Even a cute Mickey couldn't save this toaster from the eBay pile.

Another fun thing gone bad. I should have know when so many of these were returned to the Disney Store that something was wrong, but when they went on sale and combined with my employee discount it was practically free, I decided to go for it. Big mistake.

First the good: It’s cute, fun, and doesn’t take up a lot of counter space. The lever used to start the toasting process is shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head and there’s a graphic on the side showing a full-bodied Mickey dancing with the word “Mornin’” above him.

The bad: Mickey is only toasted onto one side of your bread because there are only elements on one side—that means one is toasty the other just warmed (on of my pet peeves—there should always be elements on both side!). It also means you’ll have uneven heating so bagels and other non-bread items won’t have the shape of Mickey but will be toastier in some places than others.

USE & CAUTIONS
Never immerse the toaster in water and wait until it cools completely before storing or cleaning. Open the crumb tray and wipe clean. Never use abrasive cleaners or they’ll scratch the housing. You can use a little metal polish made for stainless steel if it needs to be touched up.

The toaster has a toasting control; choose from level 1 to 5 (five is the highest/longest). For best results, they suggest using bread that is room temperature—frozen or refrigerated bread items will take longer.

The extra-wide slots should fit most bagels, but I must buy really fat ones because at times I’ve had to take an extra slice out of the middle to make them fit. Once done, the lever automatically pops up (unless your item becomes jammed against the side—something that happens often to mine). When it pops up it plays the “Mickey Mouse Club March” in a tinny, annoying way and there’s no way to turn it off.

If you’re like me and you really want it toasted to the max you’ll have to turn the dial to 5 and keep repeating the process. The problem with this is that the machine will resist being pushed back into the toasting mode and will make a horrible buzzing sound. This means the thermostat hasn’t had a chance to reset itself and until it does you’ll not be able to restart the browning process.

If you need to stop it before the cycle is done, you need to do so by using the small button marked “cancel”. They say if you just pull up on the lever you’ll break it (that’s the way I’ve been doing it since I was a kid so I had to learn to use the cancel button).

JUST WHEN WILL IT BE DONE?
I cook everything on 5—here are my average cooking times:
• Toaster Pastries (2 cycles)
• Frozen Waffles (2 to 3 cycles)
• Frozen Toaster Pastries (3 to 4 cycles)
• Bagels (2 to 3 cycles)
• Bread (2 cycles)

FEATURES
• Color: Silver (chrome with non-stick surface)
• Size: 2 Slice
• Plays the Mickey Mouse Club March.
• Electronic browning control with five settings.
• Removable crumb tray for easy cleaning.

WARRANTY
This VillaWare product is protected against defects in materials and workmanship for one year from the date of original purchase. If the product proves to be defective in materials or workmanship during this period, it will be repaired free of charge.

COMPANY INFO
VillaWare Manufacturing Co.
18901 Euclid Avenue No. 1
Cleveland, OH 44117
Toll-Free: 866-4VILLAW (866-484-5529)
Monday - Friday: 8:00am to 8:00pm EST
Saturday: 9:00am to 6:00pm EST

FINAL THOUGHTS
High on the Disney collectability scale but VERY LOW on the toaster scale. This one has already been replaced by another, which still sucks, but not as bad as this one.