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Ep. 075 It’s a Small World Leopard On our 75th episode we finally get those Vinylmation themed cupcakes! We also make a big announcement about another Disney themed podcast we are launching this week. Annemarie joins us fresh off her trip to Japan to give her take on the week’s news and talk about what Vinylmation collecting is like in Japan. We also discuss the new Lightning mold, the Villains 3 lineup and much more. |
Writer AnneMarie was able to snag one of the highly sought after Director Mickey that was released earlier this week. Here are a few of the close ups she took with him.
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First up, check out the beautiful tin. I’m not sure when this design was made, but this seems to once again point to tins making a come back. Go tins! I also really enjoy the design work, especially all the background pictures of Mickey. |
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Director Mickey comes with a Megaphone. Took late for Combo Contest #3, but I’m sure #4 is on the way soon! |
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Artist Jim Valeri did a excellent job with this figure. Thanks Jim for another awesome job! |
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And to complete the design, on the back Mickey is sitting on his very own director’s chair. Like the podium on the front of Classical Tunes Mickey, this extra piece of art makes it just a little better!
What do you think of Mickey? Were you able to get your hands on one of these exclusive figures? |
It seems like it’s been a long time coming. Ever since Disney’s Furry Friends series was announced, Annemarie has been talking about all the other characters that also deserve a chance to appear on this modified mold. So she designed a set of 12 and today we unveil her newest customs she calls (the unofficial) Furry Friends 2!
We are excited to share these with you, and i know she is as well. Annemarie also brought the figures to Disneyland for a photo shoot. We also talked to her about these terrific designs.
Destination Vinylmation: What drove you to make your own sequel?
Annemarie: I loved the Furry Friends series, I thought it was such a cute idea to give the characters paws. I figured it would be a great opportunity as a custom artist to give the same look to characters I would have liked to see in the original series.
DV: Did any Disney animals narrowly miss the cut of 12 or did you get in everyone you wanted?
AM: Tito from “Oliver and Company” was one I really wanted in, but we’ve already (luckily!) had several characters from that movie, I wanted to give a couple more obscure characters a chance, like Little Brother and Rufus, for example. I also would have loved to get the rest of Scat Cat’s gang in.
DV: We will not let the little guys read this next question… Which one came out as your favorite? Why? And did you know this would be your favorite when you designed it, or did the way it came out make it your favorite?
AM: That’s a really tough question. I’ve been working on these guys for over two months and have grown attached to them all! Figaro is probably my favorite, as you might have guessed. He was the first character I designed, and I really wanted him to be in the original Furry Friends series. As soon as I found out he wouldn’t be, I set to work on him right away, so he’ll always have a special place in my heart.
Georgette is one of my favorite Disney characters, so I was also a bit biased towards her before she was even finished. Peg is another favorite. As for ones I didn’t realize would become favorites, Nana probably best fits that category. I wasn’t expecting her to, but I think she came out as one of the best ones. (Scat Cat is another favorite. I love his little hat!)
DV: Which FF2 was the hardest to design?
AM: Rajah was the hardest. I initially considered doing him from the scene in the movie where Jafar turns him into a baby. So he would be a cute little baby tiger cub. He definitely would have fit the mold better, so to speak, but I thought it would be a bit TOO obscure, and maybe he would be more recognizable if I just did his adult form.
His ears were the toughest part, I was working off a Furry Friends mold that already had ears in the “ears,” so I had to make Rajah’s ears bigger than I would have liked to cover up the pre-existing ears. Such are the trials of covering up an existing design!
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Ep. 062 Cursive |
| DV: The Wuzzles only had a 13 episode run, but apparently had a big impact on you. Tell us why you choose these characters as the subject of your latest customs.
Annemarie: I barely remember the actual show, but I do remember the characters. I always thought they were so colorful and fun and the idea was so creative. I basically decided to do Vinylmation of them because I thought they’d be fun to do. |
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 Hoppopotamus |
DV: I had a Bumblelion when I was a kid. Out of your 6 Wuzzles customs, which one is your favorite?
AM: I think Hoppopotamus came out the best. I tried to capture her expression as best I could, and I think it worked. Moosel is probably my second favorite, just because I love his colors. I tried to get them to all to work well together as a set by giving them all the rainbow image in the ears, which is my favorite aspect of the set. |
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| DV: Which figure and what features on that figure proved to be the most difficult?
AM: Rhinokey was probably the most difficult to do, he has a smaller head and I tried to indicate that on his figure. He also has the rhino horn, which I painted on sort of like Eleroo’s trunk. I tried to draw from examples like the Pink Elephant from Animation 2 to get that three-dimensional look as best I could.
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 Rhinokey |
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Eleroo
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 Bumblelion |
 Moosel |
| DV: Are you working on any other obscure Disney cartoon based customs?
AM: Not at the moment, but maybe sometime in the future I will! |
 Butterbear |
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-Annemarie
I have a pretty sizable Vinylmation collection, and I get most of it from the Disney Stores and Disneyland in the typical boxing fashion. But ever so often I have to head over to Ebay to catch that ever elusive and special variant I just can’t seem to get my hands on, or an unobtainable set stateside. Later this year, I’m headed to Japan, and Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea obviously, to check out what they have to offer in the Vinylmation world, and the trading scene in general. I planned to pick up some of the Zodiacs there, but when I saw an almost complete set for a steal on Ebay I had to jump on it.
I’ve been wanting these for months, ever since they were unveiled last year. And now that I’ve got my hands on them I can say they are without a doubt one of the best Vinylmation sets ever, in my opinion (if not THE best).
The color scheme is unlike any other set we’ve seen. The gold/silver/bronze scheme is slick and gorgeous. Other than the jet-black outlines used on the details, these are the only three colors used on the set. It keeps them cohesive and fits them together as a set perfectly. I love the choices they used for these figures. They are:
Year of the Rat- Remy from “Ratatouille”
Year of the Ox- Maggie from “Home on the Range”
Year of the Tiger- Tigger
Year of the Rabbit- Thumper from “Bambi”
Year of the Dragon- Elliot from “Pete’s Dragon” (not pictured)
Year of the Snake- Sir Hiss from “Robin Hood”
Year of the Horse- Pegasus from “Hercules”
Year of the Goat/Ram- Bo Peep’s sheep from “Toy Story”
Year of the Monkey- Abu from “Aladdin
Year of the Rooster- Chicken Little
Year of the Dog- Patch from “101 Dalmatians”
Year of the Pig- Pumbaa from “The Lion King”
Here’s a helpful graph in case you’d like to figure out your animal:
I’ll start with my favorites: Abu, Bo Peep’s sheep, and Sir Hiss.
We finally have a Thumper figure! Not much to say about him, or Patch even.. they look pretty great. I normally might complain about choosing Patch or even Pumbaa again since we already have them in other sets (and there are so many other dogs and even pigs to choose from) but the set is so beautiful and they look so unique I can’t bring myself to care. I prefer this Tigger’s face to the Animation 2 Tigger, but they are both great for their own reasons. And Remy is cute… I don’t think I’d seen him (or remembered him if I had) when I made my own custom of Remy, but I anticipated in that article that they’d probably just do him facing frontwards and we might lose a bit of his “rattiness” this way. I still think this, he looks a bit more like a mouse here than a rat. But again, the figure’s so adorable I don’t mind.
My FAVORITE feature of the set is the detail on the back of each figure: a footprint with (I’m assuming) the Chinese character that denotes each year! The detail in each footprint is awesome, here you can see Abu’s monkey foot, a sheep’s hoof print, and Sir Hiss’s slither tail. Each character’s footprint is equally awesome, and unique to that specific character. If there’s anyone out there who can read Chinese and these say something different, please let us know!
I haven’t been able to get my hands on the chaser, which is Si/Am from “Lady and the Tramp”
I’m not sure of the significance of this choice for this set, but I love it. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Overall, a fantastic set. I think they could even do more series with this idea: Just to name a few ideas off the top of my head,
Year of the Rat- Ratigan from “Great Mouse Detective”
Year of the Ox- Babe the Blue Ox from “Paul Bunyan”
Year of the Tiger- Rajah from “Aladdin”
Year of the Rabbit- Roger Rabbit (OF COURSE!)
Year of the Dragon- Maleficent
Year of the Snake- Kaa from “Jungle Book”
Year of the Horse- Widowmaker from “Pecos Bill”
Year of the Goat/ Ram- Djali from “Hunchback of Notre Dame”
Year of the Monkey- Terk from “Tarzan”
Year of the Rooster- Allan-a-Dale from “Robin Hood”
Year of the Dog- [Insert practically anyone here]
Year of the Pig- Hen Wen from “The Black Cauldron”
Just some thoughts. Again, I like these obscure choices.
Also- if anyone can help me complete my set with a Si/Am or Elliot, please tweet me @AdmiralAkbrown. I’ll do custom work for these! 😉
I feel compelled to preface this review with two things. 1) It’s going to be pretty harsh. 2) I hold none of the artists/designers culpable for my disappointment.
The event was good, there weren’t as many people there as I expected, having never been to a Disney Store Vinylmation event. The only other event I’ve been to was the Thomas Scott Alice signing at D-Street in Disneyland, and it seemed more crowded. Not complaining about this at all, it was pretty well organized and everyone was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and if they didn’t know something they would go find out and report back, which I thought was nice. I got to meet Zoe, so it was nice to finally meet her! And all the artists were great, it was really nice to meet them all and they gave everyone ample time to chat (perhaps TOO ample in some cases) but everyone seemed pretty happy with that aspect.
What we (and I say we because I chatted with several other collectors who felt the same way) were upset about, as I’m sure anyone reading this article has been hearing throughout the day, was the production quality of Furry Friends. It is atrocious. Honestly, I hate to say it, but they felt more like Happy Meal toys than Vinylmation. The printing was sloppy, the colors were bleeding, and they were just plain filthy. Some look actually gross.
Marie looks like she threw up on herself. Poor Marie!
Oliver is my favorite (look at those eyes!) but not much care went into his printing process. You can actually see the collar through the tag.
What’s the point of the clear ears if they look like this? Just plain sloppy!
Look at Max’s feet! No comment.
You can’t see it very well in this photo (sorry!) , but there is a FINGERPRINT on Pegasus’s tail.
The wings come right off. Not secured in any real way, also very flimsy. You can see the finish is different on Pegasus’ feet than on the rest of his body, which I can’t say anything other than it just looks unfinished. Those smudges/ scratches came right out of the package!
Even the chaser looks terrible. The paint is poorly printed, and the edges aren’t smooth at all. I fear the value of this chaser will be diminished by the poor quality.
Not all was bad, though. The event was fun and the artists were happy to be there. With Jim Valeri:
Everyone was happy to sign my packaging:
And let’s not forget the donation to ASPCA, which is a silver lining in all this, I suppose.
All in all, you all already know how I felt about Furry Friends (I ended up caving and getting a case, since I’ll be painting over most of mine anyway… also the case was purchased before I saw the quality. No exchanges or refunds!). The designs are great, but I’m not very satisfied with the quality control. I sincerely hope someone over there sees this and figures out the problem and makes sure this doesn’t happen again. On a positive note, the design of the packaging is ADORABLE. Each box looks like a little carrying case you’d take a pet home in!
Also, no more than thirty seconds had I been home, and Mulder immediately claimed my case as his own. So Furry Friends is clearly adored by our own furry friends. 🙂
Did anyone else go out to the event? Please share your thoughts and photos, if possible. I’m also curious to hear from others around the country to see if maybe this store just got a bad batch. Hopefully others will be more more lucky.
-Annemarie
by Annemarie Brown
Update: 12/28/11 Chaser revealed, check out Annemarie’s opinion at the bottom
Yesterday we got our first look at the (almost) complete set of Furry Friends. My initial reaction was “totally cute!” but then I thought about it for a minute and I find myself oddly disappointed with this set. Also, no Figaro? Huh?!
Individually, the figures are great looking, and well designed. But I’m not crazy about their choice of characters. I thought (especially with the ASPCA pet-friendly donations) this would be a cat and dog set. But there are only TWO cats, one of which is Marie AGAIN. I was perfectly fine with this Marie when I saw her last week; she’s cute and I love her fabric bow accessory.
But unless the chaser is a cat, I feel completely cheated out of some possible great cat characters. I love dogs, but there are seven! Plus a raccoon and a Pegasus, which are again, both cute characters but I don’t like them in this set.
I love Pluto, Tramp, Max, and Percy for the dogs. The expressions are great on them all and I love how their faces are shifted a bit to give them a cocked-to-the-side look. Paired with the new “paw” mold it makes them that much more adorable. But again, using this mold on any non-cat or dog character seems like a waste to me.
To sum up: No Figaro (yet). Too many pups. Plus the odd insertion of Meeko and Pegasus makes this set a tiny bit of a letdown to me *as a set.* (I feel I must stress this because individually they all look great.) Hoping for a Figaro chaser, and if not him, at least one more cat for the set.
Update: 12/28/11 Cheshire Cat chaser revealed
Still disappointed. “But Annie, it’s a CAT, right? You wanted more cats!” Yes, but we already have a Cheshire Cat, and are expecting two more. I do like that they tried to stylize this guy a bit, and again, he looks great on the figure itself. I just have to admit, I was looking for more cats and better choices. There are plenty to choose from.
I won’t be purchasing this entire set (even though I was planning to.) I’ll blind box a few for sure, though. I’m most sad about Figaro. His omission has cost one case of Furry Friends, at least for me. (Although I’m sure you’ll soon see a custom Figaro, which I’ll definitely make for myself!)
For a look at the entire set, please visit our Furry Friends Explained page.
Each day this week, someone from the Destination Vinylmation staff will give their Top 10 list from 2011. The lists can include just about anything from figures to sets to headlines to personal moments. Please feel free to comment with your favorites and memorable stories from the past year as well. (Other lists: Nick, Claudia, Zoe)
10. My Very First Pull: Lotso
The first time I bought a Vinylmation (thus beginning my descent into the vinylmation abyss) was a Toy Story Lotso in Tomorrowland at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.
I had no idea what these things were, but I knew I liked them. I had nearly 20 by the end of our vacation and haven’t stopped since! Thanks, Lotso!
9. Japan “Mushu” exclusive
This has to be one of the very best 3″ vinyls out there. The detail and design on this figure is just incredible.
It’s not often I wish a 3″ was a 9″ but this is one of those rare cases. Well done, Japan!
8. Completing what I call my “Matterhorn Set!”Â
Disneyland’s Matterhorn Bobsleds is my favorite Disney attraction, so I had to get every figure associated with it (so far!) The Park 6 9″ and the Park 5 Abominable Snowman almost rounded it out, but I needed to grab a whole set of monorails to complete the look.
These figures together create one of my favorite “sets” in Vinylmation!
7. Thomas Scott “Alice” signing in CA
Granted, this is the only Vinylmation event I’ve been able to go to, but it was a great one! It was awesome to meet and chat with fellow collectors, a couple of whom helped me round out my set with trades.
Most of the signings happen in Florida obviously, so I jumped at the chance to get one of my Alice vinyls signed by the awesome Thomas Scott, who was kind enough to answer my annoying questions, not to mention responsible for designing two of my favorite sets, which leads me to…
6. The Alice in Wonderland set
Probably my favorite 3″ set, the colors are vibrant and the design is fantastic.
The Hatter’s hat and Caterpillar’s neck piece, not to mention the new addition of Cheshire Cat’s tail make this an amazing set.
5. Pulling Mother Gothel
This is the only chaser I’ve ever pulled from a blind-box set.
Anyone who’s pulled one knows the excitement of getting one, but Gothel is a special circumstance, I REALLY wanted her. She’s a phenomenal chaser.
4. Park 6 “Up” 9″
This is my favorite 9″ by far.
I’m not even a huge fan of the movie (I know, feel free to throw things at me) but the design on this Maria Clapsis figure is perfect for the 9″ format. I love the colors and the simplicity.
3. My custom Peter and the Wolf project
One of the best parts of Vinylmation to me has been the inspiration it gives artists to design their own work.
Particularly, this Peter and the Wolf 9″ might be my favorite art project I’ve done all year, period. (And I do a lot of art, guys.) It was a thrill for me to bring one of my favorite Disney cartoons to a vinylmation.
2. Park Starz
I realize this is a controversial stance, but Park Starz is my favorite vinylmation series to date. I love it. The stylized look drew me in; if the set had looked more naturally like the characters, I probably wouldn’t have had as much interest.
I can have a dozen Figment toys, but not any are him shaped as a bowling pin (awesome!) I simply can’t WAIT for series 2 of this set.
1. THE INTERNETS!
It’s been such a fun year meeting so many awesome fellow vinylmation fans on the Internet; to me, it’s the best part about it. Trading, sharing, and just creating a network of awesome people has been a blast. If I’ve ever communicated or traded with you, I thank you. And I hope to meet more of you guys over the years to come!
Look at us all, like vinylmation cats. Different molds, different series, but all coming together! (Wasn’t that poetic?)
You know Annemarie Brown from her various speculation articles on our website including Park Starz and Furry Friends, but did you know she is an exceptional custom Vinylmation artist? We recently talked with Annemarie about a couple of her creations.
Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?
Annemarie: I began fairly recently, I made Roger Rabbit this summer and he was my first.
DV: In that short time, how many have you done?
AM: I’ve done about six, and I’m currently working on a new set.
DV: Why did you pick Roger Rabbit as your first custom?
AM: Roger Rabbit has been my favorite Disney character since I was a kid, I have an entire room in my house devoted to him. It’s actually rather impressive, if I do say so myself. So as soon as I picked up my first CYO Vinylmation I knew it would be Roger, there was never a doubt.
DV: How long did Roger take to create?
AM: Roger didn’t take me very long, maybe a couple hours. Once I got his design on the mold the painting went rather quickly.
DV: What was the most difficult part about making this character?
AM: Since it was my first one, I was kind of flying blind. Everything was a bit of an experiment. His hair and cotton tail were extra pieces I had to form and stick on, and I just used glue, which has been working fine so far. I considered sculpting the ears but I wanted to utilize the area of the vinyl as much as I could.
DV: Your Peter and the Wolf has an extraordinary amount of characters and detail packed into it, yet it doesn’t looked overcrowded. How much planing went into creating this custom?
AM: I’m extremely proud of Peter and the Wolf, he’s definitely been a labor of love. At first I considered doing a 3″ figure, but I quickly realized it was going to be impossible to include all the characters since I was hand-painting it, so I switched to a 9″ to get all the detail. First I plan everything out two-dimensionally so I can be sure everything will fit where I want it to. I knew I’d put Sasha the Bird in the ear, since he was the only flying character. Ivan the Cat and Sonia the Duck had a playful relationship in the film, so I wanted to be sure to incorporate that into their design and expressions.
With the Wolf, I considered just doing a 3″ figure to go along with Peter, but I realized the Wolf needed to be larger, and he wouldn’t have looked as menacing in the squat Vinylmation form, so I decided to paint him in full glory, sneaking up on Peter from behind.
DV: What is the most rewarding part about creating custom Vinylmation?
AM: For me, it’s being able to create characters and moments that may not ever be created. I knew the odds of getting a Peter and the Wolf Vinylmation figure were slim, and I wanted one, so I made it for myself!
Annemarie wanted to share this Youtube video featuring a turnaround of her Peter and the Wolf
DV: Do you have any tips to pass onto other custom artists?
AM: Everyone has their own method, but I would recommend designing/drawing everything out beforehand, it will save you time in the long run. But more importantly, create what you like, since you’re going to be looking at it for awhile while you’re making it. You don’t want to be stuck in the middle of making something you don’t care about.
DV: Thank you for all your work and for sharing these custom with our readers.
AM: Thank you for sharing it, and for all you guys do!
Annemarie is a contributor to Destination Vinylmation. You can follow her on Twitter @admiralakbrown and stay tuned for more spotlights on her work soon.
