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Author Archives: Lee
Top Five Tips for Displaying your Disney Collectibles
OK. You’ve just got back from that visit to The Happiest Place on Earth or perhaps The Vacation Kingdom. And although you promised yourself that you wouldn’t buy everything you saw, you’ve come home with an extra suitcase full of Disney collectibles!
Now what? Well, once you convince your significant other not to leave you, it’s time to find a place for all that new stuff. And it ain’t gonna be easy!
Fortunately for you, I’ve been in this predicament on more than one occasion, so here are my Top Five tips for displaying your new treasures:
Number 5
Rotation. Let’s be realistic. Do you really have enough room to display every Disney collectible you own? Likely not. So display only a few treasures at a time. Between switches, carefully pack the rest of your collection away. But here’s a tip: Group each type of item or character in a separate box and mark the box clearly. So when it’s time to make the switch, you’ll know exactly where to look!
Come on, I know you’re that anal!
Number 4
Maintenance. Find a dust-free zone. Seriously. Find a dust-free zone! At one time I had over 200 collectibles displayed in a one-bedroom apartment, and the most familiar phrase I heard for two years was ‘When are you going to dust?’
This is where tip number five can help, but more likely you will want to opt for an enclosed display cabinet. This won’t eliminate all dust particles from your treasures, but it may help to extend the periods between dustings. And it allows for some cool lighting options too!
Number 3
Grouping. Eclectic is a nice word, but it doesn’t always make for the best look. It means to select or employ individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles. In other words, you just throw whatever ya got on the shelf without any rhyme or reason! OK. I’ve done this and it doesn’t look that bad. However, if you have a nice room, it might be better to group similar types of items together. Figurines shouldn’t be mixed with Plush, for instance.
The only time this can work is if you’re doing a character theme, such as all Tinkerbell. This approach is usually best in bedrooms or offices, but can be done tastefully elsewhere. But beware: Tacky lurks just around the corner!
Number 2
Moderation. This is closely related to Rotation, but with a twist. Not only do you not want to try to display every collectible you own, but also don’t try to fill every space in every room. This is especially important if not everyone in your household is a Disney Addict! For them, it’s nice to create a Disney-free Zone where they can hide from your well-meaning fanaticism.
And don’t forget the visitors. Now, I know you’re not crazy, but they may be looking for evidence to the contrary. So don’t make it too easy for them to prove their theories about your sanity! Having them open the stove only to find a Disney figurine you didn’t have room for in the fridge won’t help your cause.
Remember: Moderation will make you appear reasonable even when you’re not!
Number 1
Location. Want to break your heart? Here’s what you do: Place your most prized and fragile figurine at precisely the eye-level of a two year old. Then sit back, and in approximately 7.4 seconds, you will own a broken figurine! Want to avoid this? Then follow this simple placement chart:
- Figurines and other breakables up high
- Collectibles with small pieces and display dolls at medium height
- Plush, PVC, and heavy durable items at the bottom
Of course, it goes without saying that any treasure that holds a special place in your heart should either be up high or in a closed display cabinet.
I hope these five tips will help you to enjoy your treasures for years to come!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some dusting to catch up on.
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Look for the Disney Trademarks
We’ve all done this: We’re browsing in an antique shop or at a flea market and come across a Disney treasure. We know we’ve found something special, but how old is it? We pick it up and turn it over, hoping to find a date. But all we find is a Disney trademark.
But wait! It’s different from the one we know. We pick up another piece of Disneyana, and it has yet another trademark stamped on it! And now we’re all confused. Well, I’m here to clear up that confusion by sharing with you the Disney trademarks that I’ve found over the years, and what I know about their dates:
Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio
October 16, 1923 until 1929
There was some rare merchandise produced before this time, but it wasn’t technically ‘Disney’. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit did a tidy little bit of business in a few lines of toys and books before Walt lost him. But for original Disney merchandise, if you can find a Disney Brothers item, you’ve got a gem! But I don’t think a lot of those earliest items had trademark stamps.
Walt Disney Productions
1929 until 1986
This trademark crosses the most amounts of years. So one piece trademarked ‘WDP’ could be old and valuable while another could be newer and relatively worthless. This trademark can be spelled out in full or shortened to the ‘WDP’ letters, or even to ‘Walt Disney Prod’ with all versions being fairly common. It usually depended on how much room was available on the piece in question as to which one was used.
This is the trademark you’re most likely to come across in the average shop or online.
Walt Disney Company
February 6, 1986 to the present.
This trademark is usually spelled out in full and is the second most common trademark found today due to the sheer amount of merchandise produced since 1986. Only items produced with this trademark that had limited production runs or that featured sought-after characters will be of any real monetary value.
Disney Enterprises Inc.
(No information)
This trademark is rare but it does crop up from time to time.
Disney
(Various time periods)
I started to notice this shortened trademark sometime in the early 1990’s and it is in wide use today. But the short ‘Disney’ trademark may also be found on earlier merchandise.
And it’s interesting to note that Disney is now shortening the movie division trademark from ‘Walt Disney Pictures’ and ‘Walt Disney’ to just ‘Disney’.
Keep in mind that any or all of these trademarks can be accompanied by dates, as in the example pictured above.
Although by no means comprehensive, I hope this brief look at Disney trademarks will help you when you’re trying to determine dates during your next visit to a yard sale!
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Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise
All Disney collectibles are valuable. False!
All Mickey Mouse collectibles are the most valuable. False!
Nothing new will ever be worth anything. False!
Just how many false impressions are there out there about Disneyana collecting? Probably as many as there are Disneyana collectibles! Antique dealers count on misinformation and sentimentality to slip that extra percentage on your purchase. Don’t let them rip you off!
Follow these five tips for collecting Disneyana:
Number Five:
Buy only what you like and plan to keep. Collecting anything is about possession, not profit. This holds true for most of us, excepting the professional collector who buys for resale. Only he can truly know the market and what it can bear, so only he should play the money game.
The benefit of this tip is that you will only spend what you think something is worth to you. So you will avoid high price tags, or if you do splurge, you won’t feel ripped off because the item will bring you sufficient satisfaction to compensate.
Number Four:
Do your research. If you must have every Donald Duck collectible on the market, make sure to educate yourself about current market pricing.
The benefit of this tip is that you will always know the true value of any item you are interested in. Books and websites abound for this purpose, so make use of them, perhaps on your mobile device.
Number Three:
Relax. There is more Disneyana out there than one person could ever collect in one lifetime! So don’t even try. Don’t think that if you miss buying this one item that it will never come around again. Believe me, with the proliferation of antique shops and online selling sites, it likely will come around again. And if that exact item doesn’t, one of a million others that you’ve just got to have will!
The benefit of this tip is that you won’t be pushed into a purchase that you’re not comfortable with because of panic.
Number Two:
Age doesn’t necessarily increase value. Just because something was made in 1947, it doesn’t mean that the item is worth more than a similar item made in 1987 or 2007. Popularity is the ultimate price maker!
The benefit of this tip is that you can be aware of trends. For example, a chaser Vinylmation figure could very well out sell a mass-produced item from 1950. For example, if more people currently want Vinylmation figures over Disneykins figures, age isn’t going to matter!
Number One:
Mickey doesn’t always mean big money. Most amateur collectors, and too many antique dealers, fall into this erroneous thinking. Undoubtedly, Mickey is the oldest Disney character to receive extensive merchandising, but that is also the problem! There is just too much Mickey out there for all of it to be valuable. Rarity and condition will determine price more than anything else.
The benefit of this tip is that you will know to buy secondary characters who’s merchandise is harder to find, but that non-Disney retailers may not recognize, and so under-value in their sale price!
OK troops, are we ready to get out there and do some informed buying?
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Disney Quick Tips – Saving Your Digital Memories
More is better right? Wrong! If you have a 3 or 4 GB media card for your digital camera, or greater, you could be risking the loss of hundreds of Disney memories. Large GB cards can store several hundreds of high resolution images. It’s convenient not to have to swap out cards every two minutes, but not so convenient when your camera decides to have a melt down and erase what you’ve taken!
Or you could do what I did once and erase over 200 pictures yourself. And you could also lose your camera.
My tip is to use only half GB or 1 GB cards and swap them out often. Keep them separate from your main camera bag so they won’t get lost with the camera, should that happen.
Alternatively, upload your pictures to a laptop every night before taking more pictures the next day. This way if something bad should happen, you’ve only lost one days memories!
Happy snapping!
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A Canadian Perspective of the Epcot Pavilion
Mountain Range
Only eleven countries have the privilege of being represented in EPCOT at Walt Disney World. And as you probably already know, they are:
Of course, it’s the Canada Pavilion that this article will focus on.
To begin with, I was surprised to find a Canada Pavilion at EPCOT. It’s all-too common for most of the world to see my country as nothing more than an additional State of the U.S.A. and not as the truly unique and beautiful place that it is. So I was doubly pleased to see that Canada was one of the first countries encountered as you walk around The World Showcase, Mexico being the other, if you go in a clockwise direction.
Canada isn’t one of the biggest Pavilions, but it does have a lot of content packed into its compact footprint. For example, you will find:
- A Mountain
- A river ending in a waterfall
- A reproduction of the Butchart Gardens from Victoria, BC
- A model of the Victorian-style Chateau Laurier hotel found in Ottawa
Gardens
And these are just the physical features of the Canada Pavilion. In these things, this Canadian proclaims that the Imagineers have done a nice job of representing his country. Anyone who visits Canada leaves declaring the beauty and scope of our land, and this is well displayed in EPCOT.
But what of the other features of the Canada Pavilion? They are:
- A totem pole and Indian canoe
- An old Trading Post
- A large French influence
- Mounties
- And Off-Kilter
Here we have the same problem that the other ten Pavilions exhibit: Outdated representation.
The totem pole, Indian canoe, and the Trading Post have long vanished from the common landscape of Canada. Any French influences are mostly restricted, at least overtly, to Ottawa and Quebec. Mounties are rarely, if ever seen, in the red uniforms associated with them. And I have never seen a man in a kilt in my entire life in Canada!
Trading Post
Off-Kilter
I remember sitting in the Norway Pavilion one day just across from the old Viking Ship, before it was removed. A mother walked by with her two children, and upon seeing the stereotypical ship, said to them: “Oh look, kids: A Viking Ship! We all have one of those in our back yards, don’t we?” The sarcasm told me she was Norwegian and didn’t care for such a representation of her country.
That being so, I can say in Disney’s defense, that without such stereotypical representations of a country’s heritage, how would one stand out from another? Today, we all have skyscrapers, cars, and modernization. EPCOT could thusly consist of just one Pavilion called Everycountry! How boring would that be?
The Canada Pavilion has a wonderful shopping area filled with traditionally Canadian wares. But for the most part, only expensive items are stocked, which the average Canadian wouldn’t buy everyday. Le Cellier Steakhouse does serve an authentic Canadian cuisine. I recommend the beer. And that brings us to the 360 degree Circle-Vision film ‘O Canada’. Recently redone, with Martin Short as emcee, this too gives a nice overview of both old and new, or modern, Canada.
So, as a Canadian, do I approve of how my country is represented by Disney at EPCOT?
I’d have to say ‘Yes!’
But I wonder if this is the case with you, the readers from the other countries represented in The World Showcase? Does Germany, United Kingdom, or even The American Adventure live up to how you would like to be represented?
Why not join the discussion in our comments section and let us, and Disney, know!
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