New Disneyland Postcard!

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Todd

NT_00008-61671Hello everyone…I hope this post finds you all well!

I still travel on business to the Anaheim area on occasion and today I had an extra 45 minutes, so I ran up to Downtown Disney, had some lunch and stepped into the World of Disney for a look around.  Low and behold, something I did not expect…a new NT_00008-61671_0001lenticular postcard! (at least to me)  I have been to the same postcard rack there every time I have visited for the last year or two, and it’s always the same.  This one may have escaped me last time, or the time before, but I think it is relatively new.  If you are a regular there too, maybe you can chime in on when this card came out.  There is no copyright info on the card, and no date.  It just says © Disney/Pixar.

Anyway…that’s all there is for now…I did stop by WonderGround and found a few new cards there too.  That place cranks new stuff out all the time.  At $3.45 a pop…it can get expensive though!  I’ll feature one of those in my next post.

Until next time…

Posted in Disney, Disney Postcards, Disneyland, Disneyland Postcards | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New Cars Land postcards

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Todd

Cars_Land_Card_1Well, it isn’t often that a new postcard comes out of Disneyland these days…and when they do come out, you have to search for them!  I was surfing eBay recently and have seen this series of cards appear for sale.  The cards all come from Cars Land and I think there are four cards in the set…but since I have not personally been in the park since last February…I can’t verify this for sure.

Which brings to another point.  When the park does release a new card, it seems that it is being treated just like any other exclusive item in the park.  That is…you need to be a paying customer to get the card!  It used to be, ages back, that you could find a lot of cards at Downtown Disney.  But that has changed.  The last time I remember seeing anything like a spinner rack there was a looooong time ago!

Anyway…if you do find your self in the park…make sure to search these cards out.  And send me a scan if you do.  I won’t be going into the park for a couple more months!

Until next time…

Posted in Disneyland, Disneyland Postcards | Tagged | Leave a comment

Interesting Recent eBay Results

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Todd

Hello everyone!

I was looking at the completed sales on eBay last night and was surprised by a few things that I thought I would share with you.  The bottom line is that this hobby is still rather vibrant…but small, and this can be a really good thing for the discriminating collector!

Monsanto_Jumbo_frontFirst off is this Monsanto Jumbo card that sold for $33.35.  I have one of these cards that I got as part of a lot about 10 years ago.  This thing is rare! (and I do not think it is in the Nickel Tour).  It is almost never up for sale, and when it is, a collector should expect to pay, which is why I feature it here.  Sure, $33 is kind of the middle of the road for rarer cards from Disneyland…but in this collector’s opinion, getting this at that price was a steal!  Most of the Monsanto give away cards are as common as air…but not this one! So, if you don’t have one of these in your collection, keep an eye out.  Maybe another will come up and you can get it cheap.

Moving along…this sale also caught my eye.  Now, not Discovery_Island_bookleteveryone collects albums of postcards, and I can understand that. Individual cards just seem to be more collectible.  But the thing is, there are often images in these booklets that you will not find printed as an individual card.  As we have discussed on this blog before, a collector will often times find a card that looks rare, but it was actually taken from the inside of a booklet, so it just is not often seen.  In this particular lot, a WDW Discovery Island booklet sold for $7.99. I have seen it go for a lot more. Interestingly, another booklet offered by the same seller (World River Country) sold for $24.94.  There are quite a few other WDW booklets out there.  Prices for these will fluctuate wildly though, depending on who is watching and bidding.

Another result I noticed is for Disneyland NT0366, the Mine Train.  This card is not super common, but not rare either.  I have it in the price guide as uncommon. Recently, two of these were offered in separate sales.  Both cards looked to be in decent shape and unused.  One got $20.50 after being sold at auction, the other got $7.50 and NT0366sold as “Buy-it-Now”!  So…I wanted to mention this just to remind you that there are bargains to be had out there.  This is one reason I started my price guide.  There may not be a lot of data in it right now…but in time, I think it will be useful and help the uninitiated get a sense of what is and is not collectible.  (Yes…I have entered these two results for NT0366!)

There are more interesting results out there if you care to look.  Click here and then just go to the left of the page and click sold items. Be careful…you can waste a lot of time looking at these results!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards, Disney World Postcards, Disneyland Postcards | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New Group of Disneyland Paris Postcards

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Todd

990066Hello everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July weekend.

This week, I have been corresponding with a seller on eBay about a number of Disneyland Paris postcards that they have up for sale.  I offered to purchase the cards as one lot, but he was more interested in selling them separately.  Long story short, after explaining that I run this site and am trying to put a database of all the Disneyland Paris postcards (and other parks too!) together, the seller (bryanwal3w35) offered to give me all of the scans for his auctions!  This was for about 40 postcards…so, that’s a lot of new data.

992008All of the cards are from around 2001 (except for one, I think).  And they all have a 12 digit number that starts with 060750.  It’s sort of difficult to say how many cards exist between the early Paris cards presently in the database and these cards here.  But I am inclined to believe that there are quite a few cards in the complete Paris “catalogue”.  The 992008_0001French, and Europeans in general, have traditionally used postcards to communicate.  In Paris there are a number of postcard dealers and the hobby of collecting postcards is participated in by many a collector.

It will likely be a few weeks before I get all of these cards added to the database.  I need to figure out how to number them.  I may just give them “provisional” numbers and put them in there.

I am actually on my way to Europe this Saturday and will be spending a few days in Paris.  One of my goals is to search out a few shops that specialize in postcards and see if I can track down a collector or dealer who either has a complete listing of the Disneyland Paris postcards, or who has some of the cards for sale.  Stay tuned!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards, Disneyland Paris | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Brief WonderGround Gallery Postcard Primer

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Todd

WG_AdCard_1Hello Everyone!

Yes…it’s been a while, but I have had other things going on.  There just isn’t enough time in the day to do it all! But, never fear!  I have no plans to stop blogging, I just can’t guarantee how often I will be doing it.

First off, the checklist presently has an issue with the “Recent Price”category.  I am in the midst of getting it fixed.  The guide still works fine, but for some reason the code is being rendered differently now than in the past and it is generating an error.  In the mean time, you can just click on “Choose Display Fields”, uncheck the “Recent Price” box, and hit “Submit”.  That column will then go away.  Stay tuned…(editor’s note…the error has been fixed!)

I wanted to spend this post giving you all a brief primer on the postcards that can be found at the WonderGround Gallery located in Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California.  I do not profess to be an expert on these cards, but I do believe I possess a high percentage of the cards that have been sold there.

WonderGround opened it’s doors a few years ago (I don’t know the exact date) and is a Disney owned property.  It features the art of various Disney artists and sells there work in various formats…from postcards all the way up to large limited edition giclée canvases.

WG_684312I personally have 53 unique WonderGorund Gallery postcards.  I suspect that there are at least 10-20 more…and possibly quite a few more.  That said…when I look at all the WonderGround cards for sale on eBay…I have almost all of them.  So…I am guessing there are not more than 60-70 total cards as of this writing.

The bar code number associated with each card is not printed on the cards themselves. Rather the numbers appear on a price tag label used to seal the plastic sleeve that contains each card.  The lower numbers I have are the cards that are the oldest.  The highest numbers I
have are the cards I bought most recently.  This suggests that there is some semblance of ascending order in the card numbering…but the numbering scheme itself seems rather random.

The earliest card I have is numbered WG_86670900006 84312 (“Hipster Mickey” by Jerrod Maruyama).  I bought this sometime in late 2012 or early 2013.  The most recent card I have is 00008 66709 (“The Fairest One of All” by Shannon Bonatakis).  I purchased this card sometime in May, 2014.

The two earliest cards in my collection a have slightly different back than all the rest.  The banner on the top back says “WonderGround – An Uncommon Gallery”.   All the other cards say “WonderGround Gallery”.

Up until about two months ago (April, 2014), the cards cost $2.95 each.  Like many things at Disneyland though, the price has gone up.  The cards now cost $3.45 each.

WG_866709_0001So there you have it.  A brief primer on the WonderGround Gallery and it’s postcards.  I will continue to occasionally feature these cards on the blog as these are the only new cards coming out on a regular basis at the park.  New postcards of the park proper are rare.  Facebook, Instagram and all the rest have taken their toll on the postcard as a form of communication!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards, Disneyland, Disneyland Postcards, WonderGround | Tagged | 1 Comment

Behind the Magic – 50 Years of Disneyland

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Todd

Behind_Magic_0003I have been meaning to post on this set for a long time and am only now getting around to it.  Too many cards, too little time!

This set, “Behind the Magic – 50 Years of Disneyland” was an exhibit at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.  The set consists of 24 different cards, all about 4X6 inches…maybe a little less.  All the cards feature concept art for everything from Pirates of the Caribbean to Disneyland Paris.

What’s great about this set is the wide variety of work represented, and the seldom seen pieces that are reproduced.  The Ryman castle sketch is a classic that is familiar to most Disney fans.  But Behind_Magic_0004how many of you have seen the Tom Sawyer Island art work before (shown here – artist not credited, listed as 1956).  Or, what about the color concept for the castle at Disneyland Paris?  Or the concept art for Mickey’s car in Toontown?

The set pops up on eBay now and then, but it is not that common.  Expect to pay between $20 and $30 for it.  That’s what I paid anyway…maybe you can get a better deal!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards | Leave a comment

EPCOT Concept Postcards

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Todd

EP0003Editor’s Note:  Per the comments I got on this post, check out my previous post on EPCOT and the Living Seas.  There you can see a true pre-opening card with the text, “The Future Begins October 1, 1982”.

A few weeks ago I purchased a set of pre-opening EPCOT concept postcards.  I bought them in LA from a dealer along with the Tokyo Disneyland pre-opening cards I blogged about a couple posts ago.

The set consists of ten cards, all with (uncredited) artwork covering various aspects of the park.  Looking at all ten cards together (you can find them in the checklist as NT cards EP0001 thru EP0010), it’s actually not entirely clear when they were published. However, based on EP0003 (shown here), it is implied that the cards were published prior to October 1983, a year after the opening of EPCOT in October, 1982.  The cards may have been available as a set before the park opened and then sold at the park after EP0003_0001it was opened.  When I bought them, they were not in a pictorial folder, just a plastic sleeve. The card numbers do not really help in understanding the nature of the set, as they are not consecutive.  Perhaps one of you has more info on the origin of these cards!?!

Either way, the cards make up a great set. From Spaceship Earth to Future World, China Showcase to the American Adventure, they give a broad look at what the EPCOT park was intended to be.

Of the group, my favorite card is the “Horizons” card, EP0003.  The art work is fantastic, and it does the job of building anticipation for what was to come.  As to whether or not this attraction met the expectations of the visitor, I have to leave that to you.  I have only visited EPCOT once!

That’s it for now…next time I will likely be blogging on something closer to home from Disneyland!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards, Disney World, EPCOT | Tagged | 3 Comments

Country Bear Band Snapshots – Tokyo Disneyland

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Todd

TD_Bears1As I mentioned last time, I recently purchased some early postcards and postcard sets from Tokyo Disneyland.  Today I wanted to share a set of cards with a Country Bear theme – Country Bear Band Snapshots!

The set comes in a folder, and contains 12 different drawings of the Country Bears about different activities.  The set is probably vintage 1980’s but I cannot be totally sure. The only numbering I can find on it is 0101-1000-680, but this is only on the folder, not on the cards themselves.

TD_bearsOf the twelve cards, I am showing two here.  “Saturday Night Bath” has one of the bears cleaning up while apparently singing or something.  I like the raccoon on this card sitting in the tiny bath next to the bear!  Overall a great little sketch.  No artist credit is given…but I suspect it would not be too hard to find out who this is from someone at the Disney Archive.

TD_bears_0001The second I am showing here has another bear educating a smaller bear about how to make a bottle whistle.  At first, I thought he was teaching the cub about the finer spirits being distilled in the countryside, but that would not have made a lot of sense!  The title on the back is “That’s right.  You got it!”

I have a few more Tokyo sets that I will TD_Bears1_0001break out and share over the next few weeks.  I am also slowly getting some of these newly acquired cards up into the database.  The pre-opening Tokyo set I spoke of last time is scanned in.

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards, Disneyland Tokyo | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tokyo Disneyland Pre-Opening postcards!

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Todd

TD0000ASorry it has been a while everyone!  I have been a little busy with work and the like…but not so busy that I haven’t been attending a couple postcard shows and posting on the Vintage Disneyland site on Facebook.

The big news here is that I have finally scanned one of the pre-opening Tokyo Disneyland postcard sets into the database!  I ran into Nick Farago at a show a couple weeks ago and he had a set for sale.  I still need the other set…right now I just have the out folder for that (also provided by Nick).

Do check the cards out on my Facebook page or here in the database.  I am pretty sure that these are the only scans of these cards on the internet!  I tried a Google image search of the folder cover and nothing came up…that in addition to many searches in the past to find these cards online.  Of course, with the Japanese aspect here, there may be scans online, but I haven’t seen them!

TD0001If you have a set of the second pre-opening cards, please let me know!  I would love to add them to the database.

That’s all for today.  Going forward my goal is post once a week here and several times a week on my Facebook page.  So…stayed tuned!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney, Disney Postcards, Disneyland Tokyo | Tagged | Leave a comment

Santa Cruz Paper Show Finds

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Todd

Disney_ThankYouI spent a little bit of time today up at a small vintage paper fair in Santa Cruz.  It was a brief one day show that was free to all San Francisco Bay Area Postcard Collector Society members.  I was primarily searching for (you guessed it) Disneyland stuff…but also came away with a lot of great vintage airliner stuff as well.

First up I will share this non-Nickel Tour Disney_ThankYou_0001card that I found today.  I have seen this card on eBay several times and have just not pulled the trigger.  But, Nick Farago was there at the show today and gave me a little background on the card and I bought this from him.  The card was used as a thank you to anyone who wrote the studios.  It says in tiny print on the front  “Copyright 1955 Walt Disney Productions”.  How this relates to Disneyland is the sentence on the bottom of the card on the rear, “The Magic Kingdom. DISNEYLAND…now open in Anaheim, California.”  This was post marked May, 1957, so the park had been open for a while.  So, the card was used as a promotional tool for the park…as well as a thank you card. Perhaps some of the readers of this blog have versions of this card with an earlier postmark?  One extra thing…I think the Cinderella postmark adds some flair to the card…wouldn’t be the same without it!

NT1157I also found a copy of NT1157, the Helms Bakery card showing their Rose Parade float from January 1, 1955 (click on the image to see the back of the card). This float was used to promote the park…and features a castle, a Dumbo ride, and Mickey Mouse.  I can’t quite make out all the words on the front of the float…it says, “There is a good _____”. Anyway, it’s a neat card depicting one of the many ways that Walt and Roy went about promoting the park!

That’s it for today.  I hope you all had a great weekend and are enjoying (hopefully) nice spring weather in your area!

Until next time…

Posted in Disney Postcards, Disneyland | Tagged , | Leave a comment