If there was one catalog I looked forward to receiving in my mailbox, it was Disney’s merchandise catalog. I’ve bought numerous gifts through the catalog and, yes, maybe one or two treats for myself. The full color catalog contained not only the standard merchandise found at Disney Stores worldwide, but also featured tons of items that aren’t available through Disney’s retail outlets.
Now, I’m sad to report that Disney Shopping will discontinue its full color mail catalog and rely solely on their merchandise website, http://www.disneyshopping.com. While many business analysts stress that this is merely a sign of the times and quite good for the environment, I can’t help but already miss finding that catalog in my mailbox.
The Disney Catalog offered many limited edition collectibles and Disney-at-Home items that aren’t available from either retail outlets or on resort properties. A shopper could find everything from pajama sets to sculpted wall mirrors to Disney themed armoires.
For awhile, Disney Stores offered a fairly nice selection of collectibles that held adult Disney fans interests as well as plenty of items for the younger set as well. Eventually, however, the Disney Stores completely ruled out adult collectors and went after the younger market with a vengeance. Now, in order to find the collectible Disneyana, one must either shop through the website or visit one of the Disney resort properties.
At any rate, ordering from the disneyshopping.com site is just as easy, if not easier than ordering from the catalog and, as of late, the catalog had been the precursor for my going to the website and ordering it directly through the interface online. The interface is fairly simple to understand while shopping, separating home items from clothing and collectibles from jewelry and even separates items based on characters or character types (such as “villains”, one of my guilty pleasures).
In the meantime, save those old catalogs as they’re sure to become collector’s items for Disneyana collectors worldwide.