Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

My aunt worked at Rankin-Bass Productions for about ten or 15 years in the '70s and early '80s, and she acquired all of them, and they were the production puppets from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Including Rudolph and Santa, we had Yukon Cornelius, Herbie the Misfit Dentist, and a few others, including assorted reindeer that got melted in our attic, thanks to my mom. We used to have them around the Christmas tree, you know, growing up, and I'm just used to having them around.

APPRAISER

So what we have here are, are the actual original puppets.

GUEST

As far as I know.

APPRAISER

And we can see here they have the articulated legs.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

The articulated neck here. This is, of course, the young Rudolph.

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

And here's Santa. When you opened the box...

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

And took these fellas out...

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

It was like I was seeing old friends.

GUEST

Yeah, exactly.

APPRAISER

As I'm sure it is the case with millions of our viewers, this is a Christmas tradition. 1964 is when the film was made, and, uh, it's definitely has a, a warm spot in all of our hearts.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

So to actually meet them in person is really exciting.

GUEST

Exactly.

APPRAISER

This is iconic, it's on a very different level. It's not a toy, and everyone who has seen it has gotten a kick and recognized it instantly. So you're dealing with something magnificent here. It's too bad that Burl Ives melted away.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

But, you know, that's the problem when he's in a hot attic.

GUEST

Exactly.

APPRAISER

They're made out of cloth and wood and, I think, some plastics and things like that. They're not in perfect condition.

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

The nose has been replaced. I guess the bulb broke.

GUEST

Play-Doh.

APPRAISER

Or something. Santa's whiskers are missing there. If I were to estimate it at an auction, I wouldn't estimate it less than $8,000 to $10,000 for the pair.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

What it would go for at auction, that's anyone's guess.

GUEST

Okay.