Storytime Latest News

November 2000

New Miniatures for Storytime

At an event in Tustin, California Bob Olszewski unvealed 3 new miniatures: Captain Hook, Smee, and Tiger Lily on the rowboat, Tinkerbell in the birdcage, and Pinocchio with donkey ears. These pieces will be released in February. Tiger Lily has not often been done in a figurine before, so this character will be popular.

Olszewski will introduce a new story next year, Bambi. He plans to release 2 new pieces in the Spring and 2 new pieces in the Fall from each story.

Details in Miniatures

Bob added many details to the pieces, including the design around the edge of the base. Among the design is a mark for each story. Peter Pan pieces show a STAR, Pinocchio depict an APPLE, Snow White a HEART, Cinderella a SLIPPER, and Pooh pieces show a HUNNY JAR.

Cinderella Coach is mostly made in China but reins and stirrups are added at the Olszewski Studios. These chains are made of pure gold imported from Italy.

Additional Miniatures Release in November

Miniatures schedule to release in November are It's A Pixie (Tinkerbell in Peter Pan's hat), If You Want to Be a Real Boy (Jiminy Cricket on an 8-ball), and Time for Stoutness Exercises (Pooh looking at clock). Hansel and Gretel series of miniatures and displays is schedule to come out in December.

Story Cards

Story cards will come with the pieces. Collectors can collect them in an album. The set of cards will tell the whole story of the animated feature.

The Hunt for Older Disney Miniatures

In the search for older Disney miniatures by Olszewski, I have found three. The first is an Alice in Wonderland set that he crafted in 1982 to 1984 for Goebel. The pieces are Alice in the Garden, Down the Rabbit Hole, and Cheshire Cat. Each piece was limited to 5,000. The Alice in Wonderland series is not strictly Disney, as the story is a famous fairytale in the public domain. But many collectors consider Alice part of Disney, so I have added the set to my Older Disney page.

The second is a Mickey Mouse necklace that he made for Goebel in 1988. It is a limited edition and sells on the secondary market for just under $300.

The third older Disney piece is a one where Olszewski created for the Walt Disney Company's top executives. In 1998 Disney commissioned Olszewski to craft a work to commemorate the premier of A Bug's Life. The piece was given to Michael Eisner and fifty others associated with the film's development. The gift is a jewelry box, similar in style to the Collector Boxes, but is made of pure gold and sterling.

Olszewski and WDAC

Robert Olszewski is making the miniature figurines for the WDAC, but he has done much more for the WDAC. He crafted the Dress for Cinderelly in 1992. He designed the pieces and assembled them at the Goebel Studio. Even more, in the early 1990's before WDAC started, Bob went on a trip to Germany with Disney executives to consult on the processes at the Hummel factory. Also, his crafting of background scenes and lesser characters at Goebel enlightened Disney that collectors would buy background scenes and secondary characters. Secondary characters are now a hallmark of WDAC.

Collector Boxes Sold Out

The Jewelry Box Collection is coming to an end. Most of the pieces are sold out to dealers. Olszewski will not complete the full edition size for some boxes. For example, he stopped production of Tinkerbell Pretty as a Pixie, even thought he has made about 2,500 boxes, short of the planned 2,750. Each box requires 75 hours carving time, and Bob wants to devote the time to Storytime Collection and other new ventures.