Rudolph, Santa puppets are pricey
And how the bidders loved him!
A buyer shouted out with glee that they would pay $368,000 for the Rudolph and Santa Claus figures used in the perennially beloved Christmas special “Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer.”
Bidding for the figures soared past the projected sale price of between $150,000 and $200,000 on Friday at the Icons & Legends of Hollywood Auction held in Los Angeles by Profiles in History.
The buyer was not identified. The seller was Peter Lutrario, 65, of Staten Island, N.Y., who told The Associated Press before the auction that he thought he would never part with the dolls but wanted to be able to take care of his children and grandchildren.
“I’m very sentimental about them,” said Lutrario. “I was watching when ‘Rudolph’ premiered on Dec. 6, 1964. I bought a VCR in 1977 for $1,500 to tape that show. I thought I would die with them. But I’m putting my family’s needs ahead of the dolls.”
The figures were among several used to make the 1964 stop-motion animation television special.
The 6-inch-tall Rudolph and 11-inch-tall Santa were made in Tokyo of wood, wire, cloth and leather, and are still malleable. Rudolph’s nose still lights up. Santa’s beard is made from yak hair.
The song preceded the production and was written by Johnny Marks based on a story by his brother-in-law Robert May. The Rankin-Bass stop-motion animation “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is part of the established holiday TV canon, including, notably, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.”
But perhaps more elements from “Rudolph” have entered the public realm than from any comparable source. They include Hermey, the aspiring elf dentist voiced by Paul Soles; the blustery prospector Yukon Cornelius (who always licks his pick to see if he’s struck silver and gold), voiced by Larry Mann; the song “Holly Jolly Christmas”; and, yes, the Island of Misfit Toys, complete with a rag doll whose main problem seems to be that she’s normal.