Minnie Malice Takes a Creative Look at the Alice Vinylmation

Minnie Malice’s Adventure into Wonderland
A Creative Look at the Soon-to-be-Released “Alice in Wonderland” Vinylmation Series 

All pictures borrowed from the Official Vinylmation blog.

Yesterday, while lounging in a tree branch, the droning sound of my tutor mixing with the crisp spring breeze, I was shocked to see a white rabbit running through the field. Now, this was no ordinary Rabbit.

He wore blue glasses that sat perched upon his nose, a red jacket with a yellow undershirt, and he had a golden pocket watch peeking out of his jacket pocket. He was obviously dressed as if he was attending some sort of special event or occasion, and as he dashed across the field, with the most worrisome look on his face, it seemed indicative that he was, as he claimed, late for whatever it was he was heading to.

Curiously, I followed him, if not only to get a better look.

He scurried into a rabbit hole, and though I knew better, I followed him until I found myself free falling down, down, down through a long, dark tunnel. I continued to fall for what seemed like hours, and was quite certain I was going to keep falling till I popped out on the other side of the world!

Nevertheless, soon enough I came to the bottom and while looking up I spotted him, the White Rabbit. He was running through a long corridor that ended in a small, locked door.

Now, I could relay to you the events that took place between this point in my story and the next; however, my tears and an uncooperative doorknob seem nothing but silly in retrospect. Needless to say, I eventually passed through the door, where I came across quite an astonishing fellow.

I was fairly sure all the dodos were extinct, but I guess I was wrong. Mr. Dodo was jovial chap who was quite friendly, if not entirely helpful. As you can tell, he continuously held a smirk, and despite being dressed as a 18th century gentleman—with his white hair pulled back into a small ponytail and tied in a blue bow—he was unable to answer my question of where the White Rabbit had gone. Frustrated, I left Mr. Dodo to search for the rabbit on my own.

I came to a wooded area, and as I did I met a pair of twin brothers who, instead of helping me, insisted on telling me riddles that were cryptic and nonsensical.

The first twin went by the name Tweedle Dee and was almost identical to his brother, who went by the name Tweedle Dum.

Both brothers wore a blue bowtie, over a long collar embroidered with their names. This of course was useful, seeing as they were each so indistinguishable from the other. As I searched for a way to tell them apart, I realize that the flags that stuck out from the top of their caps flew in the opposite direction of each other—another helpful and distinctive mark.

While I tried to tell them that I was in a bit of a hurry, they insisted upon telling me the story of the poor little oysters, which, they claimed, all became victims of their own curiosity—A warning against, I suppose, my own meddlesomeness.

The little oysters were cheerful and carefree, with big, ear-to-ear smiles—Oh yes, I realize that oysters do not have ears! They had gray shells that were offset by the purple and pink of their faces. And with the sea bubbling above their heads, these little oysters were very cute; though, I should confess, careless with whom they associated.

While I enjoyed the twins’ story very much, I was desperate to find the White Rabbit. So, I bid them farewell and continued my search.

Now, this is the point of the story where I came across the caterpillar—a hookah smoking and pretentious Lepidoptera.

The caterpillar was a beautiful shade of Aqua, and had a very long, extended neck. By far, I have to say, this caterpillar was the most interesting looking creature that I had come across. His expression was smug, and I found him a bit incorrigible; hence, I left him in a huffy.

I soon I found myself very lost, but luckily someone showed up to give me some guidance. Tired and frustrated that I still had not found my white rabbit, I sat down and began to cry. Though my heavy sobs I heard a singsong voice echo above my head. To my amazement, I watched a purple cat magically appear in a tree branch.

He was striped, with glowing yellow eyes, a wide and mischievous smile, and a long, puffy tail. And he told me that, if I wanted, I could ask the Mad Hatter or the March Hare where the White Rabbit had gone. Though, I was not excited to hear that I would have to converse with mad people, the cat grinned and told me that “We’re all mad here…”

So, I followed a path out of the woods, and quickly came across a large banquet table with at least 50 places ready and set for tea.

At the head of the table was a man in a top hat, with a card reading 10/6 sticking out of the side. I assumed so much that this was the Mad Hatter that the Cat had told me about. With buckteeth, a wide grin, and a mustard colored suit coat he was singing, very loudly, about how it was his “unbirthday”.

Sitting next to him was the March Hare. I could tell it was him because of he had long floppy ears and a cotton-white tail that stuck out of his pants. With whiskers and knitted eyebrows, he too was singing about his “unbirthday”.

Though both kept insisting that I have a cup of tea, I never once was allowed to drink any—let alone have my own cup. So I finally left them to their own maniacal behavior.

As darkness was falling around me, I once again felt despondent and lonesome, when the magical Cheshire Cat appeared once again to show me a short cut into the Royal Garden of the Queen of Hearts. After helping a deck of cards paint a bunch of white roses red, the Queen appeared before us.

She was decked out in her black, yellow, and red royal garb, with a yellow crown atop her head. Strangely enough, though being the Queen of Hearts, she was nothing but boisterous and mean—especially considering that she continued to scream, “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS,” anytime anyone did anything she disapproved of.

Feigning nicety with me, she invited me to a game of croquet, played however, with a flamingo and a sleepy hedgehog instead of a proper mallet and ball.

My hedgehog was green, sleepy with bags under its eyes. His quills unkempt along his back, he had a look of surprise as I tried to hit him with the beak of my flamingo.

It should be noted that, while my hedgehog was green, I did notice that the Queen’s was pink—an interesting variation.

The game was cut short game, however, because the Cheshire Cat had appeared upon the back of the Queen, and being his mischievous self, played a trick upon her. In all of ruckus that ensued, the Queen mistakenly blamed me for the Cat’s prank, and blaringly ordered that my head be taken off.

So instinctively I ran. I ran as fast as I could, chased by the Queen’s card soldiers.

Next thing I knew, I was flaying my arms in attempts to keep the soldiers away from me, when I awoke under the tree that I had been sitting in when I first had seen the Rabbit.

It was all a dream—One unbelievable, magical, and nonsensical dream.

As I sat there, under that tree, trying to regain composure of myself, I thought back upon those 11 figures that I had met in my dream. As my adorable kitten, Dinah, chased a butterfly around the field, I wondered, just maybe, if I could have meet Dinah in my Wonderland.

Perhaps, she could have been the 12th figure.  Just how wonderful that would have been, if not only to have a friendly face in such ridiculous madness.

But as I thought about it, I was reminded of those poor little oysters, and how their curiosity ended for them…

Park 7- 40th Anniversary Tribute by Minnie Malice

The official Vinlymation blog just announced that the Park 7 series that we saw previewed at The Florida Project will be released on October 14th at the D-street locations. While it’s always great to have a release date, there is something particularly exciting about this announcement.

It was revealed that the Park 7 series will be considered a “tribute collection”. Though we’ve known that the Park Series was going to start marking “important” things in Disney history, this particular set is officially the “40th Anniversary Tribute Collection”.

But, what does that mean exactly? Well…

Lets start off with the tray box.

As you can see, the tray box has been decked out using the Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary Merchandise Collage, created by Natalie Kennedy, a Senior Graphic Designer with Disney Design Group.

This box is awesome, capturing the last 40 years beautifully.

Then there are the individual blind boxes.

Again, the Merchadise Collage has been used to decorate the box, bringing life to the usually boring, black box we are all familiar with.

With such a wonderful design, I might just hold onto the box for once, instead of just recycling them.

Then there are the indiviual figures.

A much anticipated series, from the first time we all caught a glimps of these figures, I think we all agreed that this series showcases some of the most creative uses of the Mickey figure we have seen to date. Specifically, how Casey Jones captured Donad’s “good side” in his interpretation of the Philharmagic attraction; Thomas Scott’s Space Figment, utilizing the Buzz Lightyear space helmet; and my personal favorite, the sparkly Tinkerbell with WINGS! (EEP!)

Here is the America on Parade figure from Park 7:

Also, here is a look at the Combo Topper:

The series will retail at $12.95 with the combo pack selling at $26.95.

Pictures borrowed from the official Vinylmation blog:

Chicago Windy City Release Report

New the DV reporting staff is Minnie Malice. She lives in Chicago and attended the Windy City 3″ Vinylmation release. Here is her experience.

Ever since I got into Vinylmation—which, admittedly, wasn’t all that long ago—I’ve been hoping and praying for a Chicago exclusive. In fact, not that far back my partner and I were talking, with a twinge of jealousy in our voice, about how it just wasn’t fair that the coasts—San Fran. and New York—got all the cool exclusives.

Well, when news broke that Oskar Mendez would be doing the “Windy City” Chicago exclusive, lets just say my excitement was hard to contain. I marked my Google calendar, and restlessly check off the days.

Earlier this week, though, I got some bad news: my partner wasn’t going to be able to make the release with me—something about their brother getting married, which, in my opinion, is not as cool or as fun as a Vinylmation release. So, to ensure that I didn’t have to go alone, I bribed The Cuteboy (a.k.a my best friend) with some coffee, and he agreed to join me in my epic, dorky adventure.

Saturday was a beautiful, crisp Chicago morning—a beautiful day to stand outside a Disney store. Despite waking up early, we were running a little behind because The Cuteboy just had to finish brewing his potion on Pottermore. Around 7:30 a.m., with coffee in hand, we caught a bus and headed downtown.

We got to the store a little bit before 8:00 a.m., and as you can see from the picture, at this point there was no line, and not many people waiting outside.

We stroled up and met two other collectors eagerly waiting for the doors to open, one whom I actualy was in correspondence with over on the Vinylmation Kingdom Forums. Instantly we began talking shop: old mold vs. new mold, the new Park Starz series, as well as the difficulties that come with being a collector who lives in the mid-west—a topic I hope to write more about in the future. We also talked about our collections, what figures we’re looking for, and what upcoming series we are excited/not excited about. I also had to explain Vinylmation to The Cuteboy, seeing as he wasn’t familiar with the phenomenon. His response was, “So, this is like if J.K. Rowling released Harry Potter figurines?”

While we were waiting outside, chatting, sipping coffee, and I chain-smoking, I snapped some pictures of the store. The sidewalk had a mosaic of my favorite female mouse, so, of course, I had to snap a picture:

I also took a picture of the Princess area of the store, jealous that I am no longer small enough to fit into one of the awesome Princess Halloween costumes the Cast Members were putting up, because, truth be told, I would look super cute in a pink Rapunzel dress.

At about quarter to 9:00, more people started showing up, each with the same question: “You here for vinylmation?” We all started talking, trying to fill time before the doors opened. One family came form a local suburb, and was shocked that I didn’t collect any of the Holiday figures—their family’s favorite series. Another couple came all the way from Wisconsin, but more impressive, they also just got back from The Florida Project—so of course everyone was bombarding them with questions: What figures did you get? What was the trading like? Did you get an Orange Bird? And then my question: “what did you think of—what I called— the “squished” Minnie?

As far as demographics go, most of the folks waiting were suburbanites from the surrounding area, and honestly, I think I was the only person in the line that was actually from the City!

With ten minutes till the store opened I snapped another picture in attempts to show the line that was brewing, or should I say not brewing.

As you can tell, even with as little as 5 minutes before the store opened, there still was only a few of us—I would say 15—waiting to get in. (FYI-The boy leaning against the pillar, in the black hoodie, looking at his phone—that’s The Cuteboy!!!).

At 9:00 sharp, a Cast Member came to the door and we were officially let into the store with a cheerful: “Welcome to Disney.” Luckily, I knew right where the vinyls were, so I left the Cuteboy and made a beeline for them. But I was met with a surprise! The tins weren’t by the Vinylmation display! The store had put them all by their Chicago-base merchandise, a smart marketing plan—one that plays off of the number of tourist they get in the store.

I was unable to get a picture of the display before the feeding frenzy, because I was a little too busy trying to make sure I had enough in my hands to fill my quota of requested figures, but the shelf had about 50 to 60 tins, neatly stacked above the Chicago Mickey stuffed-animals, but in 1.3 seconds the shelves were stripped and looked like this:

I think a lot of us there had a moment of panic when the shelf was stripped that quickly, and as a result tensions were high. It should be noted that there WAS NOT a limit on the number of tins you could buy, and I saw at least a few people with close to 20 in their hands. Sadly to say, because of this there was a little pushing and grabbing, which is disappointing to see at something like this—come on folks! We’re all in this together, right? Oh well, I guess not everyone can just enjoy themselves. In fact, one “gentle” man actually yelled at a Cast Member, which just makes me think that he doesn’t have a Jiminy Cricket on his shoulder.

With my tins in hand—well, actually in the Cuteboy’s hands—I looked around and took a picture of the store’s regular Vinylmation display.

NO, your eyes are not deceiving you—that is only ONE wall of Vinylmations with only one tray each of Lion King, Robots, Muppets #2, and Cutesters and a few random 9 inches. Oh the perks of being a Mid-western Vinylmation Collector.

At this time, I heard a commotion behind me. A Cast Member had pulled out the big guns. With the regular display stripped of all the tins, from the back they brought out a big, clear Rubbermaid container filled to the brim.

As you can see, some folks were grabbing arm fulls out of the tub!

The Cuteboy and I moved quickly through the checkout line, and afterwards I was fortunate enough to talk to one of the Cast Members about their expectation for this particular release. Seeing as this was the first time Chicago ever had a release for Vinylmation—with the exclusion of the Lion King and Robots and other in-store exclusives—I was curious if this was about what they were expecting in terms of turnout. She told me that they did have a few calls through out the month about the release, but not enough to warrant a wristband or a ticket system. Moreover, because of the Open Edition of the figure, they didn’t even feel the needed to put a limit on the number of figures people could buy. And as you can see, they had plenty of figures to go around, and were not sold out by any means. I think the most interesting thing that the Cast Member said was, they expect to see more releases like this in the future. Does that mean we should be seeing a second Chicago Exclusive in the future? Well, she said that she “didn’t know anything,” but I swear I saw a little twinkle in her eyes as she said it.

When all was said and done, The Cuteboy and I were at the store for about an hour and 30 minutes—about an hour and 20 minutes waiting outside the store, and 10 minutes grabbing tins, taking pictures, and checking out.

Maybe its because Chicago doesn’t have a high number of Vinylmation collectors, maybe its because of the Open Edition, or maybe its because there wasn’t an artist signing, but the reality of this release is—it was quick with relatively no line, and definitely more than enough tins to go around. In fact, when we finally left the store that Rubbermaid tub was still about half full.

By 10:25 the Cuteboy and I were back on the bus heading home, along with a new friend who got her own seat on the bus; but of course, we had stopped off for some breakfast and a diner photoshoot to cap off the morning.

All in all, a great morning and a great experience for my first official Vinylmation release.

BIO: Minnie Malice is a Chicago resident who just graduated with her Master’s Degree in Women & Gender Studies. She’s a blogger for a number of different websites, writing on topics as far ranging as Disney Vinyls to Feminist Theory. You can see more of her work at curiouserjane.tumblr.com