Rumor Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment

Surfin' Tuna

Well-Known Member
Figment has always been popular mainly due to Guests that remember the Original Attraction.
There is a connection there, today I would call it ‘nostalgic connection’ since most of us who experienced the Original in person are getting up in years.
I think this is true for us old people who remember and loved the first Figment, who was fun and lovable. I think there are a ton of people who find him cute now, and I think they are the ones buying the majority of the merchandise.
 

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
I was fortunate to ride the original when I was a very young kid, but one of the things I also thought was very cool about Figment, and I would guess many people might feel the same as well, was that the merch was exclusive to Epcot and that attraction. Something about that felt a little extra special when you brought home the little Figment plush, unlike getting a Mickey anywhere basically.
 

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
I was fortunate to ride the original when I was a very young kid, but one of the things I also thought was very cool about Figment, and I would guess many people might feel the same as well, was that the merch was exclusive to Epcot and that attraction. Something about that felt a little extra special when you brought home the little Figment plush, unlike getting a Mickey anywhere basically.
At least during the Centorium era they would have a section alone all for Figment not just the small excuse of a corner at the institute where 5 shelves is other Pixar and Disney IP's and 2 shelves of Figment..
 

FigmentFan82

Well-Known Member
I think a lot of us miss the exclusive merch that one could find at various places around WDW in the early days. Don't get me off a tangent about the house of magic or the already mentioned Centorium, which was just cool no matter what they were selling.
For the life of me I don't understand why there aren't more exclusive shops in WDW like they used to have. DHS in particular used to have a upscale clothing shop with a lot nicer Disney type clothes. When all the merch is the same, people feel less inclined to make a impulse purchase because you know you can find it somewhere else on property before you leave. I guess Galaxies Edge is currently one of the few rare exclusive merch areas, but there really should be more. Also Creations shop should have a lot more Epcot merch then one little corner.
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
For the life of me I don't understand why there aren't more exclusive shops in WDW like they used to have. DHS in particular used to have a upscale clothing shop with a lot nicer Disney type clothes. When all the merch is the same, people feel less inclined to make a impulse purchase because you know you can find it somewhere else on property before you leave. I guess Galaxies Edge is currently one of the few rare exclusive merch areas, but there really should be more. Also Creations shop should have a lot more Epcot merch then one little corner.
I have not been to Universal in many years, but when the Harry Potter section opened at IOA, the shopping was amazing... It was hard to not buy something... They really did an amazing job with merch and created wonderful destination shopping in the park... I was hoping Disney would begin to do the same, but all we seemed to get was Memento Mori and whatever they did for Galaxy's Edge....and that was it... There are far more opportunities within the parks to make it feel more like destination shopping instead of repetititve non specific Disney merchandise no one cares about...
 

Moth

Well-Known Member
For the life of me I don't understand why there aren't more exclusive shops in WDW like they used to have. DHS in particular used to have a upscale clothing shop with a lot nicer Disney type clothes. When all the merch is the same, people feel less inclined to make a impulse purchase because you know you can find it somewhere else on property before you leave. I guess Galaxies Edge is currently one of the few rare exclusive merch areas, but there really should be more. Also Creations shop should have a lot more Epcot merch then one little corner.
It was mortifying to see the selection of merch when I went back in... I think 2022? It was before Guardians opened, like a month prior.

I wanted merch based off rides, and I got nothing there sans some Figment stuff because he was essentially the only 'park' only merch they carried.
 

Streetway

Well-Known Member
It was mortifying to see the selection of merch when I went back in... I think 2022? It was before Guardians opened, like a month prior.

I wanted merch based off rides, and I got nothing there sans some Figment stuff because he was essentially the only 'park' only merch they carried.
Yeah, they dont have as much good park merch anymore for the most part, though there was some good ones when i went this year. I did get a pretty cool tower of terror desk bell. POTC always has a good shirt or two.
 

Rodj

Well-Known Member
Ive always kinda wanted a figment shirt, but the problem is a lot of them is stuff i probably wouldn’t wear out of the house. IMO Disney parks merch needs to be a bit more subtle.
Funnily enough, on a drive today in my home state(Ohio), I saw an SUV decked out with large Figment stickers on the sides(door panels) and the tailgate. Wish I got a picture.
 

GenChi

Well-Known Member
You can't explain Figmentmania with just a great mascot design or just being Disney branded. That isn't giving you those sales or historic line waits in this competitive market. He sells largely because of the attachment to his original ride that gave you a reason to like him.

And that's the flaw. Figment is an IP, a high-selling IP. But unique compared to all their others in that his popularity is centered around a ride that hasn't existed for a quarter of a century, and either the fans rode it long ago or are younger and fell into the trendy mystique of it after riding the modern version. Every other IP either you can rerun a film or series indefinitely to new generations or you can ride a beloved ride right now, where here you have to hope a small set of Disney fans in the WDW realm "get" the character after seeing what he used to be on Youtube. That can't be sustained forever.

They need to get he needs a flagship central media again or that lightning in a bottle will dry up. If it's the ride restored (most preferred), a tv series or film, a game, multiple, whatever. Do something that can be indefinite so new fans can always be made. Cameos in comics or Speedstorm are nice but are only a temporary refresh, not a long-term IP support. And if they do nothing then that current ride doesn't sustain the interest he has now and it'll decline. If they replace it with Inside Out they lose all reason for people to care for him, even if he cameos. If they want this lucrative IP to continue or even spread beyond its niche instead of fizzle out they need to do something. And that mostly being what everyone has been saying for decades.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
I have not been to Universal in many years, but when the Harry Potter section opened at IOA, the shopping was amazing... It was hard to not buy something... They really did an amazing job with merch and created wonderful destination shopping in the park... I was hoping Disney would begin to do the same, but all we seemed to get was Memento Mori and whatever they did for Galaxy's Edge....and that was it... There are far more opportunities within the parks to make it feel more like destination shopping instead of repetititve non specific Disney merchandise no one cares about...

It is wild how much worse it continued to get in Main Street, and then also Hollywood Blvd/Sunset BLVD.
Disney Springs even when the Marvel and Star Wars stores came in, and we lost Magic Masters and my favorite there Once Upon a Toy Story. You had things in there that you could not get in even the main World of Disney Store.
Not to mention all the scenery it all had
 
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Bocabear

Well-Known Member
they keep telling themselves that the guests want modern unthemed resorts and unthemed "Gap" style stores....yet all of us remember the old World Of Disney and how much fun it was to shop in there... the themed rooms, set pieces, all added up to a more engaging experience. The new Creations at EPCOT and World of Disney fail to inspire me to buy anything let alone even bother going in... There was a time at Downtown Disney when they had multiple Disney retail locations and each one had completely different product... A kitchen and Home store, a Pet goods store, a toy store.... It was fun to shop...
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
they keep telling themselves that the guests want modern unthemed resorts and unthemed "Gap" style stores....yet all of us remember the old World Of Disney and how much fun it was to shop in there... the themed rooms, set pieces, all added up to a more engaging experience. The new Creations at EPCOT and World of Disney fail to inspire me to buy anything let alone even bother going in... There was a time at Downtown Disney when they had multiple Disney retail locations and each one had completely different product... A kitchen and Home store, a Pet goods store, a toy store.... It was fun to shop...

They should look at the success and sometimes the line to get into Universal's Tribute Stores.
 

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
You can't explain Figmentmania with just a great mascot design or just being Disney branded. That isn't giving you those sales or historic line waits in this competitive market. He sells largely because of the attachment to his original ride that gave you a reason to like him.

And that's the flaw. Figment is an IP, a high-selling IP. But unique compared to all their others in that his popularity is centered around a ride that hasn't existed for a quarter of a century, and either the fans rode it long ago or are younger and fell into the trendy mystique of it after riding the modern version. Every other IP either you can rerun a film or series indefinitely to new generations or you can ride a beloved ride right now, where here you have to hope a small set of Disney fans in the WDW realm "get" the character after seeing what he used to be on Youtube. That can't be sustained forever.

They need to get he needs a flagship central media again or that lightning in a bottle will dry up. If it's the ride restored (most preferred), a tv series or film, a game, multiple, whatever. Do something that can be indefinite so new fans can always be made. Cameos in comics or Speedstorm are nice but are only a temporary refresh, not a long-term IP support. And if they do nothing then that current ride doesn't sustain the interest he has now and it'll decline. If they replace it with Inside Out they lose all reason for people to care for him, even if he cameos. If they want this lucrative IP to continue or even spread beyond its niche instead of fizzle out they need to do something. And that mostly being what everyone has been saying for decades.
The comic wasn't a "cameo" thing, it was basically treated by Imagineering as a pitch document for a pavilion update whether it be a new ride or a new 3D film. Fasttracking Frozen Ever After ended up sidelining it.
 

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
they keep telling themselves that the guests want modern unthemed resorts and unthemed "Gap" style stores....yet all of us remember the old World Of Disney and how much fun it was to shop in there... the themed rooms, set pieces, all added up to a more engaging experience. The new Creations at EPCOT and World of Disney fail to inspire me to buy anything let alone even bother going in... There was a time at Downtown Disney when they had multiple Disney retail locations and each one had completely different product... A kitchen and Home store, a Pet goods store, a toy store.... It was fun to shop...
Exactly.

I hardly ever go in any store on Disney property now because I know what im going to find…and it’s nothing unique or that interests me.
When they got away from park specific and ride/attraction specific merch, that was a major mistake…but now even in Disney Springs all their stores are the same garbage. There’s nothing unique.
 

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