The Three Caballeros Pin

This is a Disneyland Cast Member pin that I got a few years back while working at the Park. It's the Three Caballeros: Jose Carioca, Panchito, and Donald Duck!

Autographed "Designing Disney" Book by John Hench with Peggy Van Pelt

This is the book, "Designing Disney" by Walt Disney Imagineer John Hench, with Imagineer Peggy Van Pelt.


This features some very cool artwork, upon which the design of many Disney shows and attractions were based and built from. In the book, John talks about what Imagineering is, and what an Imagineer does. John worked at Disney as an animator in the beginning of his career at Disney. His artisitic ability and curiosity led him to become one of the premier Imagineers at WED Enterprises, which, years later, became known as Walt Disney Imagineering. John was also the master painter of Mickey Mouse for the Walt Disney Company, and since his death, he has not been replaced as such (although there will soon be a replacement for him).

Walt Disney Imagineering is the master concept, design, and building organization created by Walt Disney himself. It was originally created to design and build Disneyland. Since then, it has designed and built all of Disney's theme parks, resorts and hotels all over the world, including at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland Paris Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Tokyo Disneyland Resort. In all, it has built 11 theme parks and the Disney Cruise Line. Wow.

I got this book a few years ago at an NFFC Convention Show and Sale in Garden Grove, California. I got to the Convention a little late, and I saw the table where John was supposed to be, signing his book. I asked the lady sitting there, co-author Peggy Van Pelt, where John was, and she said that he had to leave. He had left her a few signed copies of his book, but she told me that she had run out of those, but she sold me a book and signed it book in front of me. I was a little disappointed, because I knew about John and I wanted to meet him and get his autograph in the book.

About a month or so after that Convention, I read it in the news that John had passed away. I was sad about this, not only for the loss of a legendary Imagineer, but because I had never got the opportunity to meet him or to have my book signed.

After hearing the news of his passing, I decided to pick up my book for the first time and really look at it. I stared at the beginning, and thumbed through the pages. Lo and behold, after turning a few pages, there was John's autograph, right in the book! I couldn't believe it! I don't know if Peggy knew that it was autographed or not when she gave it to me, but I tell you this, I believe in miracles! This book is so good and enjoyable to read and look at- I can spend an hour looking at it and reading it, and never get tired!

Peggy Van Pelt died a few years back, so this copy of the book is truly non-duplicable!

I am willing to part with this rare, autographed copy of "Designing Disney" for $500 plus shipping.

Extremely Rare Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Pocket Watch by Fossil

This beautiful pocket watch features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse kissing. Notice the 3 hearts above them. Mickey is in his classic red shorts, and Minnie is wearing a blue dress. Notice that it's old-style Mickey and Minnie. This watch was the gift watch that you got if you bought all 6 watches from the Disney Store in Fossil's "Watch Collector's Club Series V". This cool watch came inside a beautiful music box (as did all 6 watches in this series). Believe me, this is one of the best watches that I've ever had. It's on a chain (as most pocket watches are), and it is numbered #1817 out of 7500. The cool thing about the Watch Collector's Club is that only the people who buy all 6 watches and redeem the coupons for them will get the 7th watch- so, although 7,500 of these watches were made, a lot fewer than that were every shipped out. Therefore, this is a very, very rare Mickey Mouse watch. I like it because it looks great, has an old-school style, yet is new and classy. I've used this watch only a couple of times- mostly I have kept it in storage with my other collectible watches. I just might start using it again! I have never seen anyone else with this watch.

I would be willing to part with this extremely rare Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse watch for $5,000 plus shipping.

Complimentary One Day Park Hopper Passport To Walt Disney World/Disneyland

This is a Complimentary Disney Theme Park Passport that I received at a Disney Shareholder's meeting back around 1993, which took place in Anaheim, CA. At the time, Disney gave shareholders who took out their valuable time and effort to go to the Shareholder's Meeting a free ticket for themselves (and up to 3 accompanying guests) to a Disney Theme Park (with the intention for it to be used at Disneyland that day, but it was save-able). This ticket never expired as long as you never used it, so I kept it for a long time, until New Years Day this year, when I finally used it to enter EPCOT. Disney no longer gives its shareholders any Theme Park tickets for going to the meeting (even if the meeting is near a Theme Park, which sucks in my opinion).

Disney's "Hip Hop Noel"

It's "Hip Hop Noel", a video from one of Disney's Christmas "Sing-A-Long Songs" videos. I remember this song and video well, from my Disney Store days. This song would come on all the time- and sometimes people would sing along or even dance to it. Check it out- would you dance to this if you had to hear this song once every hour (for at least 3 hours)?

Trip to Disney Vacation Club's Newest Resort: Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Resort

Last weekend I went with my other half to Disneyland Resort's Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Resort. It was fun! We loved the room- we had a Studio. It was more homey than the rooms inside the main inn of the Grand Californian. We loved the views from the balcony, too, which you can see here. We were in back of the Brother Bear Challenge Trail, and we had a good view of the pool area. I am so glad that I joined Disney Vacation Club- it's the best!

Stitch "Maniac" Shirt from Walt Disney World

I love this shirt, which I bought a year ago at Walt Disney World, for several reasons. Number one: it looks cool as a shirt, without any words or design. I love the colors of it- the dark blue sleeves, and the lighter blue body. Number two: it says "maniac" on the front, which is kind of mysterious and rebellious. Number three: it has a cool picture of Stitch from "Lilo n' Stitch" on the back.

Cool Cards From Disney's "The Princess and the Frog"

These are a set of cards which depict characters from the upcoming Disney classic, "The Princess and the Frog", which will debut in theaters in a couple of weeks. My friend Brad got 2 sets of these cards at the D23 Expo in September, and traded a set to me for my extra copy of the premiere issue of the D23 Magazine. These cards are pretty colorful, don't you think? Princess Tiana, who you can see in one of these pictures, kind of resembles Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), in my opinion!

I have seen the first one-third of this movie, and I can tell you this: I can't wait to see the whole thing! What I saw was so good!

Retro Disneyland Salt and Pepper Shaker

Here is a Salt and Pepper Shaker from Disneyland. I got this 4 years ago from Disneyland. This set has a "retro" look, and was special merchandise celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary. Aren't they cool?

If anyone would like to buy these from me, I would part with them for $100 plus shipping!

Original Abraham Lincoln from "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at the D23 Expo

This is the original Abraham Lincoln from Walt Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln", which debuted at the New York World's Fair of 1964 and was later brought to Disneyland in 1966. Walt Disney Imagineering had a show area at the D23 Expo where they had some really cool stuff on display, including this section about Audio-Animatronics. There were also previews of the new Disney/Pixar "Cars" attraction, new additions to Hong Kong Disneyland, and the new Disney Vacation Club Resort in Hawaii, called the "Disney Resort at Ko Olina".

Some Photos of Cheryl Burke and Derek Hough from "Dancing With The Stars", taken at the D23 Expo

These are photos that I took at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, which took place in early September. This was a cool Disney Convention! At this part of the convention, ABC Television (which is a part of the Walt Disney Company) was showing previews of their upcoming TV shows. As part of the entertainment, Cheryl Burke and Derek Hough from "Dancing With The Stars" came out and danced for the crowd. Wow! I must say that it is much more exciting seeing them dancing live than it is on TV. Afterwards, both Cheryl and Derek signed autographs for the fans! The fans went crazy, and were really excited to see these stars. The only complaint that I ran across is that Disney really did not give all the fans who wanted autographs enough time to get them, not just from Cheryl and Derek, but for other artists as well. Overall, D23 was a cool idea, but they needed to keep certain areas open longer. Perhaps they can learn from their Theme Park experience, like at EPCOT, and open a certain part of the Expo floor earlier, and have the other section open later, and leave one section open throughout. Both of these photos copyright David Ransom.

Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland Miniature Pewter Set

This is a set of miniature pewter figures from Walt Disney's film, "Alice in Wonderland". This set was produced by excellent Disney artists Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily. It was sold online by Disneyshopping.com, and came with a Certificate of Authenticity. As you can see, there are 5 figures in the set.

Look at the details on these figures. They are so small, and yet so detailed! All of the characters are in fun poses, and this is one of my favorite things that I bought within the past couple of years. Pictured here are the Catepillar, Tweedle Dee and Dweedle Dum, the Cheshire Cat, and a photo of all the figures in the box they came in.

Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily are excellent are true Disneyphiles and have created some of the best Disney figures for consumers. They sculpted for the "Tiny Kingdom" series that was sold at The Disney Store, for example. These pewter figures pictured here are fun because of the details!

If anyone would like to purchase this from me, I am willing to part with this great set for $200 plus shipping.

D23 Haunted Mansion Button - Hitchhiking Ghosts

This is a button advertising the "D23 Expo" that took place in September of 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center. This button features the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the "Haunted Mansion" attraction at Disneyland. There were several D23 promotional buttons, but was a cool one for me to get (I got it at the D23 Studio Tour that I got in August). The D23 Expo was really cool, but I have a lot of suggestions for them if they want to make it better next year!

Anyway, I like this button. Don't you?

Walt Disney Classic Collection- The Magic Mirror from Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

This is a limited edition sculpture of the Magic Mirror from Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". This mirror is number 1293 out of an edition of 5000 pieces. When my friend Bob who owns the store Fantasies Come True told me about this piece, I thought that I had to have it, because it seemed so unique. Once I got it out and displayed it a while, it was just OK. I mean, I like the sculpture, but the mirror wasn't doing it for me. Then, when taking THESE pictures, I discovered that, with proper lighting, this can be one heckuva cool piece! Don't you agree? Definitely would dress up Halloween pretty good!

Walt Disney Classic Collection- Ariel from "The Little Mermaid"

This is Ariel, from Disney's "The Little Mermaid", in a sculpture from the Walt Disney Classic Collection. This was a piece that came with your Membership in the Walt Disney Collector's society for Members in 1996. It was sculpted by Kent Melton. I really like the colors on Ariel here.