Well, this is going to be fun. As we all know, Pinocchio will go on sale at the D23 Expo for anyone attending the event, but there is a catch. If you are not attending the event, it is currently unknown when you will have an opportunity to buy the piece. It will depend on availability following the Expo I suppose. No word on pre-orders prior to the event.
If you are going to the Expo, the piece is $425.
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Yep, aside from the platform, it is the most expensive Olszewski piece I will have picked up on initial release. Be afraid: the carousel is going to be more expensive than this.Originally Posted by forestlite
It concerns me that a piece based on a not-so-wonderful Fantasyland ride costs more than the others. Is this due to material and labor increases or is this piece bigger/more highly detailed?
Please consider the environment before printing useless emails
Can a thousand dollar Matterhorn be possible????
As for why so expensive, I think it is a size issue. It's both Pinocchio and the Village Haus, so the size of the piece is considerable, plus I think there is an insert box and a static display inside Pinocchio. Lots of detail too.
Well, like I said, the Carousel originally had a projected price point of around $500, since all the horses (72 of them) will be individually done. Just will not be cheap. A thousand for the Matterhorn? I really hope not, but we know it will be quite tall and it depends on how it will be detailed out.
I admit I don't like Disney making the Pinocchio piece a D23 "exclusive", initially. I guess there are a lot of collectors in the Anaheim area, but aren't there a lot of us out of state too? Who knows. I'm sure they're trying to do anything they can to drive people to attend D23. But would it really hurt them to do a pre-sale? I'm ready to spend. Anyway, I hope they have some of this piece remaining after D23--they should. Thankfully the "premier plaque" isn't too important to me, but it has been nice to get it on prior pre-orders.
The Carousel will be an amazing piece, and I fear the price will be amazing too. Matterhorn price--I don't know? A lot probably. What I really want is Splash Mountain
If there going to make it a D23 exclusive, why not at least let members order the piece? It would make my $75.00 annual fee feel like it's going for more than just a 4 issue subscription (as a resident of Hawaii, 99.9% of the events are not possible for me).
Last edited by forestlite; 08-15-2011 at 05:42 PM.
As for why it is not an exclusive piece, that's Bob's call - all pieces should be available to all equally. Disney is just being a little clever this time by releasing at D23 exclusively first, then going into general release after the convention. What will tell us about when it goes on sale to the rest of the world just depends on how well it sells at the convention. If it sells out (which, we have to be honest, is a possibility), we'll have to wait for the next shipment from China.
At the very least, Disney should have a "wait list" created for the public so they know how many people will want the piece and everyone who signs up in the time frame should get the day of release plaque as long as they order before the convention.
I really cannot believe Disney is going to make getting this piece, especially given its high ticket price, this much of a headache for those not going to to the convention and living out of state.
I do feel that this piece will be available to the non-attending public shortly after the D23 expo. I cannot believe (at this point), Disney would not offer it for sale online. Can you imagine the backlash if collectors were forced to wait for the next production run or even hunting for this piece on Ebay? Robert, Ray, and Travis have been to loyal and faithful to their fan base to allow this to happen.
Oh, beyond doubt. But this is a decision beyond Bob, Ray and Travis, this is the Mouse making the call. Understand, I do think online orders will go forward, it is just a question of product availability.
You know, we could look at this as a positive. There may be people attending the D23 convention who may not know Bob or his work and seeing the Fantasyland platform and having the chance to get Pinocchio as a "starter" piece could be good for giving sales an additional boost. In that regard, this is smart.
I'm personally not too worried about it. I don't think there is any chance even Disney would screw over a fan base so willing to part with so much money. I really believe they are keeping quiet until after the Expo so as to give it the appearance of an "expo exclusive", but I feel very confident they will retain decent quantity numbers for online orders after the expo is over. I could be wrong, but I'm not at all concerned right now.
Oh, be sure, we will all have an option to get Pinocchio, the question really is when. That is up to the Mouse and sales at the convention.
Speaking of which, is anyone going? I would LOVE to have someone from our little coffee clique here make the event and get us all the news for what the future holds. That and I'm an impatient person and don't want to have to wait for the end of the weekend to get the news.
I agree that the piece will generally be available eventually, I just want it right away
Forestlite: I agree they should have allowed D23 members to pre-order. I'm in Utah and while that is closer to Anaheim than Hawaii is, I've basically just got a 4-issue subscription too.
Wish I could go to the Expo again this year. I had a blast 2 years ago. I'm sure there will be good online coverage. Cindy's site always has a good writeup a few days after Olszewski event.
Nice to have others in the same out-of-state-Olszewski-addicted situation. Hope everyone has an awesome week.
Hey Dr. G....funny thing about the D23 club....just received my renewal notice with the current shipped issue. Every year I procrastinate and debate whether I need to spend $74.99 on another year's 4-issue subscription. Of course, they would include that cool WDW patch for members only...LOL!
Definitely thinking of attending the expo in 2013 (is it every other year yet?). I would love to finally meet Bob in person and shake his hand.
If Disney does decide NOT to put up the Pinocchio piece as an on-line special order, I am going to take it in the chin when it comes to mailing costs. As a pre-order, they usually give Hawaii residents a break and charge a somewhat reasonable shipping rate. Order through DelivEARs as a regular stocked item, and my cost almost triples!
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