Goebel DIS 110 - Walrus Decanter Set

The final item in the Alice in Wonderland series is the fifth Walrus in the set (what character needs 5 incarnations?) - DIS 110, the decanter set.


The set consists of a figural Walrus decanter (his head is the stopper, how cool is that?), a tray, and six cups. Interesting thing about the cups and tray is that they have their own unique numbers. Each cup is marked KL 66 B, and the tray is marked (I think) RG 108 / E - the incising on my tray is pretty faint.

Even though the numbers on the tray and cups do not match those on the decanter itself, I am certain they are correct for the set, as I've had two over the years and they were both the same. Plus the Goebel catalog page illustration shows the same tray and cups with the decanter. Perhaps the tray and cups are generic for other decanter sets made by Goebel.

And that concludes the Alice in Wonderland series of Disney Goebel figures.

Goebel DIS 106 - Walrus Ashtray Discovered!

At long last I have acquired one of the Goebel ashtrays! DIS 106 is the Walrus ashtray based on figure DIS 63.

This completes my set of five walrus figures made by Goebel in the Alice in Wonderland series. See my previous post on this figure for more details.

Yay!

Goebel DIS 63 - Walrus

Yet another character to get multiple figures, this is DIS 63, the Walrus. This figure has a nice hang tag rather than an affixed sticker. This is also a generic Walt Disney Character sticker, the only variety I've ever seen on Alice figures. It has also been my experience that this figure is the most common (if you can call any Goebel figure common) of the Alice series. TOMART description reads "standing man with top hat and cigar".

For whatever reason, the Germans must like the Walrus, he has a total of FIVE figures (two actual figures, one ashtray, one nodder, and one decanter set). Again, a little more variety anyone? How about a Cheshire Cat or a Caterpillar! Geez..

This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

The Great Goebel Posting - Introduction

After much persuasion by my daughter, and a recent acquisition (yay!), I have decided to post the Disney Alice Goebels. I hope I don't bore too many of you.

In the 1950s Disney had a contract with German porcelain maker Goebel (of Hummel fame), and they produced a series of over 200 figures based on Disney characters. The series based on the Alice in Wonderland characters was extensive, with more than 20 separate figures including decanters, nodders and ashtrays.

Goebels. The name has almost mystical significance in the Disneyana world. Highly prized, difficult to find under the best of circumstances, these German figures are some of the most elusive items in the world of Disneyana.

For years the only reference on the Goebels was the fantastic set of Tomart books. Sections on the Goebels appeared in Volume 2 and Condensed Edition. In those books Tom Tumbusch listed the figures by their item number as received from Goebel. The problem was that the list was in German, and some errors in translation undoubtedly occurred. Add to this the fact that due to the language barrier or perhaps just lack of knowledge of the characters, several of the named character labels are wrong. I have seen Bruno mislabeled as Pluto, Honest John mislabeled as Brer Fox, and Tuffy the Orphan Kitten mislabeled as Figaro to name a few.

In 2002 a great book was published in Germany that listed all the figures AND had a few color photographs and reproductions of several original catalog pages that showed the various figures identified by their stock numbers - including ALL the Alice figures! This book can be ordered from amazon.de

All Disney figures have numbers beginning with DIS followed by a number. There are 26 in the Alice in Wonderland series, beginning with DIS 58 and ending with DIS 110 (with obviously a few non-Alice in between). There were two 'series' (for lack of a better word), the first released in 1951, the second in 1952. The first series consisted of 10 figures and 2 nodders. The second series consisted of 7 figures, 2 nodders, 4 ashtrays, and 1 decanter set.

One thing the German book revealed was that there was a typo in the original TOMART list: DIS 106 was incorrectly identified as an ashtray based on DIS 68 - which is not possible since DIS 68 is a wall pocket. DIS 106 is really an ashtray based on figure DIS 63 - the Walrus from the Alice in Wonderland set.

According to TOMART the Disney Goebels were only sold in the US for a short time in the 1950s. I have seen Goebel figures with Disneyland prices tags and Emporium labels, so they must have been sold at least into 1955. It is unclear exactly how many of the Goebels were actually sold in the US, and based on some of the named labels many were only available in Germany.

Over the next several days I will be posting photos of the majority of the Alice set. Enjoy.

Goebel DIS 97 - Walrus Nodder

The last of the nodders. In fact the last of the Disney nodders. During the writing of these posts I came to the realization that the ONLY nodders in the Disney series are of Alice characters. This is DIS 97, the third Walrus in the set. TOMART says "standing thick man with stick and cigar as rocking figure". You can see how if you didn't have pictures of the figures it would be difficult to identify who is who, the descriptions for the Tweedles and the Walrus are pretty similar.


This particular nodder suffered the previously mentioned wrecking ball syndrome. But, it is complete with only a couple of spots where there is loss at a repair site.

Goebel DIS 90 - Walrus

DIS 90, this is the second and final figure of the Walrus, although there are three additional Walruses (Walri?) in the series. TOMART says "standing man with cigar in right hand".

As with the Mad Hatter figures in the 1952 series, this one is significantly smaller than his 1951 counterpart, and again the odd coloring.

Goebel DIS 106 - Walrus Ashtray

The next three items are the remaining ashtrays, beginning with DIS 106, the fourth Walrus piece in the set. This consists of a standard ashtray dish - that appears to have been used for a number of different ashtrays in the Disney series - with the DIS 63 figure applied. TOMART's description for this item is incorrect as it refers to it as DIS 68 as an ashtray. DIS 68 is a Bambi wallpocket.


UPDATE: I have finally acquired this figure! Yay!

Goebel DIS 88 - Mad Hatter

The next figure is the first repeat of a character in figure form. DIS 88 is the second of three Mad Hatter figures (why?!?). This figure has the quintessential Mad Hatter expression on his face.

The repeat characters for the Mad Hatter and Walrus in the 1952 series are all smaller than their 1951 counterparts, and their coloring is a little odd when compared with the 1951 series. Perhaps it can be attributed to the differences in style between Zetzmann and Möller, but while some of the modeling is better in the '52 series, in general I think the colors in the '51 are better