Originally Posted By mousermerf You can turn pretty much any photo into a postcard. They sell stickers to affix to the back to even give it the right look, though all you really need is an address and a stamp. About merch in general - sometimes they learn their lesson. When Epcot had the little 25th anniversary party, all the Figments and t-shirts of SSE sold out. There were thousands of each of those.. What didn't sell? The watches with the wand over SSE. No one wanted them, and there were only a few hundred in a very limited edition. The same goes for all the pins, the ones with the Wand or wand-style text didn't sell as well. Since this happened, all Wand-merch is being phased out of Epcot (when before, even though it was gone, there was no push to change). So, sometimes they figure it out. Not often enough, and it usually takes a major hit (like 400+ $300 watches no one wants) for them to get a clue.
Originally Posted By MPierce Like others have said in this thread there really is a lack of good quality merchandise at WDW, and now it seems DL as well. The post cards are just one example. My wife sends them out from the parks on each of our trips. It's getting harder, and harder to find different ones now. When is the last time you went to a Disney Park, and dropped a bundle on t-shirts or most anything else. The last time we went I got a POTC hat, and beer glass. That was it for me. It seems like Disney only markets to the first timer rather than the repeat visitor, and collector. About the only thing they keep adding to in the way of new things are pins. I can go down to the Willowbrook Mall here, and get most of the things that Disney is trying to push in the Parks.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 ^^^Exactly. Usually I take a t-shirt for the first day, and then each day buy one to wear the next day. I had a hard time finding shirts I liked last time. Think I pack several for our next trip. Years ago I bought a really nice pocketbook in Morocco (pavillion, not the real country) now what they have is really cheap looking bags.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Whether postcards are actually going to be a thing of the past or not, Spirit seeing a Disneyland postcard with Figment on it is just plain WRONG!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^I just don't believe postcards are a thing of the past. I'm sure they aren't nearly as popular as say 20 years ago ... but plenty of people buy them. I guess they just don't bring in enough profit, even those lenticular ones. But I just recall seeing maybe 80 different ones at DLP this spring. And you just won't convince me that seasonal postcards or even other merchandise wouldn't sell. And mixing the resorts is just crazy whether its Figment on a DL postcard ... or Holiday Wishes, Nemo The Musical and The Official WDW CD for sale in Anaheim (but no Mansion Holiday CD, no Small World Holiday CD and no Holiday Believe CD) or DL being shown in WDW TV spots. It again muddies the product. And yeah, it marginalizes and WalMarts it.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Speaking of postcards, as a regular recipient of some rather nice ones from our beloved TDLFAN..<< Beloved? HA! By who on LP I wonder? >>can you purchase TDR merchandise on-line?<< NO, but that's when being nice to TDLFAN and his opinions come in handy, since the fella can be so giving at times...and not just with free guidemaps you know...(hint, hint) >>I'm really starting to see why TDLFAN loves TDR so much more.<< Actually, you don't and won't until you go to TDR on your own and see for yourself. But frankly, in regards to TDR's merchandise operation.. well.. there is only one other thiung I dislike about TDR and that would be their pathetic firework shows. But OLC, being the perfect copycat to whatever Disney does in the States, being good or bad, has also started to cram all gift shops over the property with the same merchandise...but lo and behold, among the most common of merchandise, you can still find stuff unique to some of TDL lands and TDS ports... but it's getting harder to find these as time goes by... >> I also always look for postcards because I do not like to carry a camera and I collect Disney postcards<< The point remains.. why is someone in management thinking postcards are dated because of the ability to send pics thru cellphones and the internet? The bottom line is (me thinks) if they sell nice postcard, and especially unique ones to whatever is actually happening at the parks (like they do at TDR)..they will sell to some degree. You should see my TDR postcard collection...as it is the closest to a history book on that resort. Sadly at WDW, I see a postcard and I see the MK as it was back in 1988. THAT may be the reason why they do not sell well at the parks now a days... >>You know maybe we can start the newest Disney collector craze. Postcards!<< That is not a new craze. Collecting postcards have been around since before the Pin Trading craze was forced down our throats. >>You can turn pretty much any photo into a postcard. They sell stickers to affix to the back to even give it the right look, though all you really need is an address and a stamp<< That sounds like too much trouble to me. >>Like others have said in this thread there really is a lack of good quality merchandise at WDW, and now it seems DL as well. The postcards as just one example<< Not surprising since most of the merchandise sold at DL is produced by WDW staffers. Same for things like cups.. Just yesterday, I was given a small cup for water that read DL on one side and WDW on the other. That is just busted and cheap, and very much below Disney's quality standards, if any. >>I guess they (postcards) just don't bring in enough profit, even those lenticular ones.<< No one wants them because they are CRAP! Even the lenticular ones, that compared to the TDR digital 3D postcards... the lenticular-style ones at WDW were sold at TDL back in the late 80s and they would be totally unacceptable in that park now a days. TDR even goes further and sells event postcard SETS! in equally exquisite plastic folders.. like the recent TDS Xmas Big Band Beat postcard set. We'll never see that craftmanship and quality in postcards at WDW, ever! Heck! Even Universal Japan's current Xmas postcards are of much better quality over the ones at WDW now a days.. Which reminds me Spirit.. I have your TDR Xmas 2007 postcards waiting for you here.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Which reminds me Spirit.. I have your TDR Xmas 2007 postcards waiting for you here.>> You REALLY are too kind! And I have your DL postcards with Figment on them waiting for you here!
Originally Posted By nbodyhome >> They could have giant hats housing racks & racks of postcards including limited additions. Postcard books to store them in and open tables to trade @. << First, they need to make postcard LANYARDS. If I'm out of town, I often send postcards. I sent some from Disneyland in July, but they weren't great postcards. I miss when Disney used to leave the resort postcards in the desks. Seriously, how much does it cost to do that? I often sent those out too.
Originally Posted By Mickeyfan1 I heard from one CM that everyting in sotres now requires a certain return on the area it takes up. In other words, post cards just don't give the $'s return o the space they occupy. They really don't want anything for sale that would cost under a dollar I have been told. Sad, but it's all about the might greenback.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << I heard from one CM that everyting in sotres now requires a certain return on the area it takes up. In other words, post cards just don't give the $'s return o the space they occupy. >> Does the CM have a degree in a financial field to really know what they are talking about when they say stuff like this? Because it is certainly possible for small items like postcards to generate returns far beyond items that take up more space in the store. Disney's return on postcards is probably not an issue here. What most people don't understand is that the product on the shelves is also dictated by what suppliers are willing to produce. Using postcards as an example, it is not unlikely that the number of postcard suppliers has dwindled in the past decade as the overall market for that product has deteriorated to almost nothing. So, while there might be a larger market for postcards at DL, it's probably not enough to sustain a supplier that used to generate tons of postcard business at venues across all of Southern California. The same supplier that might have made postcards for DL, Knott's, and every other S. Cal venue may have gone out of business altogether and DL probably has far fewer choices on vendors for this product today than they had 10 years ago. So, what does DL do? They rely on the vendors they have left and pretty much accept the product that is offered.
