Mickey. An Anniversary. And gumballs. How could this post get any better? Well, what if I add pictures?

Or, what if I added gumballs?

Mickey made his big screen debut as Steamboat Willie in 1928 and then did a few other things before reaching his big 60th Anniversary in 1988. Of course, Disney wanted to make a big promotional thing out of this milestone, so they put the mouse in a tux and…

… rolled out lots of themed merchandise!

I haven’t collected many pieces from this promotion because I don’t like the logo or Mickey in a tux all that much. It felt very 80’s (running shoes with a tux?) and so now looks very dated (pastels much?)

Made by Superior Toy and copyrighted in 1987

If you look closely you’ll see that something is missing from the above stamping. We have ‘Made In’ but not a country! There is a bump following ‘in’ (which you can’t see in the picture) but no wording. A mystery as to why no point of origin was included.

My father picked this gumball machine up for me and then I needed a place to put it. Some time earlier I had purchased a Disney movie display stand which was missing its center piece from the top canopy. And so:

It may not dispense popcorn, but…

Mickey is now pushing 90 and so in just a few shorts years we will have a whole new batch of anniversary merchandise. I wonder what he’ll wear for that one?