Rick Goldschmidt is picky about how he believes "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" should really look.

He prefers "vintage Rudolph" to the later puppet incarnations that starred in follow-up Rankin/Bass holiday television specials.

But deep down, he admits he loves all the versions of Rudolph.

Being particular is part of his job.

Goldschmidt, 42, of Oak Lawn, Ill., is a historian and archivist for www.rankinbass.com, the Web site dedicated to preserving the history and cherished childhood memories associated with the many television and film works of legendary stop-animation producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass.

The Dec. 6, 1964, broadcast of the now-classic "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" TV special began what would become treasured holiday staples of December television programming year after year.

The preservationist for all the details, photos and answers to trivia questions about all things Rankin/Bass, Rick Goldschmidt also is the author of two popular pop culture bibles on this subject.

His hardcover book, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Making of the Rankin/Bass Classic (2001 Miser Brothers Press $29.95) enjoys brisk sells throughout the year.

And as the premier authority on the classic Rankin and Bass TV specials, it's no surprise Goldschmidt's first book "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass," which featured a foreword by "Rudolph" snowman narrator Burl Ives, quickly sold out in 2000 and now is being reprinted.

Goldschmidt recently received a belated Christmas gift this year.

A scattered few of the original and rare puppet-like figures used in some of the Rankin/Bass productions thought to have been lost or destroyed long ago recently have surfaced.

The latest treasure discovered is the original Father Time puppet used for the 1973 "Rudolph" sequel: "Rudolph's Shiny New Year."

The character was voiced by Red Skelton, Indiana's own legend of laughter, who hailed from Vincennes, Ind.

"The collector who now owns Father Time recently got in touch with me and let me know that not only does he have this piece, he's also in the process of having the piece restored," Goldschmidt said.

"Right now, Father Time needs a little work. He's missing an eyebrow and some other details. You have to remember, these figures were sewn and created from wood, wires and covered with wool and fabric.

"But the head and faces often just used pieces of paper for the eyes, eyebrows and mouths to animate their expressions and deliver their lines. However, some of the puppets, like Rudolph and Father Time, you'll notice, do have tiny hinged puppet mouths."

Skelton's voice and involvement -- the Father Time figure was designed to look like Skelton, including a tuft of red hair -- is one of the reasons Goldschmidt considers "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" one of the splashiest of the Rankin/Bass TV specials.

"The story not only includes a variety of great characters, including Happy, the New Year's Baby, it also featured so many terrific voice talents giving life to the characters, including Morey Amsterdam and Frank Gorshin, in addition to Skelton," Goldschmidt said.

Alas, this is the same TV special that features a "slightly altered look" for Rudolph -- which Goldschmidt said is not as delightful as the original 1964 deer.

"If you notice his face, he was done by Paul Coker, and has much more white all around his mouth, and his red nose is much larger and exaggerated," Goldschmidt said.

Equally exciting, two years ago, Goldschmidt was part of the adventure that uncovered what many Baby Boomers consider the "Holy Grail" of Rankin/Bass Christmas TV specials -- the Santa Claus and Rudolph puppet figures from the 1964 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

With Goldschmidt's help, Kevin Kriess, from Harmony, Pa., became the owner of the original Santa and Rudolph.

Earlier this month when Kriess, who owns Time and Space Toys and Toy Galaxy Store in Pittsburgh, traveled to Chicago to display the rare artifacts at a Chicagoland Borders Books and Music store and Brookfield Zoo, Goldschmidt was there by his side.

The 8-inch-tall Santa and 4-inch-tall Rudolph are considered Animagic Figures, the term used by the Japanese designers who originally created the Rankin/Bass figures for the specials.

Kriess did plenty of research before he invested the dough (ahem, not DOE) to buy the classic figures, as well as the additional $4,000 to restore the fragile wood-and-cloth puppets, which were in bad shape.

Originally discarded as "trash" after the TV special aired, one of the producers' secretaries rescued the figurines, including a number of the other puppet characters, and took them home to display as holiday decorations, which became favorite toys for her nieces and nephews.

"After all these years, the people that owned them first contacted Arthur Rankin Jr., to see if he would like to purchase them," Kriess said.

"His response was something like, 'Why would I want to pay for something I threw away 40 years ago? I'll take them, but I won't pay for them.' "

The family said the other puppet characters that had been rescued (which they casually and incorrectly described as "some of the deer, the dentist, jack the prospector" ...) melted in the attic where they were stored and were in such bad shape they were thrown away years ago, leaving just Santa and Rudolph as the lone survivors.

The family even took Rudolph and Santa to a filming of the PBS series "Antiques Roadshow," where they were appraised at $10,000 for the pair -- much lower than the price Kriess eventually paid.

Goldschmidt, who is also an accomplished singer and just released a new album, "Rick Goldschmidt Sings," with his group The Starving Artists, said few of the original figures from Rankin/Bass specials still exist.

He owns the Virgin Mary figure from Rankin/Bass's 1975 TV special "The Story of the First Christmas," and he said the narrator character Sister Theresa, which was voiced by Angela Lansbury, exists in a private collection.

"But with all the press Rankin/Bass has recently received, which is more than ever before, I think in the New Year we're going to see more discoveries," Goldschmidt said.

Also spurring renewed interest is the recent DVD release of some of the most popular Rankin/Bass movies and TV specials by Warner Bros. Home Video, which owns the rights to most of the Rankin/Bass catalogue of TV specials, according to spokeswoman Jennifer L. Santos.

"Rudolph's Shiny New Year" is included with a special boxed DVD set, which also includes "The Year Without a Santa Claus," from 1974 starring Mickey Rooney and Shirley Booth, and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" from 1966 with Boris Karloff as the Grinch.

The boxed set also includes rare interviews, including with Goldschmidt.