2001 LE Disney Gallery 10-Pin Snow White Set

By the year 2001, the idea of collectible Disney pins had really come into its own. Pin trading was introduced at the Disneyland Resort back in 1999 during the Millennium Celebration and then the following year at Walt Disney World. The Disney Store got into the act too and started carrying their own exclusive pins. For awhile, they even had pin trading days.

I was living in the Front Range of Colorado at the time, thousands of miles from the nearest theme park. So the idea of being able to buy (and trade) pins locally was actually quite nice. I had only one pin in my collection, my first pin. However, that would change on a particularly memorable visit to one of the greater Denver-area Disney Stores.

This Snow White 10-pin set was released in July 2001 only at Disney Gallery stores. (I purchased mine at a regular old Disney Store but it had a "gallery" section within so it qualified.) Each pin was a limited edition of 1937 (the year of the film's premiere) and was sold in individual boxes decorated with handsome artwork. The front clear plastic window was framed like the Magic Mirror and showed each character's pin face inside. Retail price $8.00 (USD) each.

Disney Galley Snow White Pin in Box, 2001.

I walked into the store that day with my wife, and we first saw the racks of pins--then the Snow White boxes. This was a quality set and I was mesmerized! The artwork seemed beautiful and true to the characters in the film. It was this set of pins that awakened my Snow White collecting instinct and which would help contribute to the eventual formation of this Filmic Light blog. I purchased the entire set that day, and it took some convincing on the part of my wife to keep me from buying out the entire store supply. I was now a collector of Miss White.

Each of the enamel cloisonné pins measures about 1" across and anywhere from 1 1/4" to 1 3/4" tall. The backside reads "© Disney, Limited Edition 1937, China". Note the two separate back-posts for added strength and the old style pin backs. (This is before the rubber mouse ears came into being.)

 

A decade later, my appetite for Disney pins has been curbed somewhat with the unfortunate introduction of scrappers into the market. Yet, on occasion, I still do enjoy a quality pin when I see one.