Our good friend Jose Castillo caught the first stop of the “Star Tours” Florida mall tour at the Aventura Mall in Miami, Florida earlier today and has a number of photos of the special experience to share with us:
The set-up is fairly small, but packed in a pretty big crowd
Read More about A Look at the Star Tours “Mall Tours” First Stop
Disney has started an official Facebook group for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park. The group promotes what may be another name change for the attraction, now referring to it as “Star Tours 3-D”. Many of you may remember that the attraction was titled “Star Tours II” when it was announced at the 2009 D23 Expo before being changed again in June 2010 to “Star Tours: The Adventures Continue”. Regardless, I’m sure the group will be posting regular updates on the attractions as we inch closer to the grand openings, so it’s probably worth you clicking the “like button” on this one…
UPDATE
Disney has also announced a special sneak peek event taking place in a few Florida malls over the next few weeks –
As part of D-Street’s 1st Birthday, Artists Maria Clapsis, Eric Caszatt, Casey Jones, and Doug Strayer were on hand to sign Vinylmation. Right off the bat we’d like to thank them for the time they took out of their weekend to come to D-Street to celebrate it’s birthday. It means a lot to your fans that you are willing to come out to sign stuff and talk to us. Thanks!
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Maria Clapsis Maria has designed A LOT of Vinylmation recently and has plenty on the horizon. Most recently, she designed Cutesters Too. But my favorite is Sonny Eclipse. This was instantly my favorite 3″ Vinylmation ever made. She said she just HAD to design this one and get it into a series. |
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Eric Caszatt
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Casey Jones Casey says his favorite still has to be Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas set (Casey designed the entire set). Today, he signed my Park 6 Norway Troll. Casey says a lot of great Vinylmation are coming up and he is excited about his Haunted Mansion series (release date TBA). |
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Doug Strayer
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Did anyone else talk to the artists at D-Street Florida this morning? Tell us about your experiences!
Destination Vinylmation was allowed an exclusive hands on with the new Vinylmation mold this morning at D-Street. We also had the chance to talk to Vinylmation Project Manager Donald Ferro. This weekend on the DV podcast, we will share with you the complete interview with Donald, including Disney’s take on the new mold, but first, here are my first impressions of the new mold after getting to handle it in person.
I was able to view a Sea Creature 3″ (first series to be released on the new mold), a blank white new mold, and blank white original mold. Please note, the New Blank Mold is NOT a Create Your Own… we will talk about that later. My first reaction to seeing the new mold in person was a positive one. The most striking feature is the amount of flat, open canvas the artists will be working on. With the removal of the buttons and the facial contours, artists are left with a noticeably broader, flatter canvas. Donald says artists will now more accurately be able to translate their designs from 2D to 3D. Look at these close ups of the body:
New Mold
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Original Mold
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You can see the amount of smooth, usable canvas that has been created. The photos do not do this justice and you will instantly see what I mean when you see it in person. The second thing I noticed is something I missed with the photographs Disney released. Take a look at the neck, bottom of head, shoulders and arms. The pieces just fit much better. Cleaner lines. When I asked Donald about this, he said this will all translate into a better looking final printing of the design. The tightness, he said, also allows for a smoother looking design as the art transitions to the the different pieces of the body. I have to say, once you get one of these in your hands, you will notice how tightly everything fits together. Come on, how many of us have figures with loose arms?
The top of the head is more rounded. Donald says should be able to more accurately translate things like human characters onto this canvas. The ears are more defined, circular and well spaced. The face is also less chubby. Look how it drops straight down on the sides. Again, the theme here is making it easier, not for the artists to design, but for the artist’s true designs to accurately wrap around the 3D vinyl figure. In talking to the artists at the signing, so many designs are altered because they could not be translated onto the original mold.
I’ll be the first one to say, the Vinylmation loses a bit of its “Mickeyness” in the profile view… it actually looks a bit ugly. The shape just seems a odd without the nose, buttons or cheeks to define it. This is one opinion that wasn’t changed in person. Many of you have commented on this as well. Donald answers this concern by saying all the changes that were made will give us a more polished finished product. And he remarks that this is still very much Mickey from straight on… and I can not argue with that. It seems to me a bit of a trade off, lose some definition for a better final product. I will be giving the artists the benefit of the doubt here. After all, according to Donald, it is the artists who initiated this design change. You can see from the profile view above how the head fits more neatly onto the body. Note the forehead, it takes a steeper dip… again, allowing for more visible canvas to be facing you.
New Mold
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Original Mold
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Next is the arms. They have been made much smaller. The first thing I noticed here is that more of the side body is visible now because of this. Like the rest of the body, Donald says the smaller and smoother shape, again allows for easier wrapping of the design. And of course, the right hand now is more obviously shaped to hold things. Donald says accessories will now be easier to make and fit much better. Like them or love them, they are here to stay.
New Mold
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Original Mold
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Now down to the feet. We know they are removable, but what does that accomplish? Donald says with the removable feet, the artists are now able to wrap the design around the feet and legs and hide any paint lines. They are very excited about this feature.
New Mold
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Original Mold
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The feet are noticeable smaller, square and not as deeply indented in between allowing for a more seamless design.
New Mold
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New Mold
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At first, like many of you, I was very apprehensive about this new design. I didn’t like them taking away some of Mickey’s more defined features in place of a less defined piece of vinyl. But at the end of the day, it’s still very much Mickey Mouse.
Once you are able to hold one in your hands, you will see what I mean about the tightness of the construction. I can now see how the design will be more seamlessly wrapped around it. I also can not discount the attitude of the artists. They are great people, who I can tell care greatly about their work, and have fun doing it. They want the best possible representations of their designs on the final product. Donald wants people to know that the decision to change the mold was not done lightly. He assures us that the designs to come are remarkable and worth the change. Only time will tell. What I can tell you is that I was impressed. Please believe me when I say I don’t like change. I like my Mickey Mouse and that shape is what makes these collectibles so unique. We are not losing that. I was not happy when I saw the photographs of Sea Creatures Disney released. But seeing it in person and witnessing the excitement that Donald and the artists have, I have every reason to believe this is a positive step. That being said, I don’t think Sea Creatures will be a good first example. The Turtle looked amazing in person, but the shape of these animals lend itself to this new mold very well. Parks, Urbans, and others will be the true test.
Please tune into Episode 18 of Destination Vinylmation, to be released this weekend, for a full interview with Donald Ferro. He addresses some of your concerns that you left at our website, tells you from the Disney perspective why these changes were made and how they will affect the final product. He also discuss what this new mold means for 9″ figures and Create Your Owns. After the podcast, we will post an article with quotes from the interview.
Lots of news today with the release of Muppets 2. One of the smaller stories however is this one. In the past, anytime a figure has come with a hat (or cap, or wizard’s thingie) thehat has been on the figure’s head. With Muppets 2 the hats come in little plastic bags and are packaged along with the figure, not on the head as part of the figure. I think this is done for protection of the painting of both the figure and the hat. Any other ideas?
Update: 9:15 PM First visual confirmation of $12.95 Disney Store Price. Thank you Sharon from Illinois and Cliff from Florida.
Update: 3:00 PM We got our Muppets 2 at D-Street. We’ve been hearing (see comments) that they are selling for $12.95 in Disney Stores. I just called our local store and they are saying the Muppets 2 sell for $12.95 (at first he said 9.99 but then he actually checked). So if you are close to a Disney Park, I’d head there if you’re getting a case!
With all the rumors spreading about the Muppets 2 price being $12.95, a lot of people were very disappointed. But today at D-Street when the boxes arrived, the price was only $11.95 (at D-Streets). Every little bit helps!
Update: The price seems to be $12.95 at Disney Stores.
(Nick also likes that the boxes have the 1 in the name crossed out and 2 is written in. See top left of the photo.)
What do you think of the price? Good? Bad? Fair?
After a lot of leaks and expectations, we finally got the Muppets 2 chaser in hand. Check him out… Remember we do like to try to keep spoilers hidden for a little bit, so just click on a pick to see his front or back!
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| Muppets 2 Chaser (front) |
Muppets 2 Chaser (back) |
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| **Reminder, the figure in this picture is a combo we made. No word on what he will really look like! |
As part of the festivities down at D-Street Florida today, Nick got a chance to talk with Artist Doug Strayer (the artist behind the whole Nerds Rock series). Apparently, the Nerds Rock! set is not finished. While there isn’t plans for a whole series 2 (that we know of) there are still several designs that have been held back. The most awesome of which, is Nerd Stitch!
We also have word from our reader Austin Reed, that Maria Clapsis also has a Mystery Nerds Rock figure.
Stay tuned to find out more! (We’re very excited about this news!)
While it appeared that Annual Passholder exclusive merchandise for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue was only going to Disneyland, Walt Disney World has confirmed that they will be getting in on the action:
In the coming months be on the lookout for new items in the Passholder Commemorative Collection as we prepare for the re-launch of Star Tours.
Spotting the Passholder logo will be ‘key’ to finding incredible new designs. Here’s a sneak peek of one of the items ‘in store’ for you this Summer, based on the Star Tours attraction.
Merchandise will be available at select locations this Summer. Please keep checking back for more information and details on release dates, prices, etc.
One year ago…
Kick Ass and How to Train Your Dragon were leading the box office. Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” and Kesha’s “Tik Tok” we topping the music charts. Park 4 had just hit store shelves. It was April 16th, 2010 and a new store just opened in the West Side of Downtown Disney Orlando. This store would not only offer new merchandise choices geared toward a younger audience, but would also help lead a Mickey Mouse shaped collectable into a whole new era.
Opening Day was met with much fanfare. Of course Mickey was there. He jumped out of an oversized Vinylmation box to kick things off.
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Many artists were on hand to greet guests and sign autographs including Thomas Scott, Lisa Badeen, Randy Noble, Monty Maldovan, Dan Howard, Eric Caszatt, Tyler Dumas, Quynh Kimball, Maria Clapsis and Adrianne Draude. The even also featured world-renowned speed painter Rock Demarco painting his interpretation of Mickey Mouse. |
Some One-of-a-Kind Vinylmation went on sale last April as well.
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Guests to D-Street on opening day were encouraged to sign this 9″ Vinylmation:
From the start, Vinylmation would play a large part in D-Street, and D-Street in Vinylmation. Vinyl figures are a main focus in the design of the store. Check out this video Disney released giving a tour of the store when it opened.
The D-Street opening would also be the first place Vinylmation trading occured at Walt Disney World. First tested at D23 in California the previous summer, both Open and Mystery trading boxes were unveild to guests in the store.
D-Street would go on to host numerous activities and be the sight of many Vinylmation fan get-togethers. I remember the early morning Nightmare Before Christmas line. And who could forget the chilly 7 hour wait for Star Wars?
Release Day Line
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Mike Sullivan
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Happy Birthday D-Street! It’s been a fun year getting to know eachother. DV wants to thank Disney for giving us a fun themed place to visit, collect, trade and talk. We appreciate the hard work by all the cast memebers that make the store possible. We look forward to many years to come.
What are your favorite D-Street displays? What was your favorite release day wait?
We dug into the Disney archives and found these links to Opening Day that you might also enjoy.
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/04/vinylmation-visuals/
Some photos courtesy of Disney Parks and Vinylmation Blogs
