Written by Paul D. Race for HalloweenTrains.com(r) |
Eerie October Fun - Holiday villages aren't just for Christmas anymore. In fact, many village fans think that setting up a Halloween village display is a good way to get a jump on the holiday season. Manufacturers are meeting the need with collectible villages and trains, but just as exciting, we have a growing collection of free, downloadable Halloween building and accessory projects to start or expand your Halloween village display. We also provide links to Halloween trains and towns from manufacturers who permit us. Here's something to think about: collectible village manufacturers were stuck with full warehouses when the recession hit, so most of them scaled back between 2008 and 2010, preferring to let their warehouses empty out a little before investing in new products. Now that consumer confidence is somewhat recovering, new products are coming out, but there's not as much in the warehouses as there used to be. So both "old" and new products are "flying off the shelves." So whether you want to look for great Halloween village collectibles, or make your own, the earlier you get started on your Halloween village or railroad projects, the better off you will be. Update, September, 2014: Since we started this page, there has been a shift in who offers what.
Expanded for 2012: Halloween Trains and Towns Primer Page Since we started HalloweenTrains.com(tm), we have received many questions and project ideas for Halloween trains and towns - way too many to present here. So we've put together a primer page to help you:
Buyers' GuidesWhen we started this page around 2006, there were only enough Halloween trains and towns available online to fill one page (a few of those are shown below). For 2012, we broke these out into separate Buyers' Guide pages by category. Unfortunately, the recent recession caused many manufacturers to cut way back on new factory orders. Products that were in stock in 2009 have sold out, and there isn't anything to take their place yet, so stocks are VERY thin.In the next few days, I plan to comb the internet looking for products that will help you have Halloween Village display you need. In the meantime, most of the products we have currently listed have sold out, so please forgive us if you click on a link and nothing happens. Just remember to check back soon. The categories we have so far are:
We have several other Buyer's Guides in the works. One holdup is that certain vendors don't like us linking directly to their products - they'd rather sell them to you directly or through brick-and-mortar store fronts. But we're negotiating with additional vendors, so I'm hoping to offer a lot more Halloween-themed train and products soon, so stay tuned! A Family-Friendly Halloween Novel Just For Our ReadersInspired by Howard Lamey's "Spook Hill" projects, we've done our best to imagine what it would be like to live in a town where it was Halloween all year 'round. Between now and Halloween, 2012, the Spook Hill Chronicles will be published in installments, one chapter a week. So check back often for some great Halloween reading fun. Right now, our plans are to take the book chapters down a few days after Halloween and making available as an e-reader download for a small fee. If we get a lot of response, we may "publish" a sequel next year. Note about Suppliers: While we try to help you get the products you want by recommending suppliers with a good record of customer service, all transactions between you and the supplier you chose to provide your trains are governed by the published policies on the supplier's web site. So please print off any order confirmation screens and save copies of invoices, etc., so you can contact the appropriate supplier should any problems occur. (They almost never do, but you want to be on the safe side.)
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