Must Have: The Mickey Mouse Treasures Now Available at Barnes & Noble for $15

The Mickey Mouse Treasures by Robert Tieman, manager of the Walt Disney Archives, is the third in a series of collectibles. This third volume focuses on Mickey Mouse himself, from his (and Walt’s) humble beginnings (and even a bit before that) to his worldwide popularity today. From films to merchandising, this book literally has it all — and that’s an understatement.

The oversized hardcover comes in a slipcase and virtually every page is adorned with lots of informational text and images of nostalgia from the Walt Disney Archives also contains a special treat — what the book calls enclosures. They are faithful reproductions of actual items throughout the years: from drawings to a brochure/map of Disneyland in 1955 to a booklet of official portraits of Mickey by Imagineer John Hench to a Walt Disneys Studios ID to a Fantasia program to a working ‘magic film palette’ and more. Even the most mundane of items are often the most interesting. Take for example the card on which Walt would track the cash prizes he would give his employees for suggesting gags.

The photos are just amazing as well and include a rare color photograph of Mickey and Minnie greeting a guest at Disneyland in 1955 and even photos of Mickey making his first public appearances in 1931 (now that was a new one to me!).

So for whatever reason, Barnes and Noble has categorized this collectible as a Bargain book and marked the price down almost 80% from its original cost of $60. Although this is the newest book in the series, the other two volumes are priced much closer to the $60 MSRP mark and no other book reseller appears to be making this huge cut. If you follow us on twitter or facebook, then you already know we’ve been reporting this incredible offer for hours now and we are pleased to say that our efforts have caused B&N.com to run out of the book in inventory. That said, there appears to be plenty of local brick & mortar stores that have the book in stock and you can use the inventory locator here to try to find one near you. So don’t even bother finishing reading this article, go out and get one now (unless the store is closed, then wait until tomorrow. First thing!)