Spotlight On: Vinylmation Custom Artist Aaralyn

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Recently we received some cool looking art from a custom artist named Aaralyn. We tracked her down and asked her a few questions about her vinylmation artwork.DV: Fantasia has so much material to draw from, yet we have seen very little in the way of Disney Vinylmation. What drew you to the Spring Sprite from Fantasia 2000?
Aaralyn: In addition to my love of Disney, ever since middle school I also enjoyed the art of anime. The Spring Sprite’s artwork is a great blend of the art of Disney and the art of anime. I was most drawn to her beautiful eyes and very detailed hair. As far as art goes, it was love at first sight.

DV: The detail is amazing and it looks so true to the film. What was the hardest part of the figure to get just right?
A: Thank you! The lines were definitely the hardest part of the Spring Sprite figure. I spent hours trying to get the lines as straight as possible. It took over 30 hours of drawing and painting time to complete her.

DV: Was the plan always to put her on a 9″?
A: Yes, I love the 9” form because I have the space to add intricate details. I loved the details in her artwork and wanted to be able to capture all those details on my custom.


DV: That is a really fun design for Beast. What went into the design and did you have any challenges applying it to the 3D form?
A: My main goal for the cutie-pie series is for people to look at the custom and get warm fuzzy feelings. I always loved Beauty and the Beast, so I decided to make the Beast look less menacing. I started by sketching out the design on paper. After I got most of the design kinks out on paper, I then drew the design on the 3” form. I think my main challenge was once again the lines. I had to use a very small brush to get them straight. He was a lot of fun to create; he’s my favorite 3” I have created at the moment.

DV: What other characters might we see in your “cutie-pie” series down the road?
A: I have a huge list of cutie-pie custom candidates. I don’t want to give away too much, but some of them are main characters, while others, like the Spring Sprite, are supporting characters that I love.

DV: Is your work for sale?
A: Yes, I have a store on my website where anyone can view the customs I currently have available. I also take commission work as well.

DV: I see you also accept trades for Disney figures you want as well?
A: Yes, my vinylmation want list can be found under my about page on my website. Since I just started collecting and customizing vinylmations recently in December of 2011, my collection is quite small and I would love to add some of my favorite pieces to it.

DV: Where can people go to view your work and contact you?
A: My work can be viewed on my Facebook Fanpage as well as my website:
www.facebook.com/customsbyaaralyn
www.customsbyaaralyn.com
I can also be contacted by email at: customsbyaaralyn@aol.com

DV: Thank you. Your work is amazing and we look forward to seeing your next round of customs.

A: Thanks so much for featuring my customs!

New San Fran Vinylmation May 11

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Update: 4/6/12 Disney has posted the correct Lombard St. Vinylmation today.

It’s a very colorful, cartoonish look at this famous winding hillside street. This is actually a very appealing figure to me because it really stands out among anything we have ever seen. The Golden Gate Bridge in the head with the sun rays and the birds in the ears make this one a real treat.

The details of the Enrique Pita signing are still the same.

And like with many of these city specific figures, it comes in a beautifully designed tin.


Update: The original picture was a picture of a previously released vinyl. We’re not sure, but it looks like the vinylmation.com blog might have just pictured the wrong figure. (We thought the name was a little weird.) So we’ve replaced it with this one. The rest of the info is probably correct, just with a different figure. (Thanks to those who pointed this out)

The Vinylmation blog has announced a new Vinylmation coming to the San Francisco Disney Store on May 11.
This 9″, called Lombard Street, was designed by Enrique Pita and will be available at the Stockton St. Disney Store. Enrique will be on hand the following day for a signing on May 12 from 8a-11a at the store.

Since we don’t have the right image of the figure, here’s a picture of Lombardo St. You probably recognize it from TV and films. If done right, this would look really cool on a vinyl.

Spoiler- Urban 9 Chaser Found

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

The guys over at vinylmationkingdom.com found a picture on the internet that seems to be of the Urban 9 chaser. (Click on the picture above to look at it). According to them Juan Chan found this picture.

We are not sure where this picture came from so it should technically be a “rumor”.

MC thinks it looks like someone took Mickey and squeezed him from the middle and then pulled up a little, The thing everyone is calling a spoon is actually just empty space, with his legs being long and skinny to either side of the gray.

What do you think of the design. Lots of interesting concepts (including a neck!) Does this bring back more artistic designs to Urban, or is it just too weird?

Spoiler! Snow White Junior Chasers

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Here there are in a pic that was tweeted by Evilos. Looks like Nick was wrong, kinda. No heart box. And there’s an apple, but it’s part of the “old hag” figure.
What do you think of these figures?

Upcoming Animation 2 LEs

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Nick was able to take a pic of the upcoming Animation 2 LEs.
First, Geppetto 9″ LE 1000
Second, a 9″/3″ combo, Humphrey and Ranger J Audubon Woodlore LE 1200.
Along with the previously announced Maleficent and Prince and The 9″ Roger Rabbit, these seem to be the 9″ limited edition figures.
Still wondering about the Rhino ignite we saw earlier.
What do you think of these sets? Geppetto will go nicely with Pinocchio from the Animation 1 set.

Urban 9 Variant- Gold Kitsune

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Urban 9 Variant
Over at themagickitschdom they uncovered the first known variant for the Urban 9 series. Check it out above. It’s a gold version of the red kitsune-ish figure. I kinda like it in Gold. Thanks again for the pics Magic Kitschdom!
Urban 9 Variant gold back
What do you think of this? What other figures in this set do you hope have variants? According to The Playwright there is also a Sheep that has been shorn.

VM Speculation with Mike Boon: Dolly and Mr. Pricklepants

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

For the second day, we’d like to take a look at two characters from Toy Story 3. Thanks again to Mike Boon for such wonderful artwork!

  Dolly
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Voiced by: Bonnie Hunt
This sassy rag doll didn’t have a major role in Toy Story 3 but will no doubt be seen in future efforts (such as the Toy Story toons, books, merchandizing and more) considering how she is one of Bonnie’s toys. Plus, she’s cute.
  Mr. Pricklepants
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Voiced by: Timothy Dalton
Like Dolly, Mr. Pricklepants – a thespian with a love of lederhosen – had a relatively minor role in Toy Story 3 but will be part of the Toy Story crew for years to come. His entire back would be covered in his “prickles”.

“This figure looks great, especially with the hair filling up Mickey’s head.” – M.C.
Mike Boon joins us every day this week with his speculation of a Toy Story 2 Series vinylmation. For past posts click here. You can also check Mike out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

Tokyo to celebrate 30 years!

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

The Toyko Disney site has just announced it’s plans for the parks’ 30th Anniversary Celebration. Starting on April 15th, 2013, the “Happiness Year” celebration will begin. A new parade is being developed, Star Tours is undergoing it’s upgrade, and there will be seasonal celebrations throughout the year.

Why do you care? Because with each of the last anniversary celebrations we got specialized vinylmation. Hong Kong’s 5th, Disney World’s 40th, and Paris’ 20th all got anniversary specific vinyl, so be on the look out for some from Tokyo next year!

VM Speculation with Mike Boon: Slinky Dog and Prospector Pete

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

Today we’re taking a look at two of the most famously voiced characters from the franchise. Good old Earnest and Frasier. Thanks again to Mike Boon for such wonderful artwork!

  Slinky Dog
Toy Story (1995)
Originally voiced by: Jim Varney (Toy Story)

Like the Potato Heads, licensing issues likely got in the way of having Slinky appear in Toy Story Series 1. But considering his prominence in the series, that’s a wrong that would need to be righted. I pictured the body component to be clear, with the slinky coils stretching around his midsection.
  Stinky Pete the Prospector
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Voiced by: Kelsey Grammer

The crafty and deceitful villain in Toy Story 2 can participate in all sorts of adventures with Woody, Jessie and Bullseye from Series 1. I tried to stick to the limitations of the mould, but this would obviously look great with a hat accessory and/or a pick-axe.
Mike Boon joins us every day this week with his speculation of a Toy Story Series 2 vinylmation. For past posts click here. You can also check Mike out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

To Be Released: April 6th

WDWNT on June 13, 2012

A few things we already knew about and a new vinyl are scheduled to be released at D-Streets this Friday. One April 6th the Cheshire Cat 2 pack, the Donald and Pluto Storybook Set, and a new D-Tour figure will be released.
Let’s start with old and end with the new. The Cheshire Cat set is a two piece set that shows the Cheshire Cat fading into the forest. (We suggest you also use your Cat from the Alice set to complete the transformation. We saw this back at D-23 and have been waiting a long time for it. A nice price of $26.95 and a LE of 2500. The artist is Thomas Scott.
We saw a few weeks back a new two pack set that included Donald and Pluto and seemed to be packaged with the designs the use for the “Storybook” line of merchandise. It was then confirmed and given a release date for Japan. Now it’s coming to America. The pack will be open edition and also $26.95.

Last, the most interesting and mysterious part of the news. They will finally be adding the the D-Tour set with a new figure that is listed as “Paper Cut figure”. Back when they were announced at The Florida Project, D-Tour was to be an ongoing set where the least popular figures would be pulled and replaced with a new design. Is this the first of those swaps? We don’t know which design would be removed and there’s also a few designs we learned about that never came out. But on Friday it looks like we’ll see a brand new piece.

Back in my youth my parents had me do something called “Scherenschnitte” which is the German art of paper cutting. I’m not sure if that has anything to do with this piece, but the best picture I could find to display such a thing as “Papercut” and Mickey was this picture from noreallyreally.blogspot.com.What do you guys think? These designs are often based on t-shirt designs, so has anyone seen a t-shirt design that would make sense? Let us know!