Adventureland / Frontierland / Tomorrowland / Downtown Disney NEW Pressed Pennies – Disneyland, CA

It’s been hard to keep up with all the new pressed coins being made available throughout the Disneyland park.  These past few days have seen five new machines (15 coins) put on stage and I figured it would be easiest to go over them all in one post.

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First over in Adventureland is the Bazaar souvenir shop.  Inside this location is 3 machines in total but on this visit we are just focusing on two of them.

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As you can see in the above picture this first new set is all inspired by one of my personal favorite movie franchises (and a great ride in Disneyland by the way) Indiana Jones.  The designs on these coins are the Indiana Jones Logo, Indy’s Hat and Whip, and Indy’s Hat and Whip with Crossed Swords.

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Here’s a shot of the backstamp which is also pretty cool.  The Disneyland parks always have really nice designs on the back of most of their pressed coins.

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The second machine at the Bazaar was kind of surprising since they are available before the movie has been released.  These designs are all about the new Disney animated movie Moana and include images of the star Moana, Maui, and Pau.

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Another really great backstamp.  Wish they would do this more over in the Florida parks.

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With Adventureland behind us we head over toward Frontierland where we find the Bonanza Outfitters store.  This is where the next new set of pennies can be found.

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Unfortunately the pennies I received were a little worse for wear and are kind of hard to see.  These designs include images of Cowboy Donald, Cowboy Mickey and Cowboy Goofy.

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Before leaving this park we had one last stop over in Tomorrowland at the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster attraction.

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The machine is actually located at the exit to the ride so you don’t necessarily have to go on the ride to use this machine.

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These designs are updated images of similar coins that used to be available here.  These definitely have more detail and press really nicely.  You can also see the attraction logo below which is on the back of each coin.

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The last two machine (for now) takes us out of the Disneyland Park and over to Downtown Disney and more specifically the World of Disney Store.  This is the same location that has seen a lot of new pennies come and go over the last year.

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The first set here has images of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy in some nice new designs.

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The second new machine here has designs of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and Pinocchio.  Both of these sets have the same backstamp shown below.

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Whew, always fun but a little hectic when this many new coins show up.  But I’m not complaining and am always up for the challenge.  Stay tuned as I already heard of a few more machines that will be out very soon.

Pieces of Eight Gift Shop – Disneyland, CA

It was only a matter of time before the fantastic 60th Diamond Celebration at Disneyland came to and end.  I’m sad to say I was unable to actually visit during the celebration but from everything I have seen it looked really amazing.  Now that the decorations have started to come down in the parks it also means the special 60th pressed coin designs are beginning to disappear.

The first machine to have a brand new set of designs is located in the Pieces of Eight Gift Shop.  As you may guess this is where you end up after riding Pirates of the Caribbean and is a store filled with all your Pirating needs.  Towards the end of the store is where this machine is located and has some really detailed new images.

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The coins pressed a little long in this set but the images still came out really nicely.  As you can see they have a lot of detail and are a great new set.

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The first penny has an Anchor and says “Dead Men Tell No Tales” which for you Pirates of the Caribbean fans is a familiar warning you hear before boarding the ride.

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The second penny displays a pirate skull with hat and crossed swords in the background.

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The final available design is another skull with a banner saying Pirates of the Caribbean.  I was really impressed with these designs and am exited to have even more new coins to collect.  I don’t know if all the 60th coins machines will be replaced with brand new images and would assume some will be old designs brought back.  But I’ll keep my fingers crossed and will keep you posted.

2016 MLB All-Star Game – San Diego, CA

For those baseball fans out there we are fully into the second half of the season and getting ready for the mad dash to the playoffs that will be here before we know it.  But before all that we got to enjoy the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.  This year the events were held in San Diego California at the Padre’s home field Petco Park.

2016 MLB All-Star Logo

The last few years the fantastic people over at pennycollector.com have issued a special pressed coin.  Usually the machine is only available at the All-Star weekend events and a very limited number are available for purchase from their online store which is how I was able to acquire this years version.

2016 MLB All-Star Game Blog

The pressed penny has a nice design of the 2016 All-Star Game Logo.  In the past there have been additional designs for the Fan Fest but I was unable to find out whether they were also available this year or not.

It’s been awhile since the game played so this should hopefully not be a spoiler for anyone.  The home run derby winner was Giancarlo Stanton who plays for the Miami Marlins.  The actual All-Star Game was won by the American League with a final score of 4-2.

Also included in this purchase was the new 2016 Baseball Booklet.

Baseball 2016 Booklet

The booklet includes a special pressed penny as part of the cover and I have a close up view of it below.  I don’t actually store my penny collection in these booklets but have just continued to collect the booklets regardless.  I always enjoy the great cover art work.

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These made a great addition to my baseball coin collection and always enjoy getting these special All-Star coins each year.  Make sure you pick yours up as they are in very limited supply.  Good luck collecting!!

Five and Dime Store – Disney California Adventure

For collectors on the west coast be on the look out for a new pressed penny design available at the Disney California Adventure park.  The machine is located in the Five and Dime store.  Note I said pressed penny (singular) meaning only one of the designs has changed.  The original design that was located here was of Luigi’s Flying Tires which was a ride located in Car’s Land.

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This ride was like a huge air hockey table, you would ride in oversized tires floating on a cushion of air bumping into each other.  The attraction originally opened back in 2012 but recently closed in 2015 to make way for a new attraction Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters.

The back story of this ride goes as follows.  Luigi has invited his cousins from Italy to Radiator Springs for a dance festival being held in the tire yard behind his Casa Della Tire Shop.  This ride has guests loaded into various vehicles (Luigi’s cousins) who all have a unique look and dance moves.  The vehicles then move and spin to Italian music but due to the magic of Disney Imagineering the cars never crash into each other.

Now back to the penny.  So when the Luigi’s Flying Tire design was removed it only made sense to replace it with a new Rollickin’ Roadster design and that’s exactly what happened.

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Above are all three of the designs available at this machine.  The two designs on the left are the same as they were previously: Radiator Springs Racers, and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.  The new penny is located on the right.

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Here’s a close up of the new Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadster image.  I would have loved to see three brand new designs, but shouldn’t be greedy we did just get 60 new coins over the last year because of the Diamond Celebration.  But this is a nice new addition to the collection, and on a side note if you haven’t visited Car’s Land do yourself a favor and check it out.

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This is definitely a place that transforms you right into the movie.  Remember to keep your eyes open for penny machines you never know where they will pop up.  Keep on Collecting!!

Decades Set #8 of 8 – Downtown Disney, CA

It’s been quite awhile but the final 60th Anniversary penny set went on stage.  I’ve posted about each of these sets over the past year and you can check the archives to see and read about each set.  But now I can confirm that the initial rumors were true and there was a total of 60 unique press coins available for this special diamond celebration for the happiest place on earth.

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The location of this Decades machines has still remained unchanged and is located by the center set of doors at the World of Disney store in downtown Disney.

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This last set of coins represents the decade of 2005-2014.  The images representing this decade include Finding Nemo & Monsters Inc, Disney California Adventure, and Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear.

I have mentioned this in the past but these sets are only going to be available for a limited time.  However, to try to help out with your collection I have an extra set of these coins I just wrote about above (Decade 2005-2014).  I will give this extra set of coins free to one lucky reader.  All you need to do is post a quick comment below about your favorite Disney pressed coin set / image.  This can be from either Disneyland, Walt Disney World or any other Disney park.  I’ll pick the winner randomly at the end of August and will contact the winner at that time to collect your address so I can mail the coins out.  Enter as many times as you like.  Good Luck and happy collecting!!

Star Wars The Force Awakens – Disneyland, CA

Any Star Wars fans out there?

If so you are in luck.  I know at Walt Disney World in Florida they used to put a penny machine out during Star Wars weekends however the designs have never changed.  But now for all you California folks you have a brand spanking new set of Star Wars themed coins and even more cool is they have designs based on the latest blockbuster movie The Force Awakens.  Have you seen it?  What am I talking about of course you have, I think only about 3 people in the entire country haven’t seen it yet.  If any case if you haven’t seen the movie these designs may not make a whole lot of sense (ahem go see the movie) but just take a look these beauties.

I should probably mention both these machines are available in the Disneyland Park at the Star Trader over in Tomorrowland near Space Mountain.

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As you can see these designs are pressed on nice big quarters which always make for a nice finished product.  The above designs are from the first machine and include images of the Rebel Force Logo, Rey, and Chewbacca.  Before I move on let me show off the fantastic machine.

Star Trader 01 Machine

This thing looks like it should be located at Maz Kanata’s castle on Takodana (see you really need to see the movie).  You can’t tell by the picture but the marquee that shows you the available designs at this particular machine is actually a LCD screen and had a cool little animation that plays on a loop.  I’m trying to get a video of this to post up here and as soon as I have it I’ll make sure to share it

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The second machine is located right beside the first and also has three designs.  Kylo Ren, The First Order Power Logo, and Captain Phasma.

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This machine also has a similar cabinet and also the LCD marquee.  I really hope to see more of these around as I think they really take the experience to another level.  Also be sure to check out the special backstamp image on each coin.

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These coins are so popular I have heard that these machines actually have lines of people waiting to use them.  A friend of mine at work is a huge Star Wars fans, and couldn’t care less about press coins (have mercy) but asked me to do whatever I could to get him a set of these coins.  So all I’m going to say is if you haven’t picked up a set yet do so immediately.

 

Decades Set #7 of 8 – Downtown Disney, CA

Another few weeks have past and it’s that time for the next Decades set to make an appearance onstage.  We are creeping ever closer to the final few pennies in the Disneyland 60th Anniversary set.  As a reminder Disney had planned to release 60 unique (and limited) penny and quarter designs to help Celebrate their 60th Diamond Celebration.  Which by the way is almost over.

This machine is located in the same location as the other Decades sets, by the middle set of doors in the World of Disney mega gift shop at Downtown Disney.

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It’s an election machine with three designs celebrating the next decade in this set 1995 – 2004.

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The first penny has images of the Disneyland Hotel, Winnie the Pooh, and the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

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The next penny has Grizzly Peak from California Adventure, and Aladdin on his magic carpet with the Genie.  Aladdin is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies.

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The last image celebrates Disney California Adventure park that opened in 2001.  There are designs of Mickey’s Fun Wheel, and the California Screamin’ roller coaster.

Updated set count 57 of 60.  Only one set to go and covering the most recent decade should be very cool to see what designs they come up with.  As always remember that these sets are only available for a short time so get your set before they are gone.

2016 Nickel Set – Main Street Opera House Disneyland, CA

Take a quick stroll down Main Street in Disneyland and you will come across the Opera House which is where you can see the famous Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.  After the show you are ushered out through the exit and will come across a special pressed coin machine which actually presses Nickels.  This is pretty rare within the parks, but the larger coin does allow for additional detail in the design.  Last year there were special 2015 dated designs available and the trend has continued this year.

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There are three designs available.  All of them have Disneyland 2016 listed as part of the design and include some very familiar characters: Goofy, Donald Duck and Pluto.  Now here is something else unique about this machine.  The initial set of designs was only available for about 2 maybe 3 days.  The backstamp on the original designs were missing the standard (C) Copyright Disney.

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After these few days the machine was removed, new dies put in and now the coins press with the (C) Disney listed on the back under the USA.

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For most casual collectors this probably is not a big deal, but for serious collectors these “error” designs are a pretty hot commodity.  Keep your eyes open in case you come across these special designs as there are not going to be very many out in circulation.  Happy Collecting!

Decades Set #6 of 8 – Downtown Disney, CA

Just this past week the latest Decades set of pressed coins became available on at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney California.  The latest news is that these decades sets are the last of the 60th Diamond Celebration designs.  This latest set is the 6th to be available giving a total of 54 coins released to far.  The last two sets are rumored to also be the completion of this Decades set.

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As with the other sets there are three designs available in an electric machine.  The machine is the same one located at the World of Disney store and is by the middle set of entrance/exit doors.  This set includes designs for the decade of 1985-1994.

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Above is a close up of the first coin.  The design celebrates Start Tours which debuted in 1987 and Captain EO which started in 1986.

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The second penny design is of the dragon from Fantastic! the nighttime show which debuted in 1992.

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The last coin has an image of the world-famous Splash Mountain which opened in 1989.  I’m not personally a huge fan of this ride but I was dragged on numerous times by my little sister.  All three of the pennies state ’85 ’94 Disneyland.

Another nice addition to this huge special celebration set.  I really liked the Start Tours design as there really are not too many Star Wars related penny designs available.  With the last two decades sets on the way in the future be sure to pick up a set soon before they are gone.  I’ve seen the previous sets on eBay but prices are getting pretty high and quantities seems limited.  Happy collecting!

Downtown Disney Decades Set – Anaheim, CA

It’s been a few weeks since the last Decades set was available, and just a few days ago the next set in the 60th Diamond Celebration were put on stage.  As with the other Decades sets this machine is located at the World of Disney Store in Downtown Disney, and can be found in the middle set of doors.

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This set has the following designs: 1975-84 Thunder Mountain, 1975-84 Jiminy Cricket and Space Mountain, and 1975-84 Statue of Liberty.

Including this set the total number of 60th Diamond Celebration coins that have been released so far is 51.  The rumors are that there will be 60 in total which would make a lot of sense.  So that means there are 3 more sets still to come.  I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open for these last few sets and will share them as soon as I have them.