Vinylmation Speculation with Mike Boon: Muppets 3.4 Crazy Harry

CRAZY HARRY
The Muppet Show (1976)
Originally performed by: Jerry Nelson

The pyrotechnic expert on The Muppet Show, Crazy Harry showed particular mad scientist delight whenever something needed to be blown up. He’s got dynamite tucked into his pants and I would expect even larger explosives to be hiding behind his back.

“I love his smile. And of course, a stick of dynamite or the plunger for an accessory!”-M.C.

Mike Boon joins us every day this month with speculation of a future Muppet Series vinylmation. You can check him out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

Vinylmation Speculation with Mike Boon: Muppets 3.3 Robin the Frog

ROBIN THE FROG
The Frog Prince (1971)
Originally performed by: Jerry Nelson

Kermit the Frog’s nephew, who often feels insignificant because of his small size but still maintains a generally sunny outlook. His biggest role was as Tiny Tim in Muppet Christmas Carol. His ears and the top portion of his head could be clear or clear-sky blue to best represent his smaller size.

“His smaller face fits perfectly into the “cheeks” of the new vinyl. This one feels like Robin, with the squat head.”-M.C.

Mike Boon joins us every day this month with speculation of a future Muppet Series vinylmation. You can check him out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

Vinylmation Speculation with Mike Boon: Muppets 3.2 Newsman

THE NEWSMAN
The Muppet Show (1976)

Originally performed by: Jim Henson

The Muppet News Flash anchor was often the victim of particularly bad luck, with almost every news story culminating with something hitting him in the head. It would be great to see him in his plaid jacket, though I had tried to take some of the perceived limitations of the design into account.

“Looks great! It would also be cool to come with accessories that slid onto the ears to represent the things that fall on him.. piano.. anvil..” M.C.

Mike Boon joins us every day this month with speculation of a future Muppet Series vinylmation. You can check him out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

Vinylmation Speculation with Mike Boon: Muppets 3.1 Lips

Today starts a month long adventure into speculation with a new friend of ours, Mike Boon. Mike came to us with several ideas for future Muppet figures and thought it would be fun to showcase them here. We saw his designs and loved them, so we gave him a daily column.

When we asked Mike where he came from, he said this, “Though initially hesitant to Vinylmations, I recently found myself hooked on the little figures after purchasing almost an entire box of Muppet Series 1 on a Disney cruise. As a life-long Disney and Muppet fan whose love for the felt puppets was rekindled with the upcoming movie (out November 23), it was a combination that was impossible to resist. I’ve since obtained all of the Muppet Vinyls with the exception of that pesky Kermit from Series 1, along with an assortment of other figures. But still, I was left wanting more Muppets. So before I knew it, I started designing my own. Of course, that just opened the floodgates – so many Muppets in my head and so little time to put them together.
Destination Vinylmation has invited me to start presenting my concepts for upcoming Muppet Vinylmation sets in a series of posts. So far, Series 3 through 5 are ready to go and will be rolled out over the upcoming weeks. Though I still haven’t exhausted the Muppets, I may start looking at other potential characters or series in the future. As I said, the floodgates have opened…

Mike also has a blog where you can see his artistic works, usually focusing on the Muppets. It’s at baboondesign.blogspot.com. Mike also has had his work featured on themuppetmindset.blogspot.com.

So without further ado, lets see his first design, and remember that there’s a new one here every day for the next month!

LIPS
The Muppet Show (1980)
Originally performed by: Steve Whitmire

The Electric Mayhem’s often silent sixth member and trumpet player, who made his debut in season 5 of The Muppet Show and went on to appear in several Muppet movies and specials. Though we need a 3” Animal for our collections, Lips would bring closure to the Electric Mayhem.

“Mike captures the look of Lips perfectly. Especially the eyes, the shirt, and even the sandals. It could come with a trumpet accessory too!” – M.C.

Japan Exclusive Mushu

Update: 10/29/11 We have more info about this figure. First, it appears it will be released on November 18 in Japan along with the Disney Character Zodiac signs. We also have a price. 990 Yen, or about $13.07 USD. It is also an LE figure, but we don’t have an edition size.
9/28/11 A Mushu Vinylmation has shown up on eBay. It appears to be an unreleased figure. It also appears to be another “dumpster dive” figure. Meaning it was tossed out by the factory, but picked up and put for sale online.
It’s a great looking variation to the Animation 1 Mushu. No details yet where or when it will be released or as part of what set, if any. We can speculate that it has something to do with 2012 being The Year of the Dragon. I can say that it’s a brilliant design and I can’t wait to find out how to add one to my collection. I will toss out the same general warning we always give against bidding on figures on eBay before it’s release.

Vinylmation Speculation: What’s left for Villains Part 2

My name is Annemarie Brown and when I heard Destination Vinylmation wondering what villains would be left that they could add to another series of Villains I started to do some research. This is what I found… There are actually plenty of villains left to do another series, even two more if they get creative. This is part two of a two part look into Disney Villains.
For the first part check out Villains Speculation Part 1

Another cool villain would be Jafar’s trusty sidekick, Iago (Gilbert Gottfried). Unless they plan on making a “sidekick” series (which I don’t see happening) we can’t count out these great accomplice villains. Iago would be fantastic.
Frollo (Tony Jay) from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” while not the most popular of villains, would make a cool-looking vinyl, I think.
Madame Medusa from “The Rescuers” is still one of the most chilling villains Disney’s ever created. Voiced by Geraldine Page, she kidnaps children AND teddy bears!!
Edgar might be a bit obscure, but that’s what makes him interesting! The evil butler from “Aristocats” determined to get rid of the future inheritors of Madame’s fortune would make a great addition to a Villains set!  Voiced by” Roddy Maude-Roxby.
Horace(J. Pat O’ Malley) and Jasper (Frederick Worlock) would be great together on a vinylmation, I think. The bumbling duo from “101 Dalmatians” is almost as memorable as Cruella herself (almost!)
Another great pair that would be awesome on the same vinyl would be Flotsam and Jetsam, of course! Voiced by Paddi Edwards, Ursula wouldn’t be the same without these two by her side.
It’s been said before, but bears repeating… we still don’t have a Gaston vinylmation! Voiced by Richard White, he really needs no further introduction. And he would agree. (Also? I would give him a mirror as an accessory.)
One more random chaser idea: Pete from “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” is menacing and scary. Maybe with a cigar accessory? We already have a Steamboat Willie Pete, but he’s taken on so many incarnations of “bad guy” over the years, we have many wells to dip from with Pete.

I’m sure if we get creative we can come up with many more, throughout the years of Disney. Just rest assured, there are plenty of Villains to choose from for there to be future Villains vinylmation sets!

Vinylmation Speculation: What’s left for Villains? Part 1

My name is Annemarie Brown and when I heard Destination Vinylmation wondering what villains would be left that they could add to another series of Villains I started to do some research. This is what I found… There are actually plenty of villains left to do another series, even two more if they get creative. This is part one of a two part look into Disney Villains.

Chernabog from “Fantasia”… this isn’t even an obscure villain, as any Disney fan can attest to. Most likely the ultimate villain, actually! He would make a great chaser, I think.
Ratigan from “The Great Mouse Detective”- My personal FAVORITE villain! How they haven’t made a Vinylmation of him yet is beyond me. He oozes evil with the help of Vincent Price’s voice talents.
Of course, Lucifer from “Cinderella” was every bit as memorable as Lady Tremaine!
Continuing with Walt Disney’s personal dislike of cats (and inclination to make them villains!) We have the Siamese Cats from Lady and the Tramp, who would be great as two characters on one vinylmation.
The Headless Horseman from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” would also make a cool chaser. Maybe a removable head or headpiece?
Willie the Giant, from “Mickey and the Beanstalk” voiced by Billy Gilbert. He makes an appearance also in “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” as the Ghost of Christmas Present… but “Beanstalk” is when he’s a true threat to our hero Mickey.

Look for the conclusion to Annemarie’s article on Monday here at DestinationVinylmation.com

Vinylmation Speculation: Star Wars 2 characters

First off, we only know two official characters. So as a reminder, this is all just speculation from MC’s brain.

We know of two characters, Greedo and a Tusken Raider. We also know that the set will be based on the Star Wars: A New Hope.

Now for what I want/think should be part of the set.

Jawa

Jack Purvis and others

If we have Raiders we should also get a Jawas. This could be the triple for the case! Imagine an army of these guys. (Unless they come out as Jr.’s which would rock even more.)

Aunt Beru

Sheila Frasier

And think, there could be a “on fire skeleton” variant! (I was gonna add a pic of that scene, but it’s still pretty horrific.)

Uncle Owen

Phil Brown

Also treated to a similar fate, but good for a set.

Luke Skywalker (X-Wing pilot)

Mark Hamill

We have him as a novice Jedi, how about the outfit he spends the last half of A New Hope in.

Prisoner Princess Leia

Carrie Fisher

Again, lets see her as we first saw her, in flowing white robes.

Grand Moff Tarkin

Peter Cushing

The guy who really seemed like the antagonist in the first movie. He actually tells Vader what to do!

Wedge Antilles

Denis Lawson

One of the few Rebellion pilots to make it through all 3 movies. This guy is very very lucky.

Biggs Darklighter

Garrick Hagon

An old friend of Luke’s that joined the Rebellion as an X-Wing fighter.

Porkins

William Hootkins

Big guy. Dead Guy. Poor Porkins.

Mon Mothma

Caroline Blakiston

One of the biggest political figures in the Rebellion.

Admiral Ackbar

Timothy M. Rose

The leader of the fleet that attacks the first Death Star. He knows when something is good, and when “It’s a trap!”.
From a marketing standpoint this would be brilliant. Think of all the University of Mississippi students who would want one!

Any random cantina guy

There are a lot to choose from, but they would help fill out the set. (Yes, I know his name is Pondo Baba. I say random because there are several creatures in the bar that they could use)

Gonk

I didn’t have any robots for this set, so how about the much maligned Gonk. He’s a robot, that looks like a trash can. How cool is that? No, seriously. Is that cool?

Chaser- Original Jabba

This is what Jabba looked like before he was cut in the original film. Lucas later went back an covered over him with a CGI version of the Jabba we all know.

And then hopefully they will release some LE sets. Muppets 2 had them, why not Star Wars 2!

Sandcrawler 9″/Jawa 3″

I like when size matters. This would be a perfect set.

Cantina Band 3″ set

They all look the same, but this would be a great set for accessories. If they can make the 6 piece Kitchen Kabaret, then this would be similar.
Death Star 9″/
Tie 3″/X-wing 3″

This would be epic. I think they should totally do this (but this would be the only way I’d want to see vehicles done. None in the normal set please!)

I left out Han, Chewie, and Ben because they would look the same as series 1. (They don’t have a large selection of wardrobe.)
Who would you like to see as part of this set?

Vinylmation Speculation: Juniors 4?

Today Thomas Scott released this picture on Twitter.

So what does it mean? I haven’t seen this figure before, so does this point to the first figure of Juniors 4? We are pretty sure that series will be coming at some point. Maybe this is the first clue. Will the whole series be people dressed up? Is it possible to connect this to one of the EPCOT lands? Any ideas?

Over on twitter @vinylchaser says that it seems like a 45th Anniversary of It’s A Small World figure.

As a side note, I really love the fabric it’s on. I gotta find out where to find that!