Spotlight On: Custom Artist Rust This World

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

By now, you know the way to my heart is show me some video game related custom Vinylmation. Today, we feature artist Rust This World from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Destination Vinylmation: You created a series of figures based on the popular Kingdom Hearts video game franchise. How many figures are in this series?
Rust This World: There are 5 figures so far, but eventually (meaning if I don’t get sidetracked on another project) I’m hoping to have 12 plus a couple 9″.

DV: What characters did you decide to include?
RTW: When I first started collecting Vinylmation, I was most drawn to the Villains series as I love the darker side of Disney. I wanted to include a couple different Heartless designs to include with my other villains. It just spread from there.

DV: Which one was the most difficult to design and why?
RTW: Either the 3 magic Heartless or the shadow Heartless. Both stray away from the traditional “figure stretched onto mickey’s form” that a lot of vinyls (including some of my own) follow. I’m often disappointed with how most official Disney artists aren’t creative with translating characters onto the canvas, so I at least wanted a couple of mine to look different. The shadow heartless was also fun because I made it on a clear yellow body so that when it’s held up to the light, the Shadows’ eye light up.

DV: That one does look great. Are there any more characters from Kingdom Hearts in the works?
RTW: I’m working on two 9″ vinyls right now that are about 1/2 way done based on two of the worlds from Kingdom Hearts: Hallow Bastion and The World That Never Was.

DV: What is your favorite Kingdom Hearts game in the franchise?
RTW: The first one, I loved the combat and platforming gameplay and the plot hadn’t become ridiculously complicated at that point. Plus there was something so cool about getting to run around and interact in the awesome Disney worlds that I’d only seen in movies.

DV: What do you like most about the Kingdom Hearts games?
RTW: It’s a great gameplay engine crossed with childhood nostalgia for Disney films.

DV: What have you learned from creating your customs that you can pass onto other custom artists?
RTW: There are a couple tips that apply to any custom. 1. Always wash the vinyl and then paint a base coat, both insure that the detail paint with be applied cleaner and more evenly. 2. Invest in a tiny brush, size 000 or 0000, it helps achieve clean lines and tiny detail. 3. Seal your vinyl with a sealer or varnish to insure a clean even look and to prevent paint rub.

DV: Is your work available for purchase?
RTW: All of the vinyls I’ve made are in my own personal display, but I’m more than willing to recreate them or accept commissions if people like my designs.

DV: Where can people go to see more of your work and contact you?
RTW: My website, which is more of an online portfolio, is rustthisworld.com it has all of my vinylmation as well as custom action figures and Kidrobot vinyls, plus a bunch of unrelated stuff like my Battlebots and other projects. My email is evolvedbutter@aol.com or pm me on the Vinylnation boards, username: Rust This World.

DV: Great job on this KH series! Thank you for sharing your work with our audience.

Please Pass The Vinylmation

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Update: 10/31/11 The back of this figure:

Bald spot, turkey leg in pocket for later and a fork just in case. LOVE IT! (not fond of the price)


Update: 10/27/11 Disney’s Vinylmation Blog has confirmed the November 4 release date and the $54.95 price.

VinylmationTraders.com is reporting a November 4th release date for the 9″ Holiday 3 Thanksgiving Dinner Aftermath. This LE 800 figure was designed by Mike Sullivan and will be sold at both D-Streets for $44.95. (VinylmationTraders.com has $54.95, but $44.95 was printed on a card next the figure below that we saw at the D23 Expo)

It will be the first Disney 9″ figure released on the new 9″ mold. I think this figure has a ton of character and am very tempted to pick it up. What about you?

Vault 28 coming to DisneyStore.com

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Picture from Disney

According to the vinylmation.com blog, there will be a new part of the Online Disney Store coming soon. On November 18th there will be a new Vault 28 section online. As part of the products there, NOAH will be designing this 9″ Maleficent figure which you can purchase for 650 dollars. These figures will be a limited release, with all figures being made after they have been purchased.

There will also be other NOAH merchandise in this new section as well. So look forward to it on November 18th!

Muppets Mayhem at DLR on 11/17 and 18

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Pictures by Disney

Update: 11/17/11 According to vinylmation.com’s blog, there will be several of these pieces at D-Street Florida, also being released on 11/18. Good news for all of us on the East Coast.

Update: 11/9/11 The art of Disney blog updated today with more info about these figures. The 3″ figures will go for $150 and the 9″ figures for $650. No word on how many of each there are. The figures will be sold first at the D23 event on the 17th, then if any are left they will be handing out wristbands at 7 AM on the 18th. For more details check out the blog at ArtofDisney.com.

Update: 11/1/11 Today vinylmation.com released the first pics of the NOAH figures from the Muppet Mayhem event. No idea if these come as packs or how many of each there are, but so far (if they follow the pattern of NOAH releases, they will all be sold separately and are part of a series of similar figures.) I really like all these figures. The details are awesome, the drum sticks and collar for Animal and the Piggy kiss and collar for Kermit!

Picture by Disney


Announced today on the vinylmation.com blog was the Muppets Mayhem event at D-Street in Downtown Disney in California. On display will be some of new artwork celebrating the release of the new Muppets movie. One of the artists on hand will be NOAH. There will be lots demonstrations and signings; as well as new shirts, paintings, and even a Vinylmation that we have yet to see designs of.

The D23 only event will be on Thursday November 17th at 7 pm. Tickets are free but you have to sign up for them starting on October 31st at 10 AM PST at the D23 page here.

The public event will be on Friday November 18th. Art demonstrations will begin at 1:30, with NOAH demonstrating his work from 4 – 5 PM. After that the artists will be signing their work from 5 – 7 PM.

Halloween Special- It’s Alive Project

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Some people might not know how Vinylmation first started. Back in 2003 celebrities decorated six foot tall Mickey statues as part of the “Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations” celebration. Disney had borrowed this idea from an artistic movement that had been trending across the nation (Liz Art in Orlando in 2000, Cows on Parade in Chicago in 1999, and Lions in Zurich in 1986) where cities had been asking artists to decorate copies of the same statue and place them around the city. Once then had been seen for a while they would be auctioned off. The idea of a blank Mickey canvas lead to the very first vinylmation: plain solid colored create your owns.

Yesterday, I was wondering around Orlando and saw an art installation that took a similar approach (one template, lots of artistic interpretations) and it reminded me of custom vinylmation I had seen. I asked around and here is the info I found.
This series of 80 busts of Boris Karloff are designed by 80 different artists, as a celebration of 8 decades of the Frankenstein Monster. The show will be running thru November 15th at the CityArts Factory in Downtown Orlando. All 80 busts are available for purchase with proceeds going to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. More info can be found at orlandoslice.com or by called the CityArts Factory at 407 648 7060.

Cool…

In fact so cool that I’m going to stop talking and just let you take a look.








Disney Store Online Cyber Deal

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Do you need to pick up some gifts online this Cyber Monday? On the Disney Store Online use promo code CYBER and you get the special online deals 3 hours early. The code begins working at 9pm PST / Midnight EST tonight! The deal is Free Shipping plus a percentage off your total purchase. Place at least one eligible item in your Shopping Cart to receive Free Shipping. Place at least $50, $75, $100, or $125 worth of eligible products in your Shopping Cart to receive 10%, 15%, 20% or 25% off. This deal excludes exclusive LE merchandise and Vault 28 merchandise… so that excludes the Maleficant NOAH. But its a great chance to pick up that case of Cutesters Like You or Robots. Here is the link to the deals.

Annemarie: Family Guy Kid Robot Vinyls

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

I was in my office working diligently on a Family Guy scene in which Peter and Quagmire discuss something offensive, which is not an uncommon occurrence, when I got a call from my husband (we both work on the show).

“Hey, you have to come down here, there are Family Guy vinylmations!”

Bless his heart, he didn’t know they weren’t ACTUAL Vinylmations; they’re 3” figures by kidrobot; but he knew I’d be very excited. We were having our annual FOX studio sale, and my fellow employees were going crazy over these little guys.

They’re blind-boxed, which was a surprise. I’ve received my fair share of Family Guy merchandise over the years; actually I’d say I have quite enough, but I HAD to have these. The attention to detail is great for any fan of the show, and their stubby-stylized look is extremely appealing for the characters! I’m not certain if these are made out of vinyl, however. They are lighter than Vinylmation and feel a little less sturdy. It’s also a little unusual to have a blind-boxed toy with little to no opportunity for trading, especially with such a high probability for pulling duplicates (I’ll explain later).

First we have Quagmire, Cleveland, Peter and Joe. Each toy comes with one or two small accessories; a mug of beer, or in Joe’s case a tiny wheelchair. (Seriously cute.)

Chris is one of my favorites figures in the set, fans of the show will remember the Ball-in-a-Cup gag, which is one of my favorite little accessories. I also pulled the Evil Monkey and Herbert (who’s a rarer figure).

I didn’t pull a Meg figure, but a friend of mine did and I got a look at her. Overall I’d say the female figures suffer a bit from this stubby design (poor things). As you can see, Lois’ body looks pretty awkward.

I bought 14 boxes and out of a possible 16 figures I pulled 12. Only two duplicates. I got lucky, most of my friends pulled several duplicates. The distribution for these is pretty interesting, there isn’t one chaser, there are actually much fewer of several of the figures. From what I’ve been able to deduce, there are for example 2 Stewies and 2 Brians in each box of 16, guaranteed, but only 1 Meg or Chris. There’s only one Herbert in every 32 boxes, and only one Angry Peter in every 64 boxes.

Each figure comes with a pretty good sized sticker.

The Giant Chicken and Death characters seem to be the rarest; they’re the question-mark silhouettes on the box. I was lucky enough to pull a Chicken, and I think he’s the best of the figures. His design is fantastic and he feels somewhat sturdier than the other figures, oddly. I LOVE his accessory: a frying pan with an indentation of Peter’s face in it! Awesome.

These retail for $9.95 and you can find them here:
http://www.kidrobot.com/Toys/MiniFigures/FamilyGuyMiniSeries3Inch.html
Overall, if you’re a fan of Family Guy or just enjoy cool looking toys, these are great fun for any collector. I got a few coworkers hooked, and told them all about Vinylmation. Hopefully I’ve brought a few new collectors into the fold!

Annemarie Brown
@AdmiralAkbrown

Disney Store Makes Good on Lion King Chaser

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

It took a little over 2 months, but yesterday, we received the correct Lion King Hyena Mystery Chaser from the Disney Store in the mail.

We, like many of you, opened up a case of Lion King Vinylmation a couple months back only to have an incorrect chaser. One that mixed up Ed’s body with Banzi’s head.

The above picture was taken by us at D23. Among many excited collectors opening box upon box, we found this previously unknown chaser. Caught up in all that excitement, we didn’t notice the error. Right away, the Disney Store promised to make good on the error by sending guests who opened up a blind box and got this error figure, a replacement corrected figure. All you had to do was email customer service and provide some info like a copy of your receipt. They said expect it in 8-10 weeks, and although it was a few more than that, we are very happy to have received it. So if you contacted customer service as well, rest assured, it seems as if you will be getting a UPS package in the mail too.

On another note, we have made numerous attempts to contact the Disney Store and the Vinylmation team about what steps they are taking to correct this issue in current blind boxes sold on the shelves. As of today, there is no official comment. Can anyone verify if the incorrect chaser is still inside cases currently being shipped to stores?

On The 13th Day of Mousevent…

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

We are just 12 days until Christmas! And that also means there are 13 Disney podcasts available now at Mousevent.com. This is such a special idea… a different Disney podcast each day. DV’s day is coming soon, but  I’m assuming if you are here, you are a fan a all things Disney. So far, we have heard about Disney Christmas movies, food, music, park history, Muppets and more!

With each podcast 5-15 minutes in length, it’s perfect for that quick Disney pick me up. And if you haven’t started yet, it will not take you long at all to catch up. You can stream them from Mousevent.com or subscribe to the Mousevent 2011 feed at iTunes. Also, as a special Christmas treat today, we are re-releasing last year’s DV Mousevent Christmas Special. In this episode, we get pulled into the Pixar universe to learn the true meaning of Christmas. If you haven’t heard it yet, or want to relive it, check it out here:

Star Wars Muppets Review

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

It’s the week before Christmas! Wonderful glorious Christmas. And yesterday I was among the hustle and bustle of the Disney Christmas shoppers at Downtown Disney Orlando. I began of course by stopping off at D-Street to do some trading and pick up some new Vinylmation. I then made my way over to the World of Disney store. I figured a question mark tie would make a good gift for MC this year. You can’t poke your eye out with that. Disappointed that they had none, I made my way over to the toy department. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear? But Muppets Star Wars Series One! A set of eight tiny action figures.

There are four different combo sets, each retail for $19.95. Kermit as Luke and Miss Piggy as Princess Leia. Beaker as C3P0 and Bunsen as R2D2. Fozzie as Chewy and Link Hogthrob as Han Solo. Sam the Eagle as Obi Wan and Gonzo as Darth Vader.

Collect all 4? Don’t mind if I do! But I started with only 2 today.

I’m a big Sam the Eagle fan, and him as a Jedi Knight is impossible to pass up. And come on, a chicken with a Stormtropper hat! Awesome.

The first thing I noticed about these figures is the size. While Gonzo is about Vinylmation size, Sam stands about 5 inches tall. And they are hefty. Very solid figures that allow a lot of detail to be molded in. If you put these up against the Disney Characters Star Wars figures, these tower over those and just feel much better constructed.

Sam, of course, comes with a lightsaber. They are also extremely poseable. Sam comes with joints in his shoulders, elbows and knees. A figure like Gonzo, with shorter arms, doesn’t have the elbow joints. But the figures have turning heads, wrists, and waists.

The detail is also fantastic. The Jedi robe is a soft plastic that sits over the figure. The ruffles on Sam’s tail and texture on the head is perfect. The paint job is also top notch as you don’t see much outside the lines jobs and I didn’t have to pick through all the shelves for a good one.

Packaged with Sam, the designers had Gonzo take the role of Darth Vader. His cape is much like Sam’s robe, a soft plastic and he also comes with a lightsaber.

Gonzo can also put on Vader’s mask. Unlike the Disney Character Star Wars which have helmets that wrap around the head and clasp on, Gonzo comes with 2 heads. You just pop one off and stick the other one on.

In what may be the best part, this combo comes packaged with a Camilla the Chicken as a stormtrooper.

The helmet just slips right over her head. The only part I’m disappointed about is when the helmet is placed over her, you can see she slumps and looks down.

I also purchased Kermit and Miss Piggy.

Again, I was very happy with the construction of these figures. Very durable and very poseable.

Kermit as Luke has a nicely formed robe and detail on his belt and feet.

Miss Piggy is Princess Leia, complete with robe, ring and gun.

They sculpted her hair perfectly into the signature buns and have the hood laying down in the back.

Overall, this is a fantastic series that does a great job picking the right Muppets and really making them look the Star Wars characters they represent. The value on these is great with a $20 price point coming out to the $10 per figure you pay for the Disney Character Star Wars and these are bigger, have more detail and just have a heftier construction.