Welcome back to Disney Stuff. As a collector and as a Disney fan, I’m always on the hunt for something different, something a bit more vintage, to add to my collection of Disney stuff. With vintage though, comes cost. Sometimes that awesome old Donald Duck bank or vintage Mickey Mouse tin toy just isn’t in the financial cards. Most of the time the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s Disney memorabilia is way too overpriced for me and it’s put on my wish list for that time when some mysterious cash windfall comes my way. About a year or so ago, I was shopping in one of my favorite collectible shops in Connecticut. I came across several small, vintage looking figurines on the shelves of this jam-packed walk through my childhood, otherwise known as Collectible Madness.
When I inquired about the price, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I was told they were only $7 each, they were mine, but I also knew they weren’t that vintage. No complaints though. I scored a cool little Mickey, Donald and Goofy that day. On a later visit, I was thrilled to find two more, Daisy and Chip. Yet another collection has begun! They’re small and fragile, so they’re kept out of reach of the smaller hands in my house. They do, however, have a nice spot in a china cabinet in our guest room mixed in with some of my wife’s pieces of Lenox.
My collection of Disney porcelain figurines. Photo by Chris Barry.
When I sat down to write about them, I started doing research on them to see if I could find out more about them. All I had to go on was that they were marked Disney and Taiwan on the bottom.
Goofy's mark. Photo by Chris Barry.
My stack of Disney collectible books and guides didn’t list them and I couldn’t find them anywhere on the Internet with so little information. My usual sites and sources to identify collectibles were coming up short. I turned to my good pal Barry Allender over at Tomart’s Disneyana Update, one of the truly great resources for Disney collectibles and memorabilia. Barry’s answer shed quite a bit of light on these little guys:
“I don't know the name of the unknown maker of these bright colored figures but I do remember these small porcelain figures, all ranged in size from 2 inches to 3 inches.”
A porcelain Mickey. Photo by Chris Barry.
That was a great place to start. At least someone knew of these figures. I was curious where they were sold and Barry remembered that as well:
“Back in 1980 and 1981 they were sold in the Main Street Emporium at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.”
A porcelain Donald. Photo by Chris Barry.
I have to admit, for some strange reason, I didn’t expect these to be park souvenirs. They look a little, how should I say…off. I almost thought that they might be rip-offs until I saw the Disney mark on the bottoms. Apparently, according to Barry, Disney management also thought they were a little off.
A porcelain Goofy. Photo by Chris Barry.
“These were the first figures that Disney had made in Taiwan. They changed in 1982 to figures made in China as they were cheaper and looked better, according to management.”
A porcelain Daisy. Photo by Chris Barry.
So they did look a little off, but I think they’re pretty cool figures and I’m glad I found them. The big question for me as a collector, of course, was, “How many more can I get?” Thankfully Mr. Allender had the answer to that question as well:
A porcelain Chip. Photo by Chris Barry.
“Besides the ones you have there was Minnie, Pluto, Dale, Tinker Bell, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear, Peter Pan, Mowgli, Baloo, Lady and Tramp.”
Let me state for the record, that I’m in the market for a few more of these. Surprise, surprise! Chip needs Dale. Mickey needs Minnie. I need to get Tink for my wife, Peter Pan for me and I think finding the Brer trio would be pretty cool. That’s almost the entire collection. Now that I know they exist, I have a mission.
My wife can breathe a sigh of relief because it’s a pretty small collection. They won’t take up too much space in the house. My Disney Stuff still won’t have taken over the house…for now.
So, my question for you readers is twofold.
Do any of you out there remember these great porcelain figurines from Disneyland or Walt Disney World?
Perhaps more importantly…does anyone know where I can get the rest of them?
Let me hear your thoughts and I’ll see you next time with some more of that great Disney Stuff.
Special thanks to my friend from the left coast Barry Allender from Tomart's Disneyana Update for his extensive knowledge of…what else…Disney Stuff!
