Over the course of my life and love of all things Disney, I have collected quite an archive of cels, drawings, toys, etc. that celebrate the many faces of Disney. One of the next regular features we are introducing here on the site will be the Archives; a way for us to share the many and varied items from our collection in a manner that keeps the spirit of etckt.com in mind.
I remember a time at Disney World (yes it was called that years ago when it opened and morphed into the Walt Disney World® Resort more recently) offered some really incredible and unique products in the park (what we know as the Magic Kingdom). Over time with the introduction of other parks the merchandise remained extremely unique to the venue; you had to go to the Magic Kingdom to get a Haunted Mansion tombstone.
That approach to merchandise changed dramatically in the late eighties and nineties with the introduction of the Disney Stores. Now you could find some of your favorite park icons at a mall conveniently located near you. Although it was cool to pick up something Mickey back home, it also saturated the market with a lot of similar products that removed that specialness you got from shopping along Main St. U.S.A.
This soon became a real business problem for the company. More recently they have really taken an old-school approach to some of the products they are offering at the parks and have revamped their approach to the Disney Stores as well. I am hopeful that this change will continue to bring about some great new products for us fans to collect.
Over that time, I have continued to collect various and sundry items with my favorite characters emblazoned on/in them. Some of the first things to share from the archives are from back-in-the-day at the Walt Disney World.
We have been coming to Central Florida for as long as I remember and my first in a lifelong series of visits to the park was shortly after the opening. Some of the my earliest collectibles were these bobbleheads. As you can tell by the pictures, they were very well loved – and continue to be admired today. The classic WDW logo brings back such good memories and am glad to see them reintroducing a version of the D for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the park.
Bobbleheads were a big deal when I was growing up and my first introduction was with the baseball mascots of Major League Baseball. Needless to say, as a little kid and seeing these in the store at the park, I had to have them. The Donald is a bit older than Mickey, as I recall, but both were cherished souvenirs from one of my childhood trips to Disney World.
In the coming weeks, we will share more of our archives with you. Perhaps you have a special memento you would like to share with us? We certainly would love to see them.
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