FEBRUARY 2001 NEWS!

Apparently "PARDON ME PETE" saw his shadow on GROUNDHOG DAY, so you know what that means.......Oh well.

The ENESCO figurine line of HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL hit the stores already. You can also order on-line from Official ENESCO dealer www.timeandspacetoys.com.

This line is dead on perfect and includes character groupings which I helped give direction on. ENESCO decided to pass on the snowglobe figurines and the egg carton this year, but that may be forthcoming if these do well. The BUNNY TRAIL base is outstanding and these figures are a welcome change from all the RUDOLPH product that has flooded the market in the last three years.

My MAKING OF RUDOLPH book (TIGER MOUNTAIN PRESS) is coming along well. I have been in contact with the animators in Japan, the voice actors in Canada and just about all the creative people behind this magical special. We also came close to a PLAYING MANTIS book/figure pairing for the holidays, but unfortunately it didn't work out. Pictured here are one of the PM concept cover ideas by our friend Bob Plant. PLAYING MANTIS will once again have some GREAT MEMORY LANE products in the stores for 2001....more on that later!

Speaking of RUDOLPH Product. Here is a sneak peak at ENESCO's 2 001 RUDOLPH line. The groupings are truer to the actual scenes in the special and again I gave some concept art direction. The Elf grouping (seen here) is my personal favorite! I paired these elves up in one of my concept drawings BUT I had the tall elf with the glasses in the middle and drew the FOREMAN elf with his baton in another scene with Hermey. I like the way ENESCO resolved the use of these secondary characters and I applaud them for including them in the line! I especially wanted them to include one of the girl elves and they did.

Well, try to stay warm and dry and keep those orders coming in. It's GREAT to hear from all the RANKIN/BASS fans and friends and we like sending out those little surprise extras with your orders!

Rick