It used to be that on the mornings when Department 56 announced their product retirement, collectors (especially Canadians) would scramble all over their home towns and look for copies of USA Today newspaper to find out what village items Department 56 had decided to stop producing. It used to be that on the mornings when Department 56 announced their product retirement, collectors would take time off from their busy schedules and line up in front of their favourite local retailers to make sure they could pick up "just retired" lit-houses and accessories. It used to be that on the evenings before Department 56 announced their product retirement, collectors would go on internet chat room to discuss/guess/contemplate what the company might decide to "break the molds" for good. It also used to be that everyone could fill up a tank of
gasoline for, say, under $20. I guess those were just the good old days. Instead of USA Today, we now have http://www.department56.com/ to find out the latest retirement news. Instead of purchasing retired items from local retailers in the wee early morning hours, we now can buy anything we want from eBay with (sometimes) a fraction of the regular retail prices. So, has the magic for collecting long disappeared for us Department 56 collectors? Are we not having fun anymore?
Maybe I am just one of the few die-hards. For me, the answers to the above questions are a resounding NO! If the fun and magic are no longer there, why are we still talking about the company and its products? If the fun and magic are no longer there, why do we still belong to collector clubs and hang around with other seemingly die-hard collectors? Although it is true Department 56 Retirement Day is not what it used to be, I think there is still something inside us collectors that gets a little bit excited when this day comes around every year. Why? Because we know, in the not too distant future, the company will be introducing new items to replace the retired products. Maybe, just maybe there will be something new that will catch our eyes, something new that we know we have to have, something new that we cannot wait to buy from our retailers' store shelves. Who knows?!
Anyway, in case you did not realize, today is the day that Department 56 announced its retirement list. Yes, please go over to the Department 56 web site and find out for yourself. Or you can click on VILLAGE to see the list of retired Village items and click on SNOWBABIES to see the list of retired Snowbabies products.
Happy "Retirement" Day!
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