Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Crazy4Vinyls

WDWNT on March 8, 2012

Your mouth watered over his first set of M&M Vinylmation, now Crazy4Vinyls is back to continue his Pop Culture series with a set Pac-Man customs.

The set comes with Pac-Man and four different colored ghosts. It is available on eBay right now.

Crazy4Vinyls even makes his own artist cards to accompany his creations. Here is a peak “behind the scenes” at the making of this set.

Painting the heads
Painting the arms
Body Parts

Look for more of Crazy4Vinyls customs on his Facebook page.

25th Anniversary Series Light Up Disney Stores on 3/28

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

Picture from Disney

Our friend @DVCwinner tweeted today that the Disney Store 25th Anniversary Series will finally be released on March 28th, which just so happens to be the exact day of their 25th anniversary. On that day in 1987 the first Disney Store opened in Glendale, California. (We’ve also heard this date from other sources)

After the delay are you (reader) still interested in this series (if you ever were)? Let us know…

Pesty Vinylmation

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

Today the vinylmation Facebook presented these two figures without any other explanation. The obvious guess is that these are part of the Urban 9 set that we already saw two figures of, the Sheep and Toaster. But then, maybe these are from a different creepier set.

Snake

A really detailed snake on a red background. Looks kinda like a California King Snake, but the marking seem just a little off.

Fly

Quick call Jeff Goldblum, there’s a fly about. Kinda freaky but still cool, I like the eyes. Great use of clear ears too.

What would you prefer? For these to be part of Urban 9 or some other set? Are these continuing to be too random and not “artsy” enough for Urban?

It’s a Boy!

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

Cutesters at the Beach was released on Friday, so we knew it’d only be a matter of time until pictures of the chaser surfaced. What we didn’t know, is a variant would also wash up. We found these pictures on Vinylmation Kingdom’s Facebook page:

The chaser is actually a boy at the beach. I find this interesting, but on further thought, not all that surprising. After all, a cute boy surfer would certainly appeal to a girl collecting these. He is wearing a floral bathing suit and a shark tooth necklace. I like how Disney promotes good habits by having all the figures wear sun screen on their noses.

The variant, for me at least, is much less impressive. Instead of the Sno Cone stand, it says Fish Tacos. A very Californian (where the Disney Store artists work out of) flair, but Sno Cones is just a much more fun design for me. What are your thoughts on these two designs? Would they be priceless finds for you collection or would you leave them out sea?

The Forgotten Vinylmation Collectible

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

Vinylmation is only about 3 years old and already we have undergone many different ways a Vinylmation is packaged. We have seen tins replaced by open window boxes. We now find it a regular occurrence to have Jrs packaged with both 9″ and 3″ figures. One of the biggest changes was the decision to not include artist cards any longer with Vinylmation. We all remember having to find a place for all those artist cards, but do you remember another short lived item that used to be packaged with Vinylmation?

Around Park and Urban 1 and 2, buttons were packaged with 9″ Vinylmation. Pictured above are the buttons from Tiki Mickey (Urban 2, Doug Strayer, LE 750), Bowling (Urban 2) and a third small button an eBay seller sent me as a bonus. I’m not sure about its origins. The 9″ Bowling figure is one of my favorite Urbans of all time. It was also one of my first two 9″ figures (Black Cauldron) I ever purchased. I remember being really excited when I saw it in the store.

And this Dawn Ockstadt designed 9″ came with a button attached to the inside of the box. This figure is only LE 600. Currently, prices are rising on 9″ figures and at the same time, edition sizes are rising and the artist cards and buttons are gone. Doesn’t seem fair. I don’t really like the buttons too much, but to collectors, they are a low LE collectible that is decently hard to find. After all, not everybody opens their 9″ boxes like I do.

Maria Clapsis’ 9″ Mine, Mine, Mine from Park 2 also came with a button. The buttons are just like the artist cards… they depict the concept art for the figure.

Again, this figure being a low LE of 550 means the button is also rather scarce.

This is the most rare Vinylmation button I own. I came with the Randy Noble designed LE 350 Crossroads figure from Park 2.

Holiday 1 also got in on the button fun. Maria’s LE 400 Turkey also came with a button. So what are your thoughts on the buttons? Did you like when they were packaged with 9″ figures? Do you ever collect them separately from the figure?

Vinylmation Stars in 30 Rock

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

Update: 2/13/11 According to Thomas Scott the figure is actually a “Qee”. Big thanks to him for solving the mystery! (Also thanks to KrisKitten and Evilos for chiming in)

Ok. A bit of an over statement, but thanks to a tip by twitter friend @Charlieague, it looks like there was a Vinylmation on the writers desk. Here’s a screen shot from the show. We never see more then this much. What do you think? Any idea which figure it might be?

Let’s Trade! March 2nd at WDW

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

Hot on the heals of a late January event, Disney has announced another Vinylmation and Pin trading event for Walt Disney World. This event will be held on Friday, March 2 from 6p-9p at the Contemporary Resort Fantasia H Ballroom.

It’s great to see another event less than 2 months apart. It’s fun to trade and we usually get to see some future sets revealed. Last time we saw Park 8. What do you hope to see on 3/2? And for those near Disneyland, don’t forget your trading event in just a few days. Friday, February 17 at the Paradise Pier Hotel.

Mickey’s Circus Tease

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

This year’s major trading event at WDW is themed, Mickey’s Circus. The September 7-9, 2012 event is the equivalent of last year’s Florida Project and will feature a variety of merchandise, product reveals and trading opportunities for both pin and Vinylmation collectors. We have already seen the poster for the event…

This poster lends some insight into the designs we should see come this fall. We have also found these teaser square images associated with Mickey’s Circus.
It doesn’t tell us much, but it does point to some patterns and logos we may see on some pins, Vinylmation or packaging. What are your ideas for some designs for Mickey’s Circus?

New Holiday Vinylmation to Hatch on 2/17

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

With weather like today, it feels like spring is right around the corner. Oh, sorry to all of our readers in cold weather climates. But it was a spectacular day in sunny Central Florida. And take a look at what we found in the D-Street display case that made thoughts of Spring pop into our heads.

Thanks Austin for sending this in. This 9″ Easter inspired figure will be released on February 17. It is an LE 800 and will retail for $44.95. Here is a look at the concept art for this figure…

For a look at all the 9″ Holiday 3 figures and our take, check out 9″ Holiday 3 Explained.

The Pinstripes Take the Field at Times Square

WDWNT on March 5, 2012

With Linsanity taking over the Garden and the Giants just bringing home another Super Bowl trophy, the furthest thing from a New York sports fan’s mind are the Yankees. But Spring Training is right around the corner and Disney has released the 3″ New York Yankees MLB Teams figure at the NYC Times Square Disney Store.

Thanks to The Playwright for all these pictures. As you can see, they still have some 3″ Hey Taxi tins and Muppets 2 on hand.

These look great in person… I just picked up my Red Sox the other day at WDW. So to the news that Red Sox sold out at D-Street… they got plenty more in stock. These MLB figures are my favorites of the Teams series designs. There is a ton of character and detail to them.

For those of you who keep your open window figures in the box, the packaging is nicely designed as well. The Yankees figure seen above has also been released at WDW and DLR in various stores as well as online. For detailed info, check out MLB Teams Explained.