Brandon and Melissa Share Latest Customs

WDWNT on May 12, 2014

Brandon and Melissa are a pair of Visual Arts Teachers Millennium Middle School in Sanford, FL. We recently shared their student’s work, now it is time to see what they have created for their latest custom Vinylmation.

What subject did you choose and why?
Brandon: I chose King Hippo and Little Mac.  I love vintage video games and was a big fan of the original Mike Tyson’s PunchOut!!

Melissa: My favorite Disney character is Mr. Smee, so I really wanted to do him.  Then Villians 2 came out and I really liked the Smee in that set.  I considered one of the Lost Boys first, but when we decided to make it a 9” and 3” set, I knew Michael with Teddy was the way to go.

What have you learned from your first customs to now?
Brandon: I actually think I learned the most from my first 9’ custom.  King Hippo was good practice to reacquaint myself with painting a three dimensional surface before tackling my 3” custom of Little Mac.

Melissa: I was a big believer in not taking the Vinylmation apart- I was so afraid I would break and arm or things wouldn’t look right, but it is so much easier if you do.  Michael was also the first Vinylmation I ever painted on a “Custom” mold (we usually spray paint commons), and although I really like the surface, I felt like I had to do more layers (but the stars in his ear glow, so it was worth it)

And then there were a pair of customs you did that were chosen by your students?
Melissa: Yes, we also did 3” customs in which we let the kids decide our subject…they chose Sherlock Holmes for Brandon & Dr. Watson for me.

Spotlight On: Karen Turner’s Mickey Art Series

WDWNT on October 31, 2013

Karen Turner has a new series of Vinylmation. It is called the Art Series and is a set of six Vinylmation, five done in a different art style, with an Artist Mouse as the painter of them all. They are individually up for sale right now at her Etsy shop, Flights of Fancy Designs.

Artist Mouse

Impressionist Mouse

Oil Painted Mouse

Pop Art Mouse

Splatter Mouse

Watercolor Mouse

Check out her shop today. Karen also produces those Autograph Mouse Customs, my personal favorite…

Spotlight On: Mike Vetrone’s Aladdin Series

WDWNT on October 31, 2013

Mike Vetrone recently sent us photos of his stunning Aladdin set of custom Vinylmation. This already sold out, but take a look and contact Mike for your own custom if you like what you see.

Last week I released my custom Aladdin set of 12 figures.  The set included Iago, Old Man Jafar, the Sultan, Genie, Palace Guard, Abu, Aladdin, Jasmine, Rajah, the Cave of Wonders, the Golden Scarab, and the “chaser” is a figure I call “A Whole New World”  The chaser features Aladdin and Jasmine on their magic carpet ride.  The carpet is a sculpted piece that is made to look like They are actually sitting on it.  Aladdin is one of my favorite movies of all time so this set was a complete blast to make.  A big thanks goes out to everyone who bought one for making it a complete success!



Mike Vetrone
www.facebook.com/customsbymikevetrone
Instagram @washyourrhands
michael.vetrone@gmail.com

…and just a quick peek at another recent Mike Vetrone custom…

2013 DeeVee Voter Contest

WDWNT on October 31, 2013

Here are all the details on the Voter Contest for the 2013 DeeVee awards.

All you need to enter is to fill out a 2013 DeeVee ballot.
All the ballots will go into a random drawing where one person will be drawn as the winner.
That winner will then give us 5 Disney characters they would like to have as a custom.
Our custom artist will create a 3″ version of one of those characters and give it to the winner!

Fun and easy.

And now for the special announcement: This year’s voter contest winner will receive a their custom from the one, and only, Miranda Legendre!

Here is a sample of her previous work…

You can also find more of her work over at facebook.com/mirandalegendreartworks.

A big thanks to Miranda for helping us out with this special prize.

Remember everyone that the voting for the 2013 awards will end on October 20th at 11:59 PM EST. Click here to vote! destinationvinylmation.com/2013/10/2013-deevee-ballot/

Custom Artist Miranda Legendre at RoE

WDWNT on September 17, 2013

Miranda Legendre (you used to know her as Aaralyn) will be at the Vinylmation day for Reflections of Evil. She wanted to tease you with some info of special giveaways and figures she will have.

“The poor unfortunate (or lucky) souls attending the Reflections of Evil event on Sunday should be prepared for a villainous good time. When the theme was announced at Mickey’s Circus last year, the excitement was instant for many collectors that couldn’t wait to celebrate the darker side of Disney.

I am incredibly excited about the event and will be displaying three custom vinylmation pieces this Sunday.

The first piece I will be revealing is the largest custom project I’ve created to date, entitled “A Fine Day for a Little Croquet.” In addition to being the largest project I’ve done, the project also features sculpted pieces as well as a custom base.

My other pieces on display will include my past 9” vinylmation of Tick Tock entitled “Time is Running Out” and a new 9”/3” set entitled “Seeing Spots.”

After the breakfast, when the event begins at 9:30, I will be offering custom doodles of the famous mouse to anyone that provides a blank CYO vinylmation. At random, I will also be handing out doodles throughout the event to lucky visitors at my table.

In addition, I will also be hosting a giveaway to win a 3” custom vinylmation. The first 25 people to visit my table after the breakfast will receive two entries into the giveaway, as well as a magnet featuring one of my past villains customs.

If you are not attending the event and want to see my latest updates live, I will be posting on my Instagram account (@MirandaLegendreArt) as well as on my Facebook page (facebook.com/MirandaLegendreArtworks). In addition, I will also be tweeting from my Twitter account (@MirandaLegendre).

I’m looking forward to meeting friends and fellow collectors on Sunday. If you are attending please stop by my trading table and say hello; hope to see you there!”

-Miranda

The Custom Artist Project Series 2: Pixar

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

The Custom Artist Project is back with a brand new series, inspired by the world of Pixar films. Started in the summer of 2012, The Custom Artist Project is a group of 11 of the most prominent custom Vinylmation artists in the word who have come together to create amazing custom blind box series.

As with Series 1, the goal is to replicate a real Vinylmation case, so the entire series is 23 figures. There are two of each figure with the exception of one chaser. The figures and artists are:

…and the mystery chaser

Series 2: Pixar goes on sale Saturday, June 8th at 1:00pm set / 10:00am pst. Each box will cost $70 including shipping within the US. Add an additional $10 for international shipping. Each figures comes in a custom blind box designed by Mike Vetrone, as well as an artist card for the figure and cards for each artist in the series. There is no limit to the number of figures that can be purchased per person. The set will be available for purchase at http://rustthisworld.bigcartel.com/

Please join the CAP Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtistProject/ for more info on each artist and pictures of their figures, as well as up to date info on the series.

Spotlight On: David’s Comic Book Custom

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

With all the rumors about a potential Marvel series, we thought we’d show off this awesome custom by David.

This piece is great. A perfect outside the box and multimedia presentation. Great job David!

Spotlight On: Jared Flores’ New Customs

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

Today we got an email from Jared about several new customs he’s made. They are AMAZING. Check out all the new things he’s been able to do with Vinylmation.
 
Annemarie eat your heart out! How perfect does this look!
 
Jared has this to say about his new work.
“Lately, I have been trying to outdo myself with my Vinylmation work. These few pieces are an example of this learning process.The Hercules Hydra was sold as part of a private auction, and the rest are all commissioned pieces. All of these pieces are the product of pushing myself past what I have done with Vinylmation before. I am excited about overcoming design challenges to make some really unique versions of some very beloved characters.” – Jared
 

You can find more about Jared at:
jaredcircusbear.tumblr.com
flickr.com/photos/jaredflores/

Spotlight On: Craig Larson’s Mickey Jrs

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

It took a little bit of time, but we finally got to see the final, full series, of Craig Larson’s Mickey Jrs. This is an amazing series, perfectly executed. Check it out…
DV: What inspired you to do this series?  
Craig Larson: There are a large number of vinyls I’d love for my collection, but A) I have limited display space; and B) many of my favorite designs are out of my price range.  Plus, I really want to challenge myself to work on small scale to see how much detail I could get done while still maintain it’s core design.  I had a few spare Jr vinylmations and thought “well, if other artists can blow up a 3” design onto a 9” (or 9” down to a 3”), why can’t I go smaller?” Since I wanted them to have a theme, why not choose from various Mickey designs, as there are a plethora of options/designs from artists I greatly admire.  I started with Paint Drip Mickey (PDM) and was so happy with the way it turned out, I did Oopsy and then thought why not do a trio? Turns out, I didn’t want to stop at just three, so I kept going. There are so many options, I already have plans to do a 2nd series, but after I take a break — holding a Jr to paint can REALLY start to hurt after a while, so I will be working on a few other things while I narrow my list down for Series 2.

DV: Which was your favorite?
While I like all of them for different reasons, I absolutely love PDM, Oopsy, and 25th Anniversary Mickey (complete with glitter).

DV: Which was the hardest to do?
CL: The Spectacle of Lights Mickey proved difficult purely based on figuring out how to show the original design. I actually did two versions of this one; one with larger dots and one with smaller dots. The Poncho Mickey took longer than expected as getting the proportion of the Mickey logo on the back took about 4 tries before I was happy with the size and shape. Runaway Brain Mickey had some issues, but that was mostly because I had some setbacks with his teeth/eyes looking right.

DV: Which one do you think looks better on a Jr?
Romantic Treats Mickey looks like a piece of candy.

DV: Are you selling these or how can people pick them up, if at all?
There are some designs that I won’t repeat as they take too much time to redo (Runaway, Poncho, Spectacle of Lights), but I’d be up to trade for Mickey (or other characters) 3” ones that I don’t have or other customs. Just reach out to me on my Facebook page and we’ll see if we can work a trade.

DV: How can people contact you?
facebook.com/CustomVinylmationsbycrglrsn

As a special bonus, here is a look at several of Craig’s pieces next to their 3″ originals.

Spotlight On: Celeste’s Disney Afternoon Villains Series 1

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

We have followed Celeste’s work for a long time now, and she is debuting a brand new custom series this weekend that we wanted to take a closer look at. Celeste sent us a few words about her latest creations.

“Growing up as a kid of the 90’s I personally have always been a huge fan of The Disney Afternoon. Especially villains and creating a counterpart set was an idea I wanted to do since the release of the very first afternoon set by Disney.”

“The Villains of the Afternoon series, features some of the most iconic Disney Afternoon villains ranging from Gummi Bears to Talespin. The set includes a total of 16 figures with 1 mystery chaser. For the set I wanted to incorporate a wide cast of characters and personalities including some I thought who deserved their own vinyl. At first it was a bit difficult to choose who would be included in the set since there are so many great characters out there to choose from but ultimately I wanted a diverse set fans might enjoy.”

The set will be available for purchase this Saturday July 27 at 8pm PST at her online store. (price TBD) http://celestescustomarttoys.bigcartel.com/products

You can always check out more of my work and more info about the set on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/celestecustomvinylmations