Tag Archives: Disney Collectibles

Haunted Mansion Playset – Flea Market Treasures

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Today’s Saturdays with Nick article features my all time favorite of Nick’s many flea market finds.  As a huge Haunted Mansion fan, I confess I’m positively Goofy-hat-green with envy over this incredible discovery!

Haunted Mansion Playset – Flea Market Treasures

By Nick

Walking around the Columbus New Jersey Flea Market back in April, I stopped by a friend’s table to say hello, and saw this Haunted Mansion Monorail Playset.

I confess, I didn’t have a clue as to how much this set went for originally, or how much it was worth, but I of course asked how much. The Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

When she told me $5, I was very pleasantly surprised.

There are some fun accessories, including the Hitchhiking Ghosts.

Out of the box.

It opens from the back.

The stairs swing out revealing more of the interior.

A  lot from the ride is represented including the floating instruments and the dining room.

The organ, floating candelabra, and portrait gallery.
The library,  the changing portrait of Master Gracey, and a view of the cemetery from above.
The accessories in addition to the Hitchiking Ghosts include the creepy chair, clock, and Madame Leota’s crystal ball.
If all that awesomeness wasn’t enough, it also has flashing lights and sound!
video
All in all, a really great collectible and one of my best ever flea market finds.

Disney Collectibles – No Dwarf Left Behind

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1950's Vinyl Doc from Snow WhiteDon’t ask me how we ended up with such a wide array and volume of items in our (mostly Joseph’s) Disneyana collection.  I adore the lunch boxes, comic books, and record albums.  The books, watches, and mugs – yes, I totally get why we have all of those.  I understand the attraction of every single lovingly curated item…except one.

Several years ago, it seems, a well-worn, somewhat faded and tired lone figure made its way into the collection.  Still bearing his antique store price tag, this bespectacled gentleman seems to have joined our menagerie for a solid $4.  He seems a bit lost, a tad lonely, and a lot dirty but was once a part of something really special.  As it turns out, our little vinyl Doc figurine was actually manufactured in the late 1950’s and, predictably, was part of a complete set of 8 characters.  (See the original set here.)  I feel certain Doc took up residence in our home after Joseph spotted him in one of his favorite stores and, a lone Dwarf, without his friends, could not be left behind.Doc from Snow White 1950's Vinyl Figurine

Touting the features of purchasing this set of toys, the original box read, “Walt Disney’s Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. Entire Doll and Dwarfs Made of Miracle Vinyl. Washable Rooted Hair. Finest Details of Face, Hands, and Body Ever Achieved. Completely Unbreakable from Head to Toe.”

I pass by Doc on the curio shelf where he resides many times a day – usually without notice.  This weekend, though, I had Snow White on the brain and Doc caught my eye.  I decided he could use a little attention and at the same time, I could satisfy my curiosity about the little guy.

Eighty years ago in 1934, Walt Disney began his serious pursuit of bringing Snow White and the Snow White's Doc Figurine 1950'sSeven Dwarfs to animated life.  He was meticulous in his plans – scrutinizing every detail until he could achieve perfection.  For the first feature length animated film in movie history, Walt Disney was serious about making his dream a success – critics referred to the endeavor as “Disney’s Folly”.  They would be surprised by Mr. Disney’s achievement.  The movie premiered to wildly receptive audiences and is today regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made.

Back to our little guy.  In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Doc’s animated character, voiced by veteran actor Ray Atwell (1878-1962), was scripted to be the leader of the Dwarfs – self-important, yet somewhat bumbling.  He turned out to be an adorable, much loved persona who, thanks to a little research, now holds a special status among his curio cabinet companions in our home.

Do you collect any Disney toys or collectibles?  What’s your favorite item?  1950's Doc Doll

Walt Disney’s Jiminy Cricket

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Dell Comic Jiminy Cricket CoverAs a Disney side-kick, you can’t find one much better than Jiminy Cricket.  Sure, he’s a bug, but thanks to the Blue Fairy, he magically becomes an important part of Pinocchio’s life – acting as his conscience, attempting to keep his charge safe from trouble.  If you didn’t love Jiminy in Pinocchio, you have got to at least admit that he’s an incredible narrator for the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular (Magic Kingdom), right?  You think so, don’t you?  GOOD!  Me too!

There are a couple of precious Jiminy Cricket Disneyana items at our house (in the Joseph Green collection).  One is a modern figurine, picked up not that long ago on a Disney vacation.  The other is much older and, I think, pretty unique and interesting.  A 1957 Dell Comic (Four Color #795) featuring the man (insect?) himself, Jiminy Cricket.  He stars in several separate comics alongside some very famous co-stars like Goofy, Captain Hook, Donald Duck and his playful nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  All the fun and excitement covered by the Dell Comic pledge.Jiminy Cricket Figurine

Dell Comics – “A pledge to parents:  The Dell Trademark is, and always has been, a positive guarantee that the comic magazine bearing it contains only clean and wholesome entertainment.  The Dell code eliminates entirely, rather than regulates, objectionable material.  That’s why when your child buys a Dell Comic you can be sure it contains only good fun.  ‘Dell Comics are Good Comics’ is our only credo and constant goal.” 

You’ve got to hand it to the 1950’s – there was no better decade for wholesomeness!

When Jiminy Cricket first appeared in 1940, he was drawn by Ward Kimball (one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men”) and voiced by Cliff Edwards.  When he sang “When You Wish Upon a Star”, Jiminy entered the collective hearts of America and has Dell #795 Jiminy Cricket Back Coverremained there ever since.

Movies, television, comics, video games, books, and in Disney parks – the character of Jiminy Cricket as a symbol of doing what’s right has endured for more than half a century and I, for one, believe his image will continue to live on for quite a long time to come.

How about you?  Are you a Jiminy Cricket fan?   

 

 

Disney Pin Trading – Chaser Pins Explained

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IMG_2382If you’ve never tried Disney Pin Trading, you can read about getting started here.

Once you’ve dipped your toe into the pin trading pool, so to speak, you can’t help but come across the silver Disney Chaser Pins.  These metalic doppelgangers of some of our favorite, colorful pins first appeared in 2011.  They are “Hidden Mickey” pins (small Mickey head appears on these).  All Hidden Mickey pin collections (painted and chaser) are released on Cast Member lanyards.  Chaser pins, interestingly, are not released as part of the set they seem to belong to – they’re released (after the original, colorful ones) as part of a larger set of chaser pins belonging to a particular year.  Disney releases other chasers that are painted and also pins called “completer” pins, but today I’m just focusing on what little I know about the silver Hidden Mickey Chasers.

Steven Miller (Disney Merchandise Communications Manager) is a contributing writer on the Chaser 3Disney Parks Blog.  Mr. Miller describes chaser pins this way, “These pins are slightly more rare than their full color counterparts.  We don’t have as many produced which prompts the “chase” to find them (though I encourage walking carefully and slowly to your next trading destination :-))”

I’ve traded for chaser pins before, but had absolutely no idea what they were – only that the ones I received were silver duplicates of pins in a set I was collecting.  I actually felt they were an inferior, colorless, boring substitute for the “real” pin I was trying to find – little did I know that they were more rare and belonged to a set of their own.  Now that I know the Chaser pins are limited edition pins and are more challenging to locate – I’ll be giving them the respect they deserve!

In case you missed it and are a pin collector (or thinking about becoming one) – Mr. Miller has a fantastic post about pins for 2014 here.  I cannot wait to get to Disney World and dive back into pin trading / collecting – I’ve got a certain flying Orange Bird to find.  I’d also love to pick up an Chaser 1Alice in Wonderland Doorknob pin (one of the new ones this year).

So?  What about you?  Are you a pin collector?  Do you have many silver chaser pins in your collection?