Pixar’s 25th Anniversary Weekend

WDWNT on May 13, 2011

This weekend, May 13th – May 15th, EPCOT will host Pixar’s 25th Anniversary Weekend. This exciting celebration will give guests the opportunity to Meet and Greet their favorite Pixar characters that are not normally out and about the parks! You will also be able to browse a photo gallery from Pixar films, and explore the art gallery for a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible creative work that goes in to Pixar films. Special guests will also be on hand for the Presenting Pixar Speaker Sessions. Get the inside scoop from Oscar-nominated Pixar producer Jonas Rivera, Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino and Cars Franchise Guardian Jay Ward.

Today on DV we will take you around the event, let you know what to expect and top it off with a Vinylmation twist by showing you what Vinylmation figures have been release that feature Pixar characters. When you enter the Park, the Little Green Army Men from Toy Story will be handing out Park Maps.

click to enlarge
click to enlarge
The Little Green Army Man from Toy Story series designed by Thomas Scott.

Meet and Greets

 Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. He will be at Mission: Space in Future World. Buzz Vinylmation can be found in a few series. Of course the Thomas Scott designed Toy Story set. He is also found in Big Eyes and Jr. 2, also Thomas Scott designs.
Woody, Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story. They will be at the American Pavillion in the World Showcase. Woody has two Vinylmation… one from Toy Story and another in Jr 3. Jessie and Bullseye can only be found in Toy Story.
Toy Story Vinylmation set had characters that couldn’t make it to the Pixar party: Big Baby, Buttercup, Hamm, Rex, Wheezy, and Dr. Evil Porkchop. Also 9″ versions of Alien and Zurg. And a 9/3 combo of Bo Peep and Sheep. There was also at Toy Story character released back in Park 2… Little Green Men.
Flik, Princess Atta, Gypsy and Slim from A Bugs Life. This group can be found at the Art of Living Garden near Morrocco. This classic is one of only 3 Pixar movies without a Vinylmation representative.
Remy and Emile from Ratatouille. These rodents can be found in the France Pavilion. Howerver, they have yet to be served up in Vinylmation form.
Mr. and Mrs. Incredile and Frozone from The Incredibles. They will be inside the World Showplace (located between Canada and UK). The incredibles has an interesting Vinylmation piece. It’s a 9″ Park 2 figure of Mickey Mouse in a Mr. Incredibles costume. It comes with a 3″ Jack Jack.
Lotso from Toy Story 3. This villain will be in the World Showplace (located between Canada and UK). Lotso’s lone Vinylmation is in Toy Story. Mr. Potato Head will also be there. He is Vinylmantionless, but has plenty of toys on the shelf in his own right.
Mike, Sully, Boo and Smitty from Monster’s Inc. You can test your bravery by meeting these Monsters inside the World Showplace (located between Canada and UK). They are rarely at meet and greats, so this is a great opportunity. You can find a Sully and Boo 9/3 combo in the Park 4 series. Mike can be found in both Park 2 and Big Eyes.
Carl Fredricksen, Russell and Dug from Up. You will find this trio next a floating replica of the Up house inside the World Showplace (located between Canada and UK). We will not see an Up releated Vinylmation until the 9″ Park 6 Up House is released. But one of our featured artists Chelsea created a Carl, Russell and Kevin. Her Kevin is currently for sale on eBay.
Tow Mater from Cars. He will be parked inside the World Showplace (located between Canada and UK). Lightning and Mater will soon have there own meet and greet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, until then, grab a picture with Mater here and Lightning over at Downtown Disney this same weekend. Although there are curently no Mater Vinylmation, you can pick up a cool Lightning McQueen inspired figure in Park 5.
It was originally reported that Wall-E would have a meet and greet area. One of the only time Wall-E had been at a meet and greet was at 2009’s D23 Convention in California. The official website and park map for this event does not have Wall-E on it. However, the Wall-E and Eve set is one of the most coveted in all of Vinylmation.
Finding Nemo will not have a true meet and greet either… kinda hard for a fish to sign an autograph I guess. But you will get to see some Living Coral Stilt Walkers outside The Seas with Nemo and Friends. And of course Crush will be interacting with guests inside at Turtle Talk with Crush. Nemo themed Vinylmation include Nemo Submarine from Park 4, Nemo from Jr 2 and Mine, Mine, Mine 9″ from Park 2.


Activities

Besides the Meet and Greets, the Flower and Garden Festival will be in it’s last weekend of the season. You won’t be able to miss the Buzz, Woody and Lotso topiaries at the park entrance. You will also be able to see Lightning and Mater in flower form at the entrance to the World Showcase. Other Disney character topiaries can be found around the park.

Make sure you grab your Cars race booklet and collect the stamps around the World Showcase. Collect them all, you receive a special commemorative button.

Inside the World Showplace, you will be able to browse a special photo gallary that reveals some of the best “Easter Eggs” from Pixar films. You will also be able to visit and art gallery filled with a behind-the-scenes look at Pixar.

Daily Speaker Sessions will also be held inside the World Showplace. Here is the schedule for Saturday and Sunday (same both days):
Noon: Jay Ward
2pm: Jonas Rivera
4pm: Michael Giacchino
6pm: Special Presentation with all three

I hope you enjoy the Pixar filled weekend EPCOT! I will be there. If you go, send us your pictures and let us know what you thought about the event.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Chelsey

WDWNT on May 12, 2011

Update: 05 12 11 The custom Kevin you see here designed by Chelsea is now available for purchase on eBay. Click here to visit the auction.

Last week, we featured the work of Californian artist Chelsea with her Carl and Russell Up custom Vinylmation. This week, she gives us an exclusive preview of her newly finished Kevin 9″ Vinylmation.

Destination Vinylmation: Chelsea, tell us about the design on this figure.

Chelsea: I’ve decided to stick with my 3D idea for Kevin. His feather was made out of clay.

I used a picture from the movie scene where Kevin was found by Russel and Carl in the jungle. On the back of the vinyl, I decided to use the abstract view of Carl, Russel, Doug and Kevin looking up at Paradise Falls with the house on top of it.

DV: This is a perfect use of the Vinylmation shape to draw Kevin. Is this the way you always pictured it, or were there a few different ideas before settling on this design?

Chelsea: This not the way I always pictured it. My original ideas was to draw it on both sides and show the beak in the front. However, after the initial sketch, I found it’s not the best way to show him.

DV: I enjoy when artists don’t just force a mirror image of the front onto back. The back of this figure is a beautiful depiction of the movie UP. Is it difficult to paint such a detailed image onto the Vinylmation canvas?

Chelsea: It’s quite a challenge to put such a detailed image onto the vinyl. However, as always, I do love challenges. It really took me a while to finish such a high level of detail.

DV: After looking at the finished figure, is there anything you would do differently if making another?

Chelsea: The only part that I’m not quite satisfied about this one is the pink color on his tail. It’s not the perfect pink I want. I want the pink to be lighter than this one.

DV: What is your favorite part of this figure?

Chelsea: I think my favorite part is I was able to blend the front side and back side. There’s no clear cut of the front side and back side. It naturally transitions from front to back so it looks like a whole piece.

DV: I love how colorful it is. It’s a great looking piece of art from one of my favorite movies of all-time. I know I would love to add this to my collection… Is this a one of a kind? And will it go on sale or is this for your personal collection?

Chelsea: I am planing to make 3 of them. I’ll keep one for myself for sure. (The others) will go on sale after the exclusive exhibit on Destination Vinylmation for the week. If anyone is interested in purchasing this figure before I put it up for sale, please email me at zhchelsea0513@gmail.com. I’ll put it on Ebay afterwards. Thanks for the continuous support.

Disney Store Online Report: 5/11/11

WDWNT on May 11, 2011

Hey there Vinylmation fans. This is the first edition of the Disney Store Online Report. For those living next to one of the two U.S. Disney parks or one of the Disney stores throughout the country, purchasing Vinylmations is fairly convenient. However, a great number of Vinylmation fans don’t live within driving distance of the locations and are left to purchase them from third party sellers, eBay, or what we’ll be going over here, the Disney Store Online (DSO).

Any frequent users of DSO know that their products, prices, and availability change sporadically. Products are up one day and down the next, labeled with a price but then marked as “sold out” when added to your cart, and simply put on sale without notice. These reports are targeted towards helping Vinylmation fans who aren’t able to drop by a Disney store, still have as much information about what’s available online as possible.

This report certainly won’t be listing every product on the online store, being that there’s upwards of 80-100 regularly, but will rather be focusing on a few major categories of Vinylmation, the first of which is titled “Introducing.” “Introducing” will be recently released Vinylmations which are available online. Next will be “Price Variants,” which will note both the beginning and ending of Vinylmations on sale. The occasional “Comebacks” are Vinylmations that Disney is re-entering into the online marketplace and although a rarity, are fun to find and don’t stay up for long! “Sellouts” are those annoying items that Disney has listed as for sale but are unfortunately unavailable once selected. Lastly, “Up and Comings” are Vinylmations that are planned for online release in the upcoming weeks.
Introducing
New to the DSO are the Sea Creature individual open boxes, all of which are available for $9.95.
Urban 6 also made its introduction recently with individual mystery boxes, although no cases as of yet, at $11.95.
Muppets 2 also stepped onto the online shelves with both individual mystery boxes at $11.95 and the usual 24 tray for $286.80.
Lastly, the first of the Urban 6 9” made it into the store with the Gumball Machine 3” combo for $74.95.
Comebacks
This week’s Comebacks include an entire series as well as a few topper combos. The entire open box TRON series is back online at $9.95.
The whole open box The Nightmare Before Christmas series (including the chaser Pumpkin King!) at $11.95.
Both the Urban 5 & 6 Topper Combos, with two-tone Mickeys, as well as the Animation 1 Topper Combo, with Simba, are available for $24.95.
Lastly for the Comebacks, the 3” Figure and Pocket Watch combo, modeled similarly to the upcoming Steamboat collection, is again available at $150.00.
Price Variants
The Price Variants for this week are a select group from The Animal Kingdom series (the Panther, Gorilla, Buffalo, and Bear), which dropped from $9.95 to $7.99.
The Create Your Own 3”, all but white and yellow, are marked down from $8.95 to $4.99 while the Create Your Own 9”, all but white and black, are marked down from $39.95 to $14.99! A pretty good deal for you creative Vinylmation fans out there!
The other Vinylmation on sale is the 2010 Marathon figure for $5.99, originally $14.99.
Sell Outs
Thankfully this week Disney is up to date on all its products! There are no Sell Outs as of writing this report.
Still Around
The few Still Around figures that are left are the open box Flag series, all but U.S.A., for $9.95 and the open box 2011! series, at $11.95.
Up and Coming
This month, scheduled for May 20th, is the release of additional Urban 6 9” figures. These can be found under the 9″ Urban 6 Vinylmation: The Complete List post. The solo 9”s will be priced at $39.95.

Well that’s it for this week’s Disney Store Online Report Vinylmation fans. Hopefully this has been helpful in your online search for Vinylmations. Till next time.

– Nick J.

Pics from disneystore.com

The Florida Project: What is RSP?

WDWNT on May 10, 2011

For those of you who came over to Vinylmation from Pins, you probably already know what Disney’s RSP or Random Selection Process is. If you are familiar with it, please feel free to share your comments below. For those not familiar with the process, what follows is a brief explanation of it.

The reason we are bringing this up today, is it appears this process may apply to Vinylmation, as well as Pins, at the Florida Project Trading Event in September. All the pins have been assigned RSP numbers in the Trade Show catalog.

Note the RSP number at the top middle
RSP numbers also appear next to the Vinylmation in that catalog.

We do not know for sure, but this leads us to believe they may be using RSP for Vinylmation as well. What is RSP? Here is a selection from Disney’s Pin Trading FAQ page:

In an effort to provide an equitable distribution of the limited edition event merchandise, we have asked our Information Technology Department to assist us by supervising a Random Selection Process (RSP). The RSP eliminates the need for guests to arrive early and stand in line to purchase items that are limited in nature. The RSP is a computer-generated process matching a list of Guest names and their desired merchandise selections and rankings. All Guest names, their merchandise selections and rankings are entered into the system. When all information has been input, the system will randomly assign merchandise items to each Guest for purchase, based on the edition size, ranking and the ranking of all other attendees. For example, if an item has an edition size of 20 and 100 Guests show an interest to purchase this, the computer will randomly select 20 Guests who will be offered the opportunity to purchase the item.

So you must enter a drawing for the chance to purchase Pins. Guests attending the Florida Project and who signed up for the Pin Trading days, today received an email with a link to the RSP form to fill out for the Pins they wish to purchase. This is my first Pin event. I’m drawn in by the great retro Disney merchandise. I like the idea of a no pressure situation… I don’t have to rush down to EPCOT and be at the front of the line and wonder if the Pins I want will be there. Plus this allows for merchandise to still be available for people who can’t make it the first day. It is a bit odd being told by a computer what I can and can’t purchase. If you registered for the Vinylmation day of the Florida Project, keep an eye out for an email about RSP and we will let you know if we get confirmation one way or the other.

What do you think of RSP? Have you had a good or bad experience with it in the past?

Vinylmation Speculation: Cutesters Like You and Robots

WDWNT on May 10, 2011

We are still hearing lots of chatter about Cutesters Like You and Robots… two rumored upcoming Disney Store Exclusive Vinylmation sets. The latest word is a May 23rd release date for Cutesters Like You. This set is to be geared toward girls and features girls doing “sporty” and “outdoorsy” things.

Could this be a clue to the Robot Series?


Robots is rumored to be a set with “classic” robot designs with a quickly approaching release date. The buzz is that Cast Members working at Disney Stores have seen the flyers for these releases.

Times Square Disney Store
Also of note for Disney Stores is the arrival of Vinylmation Trading. We have heard that select stores have already received their trading boxes from Disney and may begin trading with guests as early as May 16th.

“Cars 2” Merchandise Speeding to Walt Disney World

WDWNT on May 9, 2011

From Merchandise Communications Manager Steven Miller on the Disney Parks Blog:

'Cars 2' Youth Shirts for Disney Parks

The Disney•Pixar film “Cars” has a special meaning to me; it was the first movie my son saw in a theater. Despite the fact he was quite young at the time, he enjoyed it (though the part with Frank was a little scary…for me). I’m looking forward to seeing “Cars 2” with my son on June 24 (two words – Finn McMissile!). Yet I won’t have to wait that long to experience “Cars,” especially with the Downtown Disney Car Masters Weekend coming up on May 13-15. The weekend event sounds awesome (I used to attend car shows with my father while growing up in Columbus, Ohio). To celebrate this special Pixar-filled weekend, we made arrangements to release select “Cars 2” merchandise ahead of the national street date. I have a special look at several new items coming that weekend.

There will be three new youth shirts with original artwork created for Disney Parks. I love the bold, colorful graphics on the shirts! It looks like I’ve found what my son will be wearing next.

'Cars 2' Pins for Disney Parks

We will also release new pins including “two-on-a-card” pins featuring Finn (my favorite) with Holley Shiftwell and Professor Z with Acer. A mystery pin set is scheduled for release that weekend, too. Each set will contain two randomly selected pins from the 10-pin collection. I selected my favorite five pins for the image above.

There are some items that I am unfortunately unable to show yet – the new die-cast toy cars. Cody Hampton, Associate Developer for Toys and Games, shared some details of these new items.

“The new die-cast toys were created by Mattel and expand upon the ‘Cars’ universe with new characters,” explained Cody. “There will be 16 individual cars for the initial release. Each car will retail for $6.95. We are also introducing six different two-car sets and each contains an ‘exclusive vehicle’ found only in the set.”

Mater and Lightning McQueen from 'Cars in the Parks' Line

While I can’t show the newest die-cast cars, I can show Mater and Lightning McQueen from the new “Cars in the Parks” line. This art program places characters from “Cars” at Disney Parks, and they inspired a recently released Disney ear hat featuring Tow Mater sporting a Goofy hat (to which I fully expect to see being worn during the Car Masters Weekend).

Tow Mater Disney Ear Hat

These select merchandise items will be found at D Street and DisneyQuest Emporium located at Downtown Disney West Side starting May 13. Select items will also be carried at Once Upon a Toy and World of Disney located in the Downtown Disney Marketplace.

While I am doubtful I will find an actual Finn McMissile car during the weekend (I’m in the market for a new automobile), I hope to see you at the finish line.

Retro Looking Vinyl Tease

WDWNT on May 9, 2011

Update: 11 PM We took a look at the vinylmation.com blog tonight as part of our rounds and notice something interesting. The Rotary Telephone pic was a little different. It’s lost the grey outline around the body and is all red now. Any ideas what this might mean? It doesn’t seem like a variant. More like some odd photoshop removal that they forgot before publishing. Here’s a look at the new one…

The Disney Vinylmation Blog released some pictures of upcoming figures. They all seem to have a retro theme to them. We are not sure if these are from the same upcoming set or not.

 Jukebox


Looks like an old school jukebox. I like the music notes in the ears.
Dark Side of the Mouse


Looks like a peak into the 60s or 70s with a psychedelic space theme. Check out the Mickey head in the foot!
Rotary Telephone


A nod to the era when it took 5 minutes to call someone. And whats that in the head? Phones once had cords? And look, another phone number on a vinylmation!

Are you interested in any of these? They look pretty neat, if they are 3″ers.

Spotlight On: Custom Artist Amanda Albert

WDWNT on May 5, 2011

A while ago, while surfing the twitter waves, we ran aground of this cool custom vinylmation. Like always, we tweeted the designer and bring the interview straight to you. Check it out:

If you don’t know who this is, this is a great version of Scott Pilgrim from the comic books Scott Pilgrim. This awesome 9″ figure was made by Amanda Albert for her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day. I like the eyes and the details on the clothing the most! Here’s what Amanda had to say.

MC: Do you have any other custom Scott Pilgrim ones? Romona? Knives?
Amanda Albert: No, I have a mini blank one that I need to get around to, but I am not sure what to make it yet. I think it’s too small to make detailed enough for another Scott Pilgrim character.

MC: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?
AA: This is actually the first one I have made before.
MC: Do you collect the Vinylmation created by Disney artists?
AA: No, but my boyfriend does. He has a pretty healthy collection going. Hopefully he doesn’t wind up on “Hoarders” in a decade.

MC: What is your favorite Disney Vinylmation design?
AA: I adore Mary Blair, so it’s got to be the “it’s a small world” 9″ from Park 1.
MC: Can you describe your Scott Pilgrim figure? The inspiration. What detail went into it?
AA: It’s a super deformed Scott Pilgrim. The inspiration was I wanted to make a gift for my boyfriend for this past Valentine’s day. He loves and collects Vinylmation and Scott Pilgrim, so it just made sense to me.
I used acrylic paints and my brushes. And then refined some of the line art with a micron pen.

MC: What was the hardest part of creating this figure?
AA: It was tough figuring out how I wanted his expression to be. Scott is a pretty animated character so I was hard to get an expression that did him justice.
MC: In your words where can people go to find out more about your pieces and see your work?
AA: I have a portfolio/blog at supinternets.com
And you can follow me on twitter. @supinternets

Thanks so much!

MC: Thanks and keep up the great work!