Why Does Disney Not Capitalize On More 80/90's Series Merchandise?

muse1983

muse1983

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My wife and I just got back a couple of days ago and throughout our trip we were approached by at least 2-3 dozen cast members/guests about some of the gear we had on.
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The shirts were acquired through 80stees and while they are official Disney shirts they certainly aren't easily found and are definitely not found in the parks (not this trip anyways, we did manage to find a Ducktales t shirt back in 2012). The bag that my wife has is actually my lunchbox from the late 80's that she turned into a purse for the trip. To say that the bag was a hit among castmembers would be an understatement and it made us wonder why Disney hasn't capitalized on more of the late 80's/early 90's Disney Afternoon animated series merchandise. It was crazy how many people approached us hoping that we could direct them somewhere on property to get one of the shirts and I really wish I could have told them how readily available they were. Amazing trip though!

Off Topic: Disney, want a multi million dollar idea? SELL DR. SCHOLL FOOT INSERTS AT YOUR RESORTS...that is all.
 
muse1983

muse1983

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DisneyFans4Life said:
It would be interesting to have at least one store, or section of a store, offering throwback selections. Talk about nastalgia...I bet they'd make a killing off it.
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Exactly. I certainly don't expect them to fill up the wall of the Emporium with this type of merchandise but a corner of one of the stores selling T-shirts etc from Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Ducktales and Rescue Rangers would be a massive hit.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
muse1983 said:
My wife and I just got back a couple of days ago and throughout our trip we were approached by at least 2-3 dozen cast members/guests about some of the gear we had on.
zjyt50.jpg

zjyt50.jpg

The shirts were acquired through 80stees and while they are official Disney shirts they certainly aren't easily found and are definitely not found in the parks (not this trip anyways, we did manage to find a Ducktales t shirt back in 2012). The bag that my wife has is actually my lunchbox from the late 80's that she turned into a purse for the trip. To say that the bag was a hit among castmembers would be an understatement and it made us wonder why Disney hasn't capitalized on more of the late 80's/early 90's Disney Afternoon animated series merchandise. It was crazy how many people approached us hoping that we could direct them somewhere on property to get one of the shirts and I really wish I could have told them how readily available they were. Amazing trip though!

Off Topic: Disney, want a multi million dollar idea? SELL DR. SCHOLL FOOT INSERTS AT YOUR RESORTS...that is all.
Click to expand...

Then you missed the boat apparently...They were selling Disney Afternoon Merch a few years ago in the parks...http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ems-at-disney-parks-spark-childhood-memories/

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And this was the shirt you mentioned in your post..
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ducktales_tshirt.jpg
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
I wonder if Disney could make a lot more money by selling a greater variety of shirts throughout the parks.
It would certainly complicate their procurement and distribution process, but I'd like to see every single major gift shop on property stock one or two unique shirts, preferably that have something to do with the area the store is located in. A lot of guests instinctively check out every store they can, albeit quickly, and I know I'm disappointed if I keep seeing the same merch over and over again.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
I wonder if Disney could make a lot more money by selling a greater variety of shirts throughout the parks.
It would certainly complicate their procurement and distribution process, but I'd like to see every single major gift shop on property stock one or two unique shirts, preferably that have something to do with the area the store is located in. A lot of guests instinctively check out every store they can, albeit quickly, and I know I'm disappointed if I keep seeing the same merch over and over again.
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You mean like they used to ... before the dark times?
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Bairstow said:
I wonder if Disney could make a lot more money by selling a greater variety of shirts throughout the parks.
Click to expand...
Probably not. T-shirt sales are mostly cannibalistic. In other words, maybe I'm going to buy one t-shirt on my trip. If the only t-shirt available is a "Four Parks, One World" t-shirt, that's the one I'm going to get. Now, if they offered an Avengers, Star Wars, or Duck Tales shirt, I might buy one of those. But I'm going to buy it instead of the "Four Parks, One World" shirt, not in addition.

No, it's not this simple and it's not 100%, but there's a balancing act between incremental sales and increased development and inventory costs when it comes to variety of merchandise.
 
ULPO46

ULPO46

Well-Known Member
If I am not mistaken I have seen some Resort Giftshops sell Dr. Scholl's inserts yet again, that was on the non Disney resorts near DTD could be that they have stopped.
 
POLY LOVER

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
for all the selling and marketing Disney does do , I think there are many missed opportunitys for Merch sales. I'm sure they have their reasons but I think there are many items they could have.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
Probably not. T-shirt sales are mostly cannibalistic. In other words, maybe I'm going to buy one t-shirt on my trip. If the only t-shirt available is a "Four Parks, One World" t-shirt, that's the one I'm going to get. Now, if they offered an Avengers, Star Wars, or Duck Tales shirt, I might buy one of those. But I'm going to buy it instead of the "Four Parks, One World" shirt, not in addition.

No, it's not this simple and it's not 100%, but there's a balancing act between incremental sales and increased development and inventory costs when it comes to variety of merchandise.
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I'm sure Disney knows tons more about this than I do, but I do wonder whether T-shirt sales really are cannibalistic. I never set out on a Disney vacation with the intention of buying a shirt, or any merch, really.

In fact, of the last five times I've been to Disney I only bought a souvenir for myself on the first time, and that was a retro Epcot shirt. I've spent Lord knows how many hours perusing their stores, since then, though- and haven't quite found something I was willing to pay their prices for.

I've picked up a couple unique shirts from Redbubble, though, all of which would likely violate Disney's copyrights to one degree or another.
 

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