2008 Disney collectibles preview
Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix returns from the winter markets with a sneak peak
January heralds the start of the winter market season, an annual ritual for retailers large and small. This is the time when manufacturers debut their latest creations, and where buyers, fresh from the rigors of the holiday season, begin to start thinking about next Christmas. I spent four days at the Atlanta Gift Mart, the largest show of its kind in the U.S., plus an additional day at the California Gift Show in Los Angeles to scout out the latest Disney-licensed merchandise available to gift and collectible shops. Here are the highlights:
Enesco
Enesco is home to the wildly popular Disney Traditions (link) collection, and artist Jim Shore will introduce quite a few new “everyday” and holiday pieces for 2008. The first collection, due to ship to stores next month, includes small figures of Sorcerer Mickey, Dumbo, Pooh, Bambi and Pinocchio, priced at just $15 each. I expect the lovely lighted Blue Fairy sculpture to be very popular with collectors. My favorite pieces from the holiday collection are the Mickey jack-o-lantern sculpture and Santa Mickey “big fig” that doubles as a greeting card holder.
Dumbo is one of the new Disney Traditions miniatures. Photo © Enesco.
The company is also the distributor of the Walt Disney Classics Collection (link). The 2008 Society membership kit has just begun to ship to retailers (about a month behind schedule), and features scout leader Donald Duck from the 1938 Donald cartoon “Good Scouts.” Donald’s nephews can be purchased individually to round out the “troop.” The scout leaders in my life are thrilled with this year’s membership kit, but I think all members will be excited by the exclusive pieces available through the Society. The Belle with Enchanted Rose figurine is extremely well-crafted and the Queen of Hearts is a great addition to the Alice in Wonderland series. If you collect WDCC sculptures, I highly recommend adding Duckman’s Inside Report (link) to your “favorites” list. This unofficial Web site received official photographs directly from Enesco—even before retailers learn of the new releases—and has an extensive online database of sculptures, complete with images and a pricing guide.
WDCC Society members can purchase three exclusive figures this year, including Belle with the Enchanted Rose. Photo © Enesco.
The biggest surprise of the show was the announcement that Enesco is bringing Robert Olszewski’s “Gallery of Light” Disney sculptures (link) to market. These are the identical sculptures to those currently offered at Disneyland, and will start shipping to retail stores on May 15. There are seven designs in the initial collection: Bambi, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Nightmare Before Christmas—the Pirates of the Caribbean piece remains a Disney exclusive for now. Enesco is also producing Bob’s Heirloom Boxes and will debut at the summer shows, but there are no current plans to bring the Story-Time pieces back into production.
Enesco announces that Robert Olszewski’s “Gallery of Light” Disney sculptures available through independent retail stores. Photo © Enesco.
Lenox Group
Lenox Group Inc and Enesco are jointly responsible for much of the Disney merchandise available to independent retailers. Lenox Group offers Disney merchandise under the Department 56, Snowbabies, Possible Dreams and Disney Classics brands.
One trend that emerged during the show was ceramic or porcelain gifts, like plates, frames and ornaments, that can be personalized with paint pens. Snowbabies capitalizes on this trend with a collection of Mickey and Minnie plaque ornaments that can be customized by the consumer with a name or phrase. A similar line of Tinker Bell wall plaques is also available from Department 56. The newest Snowbabies sculptures include “Tinker Bell’s Flight School” plus new Jasmine and Ariel pieces.
Tinker Bell teaches the Snowbabies how to fly. Photo © Lenox Group, Inc.
On the Lenox (link) side of the showroom, there were several new sculptures, including a series of Mickey Mouse sculptures that depict the development from Steamboat Willie to Modern Day.
Mickey and friends re-create Neverland in this Lenox sculpture. Photo © Lenox Group, Inc.
I was less impressed with this year’s crop of dated ornaments. Many of them are identical to the 2007 version, with only a new 2008 decal or charm. The 2008 Tinker Bell is a new sculpture, but the year is simply stamped in gold numbers on the torso instead of worked somehow into the design.
Department 56 introduced Disney buildings to its North Pole Village a few years ago, and this is the first year since then that there has not been a new Disney introduction. I’d love to see D56 re-create the Disney Parks Village series they introduced in the early 1990s; create a miniature Toontown or release a Fantasyland attractions village.
Precious Moments (link) is showing only a handful of new pieces, a big drop from last year. The new collection includes holiday Snow White and Belle sculptures, plus figurines with Dumbo and Lady and the Tramp. Winter brides who like Cinderella will likely snap up the Cinderella and Prince Charming wedding snow globe and the matching limited edition cake topper.
Royal Doulton (link) is expanding the Disney Fairies collection with new figurines timed to coincide with the release of the new Tinker Bell movie. There are also four new Disney collections for 2008: Alice in Wonderland, Jungle Book, Pinocchio and The Lion King. Each collection includes a limited edition focal piece with priced tagged at $250 to $400 retail, plus two or three $50 “accessory” pieces. (The Jungle Book scene has a $100 accessory). My favorite is the Alice in Wonderland scene. The main piece is the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party—its accessories are Alice, Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit.
The company is also releasing a new Winnie the Pooh line of mugs with matching figurines, ($43 retail), and a new Winnie the Pooh christening collection.
Westland Giftware is continuing its Mickey InspEARations line (smaller replicas of the 75 Mickey statues that toured the Disney theme parks) with eight new releases (link). A product development representative from Westland confirmed that the company is planning to continue this line and already have eight more sculptures planned for July.
Westland Giftware is expanding its Mickey InspEARations collection. Photo © Westland Giftware.
The representative told me (and I’ve heard this before) that Disney did not secure merchandise rights from all of the artists and celebrities who decorated the Mickeys, so there will almost certainly never be a full set available—but they are trying to work down the list of the most popular sculptures.
Roman (link) introduced a line of cloisonné-finish sculptures that are just lovely, and surprisingly well-priced at $32 to $65. The company has also introduced a Victorian Mickey tree topper, Cinderella tree topper, plus solar-powered holiday Pooh and Mickey garden statues that light up at night.
Roman’s new collection of cloisonné-finish sculptures also includes light-up accents. Photo © Roman, Inc.
Madame Alexander (link) is departing quite dramatically from the “pretty princess playbook” with two brand new Nightmare Before Christmas dolls.
Madame Alexander’s new release depicts Maggie’s Visit to Halloween Town. Photo © Madame Alexander.
The company makes both licensed and non-licensed “princess” items, including a limited edition 10-inch Sleeping Beauty and 16-inch limited edition Cinderella, Snow White and Belle dolls, plus a “dress up trunk” with an 8-inch doll and three Princess costumes. The remaining Disney items include a limited edition Christopher Robin with Pooh, Wendy with Miss Piggy, Wendy with Bambi, Pinocchio with Jiminy, a 10-inch standing Tinker Bell, Mowgli with Baloo and four new “Peekaboo” dolls with Pooh costumes.
Last year Kurt Adler (link) released an entire collection of Disney nutcrackers, including a stunning Steinbach Mickey Mouse nutcracker. This year the collection has been retooled and expanded. The larger 12-inch nutcrackers (except Tigger) will now have molded PVC heads, which will hopefully prevent some of the production problems I noticed in the 2007 collection.
Kurt Adler has a redesigned collection of Disney nutcrackers for 2008. Photo © Kurt Adler.
I’m not impressed with the Disney Princess nutcrackers from the new collection, but the concept artwork for the Captain Hook, Buzz Lightyear and Woody nutcrackers looks incredible.
Scene Weaver (link) introduced two styles of Disney fleece throws last January, and has expanded the license into woven throws, pillows and wall hangings with Classic Mickey, Cinderella, Snow White and Bambi images. Design Ideas is expanding their Disney Gel Gems line (link), and the new Nemo designs are super cute for a kid’s bathroom. I think the new styles were introduced at Walt Disney World a few months ago, but now independent retailers will carry them.
Most of the “everyday” merchandise shown here will be in retail stores by late spring. The holiday merchandise will begin to arrive in stores as early as June, just in time for the summer market season to begin anew. If the Web sites linked above do not yet have their new collections displayed online, you may want to check back in a few weeks—some vendors will not present the new collections to consumers until they begin to ship to retailers.
