Disney Figural Keyrings by Monogram International Inc.

Today, I will be discussing the Disney Figural Keyrings line by Monogram International Inc. I didn’t originally plan to collect these “Keyrings” specifically. In fact, thanks to the flood of blind bag toys and collectables that came surging onto the retail market in the 2010s, I don’t think I was really aware of this line until I came across several “Figural Keyrings” secondhand at a thrift store. I can’t remember now exactly how many the store had or which characters they were, since I wasn’t that impressed with the figures at that time. They seemed a little too stylized for my taste.

So I can’t really explain why I decided to purchase the Kristoff keychain pictured above. I think I must’ve felt a little sorry for him. He did seem a bit forlorn when I found him in his used state. I’ve always been the sensitive type, as far as my personality goes, and I don’t think I ever really lost that childhood tendency to read emotions into inanimate objects with faces. Seeing the first two Toy Story films probably didn’t help with that. The fifty cent price tag on this keychain made it appealing as well. And as a general Disney fan, I was at least aware of who Kristoff was, even though I hadn’t seen the movie Frozen. As it turned out, I may have had a good eye for keychain selection. According to online research I did for this post, this specific “Kristoff Figural Keyring” is listed as an Exclusive on the Series 5 packaging. However, I don’t know if this actually means anything in terms of its rarity.

I found the Anna keychain, without her packaging, some time later in a clearance bin at a Michaels craft store. I bought her because I thought Kristoff could use some company. Toy Story syndrome strikes again. Still, I didn’t see myself as a collector of Disney Figural Keyrings. You have to have more than two of something to call it a collection, or a sub-collection in this case.

Then one day, I found a Disney Figural Keyring: Series 2 blind box on a clearance table at a Barnes and Noble bookstore. Someone had tried to open the box, and the top was pulled up just enough for me to see Maleficent inside. Seeing the Sleeping Beauty villain rendered in such a cutesy style with a tiny smile amused me so much that I bought her. Ever since then I’ve been looking at this line differently. I guess the art style used for the figures must’ve grown on me.

Next thing you know, I’ll have crossed over to collecting Funko’s Pocket Pop Keychains. I’ve always thought Funko Pops looked sort of weird and creepy, with their strange proportions and their solid black eyes. But the company tends to release characters from a lot of underrepresented franchises that otherwise don’t get a lot of merchandise. I do own one Funko Pop keychain already. But I only bought it because it’s the Fourth Doctor from the original Doctor Who television series. My whole family loved watching the original Doctor Who on PBS when I was growing up. We were Whovians before most people in the United States knew what Doctor Who was. But that’s a story for another day.

Signed, Treesa

Update: I later ended up with this “Maleficent As Dragon” Disney Figural Keyring, after purchasing a blind bag on clearance from FYE. So I now own Maleficent in both her human form, or rather her fairy form, as well as in her dragon form.