Duffy The Disney Bear - Discussion

[Otakuma]

I'm a big fan and collector of the Disney Bear and Duffy teddy bears sold at the Disney Parks and the former World of Disney store in NYC, and I've been trying to find some kind of listing of all the various Disney Bears that have been around but can't find one anywhere. Does anyone know of a site that lists all (or at least most) of the various Disney Bear teddy bears?

[Malin]

This thread is to discuss Duffy the Disney Bear. Feel free to share news, pictures and comments.

[Malin]

I thought that I would share with you some recent news about our favourite Disney Bear taken from other Duffy threads here on MiceChat.

Disney California Adventure and Epcot have started to sell the special 12 inch Valentines Day Duffy plush. MiceChat Member gurgi was able to find this picture taken from Ebay. Disney Valentine 2011 Duffy Bear 12" Plush Lot of 15 - eBay (item 220711026321 end time Jan-12-11 13:12:37 PST) Thoughts?

Now MiceChat Member Duffydaisuki shared an interesting link showing a one of a kind Duffy watch that cost an incredible 32,000 Yen. ?Duffy? The Disney Bear | ?????????

Finally gurgi has some news to share about one of Tokyo DisneySea's upcoming costume changes.

The next costume release is January 7th, 2011. The site has been updated with a date at least. It's another in the "Hello From Cape Cod" series. Let's see what it is this time, since it won't be Christmas or Valentine's themed, because it's sandwiched right in the middle of those two events. I hope it's just generic winter clothes for both of them.

Thats just some of the news for now. If you know some news that has not been covered yet, please share it here.

[DuffyDaisuki]

This blog is nearly complete for Tokyo and the recent American "New Wave" Duffy.

[FI183]

Thank you Malin for starting this thread! I was really getting anoyed by the thread in the DLR forum! So many people hating and even flat out insulting Duffy fans, it's nice to have a place where we can talk about him freely without confrontation from other members.

[flylikadove22]

Thank you Malin for starting this thread! I was really getting anoyed by the thread in the DLR forum! So many people hating and even flat out insulting Duffy fans, it's nice to have a place where we can talk about him freely without confrontation from other members.

same here!! so much duffy hate there!

[The Forbidden Eye]

same here!! so much duffy hate there!

Indeed. After the last post I made there, I didn't post again. Pretty much became a one-sided argument.

So when can we expect more clothes for Duffy? I was hoping for a TRON suit for Duffy. That would be cool.

[Dustysage]

Duffy is Dead here in the US unless sales pick up soon. Here are my thoughts on how to save Mickey's stuffed pal.

Disney is a storytelling company. Folks react in kind to their level of connection with the story. In the case of Duffy, very few people know the story and therefore don't have an emotional connection with the character. The first step is for Disney to establish that connection via all of their media options (Books, TV, webisodes, etc).

Get Duffy into the hands of those most likely to become collectors of his clothes and accessories. My suggestion would be to give all Disneyland and Disney World passholders a coupon for a free bear (just the bear with no accessories). Once the passholders get their basic free bear they'll want outfits and accessories which will jump-start his collectability.

STOP overpromoting him in the parks. Having an overabundance of Duffy available at this stage (of limited demand) creates a sense of failure. Instead, make Duffy much more difficult to get ahold of and a special commodity item. Create a sense of demand and a desire to obtain.

I wrote in the other thread that Disney needs to tie Duffy to an ongoing story. The story begins with how Duffy is created. Folks will start to buy basic Duffy. Then the story goes on to talk about Duffy's travels one location at a time. As Disney tells the tale of each new location (via comic book, TV specials, online webisodes, etc) a very limited line of outfits and accessories is released. Always make sure that too few of any given item are produced (you can always make more later) so that demand is always higher than supply.

Duffy CAN still be a success, but not by blindly assuming that fans will snap him up without first creating that all important emotional connection to the potential audience.

-Dusty the MiceChat bear

[FI183]

Great ideas Dustysage, but Disney is going to release a cartoon that they will show in the hotel rooms. As to when, I have no idea, but I believe that will boot sales. But on sales, we have been selling a lot. Just last night I told a few of my coworkers that people on this forum thought Duffy was a failure. They all laughed! He's far from a failure! We sell out of merchandise CONSTANTLY! the valentines Duffys we just got are sold put already! We sold out of keychains, magnets, and wristlets. And they fly off the shelves as soon as we get them. Granted most of the sales are from Japanese tourists, I see American guests starting to get into him also! And a lot of guests buy them as gifts for the young ones which I feel is a great idea! Im gifting Duffy to all my friends and family that I'm sure they'll love.

Even though sales are great, he needs more exposure which I am sure will happen over time. I think they rushed his release, so they forgot that no one here really knows about him. But including him in shows in the park and having shorts on tv will increase popularity.

[flylikadove22]

i too was hoping they'd make a TRON suit for duffy, that'd be the most amazing thing EVER

[Dustysage]

But on sales, we have been selling a lot.

That may be your impression from your shifts or location, but overall Duffy sales in California and Florida are not even close to want they need to be to save poor Duffy. I don't say these things because I take pleasure out of it. In fact Fishy and I personally LOVE Duffy. But there will be no saving Duffy if Disney allows him to fail this time just like they did last time. They just haven't launched this product with the heart and charm required to capture an audience as big as their production of the product. That needs to change, and fast. But I think it CAN be done if they take steps like those I've outlined above.

[SnorkletsMom]

Maybe I've been totally blind, but I haven't seen a sign of Duffy at Disneyland at all. Is he limited to DCA? I actually looked, I wanted to (finally) get a Christmas Duffy as a birthday gift for myself, but no luck. There won't be any excitement if no one knows he's there until they stumble across the Duffy zone at DCA.
My son has had a "Disney Bear" for about 7 years now, he's a bit well-loved but is still cute. I wondered then why they didn't try to actually market the bears in some way, they just sat there mixed in with the other animals.

[flylikadove22]

Maybe I've been totally blind, but I haven't seen a sign of Duffy at Disneyland at all. Is he limited to DCA? I actually looked, I wanted to (finally) get a Christmas Duffy as a birthday gift for myself, but no luck. There won't be any excitement if no one knows he's there until they stumble across the Duffy zone at DCA.
My son has had a "Disney Bear" for about 7 years now, he's a bit well-loved but is still cute. I wondered then why they didn't try to actually market the bears in some way, they just sat there mixed in with the other animals.

yes he is a DCA exclusive

[The Forbidden Eye]

I have reasons to believe that the public awareness of Duffy will increase after the Christmas Parade airs on ABC. I recall that Duffy was on the ACF Lead float.

I'm not sure how much that will help, but it should provide some boost.

And Dusty, I agree with all the plans you laid out.

I wonder why they didn't hand out pamphlets about Duffy to the people entering the Parking lots when they first brought him out. Not to mention I didn't see a mention of Duffy in the DCA Maps which would've help too. The entertainment guides which contain meet-and-greet times, don't help that much.

[rage]

Thank you so much for the Duffy thread, Malin. I was getting really hot and bothered by some of the trolls over on the Disneyland Resort forums.

I have an idea. Why don't we have a Duffy meet up? Everyone could come to DCA with their Duffy and have a day with all the Micechat Duffy fans. We could all take a group picture with Duffy at his meet and greet and really show that there are people willing to show support for the little guy. Plus I would imagine people seeing a group of Duffy fans will encourage them to buy their own! Maybe this would get TDA rolling the ball on him. Just a thought... comments?

And and I love the Valentines day Duffy, I must get it for my girlfriend!