Kim's Corner
Page 7 of 7
100 Mickeys Pin Release Ends With a Thud!
The last of the 100 - "Prince". Short shipped to the park it sold out very
quickly - it can currently be purchased through DeliverEars and Disney Auctions/e-Bay.
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OK - this one was a mess - and it will get messier until a system for both the sale and the purchase of LE pins at the DLR is set and followed - by both the DLR and the pin buying guest. I have gotten a lot of information e-mailed my way over the last three days - I don’t know why - and will share some here. OK - So - I do know why. However - if you have an allergy to rumors read no further as what I have to share is mostly rumor - conjecture - and educated guess based on years of watching the pin market - substantiated though it is - it’s still not the "official Disney version" of the truth of the matter - because I couldn’t get anyone to agree on the "official Disney version".
Here goes - the last of the 100 Mickeys pins was also released on this past Sunday. It’s a truly beautiful pin - large and wonderfully done - as the last of the 100 Mickeys and a "milestone pin" - as were pins #25, #50 and #75 - it was sold with a small certificate which was hand signed by Eric Robison. Needless to say - it sold out in record time - sometimes in less than 20 minutes - at each of the nine DLR venues at which it was released. It sold out in the Emporium before Disneyland "officially" opened and in Greetings at DCA in 15 minutes. By 10:30AM there wasn’t one pin #100 to be had in the entire resort.
Eric signed the milestone certificates for the last of the 100 Mickeys to be released.
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As I understand it - the pin was short shipped - meaning that the remainder of the edition didn’t arrive at the resort to be sold at the pin locations at the resort. It’s happened before with other pins in the 100 Mickeys series - but the remaining pins will not be put on the racks at the DLR and made available for sale directly to the public once they arrive - but will be sold through DeliverEars instead. Sorry - but I think that if a pin is to be sold at the DLR then it should be on the racks at the DLR and not made available through phone order until it has been on the racks for al least a week. It’s just a quirk I have about point of sale specific merchandise and maintaining the accountability between marketer and marketplace.
DeliverEars is not a fair way to distribute the remaining pins to those supporting the pin promotion at the resort who want them - not to mention the additional shipping charges that will be added to each transaction - rescheduling the pin releases would be a more equitable way to distribute any remaining stock. Perhaps an "event" to announce the "last of the 100 Mickeys" would be a way to get them sold. Distribution problems aside - pins are supposed to be fun - and these operational problems are picking away at the fan - and money - base that supports the two-year-old merchandise promotion.
To add insult to injury - the pins are also selling on Disney Auctions through e-Bay - with about 12 hours left - as I’m writing this Wednesday evening - the top bid is $65.00 and the bottom is still more than the $8.50 rack price - per pin. If Disney Auctions was a pin trader on the patio of the Plaza Pavilion we’d all be yelling "shark!" and looking for the tell-tale fin. It doesn’t concern me - as I already have one in my collection - but there are Disneyland traders who will not have access to purchase the pin through the mail and will either have to make a tough trade or pay the Disney Auctions deep-sea prices.
Again - the apparent inability those at the DLR have in relaying simple information to their audience baffles me. That the DLR pin managers can give out information to their guests and then DeliverEars gives out directly contradictory information within a few hours - is it any wonder that there is no trust between merchant and market? ODPT.com is the perfect vehicle to distribute any information to the majority of Disneyland’s pin buyers as are the resort’s supertraders and the many Disney specific web sites - and yet - there is no information about the sale of pin #100 through DeliverEars.
As I was told when I called late Tuesday afternoon to confirm if this was - still - the case I was told that the remaining 100 Mickeys pins - those not on the racks or in the warehouse - including pin #100 - will be made available to the public through DeliverEars "only" beginning in November and that a "wish list" was currently being taken. So - I asked about the purchase limit for LE pins on DeliverEars and was told that I could buy two pins and that the shipping and handling for that transaction would be $5.95. As I understand it - a quantity of the 100 Mickeys pins was made available through DeliverEars for each of the scheduled releases as they were made available on the park - for an edition of 3,500 pins this makes sense.
However - and here’s a rumor alert - I’ve been told that the editions are far less than that as the DLR cut production on pins after #50 as they weren’t selling as well as was hoped. I was told that the editions of pins after #50 are more like 2,500. Who knows? And - I’m sure we’ll never know for sure. When the quantity of misinformation - "official" - intentional - or accidental - creates the level of pure conjecture and absolutely undermines any credibility the merchandise division has when it comes to pins I can’t help but wonder at the tenacity of those who continue keeping the promotion alive. The bulk of those who purchase pins at the DLR do it for "fun" and not for "profit" - they trade instead of sell and they keep the hobby alive for the rest of us.
The pin-cynic in me is looking forward to seeing these pins on the rack during the "holiday rush" and then laughing all the way to the cash register. When it comes to pins at the DLR you never know.
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-- Kim Petersen
Kim's Corner is normally posted the fourth Monday of each month and at other times for merchandise updates.
The opinions expressed by our Kim Petersen, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted Sepember 12, 2002