Pal Mickey on Ebay?

I'm looking at buying a Pal Mickey on Ebay and am wondering which is the latest edition? I see a 50th Anniversary, Tourist 50th Anniversary, Sorceror's Apprentice...I think it would be fun to have Pal on our trip, but am not sold on it for $70...any feed back would be greatly appreciated...

P.S. I hope buying one on Ebay is not an inflamatory subject...not looking to rile people up...

Thanks

:lookaroun

PM me, there are certain vendors on ebay not to be trusted in regards to WDW stuff...

The Sorceror one is the latest edition, but any of the Pal Mickeys through the years will still work in the parks. Plus now WDW sells fun outfits (safari, pirate, Santa, etc.) to dress him up.

Pal Mickey is a lot of fun, even for those who have been to the parks many many times. One of my friends got one for free from someone, and we had the best time taking him around with us. Plus he makes for great photo ops or a video guide.

Figment82 said:

The Sorceror one is the latest edition, but any of the Pal Mickeys through the years will still work in the parks. Plus now WDW sells fun outfits (safari, pirate, Santa, etc.) to dress him up.

Pal Mickey is a lot of fun, even for those who have been to the parks many many times. One of my friends got one for free from someone, and we had the best time taking him around with us. Plus he makes for great photo ops or a video guide.

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to a point.. the older ones will NOT have the newer attractions and updates though !

phichi17 said:

PM me, there are certain vendors on ebay not to be trusted in regards to WDW stuff...

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Can you send me the same info. I buy some things from Ebay and if you have some infor that will save me I would appreciate it

The original Pal (1.0) was Mickey in just his standard outfit with shorts, no shirt.

The second edition (2.0) was the 50th Anniversary and in addition to his normal shorts, he's wearing a {removable} black tuxedo jacket. His right hand also has a {non-removable} gold medallion affixed to it. It would trigger people's Glow Medallions to blink when they came near each other.

The third edition (3.0) which came out last year, is Mickey in his red shorts, Sorcerer Mickey red robe and blue Sorcerer's hat. This outfit (excluding shorts) is also removable. It is the most current edition and has the most updated content.

In addition to the actual version changes which update content and have added new games to his system, they have released several outfits separately which ANY version can be dressed in. These outfits are just clothing changes and aren't actual editions of Pal. They include Tourist, Pin Trader, Poncho, Safari, Pirate Captain, and Santa Mickey. Santa Mickey sold out during December 2006 and is currently discontinued.

People selling "Tourist Mickey" are selling some version of Pal dressed in the Tourist outfit. You'll need to refer to the auction to determine which actual version he is. Odds are, he's probably an older version they got cheaper once it became discontinued and just put him in a new set of clothes. (For example, a friend picked up a 2.0/50th Birthday Edition one for me from the CM store for only $10 after the newest version came out.)

I'd be careful about buying Pal on ebay only because you don't know what you're getting. Does it work? Is it new? Is it the current version? Why are they selling a $65 item for less then it's retail cost?

Yes, all versions continue to work in the parks just fine. However, the older versions will have outdated information. (My 1.0 for example, still talks about "Alien Encounter" instead of Stitch.)

If you have any other questions about Pal, feel free to ask. I'm kinda the unofficial Pal answerer around these parts.
-m

I'd be hesitant to buy Pal from Ebay. Our girls purchased Pal in Dec. in AK and had to return him midday because no matter how we held him he never talked. They exchanged him out and in no time flat he was talking up a storm. The girls received "Pal Mickey" money from some friends and couldn't wait to get him. Then they couldn't wait to dress him up...Santa and Pirate were the two outfits they purchased on this trip..but they hope to get Poncho outfit and others on the next trip!
By the way the girls had a lot of character interaction w/Pal Mickey's help. made for lots of great photo op's!

Apparently there is a way to update the older Pal Mickeys now - at least that's what I've been told. I think one of the places I heard about was the Camera Center under Spaceship Earth.

Figment82 said:

Apparently there is a way to update the older Pal Mickeys now - at least that's what I've been told. I think one of the places I heard about was the Camera Center under Spaceship Earth.

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I'm sorry, no, but this remains and urban myth. The original myth was that Pal Mickey could be updated through transmitters and would update to get new phrases and such. It was, of course, untrue. The new version of the myth is that he can be "chipped" or "modded" with new content at stores in the park. This is also untrue.

At this time, Pal Mickey is unable to be updated in any way, shape or form. He is an entirely closed system and the only things he can ever say are already pre-programmed into him.

The concept of an updating Pal is one that the Imagineers have stated on record they'd like to do someday since the very first version came out, however, it's still only a dream and NOT a reality.

Some confusion on Pal's ability to be updated might stem from a known glitch that's occurring in Epcot. For some reason, the Sorcerer Mickey version can entirely lose connection with the sensors and stop saying anything while in Epcot only. (He will work when you enter the park and might for several hours but will go silent at some point and stay that way.) The only known way to "fix" this currently is to completely remove ("unseat") and replace the batteries. Because it takes a small, Phillip's head screwdriver to open the battery compartment, many Sorcerer PM owners who experience this glitch go to MouseGears to have them open the battery compartment for them. They are more then happy to do it as well as take a report about when and where you noticed he started going silent. (Other Sorcerer Mickey PM owners have reported that managers at MouseGears are taking this information in an attempt to help the Imagineers figure out where the glitch is and which transmitter(s) might be failing and/or causing the problem.)

Somewhere along the way though, this "fix" for the glitch has morphed into the myth about updating the units and sadly, it's getting spread all over the internet the same way the original myth did.
-m

i bought my pal mickey from usa had it shipped over to england, took it on holiday to wdw for two weeks came home then sold it back over to usa! so mickey got more airmiles than me!
it was ok after a day or two it was a bit cumbersome to carry around all the time, i think a mickey hat with an earpiece telling the same things would be better, everyone buys a silly hat at wdw!

Love My Pal

We have a version one Pal and it has been a terrific investment. He is very entertaining in the parks, his jokes and games out of the parks are also very good. My son (6 now) still will not leave Mickey at home when we go. He is a must take and we go several times a year. I only had trouble once at Epcot with him. I don't know about rumors or not, all I can say is I took him to the camera shop under Spaceship Earth, they took out his batteries, then they laid him next to some gizmo in the drawer by their register and told me he would be ready in like 2 mins. I got him back good as ever. Not sure what they did, but he is still going strong. Hope whatever you buy, is as good for you as He has been for my family.:sohappy: Just buy it in the park, I believe there you will not go wrong!

Just be careful when purchasing online... Even from rebuttable dealers, last year we purchased 4 Mickeys from a local Disney specialized dealer, only 1 of the 4 had working sensors. Mickey would work when playing games, but would not work when walking about the park. So, I would just be careful....

They were selling the older ones at the Character Premiere store at the outlet store by WDW for $25

MojoMax said:

I don't know about rumors or not, all I can say is I took him to the camera shop under Spaceship Earth, they took out his batteries, then they laid him next to some gizmo in the drawer by their register and told me he would be ready in like 2 mins. I got him back good as ever. Not sure what they did, but he is still going strong.

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They just rebooted him. It is NOT an update. Like I said, they need to unseat his batteries when the glitch occurs to solve the problem.
-m

MissM said:

They just rebooted him. It is NOT an update. Like I said, they need to unseat his batteries when the glitch occurs to solve the problem.
-m

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I had a problem with my pal Mickey (v. 2) after leaving Test Track. This happened the last two times I was at EPCOT (July 2005, and April 2006 ). As with most rides when I got close to the load area, Mickey stopped talking, even when I pushed his hand. After I left Test Track he would not talk at all, I went into a store (I can't remember which one ), and I told them Mickey must be broken. They opened him up, and must have just taken out the batteries, and put them back in. He worked fine the rest of the trip. Then when I was there in April, I got on Test Track, and the same thing happened. So all I did was turn him off, then back on again, and he worked fine. My point is maybe there is a glitch near Test Track as well :shrug:

Re-thinking...

Hearing that they can be problematic...I'm rethinking buying on Ebay, maybe unless I find one from a individual that just returned from vacation, otherwise, I'll probably just suck it up and buy a new one...My kids are more Dora/Diego fans, so I wasn't crazy about spending so much on a toy that will probably just sit on the shelf when we get home...oh well, maybe after we get home they'll enjoy having Pal Mickey and it will remind them of our trip...

:lookaroun