Today's release event for the Snow White's Scary Adventures miniatures attraction piece was slightly different than recent releases. Disneyland opened at 8am, and after we entered and approached Disneyana, we noticed that the line to purchase pieces was again heading back towards the train station. The line to have Bob personally sign pieces started at Disneyana and headed towards Central Plaza. For the last few releases, the two lines had been reversed. If you arrive at an event and there are two lines, be sure you check to make sure you're in the right line since it keeps changing. Normally, Bob and Travis are there from 9am to 11am, but this time, they were scheduled to be there from 10am to noon. There wasn't too much of a line in front of us, but a longer line formed behind us, so it didn't take very long for us to be let into the store.
The line of collectors waiting to get into Disneyana.
We purchased our attraction piece, and we were also able to pick up the Sleeping Beauty Castle Gallery of Light piece. They've been out of stock for a little while, so we were glad to see that they had a few on hand. One of the CMs mentioned that when they do get a shipment, it tends to sell out within about an hour. They still hadn't gotten the Cinderella Castle Gallery of Light back in stock, so we're still waiting to get that piece.
The process of paying for the pieces, picking them out and re-boxing them all went very smoothly. Since it wasn't even 9am yet, we took care of other matters and then returned when Bob and Travis were there.
The next miniatures release will hopefully be the Monsanto House of the Future nostalgia piece, which had previously been due for release this past July. Complications arose which necessitated delaying its release, and they're hopeful that the piece will be able to be released in March 2011.
Previously, the release of the nostalgia piece has been on Disneyland's birthday on July 17, whereas an attraction piece is released late in the year, in November or December. They realized that a more expensive piece during the holiday season is harder for collectors to handle, given the many other expenses also due at that time, so they're re-positioning the two releases, with the more expensive attraction piece out on or around July 17 and the less expensive nostalgia piece to be released in November or December. There has also been discussion about modifying the July 17 release, including possibly having the release on a Saturday near that date (since many collectors have difficulties coming to a release on July 17 if it's a weekday) or having the release later in the day so that collectors can come after work. The piece would still be available for purchase early in the day, but the signing event wouldn't be until the late afternoon or early evening.
The next release after that would be the fourth set of floats in the Main Street Electrical Parade, which is expected to be in May 2011. The July 2011 attraction release would then be the combined Pinocchio/Village Haus piece. The nostalgia piece for release late in 2011 is tentatively the Skyway bucket. Also previously considered was a PeopleMover vehicle, but that has been postponed.
The July 2012 attraction release is scheduled to be the Storybookland/Casey Jr. combined piece. The piece is a little wider than the Jungle Cruise attraction piece but not as deep. The price is expected to be in the $500 range, always subject to change. The July 2013 attraction release is tentatively scheduled to be the King Arthur Carrousel attraction piece.
Olszewski Studios is still planning to release shadow box light displays for the inserts for the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride/Alice in Wonderland and Snow White attraction pieces, but they probably won't be released until 2012.
The much-awaited and highly-desired character/vehicle packs are due to start coming out in May or July of 2011.
The Fantasyland platform is still due to start being available for reservations in Summer 2011, with an expected delivery in Fall 2011. The full platform is expected to debut at D23's Expo in August 2011.
One new development has arisen regarding the miniatures pieces at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Previously, each resort only carried miniatures pieces from their home resorts. If you were at one resort and wanted a piece from the other resort, you either had to physically go to the other resort to get it or try to get it through mail order or a third-party vendor. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we noticed that the new Disney Gallery on Main Street in the former location of the bank had displays of the Walt Disney World miniatures pieces for sale. Early this week, Olszewski Studios sent out a notice regarding the availability of the Walt Disney World pieces at Disneyland. Today, Travis explained that it had been discovered that many collectors are fans of both resorts, and there are also fans and former CMs of each resort who may have moved but still have an affinity for their previous resort and so are still interested in collecting the pieces. Disneyland is currently carrying all of the Walt Disney World pieces. There are discussions for Walt Disney World to possibly start carrying some of the Disneyland pieces, to gauge collectors' interest in the Disneyland pieces at Walt Disney World. My expectation would be that they would start with some of the signature attractions rather than, say, random Main Street building pieces, since the iconic attractions would presumably have a wider appeal. I was surprised but pleased to hear about this development. Both Gallery of Light pieces for Sleeping Beauty Castle and Cinderella Castle are available at both resorts, and sales of both seem to be doing well, so that may have contributed to Disney's decision to let Disneyland carry the Walt Disney World pieces and to possible have Walt Disney World reciprocate. While debates of Disneyland versus Walt Disney World abound on Disney-related discussion boards, and people can have a preference for one resort over another or an attraction at one resort over an attraction at another resort, it's nice to see Disney recognize that there are also many people (us included) who appreciate various aspects of both resorts.
On the Walt Disney World/Magic Kingdom miniatures front, there is exciting news. Bob mentioned that during the early November release event at Walt Disney World, Olszewski Studios had a styrene model mockup of the Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion attraction. Since then, Bob has done more work on the model. The building itself is the same, but there has been a lot more done on the grounds and base of the attraction, which they brought to today's release. It's still a very early model, but it gives an idea of what the piece will look like. The piece will come with 3 inserts. Two of the inserts will be the same as for the Disneyland Haunted Mansion piece - the cemetery and the ballroom, since the two scenes are the same in both attractions. The third insert will be the portrait hallway that the doombuggies travel past in the Magic Kingdom version of the attraction. The release of the piece is scheduled for late 2011, in conjunction with the 40th birthday of the Magic Kingdom.
The Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom.
A close-up of the exit area of The Haunted Mansion .
A view of the left side of The Haunted Mansion.
A view of the right side of The Haunted Mansion.
The back of The Haunted Mansion with the new insert of the portrait hallway.
The back of The Haunted Mansion with the insert removed.
A close-up of the covering for the back wall of The Haunted Mansion.
The two Haunted Mansions side by side for comparison.
Because of other events going on at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion is the next scheduled release at Walt Disney World. Ice Cream Corner and Casey's Corner on the Magic Kingdom's Main Street are also expected to be released at the end of 2011.
The Main Street platform for the Magic Kingdom is still expected to be available for reservation in Summer 2011 with delivery expected in Fall 2011.
With regard to the Gallery of Light collection, many of the pieces which had previously been expected for a November/December 2010 release (Marlin and Nemo from "Finding Nemo", Prince Philip and Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty", and Jessica Rabbit from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?") are now due in February/March 2011. The Tinkerbell piece from "Peter Pan" is already in release. The Pirate Mickey #1 piece (exclusive to Disney parks) which shows Mickey with Pluto in the crow's nest of a pirate ship is now due in May 2011. The Baby of Mine piece from "Dumbo" is now due in August 2011.
The Hi Ho Gallery of Light piece from "Snow White" is expected to be released in February /March 2011 and will cost $95. The piece was available at the release today for collectors to see.
The piece with regular lighting.
The piece with flash to show more details.
The Talk to Crush piece (exclusive to Disney parks) has been moved to April 2011. Ariel and Eric on a boat from "The Little Mermaid" is now expected to be released in April 2011, to coincide with the opening of the new "Little Mermaid" attraction at Disney California Adventure. The "20,000 Leagues" piece is scheduled for May 2011.
Olszewski Studios is still working on Star Wars-themed Gallery of Light and pokitpal pieces for debut at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Star Wars Weekends in 2011. They are expected to be open edition pieces which will also be available for later purchase both at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Olszewski Studios is also working on a new line of small collectibles that are like paperclip holders, expected to be priced slightly more than the pokitpals. The first releases are planned to be R2D2 and Darth Vader. Those should be fun to see.
Regarding the pokitpals line, there are new release dates as well. Pieces for the Golden Horseshoe, Snow White, Mark Twain, King Arthur Carrousel, and WDW's Walter E. Disney train are due for release in January/February 2011. The next set due for release after that are Cinderella Castle, Belle, Central Plaza - DL and Central Plaza - MK. The release of pieces for Pluto and Stitch have been delayed, and the Splash Mountain piece has been indefinitely postponed.
The front of the Golden Horseshoe pokitpal.
The back of the Golden Horseshoe pokitpal.
The front of the Snow White pokitpal.
The back of the Snow White pokitpal.
The front of the Mark Twain pokitpal.
The back of the Mark Twain pokitpal.
The side of the Mark Twain pokitpal.
This is a beautiful piece all around
The front of the King Arthur Carrousel pokitpal.
The back of the King Arthur Carrousel pokitpal.
The side of the King Arthur Carrousel pokitpal.
The front of the WDW Walter E. Disney train pokitpal.
The back of the WDW Walter E. Disney train pokitpal.
Olszewski Studios plans to be at D23's Expo to be held August 19-21, 2011 in Anaheim. They had a very large booth at the D23 Expo held last year, and they will definitely have a presence at next year's Expo. There will be a lot of new things to see from Olszewski Studios at the Expo, so collectors may want to consider attending for first-hand news. We will be attending the Expo and will provide live updates from the Expo as well as full coverage of any news regarding Olszewski Studios releases. For information about the Expo and to find out about tickets, please click here.
We'll be at the NFFC/Disneyana Show and Sale in January 2011 and expect to have news and updates to report afterward.
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