Stormtrooper of the Week #04
Well, I’m a day early with this one. My week has been so out of sync that I forgot what day it was today. But that just means you get a smile a day early.
Sometimes the Stormtrooper of the Week hits too close to home.
Spotlight On: Cesar Diaz
Last week, Cesar Diaz from Reseda, CA sent us pictures of his custom Vinylmation LOST set. Check it out here if you missed it. Impressed by this set, we asked Cesar a few questions about his artwork.
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Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?
Cesar: I’ve been doing customs for about a year now. Only recently has it become more serious. DV: How many pieces have you created? Cesar: I’ve done about a total of 25 vinylmation customs. I started off with Munny customs. But once Vinylmations were introduced there was no turning back. |
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| DV: What’s your favorite creation?
Cesar: My favorite so far is Lilo. That was the first custom I added clothes to. DV: What other art-forms do you create? Cesar: I do illustrations and cartoon/comic drawings. |
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| DV: Do you collect the Vinylmation created by Disney artists?
Cesar: Of course I do! I only collect the ones I like though. DV: What is your favorite Disney Vinylmation figure? Cesar: My favorite is Stitch (Park 5), although Buzz Lightyear is great as well. |
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DV: Can you describe the creation process of the LOST figures?
Cesar: The origin of the LOST customs came from an idea my cousin Steve Zaragoza and I had. We started to talk one day about how cool it would be if Disney would make a LOST series. But we realized that probably would never happen. So I decided to make my own. The first one I did was Locke. My cousin Steve sent me a sketch of Locke. Once I get the sketch I modify it to make it work on a vinyl. Steve designed Locke, Hurley and Kate. |
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| DV: Some artists struggle, but you made good use of the ears. Was painting the island on the ears your plan from the start? | |
| Cesar: Your so right! The ears are always a challenge. When my cousin Steve sent me the first sketch of Locke he put the island on the ears, which I thought was brilliant. It wasn’t until I had a couple of vinyls made that I decided to make a part of the island in the ears, so when you put them together it completes the island. |  |
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DV: Which one of the Lost figures you created is your favorite?
Cesar: I don’t really have a favorite. I love them all. I did have a lot of fun designing Charlie, his shoes especially. |
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| DV: Where you happy with the LOST finale?
Cesar: At first I was a bit disappointed. Not many things got answered about the island. But as time went by, I re-watched the finale and I get it now. It was never really about the island. It was always about the people. So I’m happy with the ending. LOST will always be a big part of my life. DV: Will we see a LOST Series 2 from you? Cesar: Most definitely! I’m already thinking about the characters. One thing’s for sure, Series 2 will be the Dharma edition. I’m really looking forward to creating Desmond and Ben. DV: Do you have any for sale? Cesar: All the vinyls I create are for sale. I also do special requests. DV: How can people contact you? Cesar: If people are interested in any customs, they can email me at darthcees@gmail.com also they can add the facebook group “My Customations”. DV: Any tips for people who want to begin creating custom Vinylmation? Cesar: The only tip I can give is to have fun with it! Oh, and try to get your work seen. It’s always good for people to review your stuff. |
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Tom Staggs Updates Shareholders on Next-Gen Experiences in the Disney Parks
Tom Staggs took the stage yesterday to address shareholders just as he has in years past but now as President of Parks and Resorts. After reflecting on his past year as the head of Parks and Resorts Staggs proceeded to outline the capital investments that the Parks division has been making over the year and what we can expect as guests for the next few years.
The most exciting portion of Stagg’s presentation was the confirmation of what we can expect from the Next Gen Experience:
“Further strengthening the belief that the guest experience starts from the moment guests book their trip, they will be able to map out their entire vacation from the comfort of their home.” They will be able to use new tools to help them:
-Reserve times for Attractions, Shows and Character interactions
-Secure seats at shows and spectaculars
-Simplify the check-in process so that guests will arrive on property with their resort keys in hand getting them into the parks and resort quicker than ever before.
-Better route resources based on guest needs dynamically throughout the day helping to improve guest flow and improve the overall guest experience
While there aren’t many details available at this time this is the first time that park management has gone into any depth on the next gen initiatives. Stay tuned to DLNT for more developments. To read the full transcript of Tom Staggs’ presentation click here
Tom Staggs Updates Shareholders on Next-Gen Experiences in the Disney Parks
Tom Staggs took the stage yesterday to address shareholders just as he has in years past but now as President of Parks and Resorts. After reflecting on his past year as the head of Parks and Resorts Staggs proceeded to outline the capital investments that the Parks division has been making over the year and what we can expect as guests for the next few years.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights for the resort:
-As Previously Reported the Snow White Mine Train coaster will take advantage of a newly patented ride vehicle, which twists and turns on its track.
-The new Art of Animation Resort will open sometime in 2013 (Still may be 2012, this was probably a typo) and contain 1,200 family suites and 800 value rooms
-New “tools” will allow guests to interact with the princesses in there new homes in a new immersive and highly personalized way
Perhaps the most exciting portion of Stagg’s presentation was the confirmation of what we can expect from the Next Gen Experience originally reported here on WDW News Today in December 2009:
“Further strengthening the belief that the guest experience starts from the moment guests book their trip[, they will be able to map out their entire vacation from the comfort of their home.” They will be able to use new tools to help them:
-Reserve times for Attractions, Shows and Character interactions
-Secure seats at shows and spectaculars
-Simplify the check-in process so that guests will arrive on property with their resort keys in hand getting them into the parks and resort quicker than ever before.
-Better route resources based on guest needs dynamically throughout the day helping to improve guest flow and improve the overall guest experience
While there aren’t many details available at this time this is the first time that park management has gone into any depth on the next gen initiatives. Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more developments. To read the full transcript of Tom Staggs’ presentation click here
Episode 011 Yeti Mouse
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Ep. 011 Yeti Mouse
On this episode, Nick and MC review the recently released series, Nerds Rock! They also review the Park 5 9″s and the 3″ exclusive figures from Hong Kong’s 5th Anniversary. This week they added a regular Online Disney Store section, to keep listeners not in either Orange County up to date on what they can buy. We also answer a special question in the Mystery Mailbag section.
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Listen Now:
Evilos Strikes Back
A while back we posted about the custom Mickey in Carbonite we bought from Evilos, showing a picture we took of Boba Fett pushing him to his ship. Evilos has one-uped us by creating one rad diorama with several of the Star Wars Vinylmation characters and his custom Carbonite figure. As always he fills the piece with lots of extras, like the guns for everyone and Boba Fett’s cape (see 2nd picture). This is a great way to show off the custom piece he’s created. The base also plays the Imperial March. Check it out.
We also got a chance to talk to Evilos about several aspects of the diorama’s construction.
Destination Vinylmation: We really like the guns you find for your pieces, where did these come from?
Evilos: The guns were from the 3 3/4″ product hasbro line, also Boba’s cape. The guns were dry brushed with silver to make them look real and glued
DV: The base is awesome, tell us about it.
E: The base was custom masked and painted, all figures are bolted to the base. Static but Heads and arms still move.
DV: You say the base plays the Imperial March. How was that constructed?
E: Low profile base stand legs used to help house (hide) the sound component. Sound works with a switch in the back of the base.
DV: Lastly, the floating Carbonite Slab looks magical. I know in my picture it was a camera trick, but here its floating from all viewpoints. If you can, could you explain how that happened?
E: The floating effect is achieved by pinning the block to the side of Boba, then bolting Boba to the base to hold the weight of the block.
DV: Wow. Amazing as always. Thank you for your time, and once again we appreciate the contribution to the Vinylmation community you and your art provide.
To purchase this detailed representation of the famous scene from Star Wars, just to to the eBay action here.Evilos makes and sells his custom pieces at Evilos.com and is on twitter at @EvilosArt. Check out his stuff.
Nerds in Hand
Update: The glasses on all these figures do come off, and, as long as the figures are not moved a lot, they will stay on after the band is removed. It is similar to the 3D Mickey glasses. All you have to do is find the right spot of the head to sit the glasses on.
Disney’s Nerds Rock! series has been a popular theme for clothing and other Park merchandise and today they were released in Vinylmation form. Each figure retails for $9.95 at D-Street in Orlando and CA and will be released soon at the Disney Store Online. We got our hands on the 8 figure Doug Strayer (9″ Urban 1 Tin Mickey, 9″ Urban 2 Tiki Mickey, 9″ Urban 5 Moon) designed Open Window set today. So sit back, relax and take a trip into the world of pocket protectors, chess club and weggies. We present to you, Nerds Rock!
Mickey Mouse
Mickey’s cool (yes, these Nerds are cool) feature is the pencil in his ear!
Minnie Mouse
Minnie and Dasiy have removable clip-on bows! Just think of the other Vinylmation that can wear bows now.
Donald Duck
Donald has a cool Propeller Hat. It doesn’t spin, but its still a great addition.
Goofy
Goofy’s distinguishing feature is his braces.
Pluto
All the characters in Nerds Rock! have designer glasses with Mickey heads on them.
Daisy
All the character’s glasses are held on by the clear elastic bands we saw on the display figures awhile back. We thought they might just be for display, but it turns out the released figures have them. The bands are wrapped around the head and ears and lay over the sides of the glasses. The bands can be removed, but it seems to me the glasses would probably have a hard time staying on if you do and they do sit well enough to not require the bands. They are not too noticeable though, so I don’t see it giving most collectors a problem (if they want to keep them on).
Chip
Dale
What Nerd is complete without a place to protect his or her pens???
Other Nerds Rock Pictures
Disney Design group artist Doug Strayer put a ton of detail into this series.
One Final “Wishes!” from Toontown Fair
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee was at the Magic Kingdom on the final day of operation for Mickey’s Toontown Fair and recorded a pretty cool video of “Wishes!” from the now-shuttered land:
Another Holiday
The Vinylmation Facebook showed a sneak peak of another Holiday 3 Series. (We previously saw the Chanukah figure.) Today they revealed another Valentine 3″. I really like it. I think it’s better then the 9″ Cupid from the Holiday 2 set!
What are your thoughts?
With Those, Hungry (Pied) Eyes
Check out what we stumbled onto at the Disney Store. The rare Pied Eyed Mickey from the Big Eyes series. And only $9.95 at the moment! Get them while you can!