Walt Disney Classics Collection

[KeithS]

So, does anyone out there collect pieces from the WDCC? These were the great ornamental pieces that used to be sold in the Disney Stores and other collectibles shops.

If so, and you live in Sydney - Victoria's Basement in the Queen Victoria Building have a large number of pieces I have never seen before on sale at 50% off.

I picked up this piece for Della today for $200.00 - normally $399 in Australia :
http://www.wdccduckman.com/tourist.htm

It is a limited edition of 1500 - and this was number 19.

They had a lot of others pieces - most under $150.00. I had never seen these particular pieces in Victoria's Basement before, so I am guessing they have bought a liquidation lot - the boxes were all dusty!

[calisota]

WDCC?

Is there still an animation art shop in the Queen Victoria Building? I've spent a bit of money in that place.

Greg

[KeithS]

There is an animation art shop upstairs in the Imperial Arcade just off Pitt Street Mall. It has some great Disney cels for sale as well as signed books etc. I can't remember the exact name of the shop, but I bought stuff there on many occasions - which reminds me that I haven't been there for nearly a year!

Looks like I'll be having a trip tomorrow!

[calisota]

The shop is called the Cartoon Gallery and it's run by Michael Heins. I used to get his monthly newsletter and have bought (and sold) a few things there.

I just looked up his website and it seems he deals only in anime now, which is a shame, although that may be just the website and he may have other things in the bricks and mortar. Better hurry if you're going to visit though, according to the site he's closing down on the 27th of May! I guess the market for older animation art died and he started to specialise in anime and now that market has moved online. I'd also hate to think what his rent was in that building.

If you do make it there can you let him know that there is a fan on the Gold Coast that's sorry to see him shut.

Greg

[KeithS]

Yep, that's the shop I know in the Imperial Arcade. It still has a lot of Disney artwork etc up there. I will try and get in next week to have a look. I was going to go today, but just got tied up - never got out to lunch

[calisota]

was going to go today, but just got tied up - never got out to lunch

I had a nice lunch of chinese after having gone for a walk in the sunshine and before sitting by the lake and reading the newspaper. Aren't days off great?

Greg

[KeithS]

sitting by the lake and reading the newspaper. Aren't days off great?

Grrr...

But I can't complain, today we had a team off-site, which means two hours of business planning, followed by an open bar and ten-pin bowling at Fox Studios...so that made up for yesterday

Now - back on topic (what was the topic again? Oh yeah WDCC)
For those who are WDCC members, you will know that obtaining and renewing membership from Australia is really a pain in the neck. Basically you rely on the shop assistant to complete and send a form to the US to ensure that the membership magazine is sent to you. We have had endless problems with this (mainly because Victoria's Basement staff are very poor at this aspect of their job.)

We always wished that we could renew online - it seemed to make sense to us. Well our wish looks like it may get answered. Today, the US official site for WDCC launched an online membership renewal service - but only for US and Canadian customers. So I've emailed the company that produces the WDCC pieces (Enesco) to see if they plan to extend this to their overseas customers. If I get a response, I'll let you know - hopefully this frustrating renewal process will be no more!

[KeithS]

I went down to the Cartoon Gallery on Wednesday - only to find that it is closing next week. They have some Disney cels for sale at 50% off (I saw a Pocahontas cel and another that I can't remember!) but I never went inside because there was a "Back in 10 minutes" sign on the door.

I recommend giving the place a call to see if there is any Disney merchandise you might want to grab before they disappear.

I'll try and get in there tomorrow and have a better look.

[KeithS]

Okay, I finally got to go into the shop today and had a long chat with Michael. Sorry Greg, he had no Duck merchandise!

He was telling me that there is little interest in western animation these days in Australia - most of his sales come from the anime market. It didn't make economic sense to run the shop and the website - so the shop got the boot and he'll continue to run the business through the internet - but specialising only in anime.

It is sad to see his shop go, it was once a great outlet for sericel and production cels (especially when it was in the QVB). Now with him leaving, and no Disney or Warners stores (in Sydney at least - do Warners still have their Gold Coast stores?) it is difficult to purchase off the shelf cels.

Looks like imports via eBay from now on...

[calisota]

There is still a Warners Store here (along with Movieworld). The Warners Store is in a major shopping centre and a good location.

It's not surprising to see a bricks and mortar store of Michael's kind close down because there is so much that you can get online cheaper and easier. Good to see that he's staying in the business though.

I guess the "animation art investment" bubble has burst?

Greg

[Minnies Yoo Hoo]

Just wanted to sat thanks to Keith for letting us know about the discount Victorias Basement has on the Disney Classics Collection at the moment. We took a quick trip into town but everything had been really picked over so we made a stop at their Auburn store on the way home. They had three times as much stock and everything was really well organised. Definitely worth a look if your out that way.

Can anybody tell me how to put a favourite picture in the subject section of my posts?


Thanks
Minnies Yoo Hoo

[KeithS]

we made a stop at their Auburn store on the way home.

Doh! I've been meaning to go into the Auburn store and give it a look - I just haven't gotten around there yet. Looks like that will be a mission for me next weekend.

Did you pick anything up while you were there?

As for the picture in the subject line, I don't know if it is possible, but Greg will be able to advise...

[Minnies Yoo Hoo]

Hi Keith,

I'm realising now that I had a 'crunchie" moment as I meant to ask how to put a photo in the author column not the subject column. Double doh! #-o #-o

As for the Disney classics collection, we are just starting out and have decided to try and collect only Pixar and classic Mickey. They had only 2 Pixar characters in stock, Woody and Mike but had heaps of the new range of Snow-White and the dwarfs, Small World, Beauty and the Beast, Bambi, Tinkerbell, Mulan, Jessica Rabbit, Princesses and the list goes on and on. We are waiting to hear if they can supply us with any other Pixar and if it will be at the sale price.
Hope that you find yourself a bargain or two!

Minnies Yoo Hoo

[KeithS]

Beauty and the Beast, Bambi, Tinkerbell, Mulan, Jessica Rabbit, Princesses

(Uh oh - I feel my wallet getting lighter)

I don't think I can make it to Auburn this weekend, but the following one is free - I'll have to take a drive over there.

We took a quick trip into town but everything had been really picked over

Yeah...that's probably my fault too...I sort of rummaged through those boxes over four consecutive days, then Nicole and Della both had a go too...

how to put a photo in the author column

Now I can answer this one! You need to create a small image no greater than 80 x 80 pixels. I just cropped a full size photo with Paintshop, then resized it to 80 x 80.

Once you've done that, save it as a jpeg - now here is the other condition, it has to be small memory-wise, I think no greater than 6kb, so you may need to increase the jpeg compression using your paint software.

Save the file somewhere on your PC, then after you sign into the forum, click the "Profile" tab at the top of the forum page. This will open your user profile where you can edit certain attributes like your location, interests etc. At the bottom of the profile page is "Avatar control panel".

Just go to the line that says "Upload Avatar from your machine:" and click "Browse" - find your image on your PC and upload it. If it is too big, it will tell you and you'll have to reduce it a bit.

Alternatively, there is already a big selection of built in Avatar images that Greg has created. You can view and select those by pressing the "Show Gallery" button at the bottom of your profile page.

If you have any trouble with your own image, let me know. I'll be able to fix it for you so that you can upload it.

Have fun!

[calisota]

Hi Minnie,

If you have a photo you would like to use then you can email it to me as an attachment and I'll set it all up for you. One of the powers I have as the admin of this site is the ability to set up this sort of thing, just ask Lisa about her Mushu.

Greg