HENRY PRICE
By
Woody Baston

As you know from past articles, the pieces I sculpt for the Grand Lodge of Boston are produced at the request of the Grand Master.  The Grand master serves a term of three years and is then replaced by another Grand Master.  This year was the last year for the current Grand Master.  Although I have been introduced to the new Grand Master, there is no guarantee that he will continue to have a Sebastian Miniature created for him to use.  However I do feel the possibility is good that there will be another three pieces. 

The piece that I was asked to sculpt for this year was a bust of Henry Price.  When first asked to create a bust I thought of the SML 93 Shawmut Indian or the SML 329 Merchants Warren Sea Captain as good examples of scale and level of detail.  Therefore, in the early stages of the project I suggested these pieces as guides for the new bust.  My thought was to work within the boundaries of what had been done before.  I was surprised when the Grand Master said that he had something larger in mind.  As we talked he said he had been thinking of something larger, much larger as it turns out.  The Grand Master was thinking of a bust that was about four inches tall.  For a Sebastian, that is a big bust.  The logic the Grand Master used was that his first piece, George Washington the Mason, was four inches tall; his next piece, the Grand Lodge Building at 186 Tremont, was four inches tall; therefore he felt his final piece, the bust of Henry Price, should also be four inches tall.  One could not escape the logic, even though the scales of the pieces were quite different, the set of three pieces would be the same height as they were displayed. 

     Because the scale of the bust was to be significantly larger than other Sebastians, I felt an early meeting would be a good idea to get approval of the mass of the piece.  Therefore, I worked on a very rough mock-up of the bust.  The piece was essentially a blocked out skull with shoulders.  I chose to use the style of shoulders my father used when he sculpted the Shawmut Indian and the Merchants Warren Sea Captain.  With this style the piece looks as if it were taken from the full figure with the arms and the torso missing.  As a result of this style the piece has a substantial feel.  There is another style where the front part of the chest is all that shows of the torso.  Quite often this small

piece of the torso is quite narrow and although it can be very detailed it is somewhat abstract.  It was important to find out if the style I had chosen was acceptable as it would have an effect on the size of the head.  The Shawmut Indian style shows more of the torso and as a result the head is somewhat smaller than it would be with the alternative method. 

     When I bring in a very rough model to show at the beginning of a project, I sometimes feel that the person for whom I am making the piece might think that I was trying to get some sort of approval on a poorly sculpted piece and perhaps I was not up to the challenge of creating an acceptable piece.  Fortunately, this was the third piece for this Grand Master and we had been through the process twice before.  However, at this meeting I was introduced to the next Grand Master and he had not been through this process before.  Hopefully he was impressed with the final product and will decide to commission his own pieces. 

     With a large bust such as this there is a greater opportunity to work in the detail and expression of the face, as a matter of fact when sculpting a bust there is not much else on which to work.  This is an opportunity and a challenge.  With a full figure one might miss the likeness a bit but this could be disguised with the overall appearance of the figure.  With a bust there is nothing else at which to look.  Making matters worse there was not a lot of material from which to work.  To be honest there was only one picture of Henry Price and this picture was a slightly less than straight on view which was close to a three quarter view but not quite there.  As a result it required a lot of study to determine, for instance, if Henry’s nose was straight, concave, or convex.  After much study I decided his nose was slightly convex. About now a little bit of serendipity came into play. One of the reasons that there is only one picture of Henry is that he died in 1733 and there were not a lot of pictures of him in the first place and only one survived. Here is the serendipity part, none of his family or friends are around to say that his nose was really concave. So in reality I guess the one picture dilemma is a situation that has a two edged sword. This also reminds me of a radio routine my father loved to quote in situations such as this. You will have to excuse me if the quote is not precisely accurate as I was not around to listen to the radio in the thirties and the early forties. The program was a comedy and one of the principles was prone to spinning a yarn. When asked to explain the veracity of his statement the actor would ask in a loud voice, “Was you there Charlie?” Of course the answer was “No” and the actor would say “Well” and then launch into an even greater elaboration of his story. In this instance I could ask, “Did you know Henry?” “Well”…!
Now some of you who have a good memory will be thinking “Didn’t Woody sculpt a Henry Price a few years ago?” The answer is: “You are right.” The Masonic piece in 2003 was a standing four inch figure of Henry Price. The standing figure of Henry was the second piece the previous Grand Master commissioned. Now that you have been proven correct you might ask, “Why is Henry Price so important that he has had two pieces made of him in five years?” For an answer to this question I went to the internet where I found some good information. The site from which I found this information gave a good summary of Henry’s life. The following information was gleaned from this site; some of it is directly quoted, some of it is paraphrased. The site to which I am referring is; www.masonicworld.com. When I use the exact wording from the site, I will enclose it in quotation marks. Information put into my own words will not be enclosed in quotes.
 
     Here is why Henry Price is important to the Masonic movement in the United States and Canada. “Henry Price was born in or around the city of London in 1697. He was there apprenticed as a Tailor for he was ‘admitted to the Freedom of the Company of Merchant Tailors by Patrimony on the 1st of July 1719.’In 1723 he arrived in the Port city of Boston, where he entered the Tailor’s trade. In 1730 he opened his own shop on what is now Washington Street between State and Water Streets. He remained there until 1740 where, after a fire, he moved to the corner of Bedford and Washington Streets. In 1744 he opened a second shop on State Street. Price had entered a new phase of his life, that of being a shopkeeper.”

     Here is some interesting information about colonial Boston as well as additional information about Henry Price. “The city of Boston at that time was small by today’s standards only having around 16,000 citizens. It was a city of commerce and industry where ships from all over the world made port. Boston was a great center of commerce where people from all over New England came to trade. So a successful business man could hardly have escaped notice and in fact in 1733 Price was made a cornet in the Governor’s Guards with the rank of major by Governor Belcher. In 1764-65 he was a member of the legislature where he met Samuel Adams. He also met John Hancock and Thomas Cushing.”

       Now back to the reason Henry Price is important to the Masonic movement not only in Boston but in North America. “Price became a Mason in England before he left to come to Boston in 1723.” “Price was active in Masonry from the day he joined and made many Masonic friends on both sides of the Atlantic.” “In the year 1733 Price was in London on a business trip. While in London he made application to the Grand master of Masons in England, Lord Viscount Montague, for a Deputation as ‘Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging’.” Although this was not the only deputation made in England for the colonies, it seems to have been the longest lasting one. “Price returned to America and on Monday July 30, 1733 he met with several brethren at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on King Street (now State Street) in Boston. He read his deputation and organized the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.” With the organization of the Lodge in Boston, Price appointed fellow brethren to fill the offices necessary to insure the Lodge functioned smoothly.

     “In the years that followed, Price carried on his duties as Grand Master, In 1734 Benjamin Franklin, visiting Boston, met Price and requested his authorization to open Lodges in Pennsylvania through the Grand Lodge England. In 1735 Grand Master Price issued dispensations for Lodges in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and also in Annapolis and Halifax Nova Scotia.” As one can see, Price was very influential with the founding of the Masonic Movement in North America. The records show that in 1736 Price resigned as Grand Master and was eventually replaced by Robert Tomlinson. However, in 1740 Tomlinson died and the office of Grand master reverted to the Immediate Past Grand master, which was Price. Henry held the office for four years and was replaced by Thomas Oxnard. It appears that some of these appointments came from England that was, at that time, considered to be the governing body. As fate would have it Oxnard passed away in 1754 and again Price found himself as the Grand Master. The next Grand Master was Jeremy Gridley. Gridley served as Grand master for ten years dying in office. You can probably guess what happened; Price once again assumed the duties of Grand Master. In January of 1766 John Rowe was appointed Grand Master. With the appointment of Rowe Henry Price completed his enduring tenure as Grand Master. Henry remained active in Masonic affairs but never again as Grand Master.

     There is an interesting aside that illustrates how active Henry was and that he stayed active right up until his death. At the age of 75 Henry married Lydia Randall, his third wife the other two having passed on. Lydia was a young widow with a son; however, together they had two daughters. By this time Henry had moved to Townsend Massachusetts where he owned several hundred acres. While living in Townsend, Henry was elected to the State Legislature in 1764. In 1780 while chopping wood Henry met his end. The ax Henry was using slipped and he received a mortal wound. Henry was 83 years old when he died but he was still busy working.
Now let’s get back to the piece. The larger bust was an interesting challenge and as a result it was a lot of fun to sculpt. The accompanying pictures will give you an idea of the scale of the piece. Keep in mind that the piece fits in with the other two pieces made for this Grand master. Should you wish to add one of these pieces to your collection we have worked out an arrangement with the Grand Lodge. In the past Jim Waite has been the best source for collectors when looking for private label pieces. Now that Jim is no longer with us, Sebastianworld will try to step in and become the conduit through which you will be able to obtain these unusual pieces. Here is how you can purchase Henry Price. We have worked out an arrangement with the Grand Lodge in Boston so that we can have a modest supply of the Henry Price busts on hand. Henry Price will be on our Order Form which will be enclosed with the newsletter. To order the bust all you will need to do is to fill out the form and send it to Sebastianworld in the provided envelope . The price for Henry Price is $35.00. Should you so desire, feel free to order other pieces at the same time. We hope this procedure will make it easy for you to add the private pieces to your collection. We will try to follow the same procedure with other private pieces in the future.
 

NEW INTRODUCTIONS
Written by Woody Baston

     For decades I have spent the summer months and the last weeks of September preparing for the Midwest Fair.  Jim had the uncanny ability to think of something he had to have for the Fair at the last possible moment.  Driving to Farmer City the last four years added to Jim’s urge for last minute requests, because he knew that some bulky things could be stowed in the back of the van and all of it would arrive in a couple of days without the cost of postage.  Even those years when I did not attend the Fair, there were requests for last minute items that had to be shipped out Next Day Air.  This fall, without the Fair, there were not the last minute things to do, but I was surprised how other things filled in the time. 

     Last year’s Masonic piece took a lot of time to decorate because it was the Boston Lodge and it had a lot of windows to paint.  There were times when I thought I would not get it all done on time.  Fortunately, the last pieces were finished on the day before the banquet where the pieces were to be  given to those who attended.  Looking back on it, last year was a tough year, not only was the Masonic piece a challenge to paint, but our son and daughter-in-law had bought a fixer upper in town and it needed a lot of work done to it before they could move in.  The contractor they had lined up went out of business at the last moment and there was a desperate need to have someone oversee the work.  Marge and I thought for a while and we realized that from our time in town we knew many of the contractors so we said we could do it.  In a month and a half the house was re-wired; the plumbing was reattached and checked out.  Did we mention that the house had been moved and all of the utilities had been disconnected just prior to the house going on the market? The old radiators had to be recycled; asbestos was removed from pipes in the cellar; the kitchen cabinets were finished and the floor tiled; a new septic system was put in as well as a whole new heating system; and finally an old garage was torn down and a driveway was added.  On December 22^nd the kids received their occupancy permit and they moved in.  There was still a lot more to be done, but they were in their own home. 

     With last year’s experience still fresh in our minds, I made a concerted effort to schedule this year’s Masonic piece so that it would be finished much earlier than the piece for last year.  It helped that this year’s piece did not have dozens of windows to paint.  As a matter of fact, the Henry Price bust (see article on the Henry Price bust for more details) was not a bad piece to paint.  The event that unexpectedly took quite a bit of time this fall was fulfilling orders we received as a result of the mailing of the September Newsletter.  In the fall newsletter, I tried to explain with the Cross Roads Article that with Jim’s passing Sebastian Miniatures had lost its last major dealer.  With that loss I also tried to explain that Sebastianworld would try to fill that void.  Therefore, for the first time, Sebastianworld offered to collectors brand new pieces in the form of the Gingerbread House and Gingerbread Man Ornament.  We were pleasantly surprised at the response.  We expected the Gingerbread Man Ornament to be popular but we were surprised at how many Gingerbread Houses were ordered.  After all the House had been introduced at the Convention in June and strictly speaking it was not a new introduction.  Jim had received his order and sold almost all of them.  We did expect to sell quite a few of the Ornaments and we did.  A number of you ordered multiple pieces with 13 being the largest order. 

        The popularity of the new Christmas pieces led to an interesting situation.  As I related earlier, we were trying hard to ensure Henry Price was finished way ahead of 186 Tremont Street, but we kept receiving orders for the Christmas pieces.  Because we wanted Sebastianworld to be a friendly, quick place for you to shop for your Sebastians, we had the feeling that the incoming orders needed to be shipped promptly.  We soon devised a system where we would alternate the pieces we painted.  We would paint Henry Price for a couple of days and then paint Gingerbread Houses or Ornaments the following day.  This allowed us to ship most incoming orders the next day or perhaps two.  The collectors who ordered multiples of either or both pieces had to wait a bit longer.  In one instance we ran out of pieces to paint and had to wait for more to be cast.  However, I do not believe anyone had to wait longer than two weeks to have their piece shipped.  Depending on where the collector lived the time of delivery could take an additional few days. 

     If you are like me, you have already looked at the pictures that accompany this article.  Therefore you already know there are two new pieces, one with a St. Patrick’s Day theme and one with an Easter theme.  What you might not know is that the two new pieces are pins.  First and foremost I felt it would be fun to do some pins with a seasonal theme.  I knew that it would be impossible with this issue to do anything for Valentine’s Day but I felt we should be fine with St. Patrick’s Day.  A few years ago Jim suggested I modify the Santa Claus head I had done as an ornament and make it into a Leprechaun pin.  The piece was successful, but it was not followed up with any more pins.  The more I thought about it the more I thought a second Leprechaun pin would be fun and we would have time to get it to you before St. Patrick’s Day.  Always trying to plan ahead, I thought if the Leprechaun’s head were to be sculpted on a shamrock it would be noticeable from a distance and could serve as a background for a number of pieces.  For instance next year’s pin could have a pot of gold on it and the following year could have a dancing Leprechaun also on the shamrock. 

     When it came time to work on the head of the Leprechaun, I wanted him to be a happy fellow but on the other hand I wanted it to show that this fellow could also be mischievous if given the opportunity.  As a result he has a broad grin but some of his features have a bit of the prankster in them.  I had the Leprechaun pin all finished and ready to go to the castor to have prototypes made on which I could work out a color scheme, when it occurred to me that Easter was not too far behind St. Patrick’s Day.  It was also obvious that if an Easter pin did not make it in this issue, it would not make it for this year.  Here is where a bit of good fortune came along from a totally unexpected source.  I would call it serendipity, but I used that word in another article and I would not like to be accused of overusing a word.  The good fortune came by way of the NFL playoffs.  For those of you who do not live in New England you may not thoroughly understand the intensity with which we who do live in New England are

new introduction.  Jim had received his order and sold almost all of them.  We did expect to sell quite a few of the Ornaments and we did.  A number of you ordered multiple pieces with 13 being the largest order. 

              The popularity of the new Christmas pieces led to an interesting situation.  As I related earlier, we were trying hard to ensure Henry Price was finished way ahead of 186 Tremont Street, but we kept receiving orders for the Christmas pieces.  Because we wanted Sebastianworld to be a friendly, quick place for you to shop for your Sebastians, we had the feeling that the incoming orders needed to be shipped promptly.  We soon devised a system where we would alternate the pieces we painted.  We would paint Henry Price for a couple of days and then paint Gingerbread Houses or Ornaments the following day.  This allowed us to ship most incoming orders the next day or perhaps two.  The collectors who ordered multiples of either or both pieces had to wait a bit longer.  In one instance we ran out of pieces to paint and had to wait for more to be cast.  However, I do not believe anyone had to wait longer than two weeks to have their piece shipped.  Depending on where the collector lived the time of delivery could take an additional few days. 

     If you are like me, you have already looked at the pictures that accompany this article.  Therefore you already know there are two new pieces, one with a St. Patrick’s Day theme and one with an Easter theme.  What you might not know is that the two new pieces are pins.  First and foremost I felt it would be fun to do some pins with a seasonal theme.  I knew that it would be impossible with this issue to do anything for Valentine’s Day but I felt we should be fine with St. Patrick’s Day.  A few years ago Jim suggested I modify the Santa Claus head I had done as an ornament and make it into a Leprechaun pin.  The piece was successful, but it was not followed up with any more pins.  The more I thought about it the more I thought a second Leprechaun pin would be fun and we would have time to get it to you before St. Patrick’s Day.  Always trying to plan ahead, I thought if the Leprechaun’s head were to be sculpted on a shamrock it would be noticeable from a distance and could serve as a background for a number of pieces.  For instance next year’s pin could have a pot of gold on it and the following year could have a dancing Leprechaun also on the shamrock. 

     When it came time to work on the head of the Leprechaun, I wanted him to be a happy fellow but on the other hand I wanted it to show that this fellow could also be mischievous if given the opportunity.  As a result he has a broad grin but some of his features have a bit of the prankster in them.  I had the Leprechaun pin all finished and ready to go to the castor to have prototypes made on which I could work out a color scheme, when it occurred to me that Easter was not too far behind St. Patrick’s Day.  It was also obvious that if an Easter pin did not make it in this issue, it would not make it for this year.  Here is where a bit of good fortune came along from a totally unexpected source.  I would call it serendipity, but I used that word in another article and I would not like to be accused of overusing a word.  The good fortune came by way of the NFL playoffs.  For those of you who do not live in New England you may not thoroughly understand the intensity with which we who do live in New England are following the Patriots. On the Saturday the Patriots went 16-0 we all stayed up until the game was over. As a matter of fact we were so wound up that we couldn’t go to bed for another hour or so. The next morning in church there were many male members of the congregation who exhibited mild effects of sleep deprivation. When asked if they stayed up for the game, they all said they had and that they found it difficult to turn in directly after the game. So what does this have to do with the Easter pin? A lot! Two weeks after the Patriots went 16 and 0 (notice how I worked that in for a second time) the Patriots were to play Jacksonville in the late game and Green Bay and Seattle were to play the early game. I decided I needed something to focus on besides the games. The thought came to me, “Why don’t you work on an Easter Egg Pin?” I started to sculpt as the first snow flakes were falling in Green Bay and by the time the Patriots were 17 and 0 I had the pin 95% finished. There was a lot of nervous energy looking for a release. The following day I put the finishing touches on the pin, made a mold on it, and did the final detailing on the hydrocal cast I made on Tuesday. With the Easter Egg Pin finished I took it, along with the Leprechaun Pin, to the castor to make a production mold and a few casts I could decorate for inclusion in this newsletter. The Patriots game was a great motivator. When the Patriots are not playing and I need to finish a piece in a short period of time, I play my tapes of Arthur Fiedler directing the Boston Pops playing his favorite marches. There is nothing like marches to motivate one to complete a job.
 

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

WHAT ARE YOUR SEBASTIANS WORTH?

One of the questions that is most frequently asked of the Sebastianworld web-site goes something like this; “I have inherited a collection of Sebastians, what are they worth?”  There is a variation on this theme and it goes like this; “I am downsizing and I need to sell my Sebastian collection, what are they worth?”  These are legitimate questions for collectors or for the children of collectors to ask, but they are not easy to answer.  In order to answer these questions properly it might be worth while to review how we got to this point. 

In the good old days, and I am talking the forties, fifties, and sixties when folks “collected” figurines; cups and saucers; whirly gigs or whatever caught their fancy.  It has been said that everyone collects something.  A lot of the collecting was unorganized and was related to trips a couple might take.  Remember the Sunday afternoon drive?  Much of what was done during those three decades had to do with new found freedoms.  After the War millions of GI’s returned home to build a new life.  The GI Bill was a wonderful boon to many and they continued their education and then went on to good paying jobs.  There was a flight from the cities to the suburbs and with the Eisenhower administration came the organizing and building of the interstate highway system.  Simultaneously, the factories that had turned out the material that won the War turned their attention to building cars, appliances, new homes and all of the rest of the stuff that was needed to have a prosperous suburbia.  So for the first time folks had their own homes, cars, roads and most importantly time off on the weekends.  This freedom brought with it the Sunday afternoon drive.  This was a time to get out for a few hours, see some place you didn’t see every day, look for a good restaurant and after lunch stroll around the town or visit the restaurant's gift shop.  Often there was the urge to buy something as a remembrance of the trip.  This, in my humble opinion, was the start of collecting as we know it today. 

To back up my assertion I will site Rockport Massachusetts.  Rockport is a beautiful seaport community on Cape Ann north of Boston.  When route 128, the beltway around Boston, was completed it ended at Cape Ann with a circle.  From that circle you could go to Gloucester, Rockport, or take the long way around the Cape to Rockport.  Gloucester was a working port with some good restaurants, but Rockport had an artist community as well as a few lobster boats.  In addition to its natural beauty Rockport had Bearskin Neck.  Bearskin Neck was a peninsula ending with a breakwater that formed a picturesque but small harbor.  Bearskin Neck also had a few winding streets lined with galleries, gift shops, and restaurants, in other words it is what is called today a tourist trap.  However, back in the three decades about which I am talking it was a destination and the phrase tourist trap had not yet become popular. 

On Bearskin Neck there was a small gift shop on the right as one walked to the breakwater called the Harbor Master Shop.  The shop was run by the wife of the Rockport harbor master and they carried Sebastian Miniatures.  Not only did they carry Sebastians, they sold Sebastians.  In the summer months it was not unusual to see Tony, Rockport’s harbor master, in the “show room” at 13 Basset Street.  To refresh your memory, 13 Basset Street was the location of the Sebastian Studio where the pieces to which the Marblehead labels were attached were made.  Although the Catrinos, who owned the Harbor Master Shop, didn’t know it, they started many Sebastian collections.  The Catrinos thought they were selling gifts to their customers not collectibles. 

      Now let’s move ahead to the next decade, the seventies.  Sebastians entered the seventies a gift line and left as a collectible.  What happened to cause this change?  In reality there were many factors, but the one on which I would like to focus is INFLATION.  It is hard to recall that one could purchase CD’s with a return of over 10%.  It is also hard to remember how hard folks were looking for ways to beat inflation. For some, they chose to invest in gold or other commodities, but whatever it was; folks rich and not so rich were looking for something in which to put their money as a hedge against inflation. Of course there were many of you who bought Sebastians because you liked them and you are the ones that have remained loyal to the line, but think back to some of those auctions at the Sheraton Boxboro where it was not unusual to see three or four bidders in three piece suits with brief cases on their laps bidding up all the pieces in the auction. Those were heady days, but they are no longer with us. There are many reasons why the enthusiasm waned but I will let you draw from your own experiences.

     All of this brings us to the question, “What are my Sebastians worth?” The easy answer is “Not as much as they were in the eighties.” Currently, we at Sebastianworld, with the help of some of you who are active in the secondary market, are trying to come up with an answer to this question. The question is hard enough to answer by itself but we now have an eight hundred gorilla at the table which is e-Bay. Let me tell you what we are in the process of doing. Instead of listing new values for all of the pieces on the web-site and then facing the possibility of having to adjust them again in a few years, I proposed a slightly different approach. With my plan there would be a one time expenditure of a lot of work, but from then on the updating of some or all of the prices would be quite simple. My thought is to have price ranges designated by a letter that would appear where the current price range now appears. The price ranges could be at the bottom of each page on the web-site in a manner similar to the 800 numbers that are printed at the bottom of catalog pages. Or, if this seemed too cumbersome, the ranges could be printed at the beginning of the evaluation section. Once set up, the value ranges could be easily changed and it would have the effect of re-evaluating the whole line without having to adjust each piece. From time to time it might be necessary to change the range in which an individual piece is listed, but I don’t see that happening a lot.

     Here is an example for explanation purposes only. The values have not yet been finalized, but this will give you an idea of where this thought is heading. The example follows:

     Again the actual value ranges need to be finalized. However; imagine that where there is currently a dollar value for the piece there would in the future be a letter value. The letter value would correspond to a value range. Should the market change, the ranges corresponding to each letter could be changed and the line could be re-valued very easily. This would allow us to constantly update the values of the pieces. Presently we have hesitated to change the values on the web-site because of the work involved. I have asked the members of this impromptu board to comment on the value ranges. Once we have a set of ranges on which we can agree, we will tackle the enormous task of assigning a new value to each of the more than 1,000 pieces on the web-site.
 

     In preparation for this re-evaluation I set up an Excel spread sheet which I used to record all of the Sebastians that auctioned over the past four years. I was surprised at some of the prices, some for their low values and some for their high values. I was also surprised at how many pieces only appeared once in four years. Once we have re-evaluated the line it will be a job to update the web-site. When that is done we will seriously look at printing an updated version of The Official Sebastian Miniature Guide. As we say in our house, “That’s what we did on Mulberry Street today.”
 

THOUGHTS ON THE THIRD CONVENTION

Early information on the 2008 Convention

              The first and most important bit of information about the Convention is: There will be a Convention this spring!  The details for the Convention are being worked out and they will be included in the spring Newsletter.  By that time we hope to have an auction list that we can include in the Newsletter as well as a schedule of events.  Plans for a Paint-Your-Own Contest are progressing and to that end Woody has dropped off the next piece at the castor to have white pieces made.  The new piece will be from the Dickens Collection as has been the custom over the last few years.  Should you have been a regular participant in the Paint-Your-Own Contest, in a few more years you will have the whole collection which you will have painted. 

     Last year there were only four contestants in the Look-A-Like Contest, and three of them chose he same figurine as the piece they wished to portray.  As a result of last year’s small turn out, the current thinking is that there will not be a Look-A-Like Contest this year.  We thought this would be information that some of you would like to have as we know contestants often start work on their costumes months before the event and we wished to save you some time.  Should there be a large cry for the continuation of the contest, we would be happy to schedule one at the next event. 

     Here is some practical information Sally Dietrich has sent to us with regard to accommodations; The Red Roof Inn at 19 Commerce Way is located near the intersection of I-95 at Washington Street and Commerce Way in Woburn, Ma 01801.  The Inn has rooms for $79.99 per night.  The rooms have two full sized beds, are non smoking and the cut off date for this price is May 29, 2008 (The Convention is June 20-21, 2008).  Should some of you wish to extend your stay, you could get the same rate for a room on the 19^th.  The Inn’s phone number is: 781-935-7110. 

     Craig Edwards has been thinking of ways to make the Convention more exciting.  Along with this, Craig is thinking of ways to broaden our base of collectors.  We all know that the more the merrier applies to collecting and Craig has been working on this idea of expanding the auction and at the same time exposing more folks to the world of Sebastians.  Here is Craig’s article:

Ideas for the Convention Auction
By
Craig Edwards

During my internet surfing, I have been impressed by the excitement for Sebastian Miniatures that is evident but in a different venue.  I know some Sebastian collectors don’t frequent the internet, but there is a lively community of collectors who do and many of these collectors know little or nothing about the history of the line and the existence of Sebastianworld.  The internet collectors are a great opportunity to add fresh blood to our world and by so doing increase the total of those involved with Sebastian Miniatures.  Remember the good old days, the more the merrier. 

For some time now I have been thinking about ways to join the internet collectors with the “traditional” collectors.  I feel such an opportunity might present itself with this year’s Sebastian Convention.  Many collectors who buy Sebastians through e-Bay auctions are folks who have been interested in Sebastians for a number of years.  However, many of these collectors have not been to a Festival, a Fair or a Convention for many years or perhaps never.  It is fair to assume that this group does not know about the Sebastianworld Collectors Guild.  Many other e-Bay purchasers are new to those of us who have been dealing with Sebastian collectors for years.  Here is my idea, contact all of these people through a live auction combining the internet audience with the folks attending the Convention. 

The rules for e-Bay auctions allow for starting and ending times that can be closely controlled, but all bids must go through e-Bay.  The plan, which still has some details to be worked out, is to put up auctions of Sebastian Miniatures via e-Bay to end during the day of the convention, June 21, 2008.  Those figurines listed on e-Bay that are also designated as live pieces, will be on display at the Convention.  Anyone

THE HOOD COOKOUT
By
Woody Baston

     Margery accuses me of being too good at keeping a secret and I guess in some instances I could stand so accused.  However, there are a few glaring instances where I found myself in trouble for not keeping quiet.  The story starts with my first trip to the Anaheim Gift Show.  There may be a few folks out there who actually enjoy working a gift show, but the vast majority of people who work the show circuit, be it gift, trade, auto, boat or whatever see it as a necessary evil.  The hours are long, the floors are usually hard concrete, and one spends most of the day saying the same few lines over and over again to an endless stream of show attendees.  Then there is always the booth that has obnoxious music to promote their product and they play it all day long.  I will never forget the South Bend tradeshow where the booth across the isle from us had the “Rocky” license and they played a tape of the “Rocky” movie over and over and over for the whole show.  Now back to the Anaheim Gift Show, Glenn Johnson (Glenn was the author of the hard cover Sebastian book) and I got the opportunity to man the Anaheim booth.  I had been to enough shows to realize that this was no plumb assignment, but I had not attended the Anaheim Show.  When I broke the news to the family, a campaign started to bring the family along.  I painted a picture of how hard it was to work a show and that the shows were often in out of the way convention halls and there was often little to do when not working.  Imagine my surprise when I arrived in my hotel room and opened the curtains and what should my eyes behold but Disneyland about a hundred yards away.  I should have kept my mouth shut, but I didn’t and I am still trying to live that one down. 

     The next situation where I found that I should have kept my mouth shut was when I was asked to accompany Jim Swiezynski (Jim was the marketing person who was in charge of selling the Hudson Disney line) to the bi-annual Disney extravaganza.  Disney ran a series of these shows for creative and marketing people to introduce new movies and upcoming events to the companies that had a Disney license.  The idea was that if the licensees had an idea of what was coming down the road, they could plan to introduce their new product with the upcoming new events.  There were about eight hundred marketing and creative people in attendance from all over the world.  All you had to do was to get there and Disney took care of the rest.  Jim had attended one of these shows two years earlier and had managed not to make anything of it when he returned to the plant in Hudson.  As a result I was expecting something dull and boring.  I should have known better where Disney was involved.  Jim and I flew down to Orlando where our plane and other planes were met by an army of Disney personnel who took our bags from us and ushered us into waiting luxury buses that swept us off to Disney World as soon as the bus appeared to be full.  As we pulled out of the airport parking lot, we could see that there was a fleet of busses waiting to pick up other guests.  We were taken to one of the Disney resort hotels where we were given our own room.  We were given a schedule of events and told that we should come to the lobby for dinner at such and such an hour.  Jim and I met in the lobby where we were ushered, along with hundreds of others to a large room that was set up to be a baseball field with bleachers for all of us to sit in.  Once we were all seated, a bunch of Disney characters put on an act revolving around a ball game.  After an appropriate amount of time, I believe it was Mickey and Minnie, ushered in Michael Eisner.  Michael gave an introductory speech and with a wave of his arm the curtain that was across the back of the room opened to reveal another even larger room that was set up as a Carnival with games and free food.  This was supper.  There were dozens of games to play and they were ridiculously simple to play. The object was to have everyone win a lot of stuff to take home. After we had tired and it was time to retire we made our way back to our rooms where, after entering the room, we found that an elf or perhaps one of the Seven Dwarfs had placed a plate of cookies and cold milk on our bed. This I had to phone in. Needless to say, once again I did not make any friends.

     I will only bore you with two more examples of how well we were treated. The following day we were all gathered in a large hall where we were treated to what was in the works. To give you an example of the no expense bared attitude of the event, about mid-morning there was a pause in the presentation and the two stars of the Broadway show Lion King came on stage all dressed in their elaborate costumes and sang a couple of songs from the play that was then running on Broadway. As soon as the actors had finished their songs they were whisked off the stage and flown back to New York in time for their evening performance. They were flown down and back from New York to sing two songs. Now that is showmanship!

     The second and last event that I will relate was dinner that night. Once again we were told a time to meet in the lobby. As we arrived we were ushered, once again, onto luxury buses to be taken to a deserted runway that had been built for corporate planes during the construction of the park. Because the evening was expected to be cooler than was expected in Florida that time of year and it was thought that most of the attendees might not have brought warm clothing, as we boarded the busses each one of us was given a sweatshirt. There were enough busses to move all eight hundred of us without waiting. As fast as one bus departed, another pulled up. When we arrived at the deserted runway, we found that it had been transformed into an Egyptian set to honor the introduction of a new film complete with actors dressed in period costume and once again more food than one could eat.

     Now that I am talking about food, let me tell you about the Hood picnic this fall. It would be unfair to compare the Hood cookout with the Disney events, but in its own way it was a lot of fun. The cookout was originally scheduled for the spring but it was canceled as a result of bad weather. The re-schedule date was in the fall. It turned out to be a beautiful day. The excuse for Margery and I to attend the cookout was that I would be there to sign any of the pieces that the Hood employees might have picked up over the years or some of the pieces that had been given to Hood vendors. The first year there were not a lot of pieces to sign, but this year many more folks remembered to bring their collections. As I said in my account of the cookout held last year, one does not often attend a cookout where the host backs up a couple of medium sized refrigerator trucks to the barbeque pits.

     Not only did we have the opportunity to talk with a lot of Hood employees, but we sat at a table with a number of Hood suppliers. Of course we had to sample the pastries, bread, cakes, sausages produced by the folks at out table, but we kept returning to the barbeque area to see what was new. Charlie, my contact at Hood, and his wife Beth spent most of their time cooking. As we were feeling full, Beth arrived at our table with a plate full of jumbo sized shrimp that she had just taken off the barbeque. They were delicious and we had to force them down so we would not seem impolite. The sacrifices we have to make to keep up our good name! When it came time to leave we were ushered around to all of the tables and we were encouraged to fill up boxes and bags with the goodies that were there. We brought home more than we could possibly eat so we stopped at some friends’ houses and shared the wealth. One of the fringe benefits associated with our industry, an industry that is based on discretionary income, is that it is associated with good times and good people. This holds true with the Conventions. You should make an effort to attend this year’s Convention.
 

PRIVATE LABEL PIECES
AND
HOT TO GET THEM