
know that this is a newsletter for D56 collectors. The Village Chronicle
recently interviewed Susan Engle (the President of D56) so we are very
eager to see that issue!!
Walter Brockman
This company from St. Louis had very fetching village
collectibles, big shiny (like the Lladro figurines) pastel lighted houses.
These were just beautiful. Walter Brockman (and I do hope I’m getting
the name right) is the company that the first D56 houses came out of (if
I’ve got the story right). D56 then went their own way--with great
success obviously--but Walter Brockman is still there making some truly
beautiful houses. They were giving out the cutest little numbered
bluebird figurines!! I can’t wait to get the catalog from them!!
Misc.
I apologize for leaving out any village items...I’ll post a follow-up
message when I go thru the literature and watch for updates on the
rec.collecting.villages web page!!
Would have liked to see...Cat’s Meow, Brandywine, Midwest of Cannon Falls,
Hawthorne Architectural Register, and Lenox (note, a Lenox collectible won
the Collectors Ed. award for the village collectible under $100 and a
Lilliput collectible won in the over $100 catagory).
We picked up a ton of literature so are learning more about a lot of the
lines. On Sunday, Ron got lots of pictures, we’ll see how they come out!!
Ron also got some info. from the D56 Council of Clubs people since we
don’t have a D56 club in our area. We also queried some of the vendors
regarding whether they would be interested in seeing a village newsletter.
Most gracious (receptive!) were: Vitreville, Lefton Colonial, Amazze
Chocolate Town, and Walter Brockman.
Village collecting, seemed to be really taking off!! I welcome any
questions or comments about the show and the collectibles!
Our best buy for the weekend though may have been at one of Secaucus’ many
outlets--Noritake. Service for 8 plus a completer set for less than $100!
take care, Lisa
Lisa Pavlov
lis...@aol.com or 10262...@compuserve.com
Health Planner and Volunteer EMT
Lisa and Ron's Virtual Home is now at: http://pages.prodigy.com/village
Bring Country Music BACK to NYC!!
Lisa Pavlov
Swap and Sell Highlights...
Amazze Chocalate Town
Collector’s Information Bureau
D56
David Winter/John Hine/Media Arts
Disney Enchanted Places
Figurines and Collecibles Magazine
Forma Vitrum
Fraser, Intl.
Gault
Kurt S. Adler
Lilliput Lane
Shelia’s
Village Chronicle
Walter Brockman
Misc.
take care, Lisa
--
Lisa Pavlov, hospital-based health planner and volunteer EMT ILMSPR!!
Our Virtual Home Address is at http://pages.prodigy.com/village/
but you can also email me at lhpa...@ix.netcom.com
I live in country-music deprived NYC...
but I hang out at USENET: rec.collecting.villages
Bethene Hutchens
about them...size, material, where purchased, price range, etc? I have
collected Snow White stuff for a long while...Beth
b hutchens (hut...@wfu.edu)
Ed Bowers
Snowtown is going to be a Major hit.
Now on to - Lancaster
Lisahp
> Lisa...I'm unfamiliar with Disney Enchanted Places....could you tell me
> about them...size, material, where purchased, price range, etc? I have
> collected Snow White stuff for a long while...Beth
These are a line of WDCC (Walt Disney Classics Collection) figurine
collectibles that are various structures from the World of Disney
(actually from Disney films, I believe). There were 3 buildings in the
first year and seems like a similar number in the second year...so far the
ones I know about are:
Woodcutters Cottage from Sleeping Beauty
a cottage from Alice in Wonderland
Snow White 7 Dwarfs Home
Snow White Jewel Mine (my favorite)
Pinoccio Geppeto's Workshop
Peter and the Wolf home
They appear to be porcelain (similar in materials to the D56 Heritage
Villages) and they are on a detachable wooden base.
Size-wise, they are slightly smaller than the D56 buildings, I'm fairly
sure they are unlighted, and they're expensive...approaching $300 a piece.
You can find them in stores that carry WDCC.
Hope this helps, Lisa
Lisa Pavlov
writes:
>Have to agree,
>
>Snowtown is going to be a Major hit.
Ah, Ed, then you'll also have to watch out for SpringTown!!