New merchandise for 2012, More Great America, less Six Flags!

I love the quasi-retro merchandise this year, and stocked up yesterday with the 25% off coupon in the Value Book.

I think the new stuff is selling well...at least the display in Carousel Gifts was almost totally turned over from Sunday of Opening Weekend to this past Friday.

A hostess working there told me they're trying to set a new record.

Now, if I could only buy the circular star logo as a large sign or magnet, as you'll see in the pix from Southwest Territory.

http://greatamerica.info/Gurnee/2012/Merchandise/


-Mark

Yay for discounts!

This stuff looks great, I might actually consider buying something from the gift shops this year. I love the concept of more Great America and less Six Flags.

Any word on how expensive that San Francisco Music Box Columbia Carousel is going to be?

I remember Carousel Gifts had the old style circular logo on display last season, but it was not for sale. I asked if they were selling any of those, but no luck. It looks like a lot of people were asking for stuff with old Great America on it because it seems like there was a lot more of it this year. I hope they pick up a few more hints, like selling the posters for Screams and Dreams. I thought that looked cool and tried to track that down but they said they couldn't sell those either. Keep in mind I talked to Guest Services, and the staff and director of the Pictorium who deal more closely with that stuff.

I remember that circular logo at Carousel Gifts and I thought that the thing was not sale because it would not be on sale.

I got an X-Flight shirt for $15 and It wasn't a bad price for a ride that was new this year.

Seriously...and what Luxor said, too.

Merchandise designed specifically for Great America, especially with a retro theme, is going to sell. I love Great America. I want to buy Great America stuff, not Six Flags stuff. For years, I bought nothing from Great America, since it was the same generic Six Flags gear you can find at all other Six Flags parks.

Instead, I focused on picking up vintage Marriott era merchandise on Ebay...but it's really tough to find shirts from that era.

I have also bought clothing from Santa Clara the past couple of years, since they actually promote "Great America" on their merchandise with "1976," even if some of it is kind of generic. Unless you look closely, you won't even notice the "California's" prefix on a lot of it. Some of their merchandise is simply "Great America." I told this to some of the SFGAm directors I encountered on Opening Day last year, while wearing the Santa Clara shirt and hat. I received a lot of compliments and questions on the Santa Clara apparel, particularly from SFGAm employees on the hat.

When I go to the park in Gurnee, I always say I am going to Great America.

When I go to the park in Eureka, I say I am going to Six Flags, or Six Flags St. Louis. It's fitting...it was the third and last original Six Flags park...although the original name was Six Flags Over Mid-America. I think once Six Flags expanded in the 80's and 90's, they had too many parks with "America" in the title. (Great America, America, Mid-America)


-Mark

I think they had a couple of those large circular logo signs pop up late in the season last year, and both at Carousel Gifts. I too, asked about being able to purchase something like that. The closest they had last year was the pin.

Seriously...on every survey or invitation I have to comment to Great America management, one of the things I always bring up is the merchandise. (These comments also included praise for Ivan last year, after he introduced a lot of ride-specific merchandise.)

I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one asking for the Marriott's Great America font/logo last year, hehe. Six Flags used it up until the early to mid 90's, I think. And as I mentioned earlier, on my way out of the gate after the last day of Fright Fest last year, I randomly ran into the director of food and merchandising, and he told me to keep an eye out in 2012 for the retro font and logo...so no doubt they had heard from a lot of people asking for it, and it was already being planned back then.

I asked about the posters last year as well, in addition to asking about a DVD release. I am disappointed there still isn't a DVD release. I can kind of understand the movie posters, as they are currently being displayed at Pictorium's entrance. However, they can certainly print more, right? If not full-size, at least in a smaller format.


-Mark

Can you elaborate on this? I remember reading something about it a while ago, possibly on another website.


-Mark

Here are a couple more examples I found in Carousel Gifts over the weekend of the more prominent use of the Great America name, rather than Six Flags.

http://greatamerica.info/Gurnee/misc/V2shirt.jpg
http://greatamerica.info/Gurnee/misc/NewDemonShirt.jpg

I would love to see:
Great America
a member of the Six Flags family

or

Great America
a Six Flags Theme Park

and the old star logo return all over the park, but I know that's not likely to happen.

It's not impossible, though, as La Ronde, The Great Escape, and Discovery Kingdom have their own logos and signage like this.

La Ronde and Great Escape have new logos this year, and they are rather bland and unoriginal. They almost look like Cedar Fair's fonts for their parks. Still, the park name is featured, with the Six Flags bit very understated at the bottom.


-Mark

They still have Iron Wolf stuff out front by the cash registers which is nice to see. They have always had nice gifts its nice to see the selection get better.

So I actually did buy myself something... An American Eagle baseball cap! It is tan and has blue lettering, with "GREAT AMERICA" on the back. Found it at X-Gear. Pics will come soon if I'm not too lazy.

Has anybody seen the Columbia Carousel San Francisco Music Box was this just bullshit or is it really and truly at Six Flags?? Please let me know I will be going again for fright fest and would REALLY REALLY like to pick one up.

I must have done 60 million surveys that asked me about merchandising over the years, and yet every year it's the same old glop! The latest one asked me for specific ideas and for the umteenth time I said Hurricane Harbor shirts especially in a size bigger than Large!