First Look at New Star Wars Comics Coming to Marvel

WDWNT on August 7, 2014

Star_Wars_1_Cassaday_cov-690x1024Star Wars is ready to blow up the comics world like Alderaan! During Saturday’s Cup o’ Joe panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel’s CCO Joe Quesada helped introduce three new Star Wars titles to be published in 2015.

Each of the series will be headed up by different creative teams, but all will be set directly after the events of Star Wars Epsode IV: A New Hope. First to be published will be Star Wars, an ongoing series about Luke and the rebellion’s battles against the Empire. Next out will be Star Wars: Darth Vader, as the Sith lord tries to keep the Empire together after the destruction of the Death Star. Finally, we’ll see Star Wars: Princess Leia, a five-issue mini-series that will give us some background on everyone’s favorite princess turned rebel-leader. As if this wasn’t big enough news on its own, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso also noted that these new books will be canonical and Lucasfilm will be involved to insure that these series are as integral to the Star Wars universe as the new trilogy.

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Back in January, Marvel announced that they would begin publishing Star Wars-related comics beginning in 2015, confirming what fans had been speculating about since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012. The announcement is also something of a homecoming for Star Wars, as Marvel published comic books based on the original trilogy back in the ‘70s.

We’ll have to wait until January to get our hands on Star Wars #1, but these books should make great holdover until we see the original trilogy cast reunited for Star Wars Episode VII in December 2015. Let us know in the comments section if you’re excited for these new books.

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Bad Taste in Collector’s Mouths

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

Just when we thought the Comic Con release issues were in the past, the DisneyStore.com today made the 8 “Comic Con Exclusive” So Tasty figures available for purchase online.

According to the Vinylmation blog back on July 10th these were “very limited edition” and only “250 available of each design” at SDCC. Unfortunately, there is no mention of a limited edition size on the DisneyStore.com listing for these figures. The product shot does however show the Comic Con logo on the box.

So where exactly does the truth lie with these 8 Comic Con So Tasty figures? Was there a quantity of the 250 left over that they decided to sell online? It is really hard for me to believe there were any of these $10 figures left over from Comic Con. It seemed collectors and re-sellers where buying these up like candy. Maybe in some technical speak only 250 were available at Comic Con but the original production run was in fact much higher? That is possible, just would be nice if they were honest about that from the outset. Or how about the speculation that the 250 LE only applied to figures sold on site with the SDCC logo on the box? Again, valid. It still gives collectors something to look for, but what about the SDCC logo on the production shot online? Or, the most dreaded of all, will all who order these and get a confirmation wake up tomorrow to a “sorry, these were not available at the time of your purchase” email from the Disney Store? All these questions are valid, and they all have issues and more questions attached to them. But one of the most important questions is how upset are buyers who paid upwards of $500 on eBay for a full set of 8?

One way or another, it seems like the Vinylmation collectors were mislead once again. Just looking at screen shots from Disney’s own Vinylmation Blog shows either a misscommunication or misdirection somewhere along the way.

Your thoughts on the SDCC Comic Con So Tasty 8?

A tease of Pixar Series 1 Vinylmation

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

Pictures from Daniel Jue

Over on the facebook page, Vinylmation Exchange, Daniel Jue posted this picture from comic con. It’s the first look at the Pixar Series 1. We speculated on this when we saw the Carl and Ellie two pack and it’s packaging made reference to it. It looks like MC was right and the series will be a normal 12 figure blind box series. (That’s speculation at the moment, but the display with 3 loose characters seems to point to it.) This would make the Carl and Ellie figures the first LE from that series. Here’s our breakdown.

Nemo

From: Finding Nemo

Great use of clear.

King Fergus

From: Brave (2012)

Another peg leg! (For the first one see the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides vinylmation)
Dug

From: UP

Simple, but classic.

Let the speculation begin. Who else would you like for this series?

FREE Wreck It Ralph Vinylmation at SDCC

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

Stop by the Funko booth at Comic Con today for a FREE Wreck It Ralph Vinylmation! There are only 500 of them.

Photo from Vinylmation Exchange Facebook page. When I first saw Disney Store’s tweet about this, I was extremely excited. A bit less so after seeing it is only good old Theme Park Favorite Ringer Tee guy with a logo tee. How about your impressions?

Update: 7/13/12 Several of these have popped up on eBay and have sold from between $65-$80! Crazy!!!!!!
Would you pay that much for a FREE vinyl?

Release Day: July 13, 2012

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

Excuse me if I’m a little jaded this morning and not rushing to my computer to order from the Disney Store Online today. Not much surprise, but the Carl and Ellie release yesterday went less than smoothly. That included a mid afternoon tease where we all flooded the DSO again to purchase the “now available” Carl and Ellie combo. Of course we woke up to emails from Disney apologizing for the mistake. I wrote them back with a little note of my own, did anyone else?

So today, a few releases hit the Disney Store Online once again… and once again I am reading grumblings of errors for a few figures that didn’t even have close to the hype or demand of Carl and Ellie.

The Comic Con release slate continues today with the Purple Park Starz Squid Variant. An LE of 1954 for $24.95.

As expected, Epcot’s favorite purple dragon popped up online today. This Figment Park Starz variant is an LE 2500 for $24.95. Varying reports say he was available at times overnight? The listing now says Sold Out. But there are issues with the listing description…

The edition size seems wrong and it doesn’t have poseable arms and head. A report on the Vinylmation Exchange Facebook page says the listing has been changed to Sold Out while changes are made.

Park 9 is available online and at your local D-Street.

9″ Park 9 Art of Animation Poster is at D-Streets. Check out my history of the Disneyland attraction here.

9″ Park 9 Feature Animation Building is at D-Streets as well. Check out my history of the Burbank building where Disney magic is drawn to life here.

Haunted Mansion Preview

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

MissMouse1928 posted this picture on the Vinylmation Connection forums

It is a preview of 4 of the upcoming Haunted Mansion set figures. Here we have Phineas, one of the hitchhiking ghosts. As expected, he is designed on a clear blue vinyl body. I like the use of the bold white for his brows and black for the eyes. Master Gracey is also here in the front right. It looks like Cesar’s ghost in the back left. His spirit almost seems to have a green tint to it. Nice to see different uses of the clear bodies here. We can also see what appears to be one of the singing busts.

Comic Con Figures Offered Via QR Code

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

At Friday’s WDW Trade Night, Disney explained to us the process through which the 5 Comic Con Vinylmation sets will be made available. Attendees at the event will be able to obtain QR codes to scan with their phone. This QR code is the only way to access the online shop where the Vinylmation that is made available that day can be purchased. At the end of the day, after attendees have their exclusive opportunity to purchase the figures, whatever quantity left over will be made available to everyone. I’m not trying to be a downer here, but after seeing how Disney handles its online sales, I am not having a good feeling about this. Numerous questions are brought to mind immediately including: What time exactly should we non-attendees be looking for these? How will the online store (assuming Disney Store?) handle the inventory count? I am not savvy when it comes to QR codes so, are they unique to each guest? Can they be made public and shared? Where do we non-attendees even look the product to see if it is available yet? It seems like a fun yet overly technical way to deal with a product that is going to be in such high demand. And given Disney’s online track record, we are not only in for some sleepless nights, but some frustrating ones. But I do hope for the best. That it runs smoothly and we collectors are given precise directions on how to attempt to purchase the figures we would like to add to our collections. I just wish they didn’t make us jump through so many hoops to do so.

Check out our Comic Con Explained page for all the pictures, release schedule and details, but for the first time we were shown the 3″/Jr King and Queen of Hearts:

That will be a July 14 release and an LE of 2500 with a price tag of $24.95.

Comic Con Girl and Boy Revealed

WDWNT on September 12, 2012

Disney just showed us a picture of the Comic Con girl and boy. Just as we had predicted on the podcast, it’s a girl and a boy dressed up in costumes. The costumes are generic vinylmation themed costumes (not Marvel or Disney as we had hoped), but I still think they look great. The boy is a masked adventurer with a utility belt full of vinylmation. The girl has both a cape AND glasses.

 

Thanks Disney, these made my day!
Readers, what do you think of this set?

This set will be a LE of 2000 and cost $34.95. For more info on the other Comic Con vinylmation check out our post:

Up and Out

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

Almost as fast as Carl and Ellie appeared on the DisneyStore.com last night around Midnight PST… they were gone.

By all accounts they were available for around 20 minutes. But already there are accounts of confirmation emails yet DSO doesn’t show record of your purchase. People adding items to carts, but not able to check out. Slow loading pages where the figures could not be accessed. I was among the frustrated that went to add a set to my cart only to find them not available on the next page. Tell us your story and let us know what time you were or were not able to grab this combo set? And what does this mean for the rest of the week’s purchases?

Also, if you are a Comic Con attendee, did you try to purchase through your QR code yet? I’m hearing that avenue says Sold Out as well, but I do not have any confirmation if they were ever available through that route.

Episode 081 Epcot 82

WDWNT on July 16, 2012

Ep. 081 Epcot 82

In a guest filled podcast we talk with Matt from Vinylmation Kingdom about all the Vinylmation previews at Comic Con. We discuss the state and future of the hobby with Kristina from Tomopop. And Annemarie calls in to give insight on her Hurley 9″ custom and Comic Con. We also fit a review of Park 9 in there with the latest news and up to date release calendar. 

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