Warning, very long, and somewhat rambling, post giving my thoughts on items of interest, as someone who collects obscure Disney parks related items with regularity.
I find it funny the annual reports are, for some reason, highly valued. You can find Eisner era ones (and even occasionally earlier) for maybe $10 a piece at the right garage sales around Orlando. Not common, but I wouldn't say they're worth $51-85 a piece as they estimate! But many of their estimates seem to be low! The bit of wood from Walt's garage will likely go for 10x what they think it would. The book signed by Walt will easily fetch $10k (Disney has not in many years sold a Walt signature under that price). Luckily the cost to restore the rest of the book is likely to be not terribly high. Similarly, the Roy MMC mortgage will likely go for quite a bit more (and the signed photo with all the Mousketeers is way undervalued as well - it's in fantastic shape for its age). And that Disney Magic animation exhibit poster would look fantastic on my wall...
But bar NONE the collection of signatures of (and letters from) Disney Legends and various other celebrities is the one thing I would buy if I had the money. No question the highlight of the auction for any Disney fan (arguably even more than one from Walt himself, since they're not uncommon). Especially since a majority of those listed on the Legends side are dead, and many of them didn't exactly get a ton of fan mail... The Art of Disney book signed by most of the biggest names in Imagineering from Walt's time (plus all 9 Old Men) is something I'm not sure I could do anything with other than put it in Iron Mountain, I'd be so afraid of it getting damaged or stolen. The Order of Red Hankerchief bell is certainly more displayable, and even desireable (would look fantastic on a shief or desk if I ever redesigned my spare bedroom int a proper office).
To get to more parks related items, the fan in me would kill to own that MMC Circus program, but I already have a good idea of who might bid on it (Hi Ted!). I've seen that same hardhat as listed on 165 selling for about $200-300 in Lakeland, so they're not far off. The Disneyland sales group policy book is something I'm surprised is going for that much, it's not really interesting reading and you'd be lucky to get half or a quarter on the low end out of any retail setting around Orlando or Anaheim, reasonably. Always astounded me that people are willing to pay that much for policy documents, not even something project related. Though the Edison Square pitch book is VERY tempting. Pitch books are hard to find (I've only ever seen Epcot ones in person), and especially one from a very early project in DL's history. I'd seriously consider bidding on it if I could afford it. The Disney Look book from early on in WDW is... weird. At least unlike the sales manual it's got pictures and old costumes, but I'd struggle to see who would reasonably pay $200 for it? What fan would spend that much on it, even as a historical curiosity? There's loads of other stuff that seems like it'll go for good money (lots of art, posters, and the odd souvenir), but not my thing. Tiki baby is kind of creepy.
For being so rare and controversial, I'm surprised the Aunt Jemima's Kitchen placemat/menu isn't more. If it was like $50 and I saw it at a sale somewhere I'd pick it up, but $100-200 is a little much without frame. On the other hand the Casa De Fritos poster may or may not reach its target (and is likely worth it for whoever can afford it considering it's literally where they invented the Frito), but would still be great in somebody's house. I'd love it, but could never afford it unless I was a millionaire. The fact the BTM opening day poster is somehow worth 20x less by estimate is confounding (no question it exceeds its high). Is that Splash poster park used, or just a print? If it's park used, it's a diamond for many collectors and will likely exceed the price significantly. The park used exit sign is also kinda neat, though I'd have no idea where I'd put it. Very surprised it's valued at twice as much as a literal Small World doll hat! And same with the prop guitar! If those Epcot binders somehow (and they don't given the price) had their papers still inside, they'd be a steal! Similarly the UAE pavilion photos would be nice framed if they weren't so faded. Not a lot has come out about that first proposal, so they should still go for good money (I'd prefer the book personally).
The entertainment stuff is cool as well - the MSEP blueprints are awesome but almost certainly out of my price range (if they go for less than $2k I'll be shocked), and really ought to be in a museum or a university (UCF? UCLA? Somebody?) for preservation and study. Same with the Pirate's Layer/TSI stuff. The WDW grand opening master event script is also surprisngly already publicly available to read, but I'm not sure it'd be worth that much regardless (it's quite dry even as someone who studied theme park entertainment and events at university). And I'd need to figure out how to frame the All-American College Band drumhead... Spectro jackets will easily meet their reserves (although they certainly couldn't fit me, unfortunately). Similarly, a lot of cool hotel items I'd have no idea what to do with but would love to display if I could theme my home's bedrooms after a particular resort.
That medallion for the 100 Years of Disney is so far overpriced it's not even funny - you can seriously find them on eBay for $20 or so. I'd be scared to buy the glove without seeing the tags or anything else to prove autnehticity. For the service pins, the first 2 can be bought for $40-50 each, but Simba is what drives up the expected price (he's only been around since 2016 so there are far less of him than the previous Mickey design). The other two are fairly common, though again, why anyone would collect service pins that aren't their own is something that boggles my mind. And it's pretty funny that a boarding group poster from Rise is somehow worth $800. I've also seen the DCA opening map, framed, go for that price range (the map being bid on is unframed). The DL firefighter badge pin pops up on eBay on occasion for a significant discount. Prices with anywhere from a 50-75% discount from the price they're claiming on the low end, are not uncommon. The POTC Disney Dollars may also be quite undervalued. And while I've never seen any of these specific costumes for sale, I've seen tons available for incredibly cheap in some stores if you know where to look.
Thank god Van Eaton have never opened up a gallery in Celebration or something, or I'd be broke from going to their auctions all the time.
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