Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

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Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

All Disney collectibles are valuable. False!

All Mickey Mouse collectibles are the most valuable. False!

Nothing new will ever be worth anything. False!


Just how many false impressions are there out there about Disneyana collecting? Probably as many as there are Disneyana collectibles! Antique dealers count on misinformation and sentimentality to slip that extra percentage on your purchase. Don’t let them rip you off!

Follow these five tips for collecting Disneyana:

Number Five:

Buy only what you like and plan to keep. Collecting anything is about possession, not profit. This holds true for most of us, excepting the professional collector who buys for resale. Only he can truly know the market and what it can bear, so only he should play the money game.

Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

The benefit of this tip is that you will only spend what you think something is worth to you. So you will avoid high price tags, or if you do splurge, you won’t feel ripped off because the item will bring you sufficient satisfaction to compensate.

Number Four:

Do your research. If you must have every Donald Duck collectible on the market, make sure to educate yourself about current market pricing.

The benefit of this tip is that you will always know the true value of any item you are interested in. Books and websites abound for this purpose, so make use of them, perhaps on your mobile device.

Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

Number Three:

Relax. There is more Disneyana out there than one person could ever collect in one lifetime! So don’t even try. Don’t think that if you miss buying this one item that it will never come around again. Believe me, with the proliferation of antique shops and online selling sites, it likely will come around again. And if that exact item doesn’t, one of a million others that you’ve just got to have will!

The benefit of this tip is that you won’t be pushed into a purchase that you’re not comfortable with because of panic.

Number Two:

Age doesn’t necessarily increase value. Just because something was made in 1947, it doesn’t mean that the item is worth more than a similar item made in 1987 or 2007. Popularity is the ultimate price maker!

Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

The benefit of this tip is that you can be aware of trends. For example, a chaser Vinylmation figure could very well out sell a mass-produced item from 1950. For example, if more people currently want Vinylmation figures over Disneykins figures, age isn’t going to matter!

Number One:

Mickey doesn’t always mean big money. Most amateur collectors, and too many antique dealers, fall into this erroneous thinking. Undoubtedly, Mickey is the oldest Disney character to receive extensive merchandising, but that is also the problem! There is just too much Mickey out there for all of it to be valuable. Rarity and condition will determine price more than anything else.

The benefit of this tip is that you will know to buy secondary characters who’s merchandise is harder to find, but that non-Disney retailers may not recognize, and so under-value in their sale price!

OK troops, are we ready to get out there and do some informed buying?

  • Tomart’s Disneyana – Part One (disneyatdisleelandiablog.blogspot.com)
  • Tomart’s Disneyana – Part Two (disneyatdisleelandiablog.blogspot.com)
Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

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3 thoughts on “Top 5 Tips for Collecting Merchandise

  1. I have a My First Duffy that I love. A visitor to the house saw him, grabbed him & said “He’s a hidden Mickey. He’s worth a lot of money.” I got him from Disney Movie Rewards & would never consider him a money making item. I couldn’t believe someone would look at him & see dollar signs instead of how cute & cuddly he is. I only collect things I like, never things I think will bring in big money.

  2. I agree with all of these. I love all things Mickey, but only because I love my Mickey. My fave piece in my collection is my Steamboat Willie Steiffe. I paid about $80 for it a few years ago, but don’t really care what is is worth. I just love the thing.

  3. I love my Mickey phone (turn style dial), and was so thrilled to see it. DH said that its his not mine…LOL.

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