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For most Americans, the celebration of winter ends around January
6th, officially the twelfth day of Christmas, but for Nancy Tarantino of
Huntingtown, MD, the pleasures of this underrated season are celebrated
well into the new year. The focus of her celebration is the top of her
piano, where she displays her collection of approximately 50 Billy
Buttons snowmen and snow-moose figures from Department 56.
Nancy began collecting four or five years ago, when she discovered these whimsical figures in a Christmas shop on Long Island, where she was living. She recalls, “I was immediately drawn to them because they were so cute, and the collection basically grew from there. But then, a couple of years later, the company discontinued them. That’s when I discovered them on eBay. Now, whenever I buy them, it’s on eBay.”
Today, Nancy’s collection includes snowmen and snow-moose figures skating, sledding, driving cars, in flying saucers, skiing, and holding little sisal trees, mitten trees and brooms. She also has nodders, a Billy Buttons candle, ornaments and garlands, and items from the Billy Buttons ceramic collection including a tea set, salt and pepper shakers, a cookie jar and a spreader. She likes they way the figurines are accessorized with knitted hats and the facial expressions are achieved with buttons.
Nancy estimates that around 40% of her collection was bought on eBay. She explains, “My husband is totally into computers. We got ours in 1994, and it seems he discovered eBay almost immediately afterwards. He began purchasing various things and then he began selling his old LPs from the ‘80s back in December, around the time I began seriously searching for my Billy Buttons. He still takes care of all our transactions.”
So far, Nancy has been purchasing 10 to 15 figures each month on eBay, filling the gaps of her collection while avoiding duplications. For each figure, she usually pays under $20, but she has won bidding wars on a couple of items that have cost $100 each.
For Nancy, the advantage of buying on eBay is the ability to find what you want there, even if it is no longer in production. “If it isn’t in the store, there’s still a chance you will find it on eBay,” she says. “That’s why I’ve focused all my searches there. I hope to buy the whole line, and as soon as I log on, I get a good feeling that I’ll find something I’m looking for. My whole eBay experience has been great, whether helping with my husband’s sales or buying for my collection. Because honesty and feedback are so important to eBay members, I’ve never had anything arrived broken. That allows me to bid with confidence.”