The NFFC had their January sale today, so we attended to get a glimpse of the new Gallery of Light pieces and Heirloom Boxes forthcoming from Olszewski Studios. But first, a couple small bits of news on the main street miniatures and pokitpals fronts.
The painting/touch-up kit for the Disneyland miniatures collection is currently available from the Olszewski Studios website only. If you meant to get it last time and didn't, now is your chance. If you miss this round, you may have to wait a while before it's released again.
For those still missing pieces in their Disneyland miniatures collection, the Mark Twain, Plaza Pavilion/Tiki Room and Clothier Corner pieces are expected to have new shipments in March. Photo Corner, Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion are expected to be back in stock in June. Reservations for tree accessory pack #2 will be taken in March on the Olszewski Studios website for delivery in June.
The combination Mr. Toad's Wild Ride/Alice in Wonderland piece that's due for release in November is currently in the mockup stage. As previously mentioned, the Toad insert scene will be in the tunnel with the train coming at Toad, and the Alice insert will be a compilation scene to include the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, a ride vehicle, and possible the doorknob. Maybe Olszewski Studios will have something for us all to look at during the April event for the release of the next set of Electrical Parade floats.
The next release in the Walt Disney World collection has been moved from February to March due to merchandise shipping delays. There is no set release date yet, but the Emporium with Car Barn piece and the Cinema/Uptown Jewelers piece will each be $245.
The next set of Disney-themed pokitpals will be released in May 2009 and will include Minnie ($18), Dumbo ($22), Space Mountain ($18) and all three of the remaining Haunted Mansion stretching portraits ($22 each).
One of the pokitpals already in release is of an original Disneyland submarine. In a prior update, the picture of the back of the pokitpal wasn't very good, so here's a picture that better shows the battle depicted.
The shark and squid fight.
It's been previously announced that Olszewski Studios will be releasing a Gallery of Light piece themed to the Haunted Mansion, showing the three hitchhiking ghosts illuminated with a blue light, as part of the Haunted Mansion 40th anniversary event to be held on September 9, 2009. A Haunted Mansion pokitpal will be released at the event as well, and both pieces will be open edition and not exclusive to the event.
Concept art of the Haunted Mansion pokitpal to be released initially at the 40th anniversary event.
As previously mentioned, four new Gallery of Light pieces will be released in April.
A scene from "The Jungle Book" depicts Baloo and Mowgli floating down river. I love the foliage around the border, which reminds me a lot of the Alice in Wonderland/Mad Tea Party piece, like you're getting a sneak peek at them. It's a really beautiful piece. It will retail for $70.
Baloo and Mowgli, lit to show details.
The piece with its own internal lighting only.
A scene from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" showing some of the dwarfs as they work in the mine. The detailing on this piece is really spectacular. It will retail for $90.
The dwarfs mining for diamonds.
It's actually quite dark in the mine.
A scene from "Peter Pan" shows the Darling children and Tinkerbell flying in the clouds in front of Big Ben. Underneath the cloud bank right under Wendy, you can see a glimpse of the lights of London below, though it's not really visible in the pictures. When I saw the piece, I kept thinking it was sideways, but I think that's because I naturally want the kids to have their feet on the ground rather than parallel to the ground. The piece will retail for $80.
Wendy, John, Michael and Tink in flight.
It's evening and past their bedtime.
The titular character of "Mary Poppins" high above London. I love the foliage on this piece as well, which is very different from the foliage on the Alice in Wonderland and Jungle Book pieces. Another gorgeous piece. It will retail for $70.
Mary Poppins coming in for a landing.
The London background is really nice.
A fifth Gallery of Light will also be released, in May, themed to Winnie the Pooh. It will retail for $70.
Pooh finds a treasure of honey.
Pooh looks very happy.
Three new Heirloom Boxes are also being released in May.
The "Sleeping Beauty" Heirloom Box has a removable top and shows numerous scenes from the film around the sides and is a pretty spectacular piece. It will retail for $85.
The front of the piece, showing the castle.
The right side, showing Aurora.
The left side, showing Prince Philip dancing with Aurora.
The back side, showing Prince Philip fighting Maleficent in her dragon form.
The front panels open, showing the happily ever after ending.
The "Beauty and the Beast" Heirloom Box also has a removable top and also shows numerous scenes from the film around the sides and is another amazing piece. It will retail for $85.
The Beast's castle and some of its enchanted inhabitants (as well as Belle) grace the front of the piece.
On the right side, the unfeeling prince turns the old woman away.
On the back, the enchantress metes out the prince's punishment. I love the reactions of the enchanted characters around the edges.
On the left side, the prince is turned into a hideous Beast.
The front panels open to show the rose and the broken spell, and the inhabitants changed back to their human forms.
The iconic coach from "Cinderella" makes a lovely Heirloom Box. The top is removable, showing etched images on the inside. The piece will retail for $70.
Cinderella's coach.
The inside shows images of Cinderella with her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella in her beautiful ball gown, Cinderella dancing with the Prince, and that pesky clock striking twelve.
We noticed that the underside of the removable tops of the three new Heirloom Boxes had an "Heirloom Box" logo imprinted on it. Travis said that the imprint is on all Heirloom Boxes that are commissioned by Enesco. Any Heirloom Boxes that are commissioned by and produced for Disney, like the Mad Tea Party, will not have the imprint, whereas Enesco ones will, so you can tell if a particular Heirloom Box is an original Disney release or an Enesco release.
The underside of each of the tops of the Heirloom Boxes depicted above have this same logo.
Olszewski Studios has another line of items that I'd not seen before, but some selections were brought to the show to display, and the detailing and quality of them are quite remarkable. The line is called Nature's Canvas, and they are images of nature carved into what look like rocks, but which open and can be used to hold small items. This page from the Olszewski Studios website shows the designs that are currently available. The pieces are bigger than pokitpals and would each fit nicely in the palm of your hand. This wolf design is a good representation of the quality of the carving and life-like look of the piece. On display was a new piece that will be coming out in May that I plan to get for a friend's birthday, and there are several other items listed on an informational sheet available at the show that I'm eager to see, which will also be coming out in May.
We had a chance to talk to Bob for a few minutes, and it was interesting to hear about the various things he thinks about when it comes to his craft that aren't about the products themselves. It's also always nice to see how happy people are to meet Bob and how happy Bob is to meet them. He even pointed out a gentlemen who's been collecting his work since the 70s!
See you in April for the release of the next Electrical Parade floats!
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