mergatroid
Well-Known Member
I still giggle when I see this thread at the thought of those who insisted Pandora wouldn't sell any substantial amounts of merchandise 
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
WindTraders is all out of Banshees in The Rookery (NO JOKE)
- Thread starter IanDLBZF
- Start date
Phineas
Well-Known Member
The thing is, I understood where they were coming from. I was working at [Iconic American Toy Store] when Avatar came out, and the toy line just was not moving. This was true of our sister stores in the state as well, and the entire line was deeply discounted.I still giggle when I see this thread at the thought of those who insisted Pandora wouldn't sell any substantial amounts of merchandise
I used to joke about the problem with Avatar: "Name two characters from the movie. 'Sigourney Weaver' is not a character's name." The visuals were spectacular, and the environment was gorgeous, but kids were not flocking into our stores to buy their favorite blue person.
The real difference here is the "Exit Through the Gift Shop" function at work. I'm sure if my company set up merchandise kiosks outside movie theaters selling the toy line, we'd have sold out regularly.
mergatroid
Well-Known Member
That's fair enough and I've never bought Avatar merchandise myself, nor would I. I think the majority of those insisting it would never sell seemed to be those who also insisted that 'Avatar Land' would be terrible from day one, it's all about opinions though so they had every right to say that.
movies about conservation and environmentalism dont sell with 9 year old boys. and 9 year old boys is what drives merchandise
quality sells at theme parks, FOP, satuli, and windtraders are pretty high quality and thats why they are ding well
Marlins1
Well-Known Member
Yeah but people did not say it will sell because it is at the exit of a great ride. They just said there will be no interest and it won't sell. I have only watched 10 minutes of Avatar but can't wait to experience this land in August. Sometimes it is cool to visit great attractions and lands that you don't associate with a movie or show that you know inside out. I think that may be what is happening here just like TOT and Splash. As opposed to a mediocre Little Mermaid ride about a great movie that I saw countless times.
999th Happy Haunt
Well-Known Member
I'm going in a few days. Any update on Banshee stock?
Bingo!...... really sad isn't it? People behaving badly once again!
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
I still giggle when I see this thread at the thought of those who insisted Pandora wouldn't sell any substantial amounts of merchandise
Well, who'd have imagined there'd be merchandise like the Banshees? Everybody loves dragons (which is what Banshees are, come on). I can certainly see their appeal. Wouldn't want one, myself, but then I'm not a big merch buyer, even of *actual* Disney stuff.
Was threre three time this past week always had some in stock. I asked if they are still selling out and was told only running out of individual colors but not completely out.
Many people said building an Avatar land was a bad decision/knee jerk reaction. That is not the same as saying it will "fail".
They have plenty of inventory, just not for a very expensive hand-operated plastic shoulder pet. If I asked you if you would by a $50 hand-operated plastic shoulder pet related to a brand new ride, would you have said 'yes'? The number of people buying these things is... surprising. And they're doing so at $60 now.
- In the Parks
- No
Disney totally underestimated just how well the Banshees were going to sell, as @MisterPenguin said they didn't expect a hand operated pet to become the thing to buy at Pandora so stocks vanished almost as soon as they were put out.
mergatroid
Well-Known Member
Where did I say people said it would 'fail'? I said some said it would be terrible and some did. It's all about opinions though.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Kudos to them for hitting on a single product. When you consider that very few people saw a merchandise draw at all to this land, it's hard to really blame for them for this. A year out, it will be interesting to see what Pandora merchandise has made it's way to the outlets.
Horizons '83
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Its a win win for Disney. They artificially created demand (and being able to bump the price up) while not having the expense of holding excess inventory.
matt9112
Well-Known Member
So we bought a banshee for my son on day one of previews....they were flying off thee shelf. I knew the price was ridiculous but it was part of the moment. Also got a cool ACE magnet. The merch here is nice because it's very unique even if it's IP driven technically it's stuff you haven't seen before and have no idea about. It's not (princesses and mickey) everywhere. The lack of "Disney" is refreshing.
As an aside I believe wind traders is far too small and they clearly didn't know it would be this popular.
Edit: my two cents is that if a phase two ever occurs the rookery should become it's own stand alone shop with higher capacity and more intimant showmanship like olivanders.
As an aside I believe wind traders is far too small and they clearly didn't know it would be this popular.
Edit: my two cents is that if a phase two ever occurs the rookery should become it's own stand alone shop with higher capacity and more intimant showmanship like olivanders.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Keep in mind they're building this for 2+ decades, not 2+ months. The newness is real and has to be considered. I could see long term that they expand the Rookery area within the building, but they don't have the inventory to make that possible right now. I also suspect that there will be a big selection of merchandise finding it's way to the outlets.
matt9112
Well-Known Member
Hopefully not....avatars success is it's emersion and unique noin Disney look. So hopefully the merch lives and dies inside that land