Welcome back to yet another look at the collections, the accumulations, and—some may say—the obsessions, with Disney Stuff that we Disney fans all have on our shelves and around our home. Today I’m heading back to the walls of my home for the latest addition to my collection/accumulation/obsession, the Tomorrowland Framed Pin Set. My wife, despite the occasional “Don’t you have enough?” look in her eye, manages to keep finding great gifts to please and satiate her collection-obsessed husband, and this past Christmas was no exception.
I’ve already written an article on the amazing, out-of-print book Disneyland: Inside Story that she found on the great Phil Sears Collectibles website. It has earned its permanent place on an end table in our living room. What she also found from Phil was this very cool framed pin set. Framed pin sets have become quite popular in the pin trading universe, but this particular set is a little more interesting.
The Tomorrowland Framed Pin Set. Photo by Chris Barry.
As the 2005 50th Anniversary of Disneyland approached, the Walt Disney Company really outdid themselves by releasing quite a line of limited edition commemorative collectibles. Those of us who fondly remember receiving the long lost Disney Catalog back then will surely remember the 50th Anniversary Collection. Maybe you remember the awesome Red and Blue Monorail Mark I replicas or the Rocket To The Moonliner Lamp.
The Disneyland 50th Anniversary Monorail Red Mark I Replica. Photo courtesy of Google Images.
How about the Jungle Cruise Boat Replica or any of those very cool Haunted Mansion items like the Stretching Portrait Tapestries or the Grand Hall Organ?
The Disneyland 50th Anniversary Jungle Cruise Boat Replica. Photo courtesy of Google Images.
There are too many to even mention. Most of the items were not mass-produced. Instead, edition sizes on these items were relatively small, in the 1000 to 1500 range, so they were genuine collectibles. The response was strong and items sold quickly.
At the time I didn’t purchase any of the 50th Anniversary merchandise except a Fantasyland boxed pin set. Many of the items were pricey, and as I’ve shamefully admitted before, at the time I still hadn’t been to Disneyland. I’m still a little ashamed to admit that I still haven’t made it to Disneyland, but that’s another story. So no matter how cool the stuff was, I didn’t really have that early reference or soft spot in my heart for Disneyland memorabilia. All things considered, most things in my collections are still more centered on Walt Disney World and straightforward Disney memorabilia.
That said, there are plenty of things that catch my eye that are Disneyland related and I would love to have in my collection. This framed pin set is definitely one of them. My wife chose for me and she chose wisely. This set is based on the vintage attraction posters that adorned the inside of the park and promoted Disneyland’s attractions. As the Certificate of Authenticity states:
“Walt Disney and his talented Imagineers designed them to promote the myriad delights of the Magic Kingdom to guests already within its gates.”
I’ve always loved the attraction posters, especially these early versions. The colors are strikingly vibrant and the simple design harkens back to more of a 1930’s art-deco style. Graphically, they’re beautiful. I can imagine walking underneath the Disneyland Railroad and seeing these eye-catching designs on the walls as I prepared to enter the Happiest Place on Earth. I’d love to get my hands on a few authentic attraction posters from any of the parks. Until then I’ll enjoy these smaller reproductions and their added bonuses: the pins. Walt Disney Collectibles picked three Tomorrowland posters and “lifted” an element from each and turned it into a cloisonné pin.
The Skyway, which opened in June of 1956, has one of its hanging buckets as the pin:
The Skyway Attraction Poster and Pin. Photo by Chris Barry.
The Skyway pin up close. Photo by Chris Barry.
The famous Submarine Voyage, something I never got to ride in Walt Disney World and someday hope to experience in its current Nemo form in Disneyland, has a mermaid for its pin:
The Submarine Attraction Poster and Pin. Photo by Chris Barry.
The Submarine Voyage pin up close. Photo by Chris Barry.
Autopia, the only attraction featured here to open with Disneyland in 1955, features a blue Autopia car with two happy guests as its pin:
The Autopia Attraction Poster and Pin. Photo by Chris Barry.
The Autopia pin up close. Photo by Chris Barry.
The classic Disneyland logo on top is also a pin…
The Disneyland logo pin up close. Photo by Chris Barry.
…as is the Tomorrowland logo on the bottom.
The Tomorrowland logo pin up close. Photo by Chris Barry.
The whole set is matted and framed quite nicely and it makes a tasteful addition to the décor in our home. It’s a perfect mesh of my passion for Disney collectibles and my wife’s graphically trained eye. She’s an artist and a graphic designer and these designs are such great examples of vintage poster art, she was more than happy to buy them for me as a gift and just as happy to hang them on our walls.
Originally, this set was available from the Disney Catalog, DisneyShopping.com, and the Disney Store. It retailed for $99.95 and was officially released in April 2005. Only 1,000 were made. Despite the limited release, they are available online from the usual places. It would be rude to ask Diane what she paid for my gift, but I have seen them as high as $179 and as low as $50. The average price out there hovers around the original price tag give or take $10 or $20, so if you want one, grab one soon before the price inevitably rises.
This is a great find for pin collectors, Disneyland collectors, vintage poster art collectors, and of course…for anyone that just plain loves Disney stuff.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time with some more of that great Disney Stuff.