Mickey has owned many different vehicles over the years. From old jalopies to race cars, he’s driven them all!
But what does he do when it’s time to park? Why, he uses a Mickey and Minnie windshield auto-shade, of course! Because even the happiest mouse on the planet can handle only so much sunshine in his face:
I should clarify: Mickey only uses this cardboard barrier when his car is parked!
Even when Mickey’s car is parked, it still looks like he is on the open road.
A nice and helpful feature of these auto-screens is that the backside has an emergency message. If you are stopped for a troublesome reason, simply flip your auto-screen around and help will be on its way.
It’s obvious this product was produced before every person on the planet had a cell phone!
If you need instructions on how to put a piece of cardboard in a window, should you be driving anyway?!?
I believe this was sold in the 1980s. It’s definitely a nice piece of nostalgia!
I was a member of the D23 community for a few years when it first began in 2009. I hung on but soon it just became an expense I couldn’t justify at the level I was buying into. I did enjoy the printed magazines and of course, the wonderful perks that came with each new year’s membership!
In 2011, I received this membership document featuring none other than Donald Duck in full Cosplay:
Mr. Iger and Mickey Mouse himself welcomed me to the club. As we take a look at each costume that Donald is wearing, let’s note whether he is pleased or peeved:
It’s a no brainer that he wouldn’t like having to dress as his archrival (and best friend) Mickey Mouse! But who knew that the duck was such a sci-fi fan?
Sometimes he looks neither pleased nor peeved, but rather a bit bewildered! But he’s back to his hap hap happy self for the rest of his fashion show:
But perhaps he’s just a little too happy to be cavorting around as Peter Pan?
I didn’t keep this document because it will ever be worth anything. But the artwork is so precious and funny it’ll have a place in my collection for years to come!
Planet Toys Inc. is responsible for this fun little oddity. We have two of Pixar’s main heroes dueling for wind up supremacy of the Rainbow Racetrack!
I don’t know how I could make any more sense of that, so let’s just get right to it:
Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story – 1995) and Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles – 2004) both look pretty determined to win! Let’s check the video footage of the race to see what techniques each racer uses in the quest for racing glory:
And they’re off!
I think there may have been some unsportsmanlike behavior there! Brake Checking and nudging are definitely not allowed on most racetracks. And was Mr. Incredible trying to cheat by going off-road?
Each mini racer is powered by a little wind-up knob. You can turn each for about six or seven rotations before you have to let them go!
The rear wheels power the racers while the single front wheel spins freely as it follows the grove of the track. You can lay the track out in many different patterns.
It’s time to sit back and relax with nice hot drink! What is your beverage of choice? Mine is coffee but I also drink a spot of tea now and then.
On this, another Foodie Friday, I thought I’d share two of my Walt Disney World mugs:
Both of these would have been sold in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida within the first ten years or so of its operation. The presence of the old ‘Disney D’ logo dates them from that time period.
First, we have Mickey Mouse standing in front of Cinderella Castle with the ‘Disney D’ hovering just next to him. On the reverse side we have the words ‘Walt Disney World’. I love the orange colour accents!
Next, we have a more stylized version of Cinderella Castle with nothing on the reverse side. Note that the ‘Disney D’ appears within the name of ‘Walt Disney World’ this time. This mug also has the WaltDisney Productions copyright, making it earlier than 1987.
Bottoms Up!
Both mugs have the Disneyland/Walt Disney World branding, even though the mugs were clearly made for only the one Park. They were also made in Japan while later merchandise was produced in China and other offshore locations. This is another way to determine what time period a particular piece of merchandise comes from.
Not all mugs are made the same! Check out my eclectic grouping of Fort Wilderness ‘Mugs’ and see if you remember any of these from your visits to Disney’s premier campground.
Walt Disney famously said that “You can’t top pigs with pigs!” He was referring to the pressure he was under to make a sequel to The Three Little Pigs Short that was such a huge success for the Studio. While Walt was right, with any attempt to reuse the Pigs falling flat, I’m going to ignore his advice!
I’ve featured merchandise with the Pigs several times on this blog, and you can check out those earlier posts by typing ‘Three Little Pigs’ into the ‘Search’ box above.
But before you do, here I go again with another Pig sequel, Disney’s The Three Little Pigs card game:
Although this card game was produced by the Russell Manufacturing Company in Leicester, Massachusetts, it is presented in both English and French, while the official languages of the United States are English and Spanish. So, likely this game was intended for sale only in Canada.
The card backs have a nice assortment of Disney characters that have nothing to do with the game. It may help us to date the game, however. The newest characters on the card are from Lady and the Tramp (1955). Walt Disney Productions ended in 1987 as a branding copyright. There is an earlier version of this exact card game dating from 1946 but with different packaging. After some research and from my own knowledge, I’d say this was produced sometime in the 1960s.
And now, on to the rules:
There are four runs of 10 cards, each with an icon: A trowel (Practical Pig), a flute (Piper Pig), and a violin (Fiddler Pig). The fourth run has a piano which likely signifies the success the Pigs had in beating the Big Bad Wolf.
The game is simple. You follow the numbers on each set of cards from 1 to 10. You do this for all four sets. Whoever plays all of their cards first, wins. Then the remaining players add up their cards and the winner gets that number of points. I assume you would choose a number of rounds to play, or a total number of points needed to be the ultimate winner!
The images on the cards are the same for each run of 10 with each icon. But the four images seem to tell a sequential story. It starts with Practical Pig being angry with the other two for whatever reason. Then we see the two playful Pigs head out on the water in a wooden tub. Next, they start to sink, and lastly, Practical Pig has to save them. Again!
This would have been a very simple game for even very little children to play, like Crazy Eights or Old Maid.
You can always count on Goofy to be doing something, well… goofy! Today he swaps out his signature hat for a crown of sorts with this Disney Store blow pipe:
This would likely have been sold in the early days of The Disney Store. It opened its doors in 1987 and was well known and liked for the fun and wacky merchandise it sold!
So, what is Goofy blowing? It’s not a whistle. I almost blew my brains out confirming that! I think it’s safe to assume that it is a bubble blower. You can fill the pipe with soapy liquid through the mouthpiece and then blow. Tiny bubbles would then float out of Goofy’s new hat.
“Hyuck! Gurgle, Gurgle!”
This is only a theory however, as the holes are rather small. But with no other purpose being evident, it’s my best guess!
Of course, it would have to be vintage, wouldn’t it? Smoking has been banned in public places for decades, but back in the day, even in Disney Parks, it was perfectly fine to stroll around puffing on your favorite cancer stick!
And you could walk into just about any Disney gift store and buy yourself something like this Piper Pig ceramic ash tray:
Most stills from the 1933 theatrical Short The Three Little Pigs have Piper Pig wearing black and Fiddler Pig wearing the blue Sailer suit. Subsequent media interchanges the two pigs, swapping the instruments of the pipe and the violin between the two without any explanation. Maybe it was laundry day and Piper had to borrow his brother’s clothes?
You can clearly see from the design that this was definitely intended to provide both a place to hold your cigarette when not smoking it and to place the ashes.
I always felt that the merchandise that was created in the earlier days of Disney merchandising had more character. If you see ‘Made in Japan’ on the bottom of a piece, it usually means a good level of detail and craftsmanship.
Is that a flute or a really long cigar?
I love these smaller ceramic figures as they look amazing but don’t take up a lot of room on the display shelves.
It’s a dangerous path I bounce, but the best thing about being me is that I’m the only one who can bounce it!
Now usually this kind of post is only fit for Heffalumps and Woozles, but I thought we could share this Disney Pin Trading Tigger TTFN pin with everyone:
Released 2008
My heritage is British and so the phrase TTFN was used almost daily in my household. Of course, it wasn’t heard only after someone was bounced by a rambunctious tiger character. We were a bit too reserved for that!
Pin Trading is perhaps the longest and most successful merchandise line in Disney history. Vinylmations and Tsum Tsum have come and waned, but these little pieces of tin just won’t go away!
When was the last time you paid only $6.95 US for pin? Jumbo pins can get quite expensive, but if you have to have it because it features your favorite character, any price becomes reasonable!
Time to turn up the heat this Autumn and see if we can’t break a sweat here at Disleelandia! And to help us measure just how hot it gets, we have Bambi’s little furry friend, Thumper:
This paperboard thermometer is a cute way to keep track of the temperature. It reads in Fahrenheit only. So, there’s no reading for no bunny who likes Celsius!
Hanging Tab
I think if the ambient temperature reached the highest level of 120 degrees on this thermometer, Thumper would burst into flames!
To see a more three-dimensional representation of Thumper (and his sisters) please click the link to our earlier post by Guest Blogger, Nick! It features some beautiful figurines from the Walt Disney Classics Collection.
FUN FACTS: Liquid crystal thermometers (which use thermochromic liquid crystals) are also used in mood rings.
Some merchandise is straight from Disney where they have complete control over every aspect of the production of the toy or game. Other times, they simply license a property to an outside company and sit back and take the money.
We have the latter here with this Toy Story (2) handheld pinball game:
Fun in the palm of your hand!
The first clue that Disney didn’t have much input into this toy is that it is branded as a Toy Story product when in fact it features characters from Toy Story 2.
However, the characters are ‘on model’, so some input must have happened.
Save, Defeat, or just Rescue?
No matter how many points you score, something good is going to happen! But who doesn’t want to save the Intergalactic Alliance?
I just know you’re wondering how high a score I can get! Well, let’s see:
Only 2,100 points!
At least I rescued Woody and his friends! This game was produced quite recently in 2016.
Schylling produces more than just games. Back in 2012, a Guest Blogger posted a pair of her vintage Mickey Mouse Posable Vinyl Dolls made by this company. Have a look!
I have a more vintage and much larger version of this iconic game. I featured it in an earlier post entitled Disneyland Pinball Game by Wolverine. Click on over and get your game on!
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