Park 8 Variant: 100 Years of Magic
James sent us this picture on Facebook.
Three 100 Years of Magic Variants in one case! We are still waiting to see the AK Safari Truck no mud variant. If you have a picture, send it in.
It’s a Boy!
Cutesters at the Beach was released on Friday, so we knew it’d only be a matter of time until pictures of the chaser surfaced. What we didn’t know, is a variant would also wash up. We found these pictures on Vinylmation Kingdom’s Facebook page:
The chaser is actually a boy at the beach. I find this interesting, but on further thought, not all that surprising. After all, a cute boy surfer would certainly appeal to a girl collecting these. He is wearing a floral bathing suit and a shark tooth necklace. I like how Disney promotes good habits by having all the figures wear sun screen on their noses.
The variant, for me at least, is much less impressive. Instead of the Sno Cone stand, it says Fish Tacos. A very Californian (where the Disney Store artists work out of) flair, but Sno Cones is just a much more fun design for me. What are your thoughts on these two designs? Would they be priceless finds for you collection or would you leave them out sea?
Park 8 Variants and Combo Topper
Today we revealed/confirmed the Park 8 chaser (check out Park 8 Chaser Confirmed). We also found out there will be two variants in the Park 8 set. Remember, Park 8 now has a February 17 release date. Check out Park 8 Explained for all the details. Now to the Variants and Combo Topper.
The first variant is the Kilimanjaro Safari truck. The variant has no mud on the front.
The second variant is for the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. The variant version has a white body.
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The combo topper is Mickey in his Rainbow costume from the 80’s. Thanks to everyone who helped us understand this picture. Thanks to @CindyF1125 who sent us this picture of what this figure is. Very interesting. I think I sort of remember these outfits now. Great semi-obscure choice for WDW fans collecting this set. What are you thoughts?
Thanks to Bev for pointing us to this Disney Parks Blog picture of the opening of Star Tours.
Variant vs. Regular
A couple weeks ago, on podcast #56, Annemarie, MC and I took a list of all the Vinylmation variants to date and discussed which ones were better, the variant or the regular version. I contend that while many of the variants make sense, the regular version is the more desirable design most of the time. I understand the variants are added to create an extended level of collectiblity. They are a figure that is even more rare than the chaser. But shouldn’t the variant also be desirable for the design as well? Here are the results.
My best count has us at 25 variants so far. The two most important questions posed as we went down the list where: 1. Does the variant make sense? and 2. Which one do you like better? By a wide margin (18 or 19 out of 25), we all agreed that most variants make sense based on the design and what the figure is. In all cases of it not making sense to one of us, the figure was and Urban design and for the most part just a color change for the sake of creating a variant.
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| Urban 7 Green Cyclops Variant |
But the more important question is which one do you like better? Annemarie liked the regular version 14 times and the variant 7 times with 4 figures being a toss up. To date, there are only 2 variants she wants to add or keep in her collection… Alice Hedgehogs and Villains 2 Shere Kahn.
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| Alice Hedgehog Variant (aftimes.com) |
MC liked a few more regulars than AM, 17 in all. Only 8 times he liked the variant more. In both AM’s and MC’s case, they liked the variant better less than a third of the time.
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| Ghost Obi-Wan was a unanimous favorite Variant |
My personal results were more drastic. I liked the variant better only 4 times and the regular version 20 times. My only toss up is the Urban 8 Barricades. There are some good Urbans, but I think variants can be used extremely effectively on Disney characters… and for the most part they are… I’m just saying the variant is almost never the better version of the two. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I like that the version I like is easier to get. Out of the four I like better, I was lucky enough to pull one from a case, there are two I’m not actively seeking but that darn Shere Khan is still avoiding me.
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| Shere Khan Variant |
What are your thoughts? Here’s the list (in no particular order):
Wet Paint Donald
WDW Road Sign (2 variants)
Texting (2 variants)
Blue Thumb / Green Thumb
Mod (Nature Cycle)
Candy Apple / Sour Apple
Bubbles
Candy
Obi-Wan
Pinocchio
Pink Elephants (3 variants)
Shere Khan
Fantasia Donald
John Henry
Christmas Ornament
Jelly Beans
Mad Hatter
Hedgehog
Barricade
Rudos
Figment
Paint Splatter
Phone
Cyclops
Alien
Park Starz Series 1 Variants Explained
Park Starz Series 1 Variants Explained
Release Dates: Summer 2012 (Various)
Where: D-Streets and Online
Price: $24.95
LE: Varies
Artists: Thomas Scott and Casey Jones
Details: Each variant is sold in a stand alone tin in which you know what figure you are getting. There will be a signing on June 29th at D-Street Orlando from 5p-7p with Thomas Scott and Casey Jones.
Update 5/25/12 Park Starz Squid variant announced. Possible Comic Con release. Online release on July 13. It will be LE 2000 and $24.95.
Update 5/29/12 Release date for Abe moved to June 15. Release date for Bride confirmed at June 8. LE for Bride confirmed at 999, while the others are still 2500. Also, a $24.95 price tag is confirmed.
Park Starz Ice Gator Mispaint
For our Mystery Mailbag questions yesterday, we got this interesting photo from our reader Caitlin. She asked, “Hey guys! I had a quick question for you. I was recently in WDW and my brother and I both bought one Park Starz from the same tray. We both got ice gators (wah waah). It wasn’t until much later that I noticed that one of the gator’s hats was missing a stripe. I was just wondering what your take was on it and if there is any extra value in it or if it was just an error. Thanks for your help!”
Well Caitlin, although we were told that there are Variants for Park Starz coming out next year, they were supposed to be in separate packs (not part of the cases). Also, by looking at this more closely, it seems, like you said, to just be missing a stripe. We think it’s just an error, but probably not one that would raise the price any. (Unless, like we mentioned on the podcast, you found a person who really liked collecting those type of things.) For now you just have an interesting figure that is probably one of a kind.
Thanks for the question! Has anyone else seen a printing error on their Park Starz? What do you guys think?
Mad Hatter Variant- Sholess
Update: @AdmiralAkbrown tweeted this picture. This seems to confirm the variant!
Just a bit ago @jedidiaz tweeted this picture. It appears to be a Mad Hatter without shoes. That would be the second variant for this series. Has anyone else gotten one of these? (Since feet are removable it might be a fake, but the coloring seems right.) Anyone know of a “story” reason that might inspire this?
Variant in Wonderland
We have seen Alice in Wonderland released in Disneyland Paris. Now, thanks to the website Action Figure Times, we have a peak at one of the variants.
Pink Hedgehog Variant Photo from ActionFigureTimes.com
Normal Green Hedgehog
If you want to take away the mystery (debatable if there was any about this one), here is the Alice in Wonderland Chaser:
Fourth Urban 7 Variant- Clear Paint Splatter
Still yet another variant in Urban 7 series. Several people let us know that ebay had this Clear Paint Splatter. If you want this one, groebuck is trying to sell it now for $175. Thanks to everyone who pointed us to this!
Third Urban 7 Variant- Black Phone
Yet another variant in Urban 7 series. Several people let us know that ebay had this Black Telephone. Personally, I like this one so much more then the Red one. So lets try to get me one! Just kidding. But if you want this one, azraelsbane is trying to sell it now for $250.
Thanks to Breanna for this picture of her variant!