NOT new Duffy merchandise for the US!

[Ursulalvr]

I do have some perspective on Disney's side, and I will say Duffy here is purely for profit. One of my old friends who works for Disney was there for the release of Duffy, and she told me they had goals set for all the stores on how much Duffy merch each location sold. They made it a competition about selling the bears. They wanted the CMs to encourage guests to sell the bear without so much as a small blurb about the bear. My friend knew more about Duffy to actually encourage guests to buy Duffy, but it really was all about sales figures. And to them, Duffy is a huge success. Why? For some reason the Japanese fans were buying them in hordes. Now what I would like to know is why the Japanese would buy so many and try to sell them over there? I know from DuffyD and other's perspective(and looking at DeepDisney photos everyday) I've never see any American product with the guests in Japan. So who are these bears going to? I think that's something to think about. With out the Duffy importer's from Japan, Duffy wouldn't be a supposed success that Disney thinks it is, in the states.

And I never said the merchandise defines Duffy. I meant the quality is what drew me to be a fan. And let's be honest Duffy is fully a merchandise endeavor. I'm not gonna kid myself with that. But it's treated differently here. It's more about sales and making things on the cheap than putting out an honest product. How many problems have we read about already about US costumes staining Duffy, Duffy losing his fluff, etc? It's not the same amount of effort, love or creativity that defined Duffy in the first place! And that's my main gripe with US Duffy. I know people will still love him just the same and will buy his costumes. I can't do anything to that, but it does sadden me that the Duffy they're getting is not of the same caliber of what I've grown to love and collect! Oh how I would love to give all the little girls and boys who ogle at my TDS outfits the real Duffy! They're the ones that get the most attention. And I'm not trying to do a "My Duffy is better than yours" kind of thing. It's more about spreading the true Duffy to new fans! People always flip when they see my costumes and get disappointed knowing Disney doesn't sell anything near the same caliber. And that's where a lot of the Duffy hate has been drawn from. The lack of creative merchandise and outfits.

---------- Post added 10-30-2011 at 09:31 PM ----------

I just also want to say, that it really is just shocking that Disney didn't copy one of the most famous release years of Duffy! The TDR 25th anniversary year, when they release CM costumes for various attractions and jobs. Wouldn't have been super awesome to do this with DCA's 10th Anniversary that just passed? Duffy in a cool aviator jumper for Condor Flats, Fishing/camping gear for Grizzly Peak. Boardwalk barker outfit for Paradise Pier, The Little Mermaid costumes, Carsland costume? That would have been SO awesome.

Or even for WDW's 40th that JUST passed! They didn't do anything! They even released a pre-dressed Duffy in a tacky sweater with WDW's logo all over it. Why didn't they push it further? Do CM costumes also? See this is what should be happening. And I'm so surprised that they're trying to copy TDS, and did not even try to do that popular offering.

[DuffyDaisuki]

I'm not trying to do a "My Duffy is better than yours" kind of thing. It's more about spreading the true Duffy to new fans! People always flip when they see my costumes and get disappointed knowing Disney doesn't sell anything near the same caliber. And that's where a lot of the Duffy hate has been drawn from. The lack of creative merchandise and outfits...

This.^^

[Surahrah]

Awww the costume is cute! I hope it goes online before I do all my Christmas decorating! :3

[MickeyMaxx]

Folks,

Please be sure that your posts stick to the topic of this thread.

These boards are for discussions and there will always be differing opinions. You can disagree but be sure that you are attacking the message rather than the messenger. Posts, including comments, may be discussed, as long as it is NOT attacking an individual member directly.

Thanks for your help!

[gurgi]

Lots of back and forth in here! I want to say one thing that stuck out at me. The main difference between Disney re-releasing Santa Duffy from last year, and OLC re-releasing old costumes is the quantity. I think some people are upset with Disney, mainly because they don't have a backlog of Duffy merchandise to make a re-release interesting.

For example...OLC re-released last year's Christmas Wishes costumes (and there were complaints), however, it was in addition to new things along with them. Not to mention they have been consistently releasing new items each season, and throughout the year. So, while something rehashed might be annoying, OLC has a huge cache of merchandise that DIDN'T get rehashed, so a couple of old things aren't seen as completely lazy.

Now, with Disney's decision to re-release Santa Duffy, they don't have that luxury. They have never released another version, or, to be honest, much else holiday Duffy merchandise. It would be one thing, if like OLC, they had a huge assortment of previous Duffy holiday merchandise, and this reissue was part of that, but they don't.

Sure, it's nice for people to be able to buy it again if they missed it the first time, but since there was never any other option, this decision does seem lazy. So this year for Christmas, we get one new costume, a rather nice pin set, and then this re-issued Santa Duffy. 3 items...not really a bounty. Ok, comparing what the two companies do may be fruitless, but since they are working with the same character, it's almost impossible not to make some comparisons.

I try to stay neutral too, but really, nobody is truly neutral. What that means is they want to keep their nose clean and avoid arguments, but it's just a passive-aggressive way of doing it. It's like somebody saying "I don't mean to be rude, but".