Department 56 Snow Village, Christmas Miniature Villages, and Halloween Village Displays
FAQs on Department 56 Retired Pieces
Looking for hard-to-find Department 56 retired pieces?
Collectors will tell you that really, this is the fun part. Once you get the bug (a condition for which we're told there’s no cure), it’s a fast progression to scouring the internet, attending collector clubs, and swap meets.
The search for elusive retired Department 56 village buildings and accessories is never ending! Here's a list of FAQs about collecting Retired Department 56.
Find retired Department 56 at CollectiblesToday.com.
Find retired Department 56 on Ebay.
How many pieces are retired each year?
Several times each year, usually in spring and winter, Department 56 selects a number of village buildings and accessories to discontinue.
On the first Friday in November, Department 56 publishes the list of buildings and accessories to be retired for the coming year. Then, several times during the year, the pieces are taken off the line and removed from production.
How does Department 56 decide which village buildings to retire?
Retirements are based on a number of factors. They can decide to retire a piece that is difficult to produce, or one that has been in the line for a long time, one that is not selling very well, or one where the licensing agreement has expired.
There are never any hard and fast rules and it differs every year.
Are retired Department 56 pieces ever brought back in limited edition?
Retired pieces are not brought back in their original form. There may, from time to time, be a redesign on a piece such as "The Curiosity Shop" in the Dickens Village.
What is a Limited Edition building?
Each year, Department 56 makes certain pieces that are designated as limited to year of production, meaning it will be produced for only one year, or a numbered limited, in which each piece is hand numbered.
The decision to create limited edition is made by the creative department and those buildings or accessories are marketed as such.
Where can I find retired Department 56 buildings?
The best way to find retired Dept 56 is to stay in touch with the secondary market for Department 56 village buildings and snow village accessories. Here's a list of places to try:
- Join a D56 club where you’ll meet loads of other folks in your area who have “villagitis”. There is a National Council of 56 Clubs whose purpose is to promote, cultivate and facilitate the exchange of information between Member Clubs. Website: http://www.ncc56.com/
- Attend Department 56 collector events
- Join online forums and chat groups. One such group we belong to is the Yahoo D56 Group. Website: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/list/dept56/
- Browse for Department 56 on Ebay.
Also see our pages on... [ Christmas Villages ] [ Halloween Villages ] [ Dickens Villages ]
