Buzzing Around the Flower & Garden Festival

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

I decided to take Mom to the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT this past Sunday. Call it an early Mother’s Day gift… or more likely a way to get lunch paid for… either way, it was a beautiful day. Except… a swarm of killer bees kept following us around to all the flower beds and topiaries. They all looked very angry and it was sure terrifying, but we survived to tell the tale.

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I also had my Red Sox Vinylmation on me… maybe a trip to WDW would refresh my team and get them on the winning path?
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And I had time to take some pictures around other parts of the festival.
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Pairs 2 Jrs Revealed at D-Street

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Update 4/26/12 Austin sent in close ups of all 4 pairs.

Dopey
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Pluto
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Cheshire Cat
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Minnie Mouse
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Just a few days ago, Stephanie sent us a picture of Pairs 2 Jrs on sale at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Today, Austin sent in a picture from D-Street of all 4 Pairs on display and a sign stating they will be officially released on April 27.

The lineup includes Dopey, Pluto, Cheshire Cat and Minnie Mouse. Each Disney character Jr comes packaged with a colorful pattern designed Jr for $16.95. It is a really interesting twist on character designs and I enjoy the color pallets chosen. They are fun as Jrs and work well at this smaller size. I really like the way the Cheshire Cat’s crazy face really pops out at you. The pattern pairs don’t appeal to me personally, but they also work well at this size and for what this series is probably designed for… your average guest picking up an accessory to hang on a bag or key chain. Not to say these will not find a way into some collector’s displays, but I don’t believe that is the target audience. Especially considering the secondary pairs are not all Disney themed. I know we at DV always call for more pattern based Urban 3″ designs, but these fall short (pun kind of intended because size has something to do with this comment) of our favorite Urban patterns. Will Disney Pairs be hanging in your display case anytime soon?

DS Jiminy Cricket Review

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these guys a week early, thanks to (probably) some miscommunication between my local Disney Store and the powers that be. But here he is, the Make-a-Wish Jiminy Cricket! (*editor’s note: the official release date for this figure is April 29th)

I love the graphic design of the suit. The button isn’t three-dimensional as some guessed, just painted on, but it looks great. The face has great detail, I love the shading, but looking at the figure up close and I’m thinking his head is a bit too cocked to the side. It kinda looks like his neck is broken. When I compare this figure to the A2 combo topper Jiminy, I think I prefer the straightforward graphic style of the latter. If I give him the MAW Jiminy’s umbrella, he’s practically perfect!

Unfortunately, again, this figure suffers a bit from quality control issues. Not nearly the state of Furry Friends, but still, because he’s mostly white a lot of dirtiness/ imperfections really stand out. Notice the dirt on his hat and feet. It’s hard to tell when looking at him in the store in his box, but be mindful of this.

All in all, he’s a cute figure and $1 of each purchase goes to the Wake-A-Wish foundation, so that’s cool. He retails for $9.95 also, which is a great price considering he has two accessories AND when you take into account the donation.

Autism Awareness Vinylmation Auction

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

by Annemarie

For the month of April, there’s been a great auction going on over at the Vinylmation Exchange Facebook page. Several artists have donated customs for the cause, Light it Up Blue for World Autism Awareness Month. Cheryl Kramp is running the auction, and it goes until the end of this week, ending April 29th. I was honored to design and donate a custom for the auction, Merida from Pixar’s upcoming “Brave.”

There are several other customs up for auction by various artists, and even some Disney produced harder-to-get vinyls as well.

Baby Stitch by Aaralyn
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Sorcerer Mickey by Chris Porter
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Spongebob by Laura Morrey

 So be sure to check out the Facebook group, scroll down to see the pieces up for auction, and join the group to bid!

Jiminy Cricket hops into some Disney Stores early

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Jiminy 25th Anniversary Vinylmation
Annemarie found this figure in her local Disney Store. It was out early at her store so check yours and let us know if your Disney Store put it on their shelves. Check back soon as we should have more pics and a review of the opened figure.

Mysterious New Junior Keychains

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Mysterious new keychains
Our friend Stephanie found these keychain juniors at the Villains in Vogue shop at Hollywood Studios.
Pairs 2 back
It appears to be a Minnie and Cheshire in a old school color palette. They remind me of the 9″ Mickey from The Florida Project. On the back it says that these are two of the ten figures in the Pairs series. So I would guess that there are also a Mickey and Donald and one other character, all packaged with a design figure too.

Has anyone else seen these? What do you think they are a part of?

Urban 9 Variant- Gold Kitsune

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Urban 9 Variant
Over at themagickitschdom they uncovered the first known variant for the Urban 9 series. Check it out above. It’s a gold version of the red kitsune-ish figure. I kinda like it in Gold. Thanks again for the pics Magic Kitschdom!
Urban 9 Variant gold back
What do you think of this? What other figures in this set do you hope have variants? According to The Playwright there is also a Sheep that has been shorn.

Thomas Scott Alice Signing

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Disney artist Thomas Scott was at D-Street Orlando on Friday signing figures from the Alice in Wonderland Vinylmation series.

The line started forming around 3:30pm but heavy rain and hail kept the crowd at bay until closer to 5pm.

Luckily I had friends with umbrellas. The signing, usually right outside the storefront, was moved indoors.

Some guests had packages signed while others had Thomas autograph the various Alice figures. He even signed some Snow White Jr packaging.

The next artist signing is May 11 with the designers of Urban 9 at the Walt Disney World trading night held at the Contemporary Resort from 6p-9p.

Upcoming Animation 2 LEs

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Nick was able to take a pic of the upcoming Animation 2 LEs.
First, Geppetto 9″ LE 1000
Second, a 9″/3″ combo, Humphrey and Ranger J Audubon Woodlore LE 1200.
Along with the previously announced Maleficent and Prince and The 9″ Roger Rabbit, these seem to be the 9″ limited edition figures.
Still wondering about the Rhino ignite we saw earlier.
What do you think of these sets? Geppetto will go nicely with Pinocchio from the Animation 1 set.

Spoiler! Snow White Junior Chasers

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Here there are in a pic that was tweeted by Evilos. Looks like Nick was wrong, kinda. No heart box. And there’s an apple, but it’s part of the “old hag” figure.
What do you think of these figures?