Lemax

Santa's Wonderland by Lemax

Villages by Lemax are very popular and inexpensive. They generally are not as detailed or diverse as the Department 56 series, and they don't yet have their secondary market appeal, but they do have a loyal following and I expect to see the secondary market for these pieces growing.

Lemax is probably the easiest village (after Dept. 56) to find throughout the US, but not all products seem to be available at through all distribution channels. Lemax has gone from making the cute porcelain elves that fit well in the D56 village to resin elves that are, for the most part, truly ugly. The porcelain elves were not marketed very broadly -- at least I've only found the ones I have by chance. The resin ones are pretty easy to find.

Unless otherwise noted, all of the 1999 and 2000 items shown came by way of WWW.COLLECTORSITE.COM. This site handles web-based retailing for several different collectible lines, and service has been very good. It's possible to view pieces and order year-round, but items can sell out quickly. This site also has an easy to use collector's forum where you can discuss various aspects of collecting and displaying your buildings.

Michael's, a craft supply chain, carries Lemax during the holiday season. It seems that the pieces they stock can vary from store to store, and I wasn't able to find any of the Santa's Wonderland pieces in my local stores. However, they all seem to carry a good variety of the accessory pieces, and their frequent sales make it possible to stock your village at bargain prices. They also have a website at WWW.MICHAELS.COM.

Other retailers that carry Lemax include Walmart, Bradlees, and Lowe's Hardware.

The Miles Kimball Christmas catalog usually carries a fair assortment of Lemax pieces. Their prices are a bit high, but if you can't find it elsewhere, you might find it here. If nothing else, get a copy of the catalog just to see if there's something you can't live without that isn't at COLLECTORSITE. You can order a catalog through their website, WWW.MILESKIMBALL.COM.

This Christmas season (2000), Lemax has a special group of Santa's Wonderland buildings and accessories that are available exclusively at ToysRUs. Except for one figurine, I couldn't find any hint of these pieces at COLLECTORSITE but they were mentioned in the recent Collectors Club newsletter - a very good reason to join the club. Membership information is available at COLLECTORSITE.

A complete history list of all Lemax pieces produced since their inception in 1991 has been compiled by Donna Hehl, and is available at COLLECTORSITE. I referred to her list many times in compiling mine -- especially for the earlier years.

When you're looking for pieces, it helps to know what the packaging looks like -- especially since the first pieces did not have 'Santa's Wonderland' printed on the box. Exclusive items can also be in dramatically different looking packaging.

The earliest box in my collection. Note that the name on the box says "Hearthside Village." The "Santa's Wonderland" logo is a sticker applied to the box.
Here's an example of the boxes currently in use for buildings and larger accessories.
The box for the ToysRUs exclusive pieces is quite different from the traditional Lemax boxes -- featuring a teal background, with gold, magenta, and purple art-deco-ish designs.
Here's a sample of the packaging currently being used for smaller figurines.

Buildings to 1999 2000 Buildings Figurines