Mattel Winkie/Monkey Update

Sit down for this one, it'll make your head spin. The reps can't seem to agree on anything. First the Winkie was to be a Walmart exclusive. Now some people have been told it's a KB Toys & Toys R Us exclusive. And someone else has been told the Winkie won't be an exclusive at all. And no definite release date, but possibly spring. Maybe there will be an announcement from Toy Fair next month.

This doll line has been particularly troubling for collectors. The Wizard of Oz dolls were originally slated for release in February 2007. Collectors were very surprised to learn the dolls had showed up at Walmart Super Centers in December. In addition to the surprise release, it was disappointing to learn the dolls wouldn't play music and dialogue from the movie. Now there are many conflicting reports about where the Winkie will be available. It sure seems an odd way to do business and retailers and customers have been very frustrated to say the least. It will be interesting to see in the coming months if this turns some retailers and consumers off of Mattel.

Vandor

Hold on to your hats witch fans! Another great year for you guys!!! New cookie jar.



Also new are Glinda/Wicked Witch glasses, Dorothy/Toto glasses, Dorothy/Toto alarm clock and new mugs.

San Francisco Music Box

Some really great pieces this year and the last one I think is especially unique. Be sure to enlarge the photos to see more detail.

Wizard's Balloon $80.00




Emerald City Waterglobe




And now some stellar pieces to make the Wicked Witch fan happy.

Glinda/Wicked Witch Musical $60.00




Wicked Witch Dorothy Waterglobe $60.00



And now the best for last, the Wicked Witch Hat Waterglobe priced at $125.00 and it looks well worth the price!!!


For more detailed info and to reserve these pieces email Karen Owens at storylandmi@aol.com

Kurt Adler 2007

Kurt Adler has some really neat stuff for this year!!

An 18" book shaped backdrop with four 7 1/2" figurines of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion; for Christmas we have a new Glinda tree topper, a Wicked Witch of the East stocking, Glinda and Wicked Witch stringed lights, a set of glass ornaments, and a Steinbach Nutcracker of the Winkie Guard. Last we have a light up figurine of Dorothy and Glinda. For more detailed info, pics, and pricing info please see Karen Owens webpage linked below.

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

Figurines, Bobbles & Banks, Oh My!!!

New for 2007 from Westland Giftware

http://www.westlandgiftware.com/products/product_cat.php/subid=3819~page=0~start_num=0~full=20/index.html


This is the time of year collectible companies debut their new items and as far as Oz is concerned, they do not disappoint. Some really outstanding pieces coming. Stay tuned for news from Vandor, San Francisco Music Box, Lenox, and probably some surprises as well!

First look at Alexander 2007

Miss Gulch http://www.matildadolls.com/wizard_46355.htm

Sleepy Head Munchkin http://www.matildadolls.com/wizard_46350.htm

Munchkin Soldier http://www.matildadolls.com/wizard_46345.htm

Lollipop Munchkin http://www.matildadolls.com/wizard_45535.htm

Dress Up Set http://www.matildadolls.com/wizard_46365.htm

Elphaba http://www.matildadolls.com/hollywood_45910.htm

Glinda http://www.matildadolls.com/hollywood_45905.htm

I can not emphasize how THRILLED I am to finally see Wicked dolls. I was really pleased to see the waterglobe, but I'm just ecstatic about the dolls. I hope we'll see more from other companies in the future.

Madame Alexander 2007

I got a sneak peek at the Alexander line which is due to be officially revealed tomorrow I believe. There are three new munchkins, a new Miss Gulch, adress up trunk for the 8 inch Wendy doll, and best of all two dolls based on the musical Wicked!!!! More tomorrow when things are official.

Dorothy's New Dress From Tonner

Just a little tidbit I thought I'd mention .... I don't know if this is the case or not but it appears to me that the Picnic with Auntie Em outfit was inspired by a test dress for the Wizard of Oz film. The dress was started and may not have been entirely completed when it was decided Dorothy's shoes would change from silver to red. It's not a great pic, but here it is in the upper left of the page. A red jumper with white polka dots.
http://ritadubasdesign.com/wizardryofoz/oz_04.html

This dress can also be seen in The Judy Garland Collector's Guide by Edward Pardella.

I always thought it would be really neat for someone to do a series of Dorothy dolls based on the test dresses and hairstyles from early test photos. The Tonner dress is the next best thing! Dorothy aficionados like me might want to consider adding this to their collections.

Tonner 2007

The new doll introductions have begun and Tonner is off to a running start. The new dressed Wicked Witch is nothing short of AMAZING. The detail on the costuming, really incredible. The new blue Glinda isn't too shabby either. She's isn't something that would immediately stand out as an Oz doll but she's gorgeous nonetheless and Glinda's separate outfits are really beautiful. There's also a new Emerald City maiden this year. Without further ado........the 2007 Tonner Oz line:

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

Wicked Snowglobe

Here are photos of the Wicked Defy Gravity Glitter Globe by Araca Exclusives. Again, it is available for $75 wherever Wicked is playing. Thanks to Clare Washington for taking the time to send the manufacturer info and the pictures. Very much appreciated!

Happy New Year!!!

For Oz collectors 2007 came early with some surprise releases.

Everything Oz Club member Alan Wise found the newly designed 8" Madame Alexander dolls. The storybook styled Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion have been retired to make way for dolls that are styled after the MGM film. Dorothy's appearance remains much the same but she now has a plush Toto and she carries a pair of ruby slippers.



Pebz Zimmerman, also an Everything Oz Club member, found the Barbies had been released early at WalMart. Originally slated for February, collectors were excited to learn of the early release. The dolls were to play music and dialogue from the film, but it appears those plans have been scrapped. The Wicked Witch makes her first appearance in the Barbie line as does the forthcoming Winkie & flying monkey.



Many thanks to these sharp eyed Oz collectors for sharing the wonderful news.




A very cute set of teddy bears came out in December. I do not know what company made the bears, but they do resemble the plush bears made by Cuddle Factory.





There is now a Wicked musical snowglobe available wherever Wicked is playing. Priced at $75 Elphaba is Defying Gravity in the globe with her cape trailing beneath her. The base is a relief design of cogs and wheels with the Wicked logo.

Members of the Tonner Doll Club were treated to a sneak peek of the 2007 line including a new Glinda wearing a blue gown and she has matching blue hair!! She looks beautiful.

Dept. 56 recently announced their spring 2007 line-up. King of the Forest is the new addition to the Hot Properties Collection. New in the bejeweled boxes collection are Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, ruby slippers, and Toto.



More 2007 announcements are expected in the coming days and so far it's not a bad start to the new year!! Stay tuned!

Glass Ornaments

May Co. Department stores sold this set of blown glass ornaments for one holiday season.



Soffieria De Carlini made these glass figural ornaments that were sold at the Smithsonian for a short time. Dorothy was made in blonde and brunette versions.



Susan Cherry made this set of Oz ornaments fully licensed by the Baum Trust.



I would say the creme de la creme of blown glass ornaments are made by Christopher Radko. Radko produced licensed Oz ornaments for the Warner Brothers Studio Stores. The Wicked Witch seen here was produced independently of Warner Brothers. Prototypes were made, but not produced when the merger between Time Warner and AOL forced the closing of the retail stores. Radko modified the witch's coloring and changed her name to 'I Mean Green' to avoid copyright infringement.



So far we have no glass ornaments of our favorite cairn terrier, but glass cairn ornaments by Joy to the World Collectibles would make lovely stand-ins.

Homemade Ornaments

Handmade ornaments add a certain kind of beauty and charm to the Christmas tree that no store bought ornament could possibly provide. Oz is popular theme among the creative and there are many handcrafted ornaments to choose from. A couple are shown below.

Crafty people could make their own ornaments with these craft kits from Bucilla.




For at least 12 years , Finegan & O'Brien have made darling clay ornaments sold at the Wizard of Oz festival in Indiana. They have been a favorite among festival attendees and each passing year brings more characters. The witches from the Broadway musical Wicked made their debut this year.



This year the Everything Oz Club exchanged Christmas among it's members. One lucky club member received this lovely ornament made by Randy Ward.

Ornaments Novelty Pt. 2

San Francisco Music Box made a small variety of musical ornaments. In addition to the Oz cast and ruby slippers ornaments, San Francisco Music Box made a set of brightly colored ornaments in tins. Dorothy is shown below.

Sterling's unusual version of the Oz characters.



Silvestri gave collectors many ornaments to choose from in the mid-90s. In addition to those shown below were tole ornaments, spun glass ornaments, plastic light covers, and poppy garland.



I don't know the manufacturer of these ornaments but I thought they were kind of neat. Dorothy is also available wearing a blue dress.



And last for the novelty ornaments are these curious light covers. This set also includes Toto.

Novelty Ornaments Pt. 1

There's so many ornaments to choose from! It was difficult to decide which to highlight. I picked out a few that I thought were rare, unusual or especially pretty.

G. G. Santiago designed a set of 24 charming Wonderful Wizard of Oz figural ornaments of children impersonating Oz characters for Ashton Drake. The first set of 3 is shown. Other characters include The Wicked Witch of the West, the Cowardly Lion, The Good Witch of the North, the Wizard, flying monkey, Queen of the Field Mice, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to name just a few.



Boyds popular bears and figurines have been made into Christmas ornaments. The plush were introduced for fall of 2006. The Shoebox figural ornaments will be released spring of 2007.





In 1977, Bradford Novelty was probably among the first to produce Wizard of Oz ornaments based on the MGM film. Boxed sets of plastic bulbs and bells displaying images of the film scenes and characters.



Dept. 56, manufacturer of fine collectibles, has no shortage of Oz collectibles including these amusing interpretations of Wonderful Wizard of Oz characters.

Marfield Christmas Decor made early Wonderful Wizard of Oz ornaments.

Ornaments Kurt Adler Pt. 1

Kurt Adler has been in the business of creating holiday cheer for 60 years. Adler's Santa's World division has produced varied Wizard of Oz ornaments since the late 1970s. The ornaments are based on both the book and the MGM film and are manufactured from various mediums including fabric mache', plastic, wood, glass, resin, metal, cloth, and porcelain.

Shown below is a small sampling of the wide assortment of Wizard of Oz ornaments Adler has brought us through the years.

1970s or 1980s   4" - 6" dough ornaments


1980s Stained glass ornaments based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Note Dorothy's silver slippers and yellow cap from the Wicked Witch of the West

1987   This year Kurt Adler offered a variety of Oz holiday items including Christmas caroller ornaments and figurines, 24" animated figures, cloth figural ornaments, felt tote bag ornaments, a tree skirt, paper garland, and porcelain doll ornaments.


1993 Gorgeous resin ornaments styled after W. W. Denslow's Wonderful Wizard of Oz illustrations.


1995 Cloth and button primitive styled ornaments

Ornaments Kurt Adler Pt. 2

Circa 2000 Dorothy stocking. Never mass manufactured but a few were sold on Ebay.


2000 Light Sets Oz busts with ruby slippers & Ruby Slippers
2005 Light Set Oz Stars



2002 Miniature toby jugs

New for 2006
Ruby Slipper & yellow brick road 6 ft. garland
6" porcelain doll ornaments

Starting in 1997 the Oz Polonaise were based on the MGM film rather then the book

2003 Dorothy and Glinda
To Oz




2005 Oz Tree