Lladro : sh*t or shinola?

[Atlas Mugged]

I was a guest at a housewarming party for some friends of my SO recently and we were shown a room with shelves of nothing but Lladro figurines. Four walls of the crap. One of the reasons for buying a new home was to have an extra room for their collection. So - I had to waste half an hour of my life acting interested in something I utterly loathe. What is the attraction? I find the stuff too kitsch to be taken seriously.

[Malikshah]

1. LOL--it's like Hummel

I believe Lladro is there just so non-Latins can fake an accent to "Yadhro"....

I take em and I leave em.

Armani and Randy Bowen, now those are collectible.

[Misunderestimator]

18. I used to go to antique auctions all the time when I lived in NY

and I couldn't BELIEVE the price some people paid for those nasty little dust-gatherers. And that's ALL they bid on. It was SO annoying to sit through an hour of Hummels, and it seemed EVERY auction had some. You knew it was going to be bad by the number of grandmas/grandpas attending. (No offense to grandmas/grandpas, but they were the only ones buying them.)

[GOPisEvil]

It's just crap to collect dust.

My mom has a bunch of it, mostly quails and doves. It's just not for me.

[curse10]

2. I had to look up Lladro, had no idea what it was-

it doesn't look as bad as Hummel figuirines! Now THAT is shit!

[Rhiannon12866]

15. I agree. My mother has both. I just dislike Lladro, but those Hummel

things scare me.:scared:

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Crap definitely.

My ex-boss' wife collected the stuff. Too hokey for words.

Now give me some Rookwood....

[madmax]

5. Or Roseville or McCoy, lol

;)

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. I love Roseville.

Bid on a couple pieces on eBay a while back, but the numbers always went up too much for me. I would love one.

[madmax]

4. It's a status thing imho...

Dust collecting merde, if you ask me. Some people have such low self-esteem that they have to buy something which on it's face most people know are expensive. Like Dooney-Burke and Coach handbags, Lenox or Lladro... :puke:

[Catshrink]

13. or Royal Doulton with hand-painted periwinkles...

[pippin]

6. Gawd Awful

but it appeals to some people--like the other kind of crap "art" done by Thoma KinKaide. Shudder! :thumbsdown:

[Bluebear]

7. Oh one nice individual piece is OK...

But when you have four walls it's not a "collection", it's a warehouse.

[vi5]

8. Personally I don't like them BUT....

My mom has a handful of them, but only ones that were relevant to her in relation to my brother and I growing up. She has a kid playing guitar for me, a basketball player for my brother, etc, etc.

Do they appeal to me? No, but I know its something that brings some people happiness so who am I to judge. Someday when my mom passes on they will mean a lot to me sentimentally, if not visually.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. we have one piece...it ain't so bad

It was given to us for our wedding...bride and groom dancing. Looks nice...but some people go way overboard...like the people who gave us this, come to think of it.

theProdigal

[Zomby Woof]

11. well-crafted cheese

But still cheese. When we lived in Spain (where they are made), it made some of our American compadres feel "artsy" when possessing them.

But our family had taste, and no Lladros.

I did collect the very tiny ceramic figurines called "Poor Man's Lladros" because they were hilarious to a kid with my weird sense of humor. Too bad I don't have any pics. I still have them in a box somewhere...

[AlCzervik]

12. Not a fan but my sister likes them

They remind me of Thomas Kincaide and precious moments...produced enmasse for the masses. But hey i collect tshirts so what do i know?

[nuxvomica]

14. I have a Lladro story

This is someone else's story but it's better told in the 3rd person anyway. My friend's mother is a Freeper type who's relationship with her is contentious on even the best days. The mother had been collecting Lladro for years and her dad had regularly purchased a figure for her every Christmas, ordering it early from Cash's in Ireland so that it would arrive in time for the holidays. She had lots of the long-necked girls collecting flowers, reading a book, practicing ballet, etc. My friend doesn't like Lladro, which is only one of the many subjects about which she and her mom disagree.
One cold December, my friend's dad died. Her mother was having a rough time of it, as you would expect, and was not looking forward to the holidays without her husband of 40+ years. A man who had worked with her dad, a neighbor, brought my friend a postcard that had arrived for him at the office a short while after his death. It was a notice from Cash's that the Lladro nativity set he had ordered was out of stock.
My friend told me about it and I agreed to help her look for a replacement gift. Luckily, at a gift shop some 30 miles away we found the Jesus, Mary and Joseph figures -- exactly the same as the ones in the Cash's catalogue. They were expensive and she didn't have a lot of money at the time but knew that she needed to buy them.
They appeared wrapped and under the tree for her mom on Christmas morning with in old tag my friend found, from a previous Christmas, in her dad's handwriting.
That was over ten years ago. My friend and her mother fight like cats and dogs most of the time. Her mother is fond of telling her how ashamed her dad would be of her if he were still alive. But my friend has never told her the truth about the Lladro.

[sonias]

16. Now that's a beautiful story

Lladro or no Lladro, that's just about love. Even in a dysfunctional family, that was a wonderful thing your friend did to help her Mom out that Christmas. There's no need for her to tell. Love is not about doing something to get credit for it, but just out of pure love.

My mother in law collects these too. They are very delicate. The one good thing about people that like collectibles is that you always know what to get them.

Sonia

[Rhiannon12866]

17. I agree. This is very lovely and well told. It choked me up

But she didn't do this out of love for her mother, but as something else that she could do for her father. She needed to complete his wishes.

[Atlas Mugged]

21. Great story.

You friend sounds like a wonderful person. The mother, on the other hand.....seriously, how many mothers tell their children that their deceased father would be ashamed of them? Well, my step mother would and did, but I cut her out of my life 15 years ago. And I'm much happier for it.

Thanks for the story.

[JSJ]

19. bb guns are good things to have around, sometimes n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

20. LOL! Sounds like a good option, from my perspective, but

do you know how much they charge for these things?!:shrug:

[RivetJoint]

22. Depends on the figurine and how intricate it is

Some as little as $200. Some over $5,000. My wife collects the ones with cats in them...most of hers are beautiful.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. My mother's are both large and small. My Dad got them for her

Most are girls in long dresses or ballerinas. The flowers that many of them are holding are quite pretty. She also has one of children praying and a nativity scene. I've never seen the ones with cats. I think I'd like those better, but my mother's not exactly a cat person. Most Freepers don't seem to be.:shrug:

[noonwitch]

23. My mom has some Lladro stuff.

The little figurines of the child-angels are cute. She has a tall figurine of a woman that is pretty, but not really my thing.

She also has a collection of Hummel red-heads. I like them, because they are really cute. My grandma collected the traditional Hummels.

Grandma gave me some figurines that were Joseph originals. I don't think they're worth anything, but they are girls from different countries in their ethnic clothes. I like them, however.

[flamingyouth]

25. I sell a whole lot of it at my store

It's not my cup of tea, but a lot of people like it.

I've managed to personally sell so much of it that they've sent me to Spain twice, on these great tours where I've been able to see places I never would have been able to on my own, and I've met the family several times. They really believe in "bringing joy to people's lives" and all of that crap," so you know, whatever, it's not my bag, but people like it.

They have some really odd pieces in their catalog. I have a few of them, a couple of nudes, etc., and some other odd stuff. One of my favorites is my Lladro hippie dog playing the bongos. It's weirder than I can even describe. I'll see if I can find a pic of it online. :D

[Zomby Woof]

28. I am jealous!

I lived in Spain many years ago, but want to go back so bad I can taste it. (tastes like olive oil!)

Maybe I should sell the damn things, lol. :hi:

[flamingyouth]

29. Yeah, but they seemed to turn on me

Or else it was the economy. :freak:

Yes, let's blame W - I haven't been back since 2000! It's HIS fault! :D

[Zomby Woof]

30. no doubt!

Just be sure to take me with you next time. :D

[flamingyouth]

31. We'd probably be banned from Spain for life!

Imagine the mayhem!!! :D

[Zomby Woof]

32. broken Lladros everywhere!

Busted again by the greasy fingerprints caused by street-vendor churros. x( ;-)

[flamingyouth]

33. 'Cause we'd be kicking out the jams!

And therefore be breaking everything in sight!:D

[Zomby Woof]

34. except

We'd be wearing Spanish flag jeans! :D

[flamingyouth]

35. Right on!

Quincy and Sam would approve! :D

[Zomby Woof]

36. it's Friday night!

Do you think Sam missed another date because Quincy made him look at those tissue samples just ONE MORE TIME???

And the damn thing, Quincy is probably getting drunk with some bimbo on his houseboat! x(

[scarlet_owl]

26. My mother-in-law likes Lladro.

She only has one piece, though. Her boyfriend saw that someone was throwing it out, so he snagged it for her. I found her a cheap knockoff angel at Big Lots and it's one of her most treasured things.

[DivinBreuvage]

27. Lladro is CRAP for SUCKERS. I only buy Precious Moments.

I have 183,957 figurines and every one has a name. I've even written little life stories for most of them.

"I'm gonna find me an Eye-raqi a**hole and cut off his f***** balls to sanctify Thy Holy Name!"

"Thank you for keeping us free. Can I give you some godly sex before you go?"



On edit, I'm not being very fair to that poor soldier, he doesn't look like he's too thrilled to be answering the call.

[DU GrovelBot]

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