Kim's Corner
Page 2 of 5

OK-OK-OK - so - on with my review/opinion/explanations/suggestions -

After watching the Premiere Shop Opening and Marie Osmond signing (Martha and Michelle also put this event together) go so well just the day before, and knowing that the new pin limit policies were in place and that the edition sizes of the map (LE 5,000) and both the SoundStation (LE 2,500) and Tinkerbell Tour Guide in Training (LE 3,500) pins were well within DLR merchandiser/collector/trader base numbers - about 250 hard-core collectors, 150 dedicated traders and 100 e-bay merchandisers - we decided that there was no need to risk breaking our necks in the usual Super-Pin-Sunday secondary market fueled greed-induced-mad-dash of flag drop and Grand Stampede.

So we decided to get to the park a little after opening and have a bite of breakfast at Carnation on Main Street - afterall this was my Birthday celebration weekend and I was looking forward to a day of friends and pins and Disneyland fun.

Disneyland SoundStation Map Event

Map Event - the good
OK - anytime you get something for free from Disneyland can only be a good thing - right? - and the free map and completion pin were very cute and worth the 20-minute-very-leasurely-walk around the park that it took to complete. We enjoyed the map art and I love the mini-Mickey pin. You see - it fits all three of the criteria for a pin in my collection - is it cute - is it Mickey and do I have it yet - if the answers are yes, yes and no - it's in. Add free to the equation and there's no question - it's gonna be minemineminemineminemine.

Map Event - the bad
We knew that this was the first event under the newly instituted pin guidelines and purchase rules and that there would be some problems encountered during the day - but I didn’t expect the new system to breakdown from the very first stop - map pick-up on Main Street - as we were not told then that certain of the SoundStation pins would be available for purchase at venues adjacent to the stamping locations - so on next to Tropical Importers - it was a breakdown in either communication or training - or both. It was inconvenient more than annoying and it just meant that there would be some serious backtracking later in the morning - but more later…

Map Event - the ugly
I did hear some grumbling that the event was too short - only three stops - and not very much "fun". Not much "ugly" about this event - by itself - except that the completor pin was more like a pin-ette - a little small to be a real pin - but hey! - it's cute - it’s Mickey - and it was free. I’m sure that the average Disneyland day-guest had a great time and that the map and pin are now part of their "Disneyland treasure".

Map Event - the future
I know that I'd love to see more of these small events - tied to maps or to foot rallies - as part of a contest or run in conjunction with other merchandise events. It was fun and it was free - two things you don't often put in the same sentence with the words Disneyland Special Event.

SoundStation Pins

SoundStation pins - the good
Yeah - there was some good - it just got swallowed by all of the bad. OK - the pins themselves were very cute - at the appropriate - if not affordable - price point - and of a collectable edition size. All of which showed that a bit of thought had gone into the event. I'm not a big fan of "trick" pins - those that light or spin or make noise - but, I liked these and I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket anyway - so I bought them - problems and all - they’re part of my collection. Here’s the question though - will I - a Disneyland pin collector - buy other SoundStation-type pins in the future? Well, that depends on the pin - the character - the edition size and the sound. But - if they are exactly like those sold during this event - probably not.

Let’s just say that there was just barely enough good about these pins that I bought them - but - I seriously thought about not buying them. That’s the bad news - when a serious Disneyland pin collector actually has to convince themselves to buy Disneyland pins there’s something wrong - somewhere. I think that it starts at the top and works its way down to the collector.

SoundStation pins - the bad
Whoever decided that a pin - whose entire collectable "worth" in the marketplace is the sound it makes - should be manufactured without the ability to change the battery made a HUGE mistake. What were they thinking? More importantly - did they even consider this at all? My guess is no - it didn’t even occur to them to have a sound pin with a replaceable battery. It’s been done with "flasher" pins and could - very easily - have been done for these pins.

Whoever made the decision that the sounds that the pins made - the sounds that tie them to the event and to the park - would have no association to Disneyland - made a HUGE mistake. Not one of the sounds is Disneyland specific - or can be discerned to be attraction specific. How tough could it have been?

Whatever manufacturer - I’m assuming - as I was told - that the pins were produced by long-time DLR supplier PinUSA - made a pin with prongs too short to make the pin safely wearable - also made a HUGE mistake. The pins are also too poorly made to make them effectively wearable and - more often than not - come apart in your hands as you remove the pin backing cards. Poorly executed quality control is the straw that will break the back of the pin trading promotion at the DLR.

SoundStation pins - the ugly
That the map wouldn't actually accommodate the limited edition SoundStation pins was the most often heard complaint - but then I wear my pins and don't frame them - but some do - so this is for them. It’s just another example of incomplete planning and the disconnect between marketing and the marketplace - between merchant and market - between dealer and collector.

SoundStation pins - the future
I think that there is a future for this type of "trick" pin - I’d like to see a theme followed through - if the event is themed to Disneyland then I’d like the sounds to be Disneyland specific. Simple as that. Connect the pins to the theme and the theme to the venue. I know that it’s possible - it just needs to be made a priority in design and not an afterthought - or rather - a lack of thought.