Collectible Cutie

As I've said in the past, this blog will be for coffee, tea, and good times.  Today we deviate from the drink itself and focus on the mug.  I went with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf's Lung Ching Dragonwell green tea.  I am a huge fan of green teas and seeing the color in this mug made it even more appetizing for me.

This mug is from a collection of mugs released a few years ago from the Disney Store.  They did a collection of designer inspired princess dolls and had stationary and mugs to match.  Ten princess dolls in total.  I got so excited to see the mug release but I waited and didn't pick any up until they were on clearance for five dollars each.  However, I had only picked them up for my sisters, my mom, and friend with their favorite Disney princesses but not mine.  Lucky for me, my friend picked up mine and gave it to me as a gift.  Mulan isn't technically a princess, but the Disney company likes to include her because her story shows women having strength and bravery.  Mulan is my favorite and I was so happy that I got her.  These mugs are truly collectible now.  The dolls themselves, if you can find the princess you want, can sometimes start at $100+ per doll when the original retail was $60.  The mugs were originally $16 but dropped to clearance of $5 until they quickly sold out.  Now, each mug can be found starting at $25 and there is this eBay listing for 9 out of the 10 mugs going for $500.
http://m.ebay.com/itm/181721593211?nav=SEARCH
Some other mugs (and dolls) were made later, such as the Villains designer collection and the Fairytale designer collection, which featured each princess with her prince as a set.  Those other dolls and mugs never reached the same sales status as the original ones and are not as aggressively sought after still.
There are so many reasons I love this mug and it's not just it's monetary value.  It's lace-like texture is unlike any other mug in my collection.  It's pretty and girly and fancy all at once.  Mostly, I think of my dear friend who got it for me whenever I use it.

Front view

Back view

With Dragonwell green tea