lladros.net

When the U.S. forces swept through the opulent Baghdad palace of Saddam Hussein’s profligate son Uday, they came upon masses of Oriental rugs, sports cars, guns, swords … and box after box of painted porcelain Lladro figurines. When Uday purchased the Lladro figurines, no doubt, he was not shopping for cheap Lladro figurines.  Price was no object.

Dropping his rifle and picking up a ceramic grouping of five ballerinas in classic poses, one GI in full camo displayed an impressive knowledge of the popular, collectible statuary.

“This figurine right here would sell retail for $1,000 easily,” he told an ABC News crew. “One little figurine like this, in the catalog, goes for 300 bucks. I know because I broke it and my wife made me buy it.” (Actually, the large piece, “Before the Dance,” cost $3,550, although individual figurines are far less expensive.)

The widely broadcast TV sound bite both mortified and amused executives at Lladro (pronounced yah-DROH), the Spanish company that has been producing the handmade statuary for a half-century.

For months, the company has been wooing younger, hipper buyers with new designs — think galloping white stallions, nude women bathing and “The Kiss” adapted from Gustav Klimt — while continuing to satisfy tens of thousands of longtime collectors with more traditional princesses, dancers, angelic children and mythic heroes.

For decades, the typical Lladrophile was “basically a woman in her mid-40s to late 50s, early 60s, fairly affluent obviously because our product is fairly expensive,” said Harry Fry, vice president of marketing and sales for Lladro USA. The least-expensive pieces start at below $100; the priciest is a $35,000 large three-car train featuring natty passengers and porcelain smoke wisps above the locomotive.