Several of the original animation puppets from the 1964 Rankin/Bass TV classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer have been found:

“Stored casually among the household holiday décor of a former Rankin / Bass employee, the Rudolph and Santa puppets came out every December to take their place under the family Christmas tree. With last year’s 40th anniversary celebration of the television special, and the recent multi-million dollar merchandising of everyone’s favorite holiday characters, the owner realized there might be some public interest in revealing these lost treasures.”

Kevin Kriess of TimeAndSpaceToys.Com purchased the models and is restoring them with plans to display them at various comic book conventions in 2006.(Thanks to Jim Downey)