New Duffy Merchandise

[aimster]

I forgot about the birthday one! I'll need to get him (and the WDW 40th) too. Crap I'm going to spend a small fortune in Duffy stuff this weekend!

[aimster]

I got home a little while ago from DTD in Orlando and guess what? The wrislet pouches and plush magnets are now available at Once Upon a Toy and World of Disney. Didn't see the keychains. Oh and I got the ONLY pirate costume at Once Upon a Toy... didn't see it at World of Disney.

[JapanFan]

You can now buy Duffy merchandise in Disneyland park...good one DLR

[DuffyGuardian]

Oh that is sad that they didn't leave Duffy in DCA.

I wonder if with all the DCA construction and the possibility of the two front of the park stores be down for the re-constuction if that is why Duffy ended up at DL? Im not a fan of it either way, because really Duffy fans will walk to the PP to get his latest items. So there is no need for him to be other places. Its just so sad.

[updebrooke]

I was at Epcot today and I noticed that they took out the Duffy photo spots. They don't have them anymore. I wonder what this means for Duffy. Also, I asked about the popcorn buckets and they told me that Disney is not selling them at this time. I guess he's not as popular as Disney hoped he would be. I love the mug though, I just hope they have the popcorn buckets. They are sooo cute!

[TravisMT81]

I noticed that a couple a weeks ago as well, made me upset! They always do everything half a$$

[aimster]

I had a feeling this would happen. Deep down I knew Duffy's success in Japan would not mirror in the US. Stupid Americans don't "get it" and just think of him as a Build-A-Bear rip-off for the most part because they can't associate him with anything (film, cartoon shorts, etc.). He's just there to be a cash cow for Disney.

The crazy thing is he ALWAYS gets attention when I bring him to Busch Gardens and some of the employees recognize who he is right off the bat. I've even had a few Japanese tourists come over and point and exclaim "DUFFY!" when they see him sticking out of my bag or I'm posing him for photos.

[Wondering]

That makes me super depressed. I was really looking forward to the photo spots when I go this November :/

[DuffyGuardian]

Yet another thing Disney will let fail. I don't know about WDW, SLR budget umber dip into for other projects, like movies and sometimes even WDW. So I'm not surprised they are cutting back on Duffy. Oh well we love him and have a place to chat about him to others who love him so all is good. Duffy will always go with me to the parks. Heck he went to San Diego this weekend. lol

[gurgi]

Duffy...the "Rodney Dangerfield" of Disney characters...at least in the US, that is.

[aimster]

Yeah I'll still be taking my Duffy on adventures with me. I even bought a backup Duffy a few weeks ago because my 1st one is getting a little scruffy. Might get a 2nd backup when I'm at DTD again next weekend... that way I'm totally covered.

[updebrooke]

I got SEVEN backups, for a total of 8 bears! I'm Duffy crazy! I just like displaying all the outfits on him. I have the sailor, UK, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Pirates, and Woody. It's hard to display just one outfit so I have EIGHT instead.

[aimster]

The only Disney costumes I have for my Duffy are the sailor suit and the pirate outfit. I might get the Mexico costume next weekend... we'll see. I personally like the Build-A-Bear international costumes better (got the Japanese boy kimono a couple weeks ago and it's really nice), plus there's more variety. All my Duffy "street clothes" come from BAB too. I just wish the viking costume would come back in stock as it looks hilariously awesome.

[Wondering]

I have no back-ups XD

[thephantomsgirl]

Disney bugs me with their approach to marketing! They let things that are BIG fall by the wayside - or things that COULD be big slip by.

Take Pal Mickey for example. I used to belong to a Pal Mickey Club. Which is how I met my best friend who goes with me to the parks and on cruises. Tons of us had Pal Mickeys and used to dress them up. The costumes that Disney released were pitiful! But most of us found ways to dress him up through home made outfits or things from BAB and other places.

We even did a whole Pal Mickey cruise with many, many PM's dressed up in all kinds of custom outfits. Got a LOT of attention. But did Disney ever do anything with what could have been a good source of income? No.

I am not sure where they will go with Duffy. I'm sort of afraid it will slip by the wayside just like Pal Mickey. Sad because Duffy is easier to carry around and easier to find clothes for. My friend took Duffy on two cruises already - one of which was when he was just announced in the Eyes and Ears. He got tons of attention - and the servers actually gave him a high chair each night at dinner. (I've GOT to have her post her photos here!)

Actually she does the Duffy the Disney Bear Fan Club on Facebook. Easy to search for that on Facebook and she's got some of the photos on there. I'm not sure if it's okay to post the link or not. It's not the OFFICIAL Duffy Facebook page - it's a fan-created page. (so feel free to join and participate - maybe Disney will notice...)

Back to Disney marketing. I could go on and on about what I consider to be really dumb moves. I'll NEVER forgive them for closing down Garden Grill during lunch. It was the BEST character meal in my opinion as it was in the round and the characters came to you. In the bigger restaurants - the characters usually get swamped by people and there's a big chance you'll never really get to interact with them. We used to go several times a month and it was always crowded. Why close it down?

I think Disney needs to have a group of people who don't WORK for the corporation end of things get more involved.

Off my soapbox now...