Best of 2008 Pt. 1

As time passes Warner Brothers has been allowing more creative freedom with Oz collectible production. In the past few years, we’ve seen characters and scenes never before captured in the collectible medium and the familiar characters have undergone intriguing re-interpretations such as the witches of oz portrayed as fashion dolls and ballerinas. It’s becoming a bit of a challenge to highlight the best offerings and at this early stage, it looks like 2009 will be even more difficult. With the advent of new techniques and manufacturing ingenuity the sky’s the limit to what we could see coming to us from over the rainbow!

The Winged Monkey Carousel from San Francisco Music Box should be reproduced as a theme park ride! It plays ‘Optimistic Voices’ while the monkeys circle with a prize for their mistress.

The Wizard Revealed by Lenox illustrates Toto’s triumph as he exposes the inner sanctum of the mysterious man behind the curtain. This figurine stands at 9 ¾” tall and is one of the rarest pieces in the Lenox Oz collection.

Two classic games have been given a facelift with imagery from one of the most iconic classic films of all time. The Game of Life Wizard of Oz Collector’s Edition includes a game board decorated with ozzy locales, ruby slipper game pieces, a custom spinner, and buildings from the movie.

The Wizard of Oz edition of Uno was a pleasant surprise. Many outlets reported the cancellation of this game. Suddenly, they turned up online and at some Target stores. The game is attractively packaged in a crystal ball shaped tin and sadly it seems to have disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

Hallmark’s Emerald City Style was plentiful after the holidays, but it sill makes my list for it’s originality. This is an example of a scene we don’t usually see in collectibles and the paint jobs on this year’s ornaments are much improved after many complaints last year. Who Rang That Bell was popular with Hallmark and Oz collectors. Production problems made this ornament difficult to find and it was sold out by October.

The first day of the 2008 Happy Meal promotion coincidentally coincided with the first day of the Indiana Wizard of Oz festival. New characters were introduced and old favorites were revamped. This promotion was easily as popular as last year’s though point of purchase materials seemed more difficult to get. And this year we finally got a happy meal box! WB Kids.com had fun Oz features such as games, coloring pages, IM icons, and wall papers.

A very unique vision of Baum’s characters comes from Graham Rawle who richly illustrates his book with toys from yesteryear. It’s different yet oddly intriguing and attractive.

The Wizard of Oz Ultimate Charm Bracelet comes with 34 sterling silver 24K gold plated charms. The characters and icons of Oz are accented with Swarovski crystal accents and 14 charms are engraved with movie quotes. This exquisite bracelet is sure to draw a lot of admiring oohs and Oz.

Mattel Barbie 2009

Mattel acknowledges two milestones this year. The 50th anniversary of Barbie and the 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. The 2007 Barbies have been repackaged with sound clips from the movie. The packaging is beautiful and you can enjoy the clips without ruining the box, but I am very disappointed they chose to use the same dolls. They have wonderful sculptors at Mattel and I would have preferred vinyl likenesses of the movie characters. They are at select WalMarts right now for around $37.00 and should be hitting other retailers in the next month. That said, a big surprise was in my email box this morning. Coming Fall 2009: Barbie as the Wicked Witch of the East. This doll is going to be snatched up by the Oz, witch, Barbie, and Halloween collectors. Thanks to Jim Whitcomb for this amazing tidbit!!

Tonner Dolls 2009

After dazzling doll and Oz collectors with his wonderful witches, Tonner brings Dorothy to the forefront for 2009 with a beautiful Judy Garland sculpt. Photos courtesy of Peachy Keen Kristin.

Dorothy Gale Open Edition

2009 Basic Dorothy Edition of 1000 $89.99

This Side of the Rainbow Edition of 150 $124.99 This doll can only be ordered online from Tonner Direct.

Lady Emerald Edition of 150 $199.99

Munchkinland Reception outfit Edition of 300 $79.99

Emerald City Princess outfit Edition of 300 $79.99

Merry Ol' Land of Oz outfit Edition of 300 $79.99

To see the dolls on the Tonner Doll Company website please click here:

http://www.tonnerdoll.com/wizofoz.htm#2009

Karen Owens at Storyland Collectables is accepting pre-orders on the 2009 collection. If you are missing any of the Tonner dolls she may have those in stock as well.
http://www.wizardofozland.com/

Goodreau Dolls Presents Upside Down Oz

Goodreau Dolls Upside Down Oz collection are ball jointed vinyl and stand at 17 inches. They retail for $160. Toto is exclusive to Bearzabout. I hope to have more information about these lovely dolls from the artist soon. Photos courtesy of Peachy Keen Kristin.

http://www.goodreaudoll.com/Pages/09_BJC_5inch_Toto.html

http://www.goodreaudoll.com/Pages/09_BJD_Oz_Dorothy.html

Wilde Imagination

Wilde Imagination brings us their fantastic versions of Dorothy, Glinda, and the Wicked Witch. Wilde Imagination dolls are only sold online and at FAO Schwarz stores in New York City and Las Vegas. Keep watching the Curiozity Corner for more info. Photos courtesy of Peachy Keen Kristin. Thanks Kristin for sharing all of your wonderful photos from IDEX.

Salute to '39: Introduction

By the time the Wizard of Oz was released in August of 1939, the beloved characters from the Land of Oz had been travelling the yellow brick road for almost 40 years. With that in mind, and the astronomical sum put into promotion, one would think MGM's parent company Loew's would have considered merchandising much sooner. A royalty department was created especially to handle licensing accounts for MGM's 3 million dollar technicolor spectacle, but contracts weren't finalized until late spring. The fact this was a fledgling venture may have hindered negotiations between L. Frank Baum's widow and prospective licensees.

Despite their inexperience, Loew's was hoping to enjoy the same merchandising success of Disney's animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, many companies had misgivings about a live production when cartoons were already proven. As a result, very few licensees brought Oz merchandise to fruition. Stock needed to be on shelves quickly for the limited run of the movie and the upcoming holiday season. Oz tie-ins were cheap with short production runs and suffered a minimal shelf life.

The little product that did end up in the hands of consumers was certainly not meant to be collectible. Posters and lobby cards were hung to advertise short film engagements and promptly discarded. Dolls and toys were temporary diversions and oftentimes abandoned as children grew out of playthings. Over time, things wore out, broke, or were simply disposed of due to lack of interest.

Luckily for us, some individuals had the foresight to preserve Oz memorabilia for posterity and despite it's uncertain beginnings as a marketable property, the Wizard of Oz has persevered and become one of the most collectible films of all time parallelled only by the other phenom of 1939, Gone With the Wind.

Shown below is a St. Louis Department Store Window with Oz characters furnished by W.L. Stensgaard and Associates, Inc. The Oz displays were made up of a variety of figures and exclusive to one department store per city. W.L. Stensgaard's character concepts would show up on assorted collectibles as well.

Please keep checking back for other curiozities from 1939.

Sources :

The Oz Scrapbook - David L. Greene & Dick Martin

100 Years of Oz: A Century of Classic Images from the Wizard of Oz Collection of Willard Carroll - John Fricke
The Wizard of Oz Collector's Treasury - William Stillman & Jay Scarfone
The Baum Bugle Autumn 1989 "The Merchandising of MGM's Oz: The 1939 Licensees and their Products" - William Stillman

The Baum Bugle Autumn 1997 "Oz Oddity"

Madame Alexander 2009

Yet another stellar collection from the Alexander Doll Company especially if you love Dorothy! Once again Alexander shows why they are a leader in the doll industry with their imaginative re-designs of our favorite girl from Kansas. We also have the Emerald City Gatekeeper, a flower munchkin, a limited edition Cowardly Lion and additions to the Wicked line.


Dorothy and her Ruby Slippers 10"

Christmas Dorothy

Wizard of Oz Rocks Zip Bin Dorothy is 9" doll and wearing a t-shirt with a photo of Toto on it that reads 'And You're Little Dog Too' Mat folds up into a carrying case

Wizard of Oz Lissy Trunk Set Doll stands at 12"

Flower Munchkin

Gatekeeper

King Lion edition of 750

Madame Morrible 10"

First Day at Shiz Elphaba 8"

First Day at Shiz Glinda 8"

Watch Storyland Collectables for pricing and release dates.

http://www.wizardofozland.com/index.php

Precious Moments Wizard of Oz Village

My goodness! Are we going to have room for all of this stuff???! Very cute village with all different Precious Moments figurines. Check out the little silver shoes under Dorothy's house!
http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-917324.jsp?_wizard+of+oz/_prod/_/_/_36/_/_/_Y&endeca=true#

Fairies of Oz Collection

These are adorable and much cuter than I ever imagined!! The figurines are based on the popular art by Jasmine Becket-Griffith. And her Toto has got to be one of the cutest I've ever seen. Please visit her website to see the beautiful figurines and to print your order form.

http://www.strangeling.com/wizardofoz.html

Thanks to Jim Whitcomb for keeping an eye on these. They've been in development for some time and he's been very vigilant with updates.

Wizard of Oz Illuminated Christmas Village

FINALLY!!! I've seen Disney Christmas villages and I've admired the Dept. 56 villages for some time and I've wanted to see an Oz one and here it is! And it looks beautiful. How can you not love the Wicked Witch in the sleigh pulled by Winged Monkeys??

http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-917319.jsp?_wizard+of+oz/_prod/_/_/_36/_/_/_Y&endeca=true#

Hallmark Greeting Card Additions

New 2009 Husband Valentine. Thanks to Paula Johnson for the initial heads up and thanks to Eugene DeMarco for the photos.

Late 2008 Granddaughter Birthday Card. Costs $2.69. This card might be regional and hard to find. I've looked high and low and I've not seen any sign of it in the Northwest.

Oversized Valentine for 2009. Measures 13" x 19" and costs $6.99