Beloved animated movie series Toy Story, is the latest to join Disney’s expanding coin lineup

The New Zealand Mint is expanding its range of Disney Pixar coins with an issue celebrating one of the best loved and widely regarded animated movies of all time – Toy Story.  A ground-breaking movie that has spawned two sequels with a third on the way, we certainly can’t argue with the choice of subject matter. This should prove a popular release, although we’ve yet to determine if it’s to be part of a larger series or a one-off.

Depicting Woody, a cowboy and one of the two main characters in the movie franchise (which leads us to believe a Buzz Lightyear coin will appear next year at least). As you’d expect from the movie, the coin is bright and colourful, depicting Woody and the movie logo. Just the composition and copyright information is inscribed here and it’s in a font small enough to be unobtrusive, although we’d rather it wasn’t there at all.

It’s a Niue issue from the New Zealand Mint, so the obverse of this one-ounce, 0.999 silver coin is a well known affair. The Ian Rank Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by coin information is used on pretty much everything this mint produces. Packaging is an adaptation of the wooden chest used in the Battles That Changed History series, although this time brightly coloued to simulate a toy chest. Enclosed within is a certificate of authenticity and it all sits in a beautifully done outer shipper.

The mintage of the coin is set at 10,000 pieces. That’s a number common to the Star Wars and other Disney coins, so a decent, but not excessive number given that a smaller proportion of these will end up in the traditional coin market than most others. We’d imagine the Disney memorabilia market (theme parks, etc.) will absorb a lot of them. Available to order now, site sponsors Minted-UK and Powercoin both sell them and ship worldwide. As we said previously, we’d expect a Buzz Lightyear coin sometime in the first quarter of 2018, but that’s speculation on our part at present.

2018 TOY STORY: WOODY SILVER COIN

TOY STORY

Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated buddy comedy adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The directorial debut of John Lasseter, Toy Story was the first feature-length computer-animated film and the first feature film produced by Pixar. Taking place in a world where anthropomorphic toys pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are present, the film’s plot focuses on the relationship between Woody, an old-fashioned pullstring cowboy doll (voiced by Tom Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut action figure (voiced by Tim Allen), as they evolve from rivals competing for the affections of Andy, their owner, to friends who work together to be reunited with Andy as his family prepares to move to a new home. The screenplay was written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, based on a story by Lasseter, Pete Docter, Stanton and Joe Ranft.

Toy Story was released in theaters on November 22, 1995, and was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, earning over $373 million at the worldwide box office. The film was positively reviewed by critics and audiences, who praised the animation’s technical innovation, the wit and thematic sophistication of the screenplay, and the vocal performances of Hanks and Allen. It is considered by many critics to be one of the best animated films ever made. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song for “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”, as well as winning a Special Achievement Academy Award. It was inducted into the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” in 2005, its first year of eligibility. In addition to home media releases and theatrical re-releases, Toy Story-inspired material has run the gamut from toys, video games, theme park attractions, spin-offs, merchandise, and two sequels—Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010)—both of which also garnered massive commercial success and critical acclaim, with a third sequel, Toy Story 4, slated for a 2019 release.

SPECIFICATION

NAME 2018 TOY STORY
DENOMINATION $2 NZD
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 31.1 grams
DIAMETER 40.00 mm
FINISH Proof
MODIFICATIONS Colour
MINTAGE 10,000
BOX / COA Yes / Yes
NEW ZEALAND MINT