Ceramic buildings

I've seen these. The price is low, but the detail and finish is far below Dept.56 and Lemax. Like the others, the scale is "close enough".

I felt the same way.  Heck Joe, these could be from the Poor Side Of Town.  

Hi Bob • I am not a fan of ceramic buildings • I use them at Christmas Time, for the Christmas Layout but not for my Man Cave Layout. I do like this Red Owl Store.

 

Gary - I too love the Red Owl store.  That and the Starbucks, but the snow and Christmas decorations have stopped me.

 

Art

Bob

 

I did some checking and they are very close to O Scale. This year I finally bought buildings but they came from Lowes and home Depot for that very reason. Also the quality of the buildings are better then the ones from Wal-Mart. The price reflected the difference in quality. Thank god for the military discount.

 

Doug

I really liked the article in the December OGR about how to customize the ceramic buildings for an all-year layout, including hiding the snow, wreaths, and garland.  With the cheap price of these things (especially on eBay on the off season) and with the wide variety of structures available, I think they are a great option for people.  Some of them are really detailed and realistic and some of them are small enough to be the right scale.

Where did the Red Owl Store model come from?

I did not see them at our Walmart.

Sean

Maybe your Walmart was sold out.  Mine had them when I was there.

Thanks Bob,

I have another Walmart I will check out on the way to work.

Thanks again,

Sean

Wally World, Lowes, even the Dollar Stores have the ceramic buildings. Some are pretty nice. I use them under the tree.

I score most of my nicer buildings from estate sales. Off the wall brands but nicely detailed and dirt cheap.

One thing to consider is the old expression that you get what you paid for applies here. If having a seasonal related structure is all you are looking for, then this would be a good buy. But if you are looking for something that really has detail and is nicely crafted, there is nothing our there that beats D56 buildings. You will pay much more, so it is all about the effect you want to achieve.