The start of a New Year brings many reasons to celebrate. This year, there are two months of back-to-back holidays including Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. I caught up with Monty Maldovan, long-time artist with Disney Design Group, about some of the new merchandise coming for Mickey Mouse’s bear, Duffy the Disney Bear. Monty recently celebrated the release of three original art pieces, including one featuring Mickey and Duffy, at the Art of Disney in Downtown Disney Marketplace.
“I had a lot of fun designing some of the seasonal outfits for Duffy the Disney Bear this year,” said Monty. “We have some new things that our guests have told us they wanted including outfits for 17-inch bears and smaller sized bears that have been a hit!”
The 9-inch Valentine’s Day bear has been extremely popular this year (at time of press there weren’t many remaining in merchandise locations). For St. Patrick’s Day, Monty designed a costume for a 17-inch bear that includes my favorite detail – a bow tie! Monty felt the bow tie was the perfect complement to the bowler hat (and here I thought it was because of my intense love for bow ties).
Monty also designed what may be my favorite Duffy item I’ve seen in the past two years – a 9-inch egg that unzips to reveal a 7-inch bear dressed as a baby chick. He said the design was inspired by previously released plush.
“We introduced Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse plush eggs about two years ago,” explained Monty. “Guests loved them, so we updated the colors this year and added a version with Duffy.”
Other favorites will return this spring including two 12-inch bears. Gardener Duffy will be found at the start of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival on March 6. Monty said the pocket on the front of his overalls is big enough to hold a Disney Gift Card (smells like the perfect gift for someone with a green thumb). Graduate Duffy looks similar to last year’s design but features different colors.
Finally, we released a series of new Hidden Mickey pins that has Duffy the Disney Bear sporting different Disney hats. These pins build on a collection introduced last year of Duffy wearing hats. Look for them on cast members’ lanyards at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts.
Comments
So what are the chances of Shellie May joining Duffy over here in the States? She just looks so sweet and cute and I would love to have her but I can’t afford the expensive shipping fees from Japan and the ones I find online seem to be knock off because they seem to be too cheap to be the real deal.
Duffy Bear is so cute!!
I am very excited for the Flower and Garden Festival Duffy. I’ve loved buying the Food and Wine Festival Duffys the past 2 years so I am excited to see this Flower and Garden Festival version. I hope you come out with a new Flower and Garden Festival Duffy every year from now on.
Any chance we’ll be getting a Blog article soon about other merchandise for this year’s Flower and Garden Festival? Thanks.
Can you buy the outfits without buying the bear? My daughter has a 12 inch 2012 Duffy and she would love to buy new outfits for him. Thanks
@Jay – There are select outfits available for 17-inch bears. Unfortunately, we don’t currently offer separate outfits for 12-inch or 9-inch bears.
I can not find the Valentine Duffy at the Disneyland Resort. Is he still available for sale there?
@Karen – As mentioned, he may no longer be available in select locations at Disneyland or Walt Disney World.
You may want to try Merchandise Guest Services and reference this item number: 400006889775. Their contact information can be found in this article: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/01/answers-to-popular-questions-about-shopping-at-disney-parks/
My Disney knowledge escapes me. What character is the bearded Duffy w/ top hat referencing?
@Andrew – Duffy is dressed as Dreamfinder from Journey into Imagination at Epcot.
I want the pins!! I need to get more traders soon.
So for the pins, are the ones on the left DLR exclusive and the right WDW exclusive or are they waves of pins? Just want to know how hard it’s going to be to get all of them.
@Jon – That is correct. I thought the Sleeping Beauty Castle and Cinderella Castle photos would be a nice way to distinguish where they could be found. 🙂
Pin trading night at WDW?
@Tricia – It looks like the St. Patrick’s Day costume and the egg plush will be coming to the online store in March. The Graduation Duffy will be online in May. I don’t have confirmed launch dates at this time, but I invite you to visit this link:
http://www.disneystore.com/duffy-the-disney-bear/mn/1008401/
@Christopher – Unfortunately, I don’t have any additional information about the next Disney Trading Night at Walt Disney World. I know that the next Disney Trading Night for Disneyland Resort will be held March 15 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Pacific Ballroom at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
I would also like to know if they are available for purchase online. My daughter would love the Easter Duffy.
I will not be at the Flower show until late April, what are my chances of the Gardener Duffy being sold out? and if so, will he be available online? thanks
@Melissa – In theory, we should still have them in April (as we typically like to have items last throughout the entire festival). There are no plans to carry Gardener Duffy online. Sorry 🙁
Comments are closed.