Disney’s biggest fans may head to Florida for their Fantasyland fix.
Brad Kramer just heads to his den, which looks like a "minnie" Disney museum filled with vintage Disneyana, primarily from the late 1920s and into the '80s and '90s.
"We typically focus on older pieces," says Kramer, 65, a software salesperson and Huntington resident who with his wife, Jackie, 65, has collected Disney memorabilia for decades.
Jackie and Brad Kramer have collected Disney memorabilia for decades, seen here at their Huntington home. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
While many people love Disney, a small subset collects seriously, building big collections, buying, selling, searching and living and breathing Disney, if more for passion than pure profit.
"I had collecting in my blood, growing up," Brad continues. "I find Walt Disney to be a mentor; the kind of person he was, the way he approached his life and career, his drive for perfection, desire to innovate and ability to see the future. He never gave up or lost sight of his goals."
Brad and Jackie, a published picture-book author, have built a roughly 620-item collection over 30 years.
"I married into it," Jackie says. "The collection started with his mother. She was an amazing collector."
Long Island's Disney Marketplace
Long Island is awash with Disney memorabilia in homes and stores from items that once adorned theme parks in Florida or California to "Lion King" figurines. Remember Yesteryears, a 15,000-square-foot antique, collectibles and memorabilia store in Oakdale, includes 120 vendors with a large helping of Disney items.
"Here’s a great piece," Yesteryears owner Joe Caporaso, 59, of Patchogue, says as he picks up a windup Minnie Mouse figure valued at $50. People, he says, frequently come in seeking to buy and sell, turning Yesteryears into a Disney marketplace.
Joseph Caporaso, left, of Patchogue, owner of Remember Yesteryears in Oakdale, takes an important phone call on the Mickey phone held by vendor Gus Rodriguez. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
Items displayed include a 1939 "Snow White" Dopey night-light going for $125, a 1940s pottery Pinocchio for $125 and Lion King figures priced from $50 to $120.
Vintage Minnie and Mickey Mouse figurines at Remember Yesteryears in Oakdale. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
"Pinocchio is very popular," says Caporaso, who's wearing a Disney shirt. "Of course, Mickey and Minnie are big hits."
Gustavo Rodriguez, 53, a talent booker who grew up in Cedarhurst and now lives in Queens, shows and sells items at Yesteryears.
"I’ve always been a Disney fan," Rodriguez says. "I got in the habit of buying Disney records. I liked the art and they were cheap. Then it spiraled into other collectibles. During the pandemic, I had a lot of time on my hands."
Rodriguez now has a few thousand items.
"You can pick up things for not a lot of money, entry-level things, old Mickey Mouse cereal bowls for $50, spoons and books," says Rodriguez, whose collection includes a 1933 Mickey Mouse wristwatch valued at $500.
Enchanted eBay
At its brick-and-mortar in Westbury, nostalgic memorabilia shop L.I. Pickers stocks nearly 70 Disney items. Many of them are also listed for sale on the store's eBay and social media pages to appeal to online seekers.
"Disney comes and goes. We got a bunch of snow globes, teapots and cookie jars. They go pretty quickly," says owner Maureen Guarnotta. "We have a lot of Disney people, but we’re always left with some of it. There’s always something." The dozens of Disney items up for grabs on its eBay page include characters such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Mickey Mouse, Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" and other characters and are priced from $5 to nearly $70.
"There are figures. The newest thing is a double-decker snow globe that came in," Guarnotta says. "Most of the stuff is reasonably priced." She adds her buyers and sellers are often in their 50s and older, but sees the interest transcends age. "Teenagers bought some smaller figures," she said. "A lot of older people buy gifts for grandchildren. It really is a mixed group."
The Kramers — with a collection that includes books, lunch boxes, vintage posters, theme park signs and plastic toys from the 1930s — say they've been able to beef up their findings using eBay, online stores and estate and garage sales.
Pieces from the Kramers' collection. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
"We love searching for items to buy. We go to the parks, watch movies," Brad says. "We just came back from a trip to Japan where we spent some time at Tokyo Disneyland."
They brought back some small cars from Tokyo Disneyland and vintage items from vintage stores in Japan, such as a plate from Frontierland in the 1970s.
"The value is in the eye of the buyer. The market fluctuates a lot," Brad adds. "There are people who will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for an item they want and people who will sneer at something that’s $5."
Mini Magic Kingdom
The Kramers' mini Magic Kingdom includes a sign that hung in Disneyland celebrating Mickey’s 60th birthday that they acquired from an auction house and a 1930s Ferris wheelp. There’s a first-edition Lady and the Tramp book along with ceramic figures from Snow White and Fantasia, and Mickey Mouse watches from the 1930s.
Jackie and Brad Kramer’s antique Disney collection includes clocks and a Lady and the Tramp book autographed by Walt Disney. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
The Kramers have collected some valuable items over the years, such as an authenticated 1940s or 1950s publicity photo autographed by Walt Disney, valued at $10,000; a drawing from a 1929 cartoon valued at $600; 1940s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs figures by Zaccagnini Ceramics valued at $3,000; and a 1930s Lionel train valued at $350.
"We sell the things we think perhaps other people might like or we already have in our collection," Jackie Kramer says. "If we love it and we don’t have it, we’ll keep it."
Disney collecting is being discovered by a younger generation, while it’s also possible to buy a dizzying array of new, even limited edition, items from Disney’s own online store.
"It’s different age groups. It depends on what the thing is," Rodriguez says. "There’s a thing getting hot with younger collectors, anything that has to do with old Disney cards from the 1930s. Kids who like Pokemon are discovering them."
Some collectors pay big bucks for rare Disney items and auction houses can summon high prices for rare items.
"You can find international buyers," Jackie says. "A lot of people who can’t get items in other countries become your big fish, your whales."
The Kramers also sell items at Rosie’s Vintage in Huntington, where they have a permanent presence. "We’re not in it to make a living," Brad says. "We just love being around the stuff and helping other people add to their collection."
