Now Available on Home Video

[TheTwins]

This post is definitely going to betray my age, but after photographing some pins for the database (and digging through a few old Christmas photos), I’m in a nostalgic mood. Hopefully, there are lots of you who get warm fuzzies for some of the things from the 1990s – whether you grew up then, were collecting then or any other great reason!

Sis and I were born in 1987, which put us at the heart of the “Disney Renaissance” era. Everything was The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, etc. And our parents scrimped and saved so that we could have all kinds of fun stuff from the Disney merchandise department; from Snow White comforters, giant Belle pillows (still have that one, minus the old stuffing), Ariel bedsheets and lunchboxes, Minnie Mouse wrist watches, and more.

 

 

For Christmas 1992, we woke up to the Mattel Disney dolls (like Barbie but with Disney faces) of the Princesses and their Princes. I can still feel that like it was yesterday. So far, I haven’t been able to turn up a photo from that Christmas morning, but here’s one from the following year when Sis introduced Pete’s Dragon to  Aurora and Philip.

 

 

 

 

 

But no memory of the 1990s is complete without those grand VHS tapes that slid into the players and began with Sorcerer Mickey and the sparkly red Walt Disney Home Video logo, followed, of course, by the classic blue-and-white castle logo and a green screen explaining that the following film had been modified to fit your tv. Ah, what a cheery memory.

 

 

 

Of course, the standard resolution in those days was a total of 480x320, but we all thought it was great stuff. We grew up with the CRT screen that Mom and Pop bought when they got married. It was the biggest “portable” screen Burdine’s had to offer at a grand 19”! That’s what we watched everything on until the fateful day when it “blew up” in 2003 (just as Gandalf crested the battle hill in The Two Towers . . . but that’s another story). These days, my computer monitor is 25”, and it’s the smallest one in the house.

When it comes to video tapes and pins, there are actually lots of ways to combine this nostalgia with a current collection.  If you search for Video or VHS in the PinPics database, you’ll return over six-hundred results. Those include everything from pre-trading pins to advertising buttons, and I’d encourage you to search the term and browse oldest first. The nostalgia actually hit me while photographing two different sets lately, still with their original cards. It was exciting, back in the ‘90s, when the Disney films were released on video. Advertising came out, and promotional items were everywhere – including pins!

 

 

What got me started with this was the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs promo set from 1994 (PP#180491), which are some of the first pins added to PinPics back in 2000. As expected, the listings needed some updating, which always leads down a huge rabbit hole. My Mom and I have now spent quite a lot of hours researching VHS promo pins. They may appear to be small, inconsequential pieces, but when you realize what they are, they’re really neat!

Snow White was finally issued on tape at the end of October 1994, having been touted by Disney as the film they would never release on video. 27 million copies were shipped to stores, topping Aladdin, which had sold 24 million copies at the time. Along with all the merchandise and Happy Meal figures (our Prince Florian really withstood some heavy play over the years), these pins hit the counters . . . but just how is still a bit of a mystery. They were available at Disney Stores, and the eight-pin-set was sold in a blister pack (PP#4144) for $7.95. But they were also available as some type of promotional giveaway, because the individual carded pins are also found in original sealed plastic bags, along with a display card featuring the VHS cover design and spots for all eight pins. All these options were listed in the database over time, but no details have been preserved. If anyone remembers more about how these pins were given out, please let us know! 

 

 

 

If you like Beauty and the Beast (that most classic, wonderful, singable, memorable, amazing, Oscar-nominated masterpiece), choices are good. Quite a number of Walt Disney Home Video pins were made featuring some of the Enchanted Objects, Gaston, Beast, and Belle (PP#97079). Here are PP#38118 and PP#2480, which are soft-enamel with epoxy domes.

 

 

 

And for another cool set, similar to the Snow White pins, check out the cool Lion King six-pin-set that was released through Pillsbury in 1995. The pins came on their own cute little cards that proudly proclaim “Now on Home Video” along the bottom.  (Just search “Pillsbury” in the database to find these cuties.)

 

 

How did you get these, you ask? One pin was given each week with the purchase of a Pillsbury product from select stores participating in the promotion. Once a dedicated shopper acquired the entire set, it could be placed on a special cardboard card display as shown here (PP#5316). If anyone remembers how the display was acquired, please reply here!

 

 

 

Thinking about the Disney video tapes, it’s really those over-sized plastic clamshell cases that pop into your mind, right? They’re so classic that multiple pin sets and series have been released with those case designs. Some of the pins even open up to show a “video tape” inside!

 

 

Since it’s the cases that tend to be the most nostalgic aspect with those colorful art designs, Sis and I wanted to do something fun with them. Did you know that you can make really neat DIY pin cases out of the old clamshells? Remove the video tape, and you can fill the cavity with cork-covered foam board to make a great storage spot for your collections. We’ve done a bunch of them over the years, and Sis still keeps her whole Robin Hood collection in cases like this . . . though it’s now six or seven cases large.

 

 

 

Before wrapping this up, I’ll just squeeze in a mention about a real-cloisonne pin here. Most of the Home Video pins are soft enamel, often with epoxy dome coatings on them. These were promotional giveaways, after all. Well, there was a French-released pin for Walt Disney Home Video made in real cloisonne! It’s PP#3562, available in France after you purchased several Disney home videos, and featuring Merlin and Archimedes from The Sword in the Stone. Just look at that gorgeous blue color!

 

 

 

Well, folks, that’s the end of the story for today. Time to make a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or tea (whichever you prefer) and curl up with a good Disney film streaming on the high-def, flat-screen tv. While there are some great memories of these VHS tapes, but I’m not crazy enough to want to go back to their quality . . . just crazy enough to enjoy collecting these pins that bring back the great memories.

~ Sarah