Disappearing Merchandise

[CaptainCampion]

I won't lie, I'm an avid collector. When I become obsessed over something, I want MERCHANDISE! (With Yu-Gi-Oh!, it was figurines. With Balto, plushes!)

However, I've come to notice as time goes on, less and less merchandise is popping up on the internet. eBay is essentially the Last Resort to find much of anything. Sadly, I'm unemployed at the moment and I'm trying to save money, or else I'd panick!buy everything I could!

How long do you all think it will be, before Watership Down merchandise stops flowing from person to person?

I feel over time, people who buy the stuff will break it, or pack it away in storage, never to be touched again, or thrown away, or donated to a local Goodwill where someone who simply likes rabbits will buy it, not knowing where the merchandise originates. It makes me upset! The only merchandise I own are the Hazel, Fiver, and Bigwig cereal box figures (not in the best condition, either) and the Knickerbocker (1980?) Hazel plush (which is in ruin, essentially).

I figure my last resort may be commissioning plush makers and sculptors to hook me up with some Watership Down stuff!

[Darkling Nocturnal]

It may be a fact, that, let's call it merchandise activity, is decreasing. I found it sad, too. Especially here in Germany, it's hard to find merchandise. And when you find something on eBay, the seller didn't ship to Germany

I could kick oneself! I found an offer on eBay: 4 Enesco-figurines of Blackberry, Hawkbit, Kehaar & Hannah and Bigwig for 20 € + 20 € shipping.

I didn't bought it, because the shipping costs are so high and I had worries that the package will be delivered damaged.

But four figurines for 40 €? I was so dumb      

[Hyzenthlay69]

I won't lie, I'm an avid collector. When I become obsessed over something, I want MERCHANDISE! (With Yu-Gi-Oh!, it was figurines. With Balto, plushes!)

However, I've come to notice as time goes on, less and less merchandise is popping up on the internet. eBay is essentially the Last Resort to find much of anything. Sadly, I'm unemployed at the moment and I'm trying to save money, or else I'd panick!buy everything I could!

How long do you all think it will be, before Watership Down merchandise stops flowing from person to person?

I feel over time, people who buy the stuff will break it, or pack it away in storage, never to be touched again, or thrown away, or donated to a local Goodwill where someone who simply likes rabbits will buy it, not knowing where the merchandise originates. It makes me upset! The only merchandise I own are the Hazel, Fiver, and Bigwig cereal box figures (not in the best condition, either) and the Knickerbocker (1980?) Hazel plush (which is in ruin, essentially).

I figure my last resort may be commissioning plush makers and sculptors to hook me up with some Watership Down stuff!

Which merchandise are you talking about, the Series stuff or the 1978 film?  If you check out my merchandise photos I put here, you'll see a lot of things and some of it was very difficult to find. I lucked out with the four rare Chad Valley original 1978 plushies. I still am on the hunt for the Royal Orleans PIPKIN and CAPTAIN CAMPION figures. Also, the Waddington UK puzzle of WSD 1978 film scenes.

I had some art/plushies/figurines commissioned by artists on Deviant Art who did excellent and wonderful creations. There was a very limited number of collectibles and merchandise from the 1978 movie because movie merchandising wasn't that popular back then.


KNICKERBOCKER Hazel???? I never heard of that. I also heard of one person on a Yahoo groups WSD forum that had a BIGWIG plushie from 1978 but that must be one heck of a hard item to find,

[CaptainCampion]

Hello, would you like a reply that is more than 5 years overdue? LOL!

I have come to revisit the forum and looking back on this post, oh man, it seems I simply had no patience! I'm happy to report I've added Hazel, Fiver, and Blackberry Chad Valley plushes to my collection. I have all the Royal Orleans figurines except for Captain Campion and Clover, I believe. I'm desperate for more and I'm desperate to complete my collections.

ALSO, in regards to the "1978 Bigwig plush" I am 99% sure that does not exist. I've never seen any documentation of it on the internet, and no one has had more than Hazel/Fiver/Blackberry/Kehaar in a picture together. If the Bigwig is real, I would pay a ridiculous amount of money for it, but I've hunted the internet all these years and I just don't have enough proof it is real to believe those stories anymore.

(Also, the Knickerbocker Hazel doesn't seem as rare as the Chad Valley plushes. Knickerbocker was an American plush company that no longer exists, and Hazel was the only Watership Down character they made. I have two of them now!)

[Acacia Heartstrings]

Wow
You are very lucky to get hold of such a rare collection of Watership down items. It is true that it is increasingly difficult (or impossible) to get merchandise from that time, even the current merchandise for the mini series is quite expensive in many cases. I at least want the coloring books, but I haven't had time to review and I have a lot of expenses X_X

I am very happy for you and your collection, I hope you can show us a photo for this beautiful community of rabbits = 3   

[CockatielPony]

Collecting Watership Down merchandise is definitely a patient thing. Congratulations on your collection CaptainCampion those are really hard to get items. How did you get your hands on almost all the royal orleans figures? Almost half of the characters I have never seen being sold on ebay including clover, captain campion, pipkin, dandilion, and holly. I reciently got my hands on a Hyzenthlay and BlackBerry figure. I've been collecting more recently too but it has been hard since watership down merch from the USA isnt added often. 

[CaptainCampion]

Thank you both!

I will say getting the Royal Orleans figures for me was a matter of timing. Someone on the US ebay site listed one of every rabbit for sale. I was VERY fortunate to be in a living situation where I was paying little rent, so I could afford to dip in my savings and buy them, and they were all very expensive. Clover and Captain Campion had been listed at that time, but I felt irresponsible spending so much at once, and I let them go. It's a big regret of mine, honestly. I'm praying someday they'll be listed again. Honestly, ebay hunting has been the biggest success for me, but I will also say a surprising place to find Watership Down merchandise is Etsy! I found a Knickerbocker Hazel there and sometimes Royal Orleans figures get listed. Hazel, Hyzenthlay, Blackberry, Bigwig, and Fiver seem to be the most common listings I've seen.

I would love to show my collection in a photo! I am currently in a small apartment so my collection is boxed away for now, but hopefully I'll be moving into a bigger place in December and I'll finally be able to get a nice display case for everything. I guess I ought to get back to collecting the BBC 1999 series merch since I still don't have all of that, now that the rest is drying up. Just today I won an ebay auction for a Chad Valley Blackberry. I'm hoping maybe to do a giveaway someday with some of my doubles! If I do I'll post about it somewhere here on the forum.

[CockatielPony]

Just today I won an ebay auction for a Chad Valley Blackberry. I'm hoping maybe to do a giveaway someday with some of my doubles! If I do I'll post about it somewhere here on the forum.

Where do you find these ebay auctions? It's gotta be a few months since I saw a chad valley plush go on auction on US's ebay.

[CaptainCampion]

The US ebay in my experience does tend to have more merch for the 1978 film, but, a good place to check is the UK ebay site at ebay.co.uk

The UK ebay has a LOT of merch for the 1999 series all the time, but sometimes it also has some merch from the 1978 film.

A heartbreaking story for you, I once won an auction for a Chad Valley Kehaar on the UK ebay but the seller refunded me because issues came up in their personal life and they were no longer able to ship it! Slipped right through my fingers. Some sellers don't ship to the US so sometimes you have to message them and politely beg and offer to pay extra LOL and sometimes it works!