Disney Designer Dolls

[Queenie122]

I find it interesting that this very same issue is happening with Target right now. Their Missioni line flew off the shelves, broke down their website, and they also had tons of orders backlogged / cancelled on people. I wish these companies would wake up. They obviously didn't put enough thought into this.

I can understand limiting the dolls and limiting numbers per doll. But to think they only are making 4000 Rapunzels just shows how far off base they were. Their computer systems not being up to par is just pathetic.

I'm waiting with nervous anticipation to hear what the new selling structure will be. I'm all for one (or two) per person / household. But there is no way to guarantee that people won't buy online and then go to the store and bring 10 friends with them. I don't really think there is a good solution there.

One of the reasons I love going to the Disney parks so much is all the awesome adult items we can get there. It's a shame they can't have that follow over into the stores. The new store in NYC has a large area in prime downstairs space that is full of collector, adult items. I just don't get it. The most our local store has is some adult t-shirts.

 

[Radibob]

Unfortunately, I don't see that ever happening. I wish the Disney Store coroporate powers-that-be would realize that they can make a lot of money on adult-geared items like collectibles, but they make predictions based on numbers only. I mean, put Mickey's face or a Disney Princess on an item, and it will probably sell, especially if it's a kid's item. That seems to be the direction where the Disney Store has gone, and sadly, the majority of the people will continue to buy into it. Hardcore collectors who have to put up with a seemingly dying focus area of the Disney Store are getting more frustrated with things like the handling of the Designer Princess Collection, but the vast majority of the public does not necessarily see what we do, because most of them are not going through the same experience. I am sure there are a lot of families that think along the same lines as James Fielding that Disney is for kids, so as far as they are concerned, nothing is wrong.

I truly believe that coroporate Disney Store makes collectibles limited editions, not necessarily to please the collectors' love of exclusivity, but because they just don't think that many will sell. Well, the Disney Designer Collection really blows that way of thinking out of the water. Will anything change? We can hope, but I'm not holding my breath until it does...

I agree, I think they are going to an extreme focus on kids because I read an article of how they realized they really missed the boat when one of their executives went to Disney on Ice and there were hoards of kids dressed in home made costumes, so they realized the missed a big princess market, so they are going that way. Jim was probably brought in to do that. Also they lost a lot on having to many stores etc, so hopefully it was a wake up call that the adult collector is out there and is strong in numbers. I am frustrated about the declining numbers of issued dolls in the series because no matter the frenzy only 4000 full sets can exist. I don't know who made that decision but it was unwise. I did see Jim Fielding say they were going to have some new amazing holiday dolls...they better!!!!

 

[Shivatopia]

I find it interesting that this very same issue is happening with Target right now. Their Missioni line flew off the shelves, broke down their website, and they also had tons of orders backlogged / cancelled on people. I wish these companies would wake up. They obviously didn't put enough thought into this.

I can understand limiting the dolls and limiting numbers per doll. But to think they only are making 4000 Rapunzels just shows how far off base they were. Their computer systems not being up to par is just pathetic.

I'm waiting with nervous anticipation to hear what the new selling structure will be. I'm all for one (or two) per person / household. But there is no way to guarantee that people won't buy online and then go to the store and bring 10 friends with them. I don't really think there is a good solution there.

One of the reasons I love going to the Disney parks so much is all the awesome adult items we can get there. It's a shame they can't have that follow over into the stores. The new store in NYC has a large area in prime downstairs space that is full of collector, adult items. I just don't get it. The most our local store has is some adult t-shirts.

Agreed. I believe that the retail stores in the Disney Parks are run by a totally different branch of the Disney corporaton (The Parks & Resorts as opposed to The Disney Store), and they seem to have a slightly better grasp on the more varied age demographic of their consumers. Not to say that they don't have their flaws, too (it gets kind of boring to see a lot of the same items in each and every store at any given Disney park), but it's still better than the retail Disney Stores, which are totally kid-focused.

I also question the decision of the descending LE numbers on the Designer Dolls. This again shows how the corporation is trying to anticipate sales and failing miserably. (By the way, Rapunzel is supposedly a LE 6000 doll.) For example, why are there more Mulan dolls than Aurora dolls? Aurora is the original blond princess in pink, and definitely one of the main princesses in the Disney Princess products. Mulan is not even considered a princess by many people. Sure, Mulan is role-model material and pretty, but her inclusion is an obvious corporate play to appear ethnically diverse and inclusive.

Also, why not make 8000 of each doll? I don't get the reasoning behind that decision either. Even given that not everyone would want the whole set, and would buy a few of their favorites, the same thing hold true for each princess doll. There would have been 8000 of each doll to disperse in a country of millions. All of the dolls would have sold and the limited nature of the doll would still have been preserved. I'm just waiting for some person to try to sue Disney over this issue about the "pain and suffering" caused by the stress of not being able to get an Aurora or a Tiana doll!

In terms of the Doll distribution, I actually do hope they yank them from the retail stores all together, based on the horror stories running around on the internet about underhanded sneakiness people are using to hoard the dolls. Yes, it will make it very inconvenient for East Coast fans having to wake up at 3am to hopefully get their orders in, but then the dolls won't be any different than any of the other LE online exclusive items. Disney cannot really stop the hoarding, but they can avoid any potential hostile events from happening at the retail stores, which must be terribly awkward for the cast mambers who work there. By limiting sales to online only, the buyers are all on the same page and subject to the same process.

 

[princessaholic]

Mulan is not even considered a princess by many people. Sure, Mulan is role-model material and pretty, but her inclusion is an obvious corporate play to appear ethnically diverse and inclusive.COLOR]

i do agree about Mulan not being officially a disney princess...but you have to consider the traditional Chinese culture or the traditions during her time...women were treated differently, but her family treated her as a princess, her father treated her as his princess. she brought honor to the family and the emperor even gave her the highest honor given to a warrior, and being a woman at that, something very unheard of during her time.

I believe and am really glad that Mulan is now being called a real Disney Princess - she is everything all girls can look up to: brave, kind, honest, respectful...ii'm sorry but i do not agree that it is a corporate play to appear ethnically diverse and inclusive...but i honesty believe she represents everything any disney princesses really are about and everything disney believes to be in a princess.

 

[Falltime]

While the US park merchandise is better than Disney Store merchandise it's a bit stale. I have been going to the US parks for 40 years and I still see a lot of the same merchandise as I did on my first visit. Not to say there is not anything new there is but it's not much from year to year.

Now take Tokyo Disney that is a Disney collector's dream for merchandise. They make new merchandise for each event they have at both parks and they have lots of events through the year. What's even better you won't see the same merchandise sold again next year. For example the Halloween merchandise they are current selling won't be the same stuff next year it will be all new stuff - no repeats! They also do new floats, parades, character costumes each year again no repeats! However the difference is Disney does NOT own the Tokyo parks it's run by OLC and they just license the Disney name. But OLC put's the money into the parks, events and merchandise something that the US Disney division seriously is lacking. Oh and you know what else you don't have to pay extra for special events like you do in the US parks. Ok obviously if you haven't guessed Tokyo Disney is my favorite Disney Resort and Tokyo Disney Sea is way above any other park.

 

[BigGreen73]

Agreed. I believe that the retail stores in the Disney Parks are run by a totally different branch of the Disney corporaton (The Parks & Resorts as opposed to The Disney Store), and they seem to have a slightly better grasp on the more varied age demographic of their consumers. Not to say that they don't have their flaws, too (it gets kind of boring to see a lot of the same items in each and every store at any given Disney park), but it's still better than the retail Disney Stores, which are totally kid-focused.

I also question the decision of the descending LE numbers on the Designer Dolls. This again shows how the corporation is trying to anticipate sales and failing miserably. (By the way, Rapunzel is supposedly a LE 6000 doll.) For example, why are there more Mulan dolls than Aurora dolls? Aurora is the original blond princess in pink, and definitely one of the main princesses in the Disney Princess products. Mulan is not even considered a princess by many people. Sure, Mulan is role-model material and pretty, but her inclusion is an obvious corporate play to appear ethnically diverse and inclusive.

Also, why not make 8000 of each doll? I don't get the reasoning behind that decision either. Even given that not everyone would want the whole set, and would buy a few of their favorites, the same thing hold true for each princess doll. There would have been 8000 of each doll to disperse in a country of millions. All of the dolls would have sold and the limited nature of the doll would still have been preserved. I'm just waiting for some person to try to sue Disney over this issue about the "pain and suffering" caused by the stress of not being able to get an Aurora or a Tiana doll!

In terms of the Doll distribution, I actually do hope they yank them from the retail stores all together, based on the horror stories running around on the internet about underhanded sneakiness people are using to hoard the dolls. Yes, it will make it very inconvenient for East Coast fans having to wake up at 3am to hopefully get their orders in, but then the dolls won't be any different than any of the other LE online exclusive items. Disney cannot really stop the hoarding, but they can avoid any potential hostile events from happening at the retail stores, which must be terribly awkward for the cast mambers who work there. By limiting sales to online only, the buyers are all on the same page and subject to the same process.

 

[glenpreece]

The Disney Store has always been focused on the bottom line. I worked for the Disney Store seasonally over a decade ago, and things were not much different then during the Disney Beanie craze. It is a retail business that exisits solely to make money for the company. That is why only certain Disney characters are constantly featured on products and others are almost completely absent. It is all about: "What will sell?" Companies that swear by superior customer service, especially if they are a corporation, will actually seldom really put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. The superior service you will get is from the individual cast members who take that aspect of the job to heart, not the company itself, hence the generic e-mails and robotic responses. Disney Store totally botched this Designer Princess Doll promotion, no question of that.



I've been buying things off of eBay since the late 1990s, and no, people really get caught up in the narrow focus of that one auction that they are bidding on. A competitive streak hits them to win that particular auction. Maybe it's desperation, maybe it's tunnel-vision. Who knows? For online vending forums like eBay one should always do a quick price comparison to get the best value, but if people are willing to spend more money, that is of course their prerogative.

I used to work for DS too and you're right it's all about the money. Push sales suggestive sell, get so many preo-orders in a an hour. Whay aren't you selling pj's? Place the product in the child's hand so the parent will have to buy it. LOL Oh how I hated my boss thankfully I just worked there for the discount.

 

[berrybread]

I can understand limiting the dolls and limiting numbers per doll. But to think they only are making 4000 Rapunzels just shows how far off base they were. Their computer systems not being up to par is just pathetic.

Rapunzel is only 4000? I thought she was 6000! Yikes!!

 

[Shivatopia]

I used to work for DS too and you're right it's all about the money. Push sales suggestive sell, get so many preo-orders in a an hour. Whay aren't you selling pj's? Place the product in the child's hand so the parent will have to buy it. LOL Oh how I hated my boss thankfully I just worked there for the discount.

That is so funny, because it's true! I was lucky enough to have been put in the stock room, so I never had to do the aggresive greeting or sales pushing. When another cast member needed something from the stock room, I dreaded going out onto the sales floor, because of the corporate-sanctioned sales-floor behavior traits we were supposed to follow. Despite that, my managers were actually very nice.

By the way, if I seem super anti-corporate culture, it's because I am. I've worked (and still do work) for corporations, and it's all so artificial. The corporate executives are so far removed from what their workers actually do and even from the clients/customers themselves, that they create a very unrealistic atmosphere and work guidelines. I apologize to anyone who actually likes corporate culture, and you certainly don't have to agree, but that is my view on it.

 

[DrJUSC]

The rumor is that these will now be ONLINE ONLY. I called it a while back. This is probably for everyones safety LOL

 

[Disneyfan downunder]

I remember fondly how we used to have Disney Stores here in Australia (they closed them all down years ago to use the money on film making here instead) I would make the 30 min drive and always come home with a few bags of goodies, mostly adult clothing and homewares. I was so happy when they opened that I could buy Disney characters on clothes! I had been wanting that for years... then they closed. Oh what horror! Where would I buy presents, homewares, clothes etc now? The Disney merchandise was much better quality than the ones from Kmart &Target. From then on I had to buy my goodies from the Disney Store Online and each time pay a massive amount in postage. 2 years ago we went to WDW and I got my "fix" of merchandise... well, it's made my craving worse I think! So unfortunately when TDS releases items in their stores that is not online I have to look to Ebay unpleasant as it is - hence me buying a journal. It saddens me to hear that your local stores in the US dont stock so much adult merch anymore,that would of totally killed me here.

 

[Shivatopia]

Rapunzel is only 4000? I thought she was 6000! Yikes!!

No, no... The word is that she is still a LE 6000 doll.

 

[BigGreen73]

The rumor is that these will now be ONLINE ONLY. I called it a while back. This is probably for everyones safety LOL

To me, that does make the most sense. Makes it fair for everyone, and eliminates the risk of confrontations, riots, and the next apocalypse. As long as the website can handle the traffic and has the dolls available on all servers at the same time, keeps a better tab on what's sold/available, and keeps it at 2 per household/order things should be fine.

There are rumors that Tiana has already shipped to some Stores. Maybe they will sell what they got and that's it.

 

[DrJUSC]

To me, that does make the most sense. Makes it fair for everyone, and eliminates the risk of confrontations, riots, and the next apocalypse. As long as the website can handle the traffic and has the dolls available on all servers at the same time, keeps a better tab on what's sold/available, and keeps it at 2 per household/order things should be fine.

There are rumors that Tiana has already shipped to some Stores. Maybe they will sell what they got and that's it.

I think, if true, they will have the dolls shipped back to HQ. Or do Tiana at stores and the rest online

 

[KateB]

After the whole SW fiasco I spoke with a manager from Disney Store headquarters... or whatever you want to call it... She said:

1. The dolls will NOT be only available online. That was a rumor fabricated online to get people worried that they would not be able to go to the stores. She said the store sales are fine, no one get "crazy" last Monday.

2. THe dolls are NOT going down to 4000. The last 2 were 6000 because they were going to be more popular and so they wanted them to be more rare.

3. The new policy will either be 1 per guest OR 2 per household. If you are buying in store then you will have to should ID to buy.

4. Tech is working around the clock to fix the errors where people had product numbers and were ordering before she was up on the site officially.

5. It is HIGHLY likely that next week's doll will be postponed online.

Just a little bit of info straight from the mouse...

 

[ReggieB]

4. Tech is working around the clock to fix the errors where people had product numbers and were ordering before she was up on the site officially.
.

I thought the online problem was because the site got totally slammed from the time they were "officially" available. That's not going to go away by removing the product numbers. Sounds like Tech dept. are deflecting somewhat, heck no one likes to be wrong, but really??

 

[Shivatopia]

After the whole SW fiasco I spoke with a manager from Disney Store headquarters... or whatever you want to call it... She said:

1. The dolls will NOT be only available online. That was a rumor fabricated online to get people worried that they would not be able to go to the stores. She said the store sales are fine, no one get "crazy" last Monday.

2. THe dolls are NOT going down to 4000. The last 2 were 6000 because they were going to be more popular and so they wanted them to be more rare.

3. The new policy will either be 1 per guest OR 2 per household. If you are buying in store then you will have to should ID to buy.

4. Tech is working around the clock to fix the errors where people had product numbers and were ordering before she was up on the site officially.

5. It is HIGHLY likely that next week's doll will be postponed online.

Just a little bit of info straight from the mouse...

Thanks for the research and reporting, but I do question some of the things that woman said, particularly #2. Aurora is confirmed to be a LE 4000 doll. The Disney Store shipped one in error to someone in the place of a Mulan and they posted a picture of the CoA, which specifically reads that the Aurora edition is 4000. The doll cannot be just a store display doll, because they do not have CoAs. This doll is currently for sale on eBay (of course). Also, if she told you that they really thought that Mulan was going to be more popular than Ariel or Belle, who are LE 8000 dolls, that is hogwash. Preliminary reports based on the UK site already informed everyone that Cinderella, Ariel, & Belle would be LE 8000 and that Mulan & Snow White would be LE 6000 dolls. It also reported that Aurora would be a LE 4000 doll. All of these have proven to be true. Supposedly Jasmine & Rapunzel are to be LE 6000 and Tiana & Pocahontas are to be LE 4000, but these figures have yet to be confirmed.

#3 also seems odd, because how would that really be enforced? A 14 year old is not required to have a legal ID card. How would that help the problems at the retail stores? They can't really accurately determine if a group of people live in the same house. They also cannot discriminate by not selling to a person because they don't have an ID on them if that person is paying with cash. That's an opening for a lawsuit. Dolls are not cigarettes or liquor. There are no laws in the USA requiring an ID to be presented for the purchase of a doll.

As for #1, if corporate Disney Store executives don't think that there is a problem with the doll sales at the retail stores, then they are deluding themselves. People all across several online forums constantly report how bad it is getting in trying to get the dolls at the retail stores and the underhanded tactics that some people have used to hoard them.

Do you remember what this woman's name was or her full official title? She may just have been a manager of the call center, in which case she is given very specific conservative answers to give out until the powers-that-be really decide on what is going to happen. By the way I am not trying to shoot down your efforts to report potentially important info about the future dolls, but I am very skeptical about some of this woman's responses to your inquiries.

 

[xtremeroy]

I have 3 snow whites and 1 mulan. will trade all 4 for 1 d23 silver cinderella.
xtremeroy06(at)yahoo.com

 

[DrJUSC]

Disney needs a bigger server to hold the traffic. Thats it!

 

[Queenie122]

Rapunzel is only 4000? I thought she was 6000! Yikes!!

Ekkks! I may have been misinformed I thought she was going to be last and that they were going down with the amount of dolls available.

Sorry about that. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Originally I bought my first Cinderella at a mall that isn't close to my house. I happened to be there and saw the dolls and the CM mentioned they had just gone on sale that day. I was hesitant to buy because I was unsure at the time if they would be available online and I didn't want to drive too far to get them each week. I checked my phone (yay smartphones!) because the CMs had no idea and found out they would be online so I bought it. They had everything there stocked up, mugs, purses, nail polishes, journals. Ah, how I wish now I had bought more!

The CM helping me called my local store (I'm lucky there are actually three in my area) and they said no they were not carrying them. However; she was a bit of an airhead and she may have called the wrong store. Disney's Facebook page said my local store was getting them. I'm going to head over this weekend and see what they have. And try to figure out if I might have to be lining up at 6am Monday morning (of course depending on what gets said tomorrow)