Liberty Falls "Childrens Hospital" Americana Collection AH990 W/Box 2000

Description: Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Combined shipping is available. The second or more items will be 1/2 of the shipping on each additional item. The highest shipping will be full price. Please do not pay until I send you an invoice.. The Ralph Gadiel Liberty Falls story: A gentleman named Ralph Gadiel had a dream one day to produce a top-quality collectible product at an affordable price to sell in America. Mr. Gadiel came up with a plan to have this product made in China and shipped to the United States. To achieve his goal, Mr. Gadiel decided to have his product shipped in large containers on cargo ships. This process would effectively help keep the costs for production and shipping lower. After putting the first part of his plan into action, his next decision was to sell his collectibles in only full container amounts, thus allowing the containers to be offloaded and sent directly to the customer and keep him out of the distribution process. Allowing only high volume or large department store chains could afford to carry the collection. In 1989 Ralph released a test market set of his Liberty Falls collection and started producing the first complete series in 1991. After releasing the first full set of collectibles, Ralph thought he should only create ten pieces per year and Issue them beginning in October if you collected all ten new items and mailed back the stickers included in each box. He would allow you to purchase a set of specific yearly bonus pieces for your collection as well. The majority of Department stores sold these to entice customers to visit the store and buy more items. These were offered at the rate of one per week for ten consecutive weeks, with each one going on sale on the same day each week. The competing stores would then sell each of these on opposing days to entice their customers without conflicting. These typically sold out rather quickly, and in fact, collectors would line up outside before the stores had even opened, attempting to ensure they would get one. However, to say there were ten new pieces each year is a little misleading. Competing department stores wanted slightly different product lines to differentiate themselves caused Ralph some problems. Dillards & Carsen's insisted that Ralph send them slightly different sets requiring customers who wanted a complete collection to shop at both. Ralph accomplished this by manufacturing more than ten different buildings making it twelve or fourteen each year. As their popularity continued to grow, Ralph added accessory items, such as an afghan/tree skirt, a cookie jar, keychains, and even a dinnerware set. There were more substantial, lighted versions of some of the buildings, four games of miniature building Christmas tree ornaments, and two sheet-plastic "layouts, with roads and ponds. Eventually, the detail and craftsmanship improved dramatically, making most of the early pieces seem crude. Finally, some of the later collectibles were so impressive that they would overwhelm your senses and take your breath away. Sadly, Ralph Gadiel was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in late 1998. His company, International Resources, was sold to a man named Larry Stern.

Price: 6.99 USD

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

End Time: 2025-01-30T11:45:14.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.5 USD