Steam Park Explained

WDWNT on June 28, 2011

Update: 7/7/11 Disney has changed the online release date from July 18th to July 22nd.

Date: 6/28/11 Disney gave out some details and packaging info today. We knew Steam Park will be released as a 6 figure set and now we know the price. It will retail for $99.95 at both Orlando and California D-Streets and will be available on July 8. The set is a LE of 1000. There will also be a small amount available at the WDW Trading Show on July 8th. (Remember that D-Street California will open at 8 AM this day for the season pass holder exclusives, so these should be on sale at that time too!) People who don’t live by the parks can pick these up on July 22nd on the DisneyStore.com. Some of the price point may account for the elaborate box the set comes in. Here’s a look:

A very detailed box with windows looking in at the 6 Vinylmation.

“The packaging is what pushed me over the top with this set. I’ll be there on the 8th ready for mine. Before the trade show of course!” – MC

Update: 4/25/11 DV reporter Ryan talked to a source today about this set. They confirmed that this will be sold as a set of 6. It is also scheduled for release “mid-summer”. To us this means that the set will be similar to the packaging of Sushi and with a similar price, but that’s speculation. Also speculation, Disney places this set in their “Limited Edition Set” list, which leads us to believe that this will be a LE set!


First off, love the name! We first saw references to several in this set back in the summer of ’10. Then the SteamPark pocket watch came out, and it was awesome. Then nothing, for a long time. Well, now we have a few of the artist renderings of several more figures we have never seen before! (Thanks to Scuba Owl for letting us know that these pictures were up.)

This set will be sold as a set of six (without the Gears and Cogs which came in the Pocket Watch set). It is scheduled for a “mid-summer” release.

Artist: Mike Sullivan
Released: July 8th D-Streets and July 22nd Online
Price: $99.95
LE: 1000

The Magnificent Balloon

If it’s big enough, and you have enough hot air, you can make almost anything fly. Just drape a net over the balloon and attach the ends to what ever you want to ride in. Be a car, a horse buggy, or even your home, Carl.
Grandson Clock

A grandfather clock is old. This is new and fancy, the cutting edge of time technology.
Steel Mickey

I’m not sure if they is a submarine, or an ancient power source. Maybe we will learn more in the future.
Steampark Cyborg

Half man, half steampunk machine. All evil! (Well, Evil is assumed)
The Engineer

I know she might just be the mechanic, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say that not only does she maintain the machines, but she knows enough to design them when push comes to mechanic shove. (Think Kaylee from Firefly.)
The Commandant

The leader of the good forces (we assume) and the man who can defend the world from the evil forces (if there are any). We’ve seen him for a while now.
Gears and Cogs (Pocket Watch)

This appears to be the 3″ figure that came with the Steam Park Pocket Watch. The best of all the 3″ vinylmation that came with the watches. Very cool.

What do you think of this series? What would you like to see?

“Soaring High” DV Review: Sam the Eagle

WDWNT on June 25, 2011

9″ Muppets 2 Sam the Eagle
Artist: Monty Maldovan
LE: 1500
Price: $44.95

3 for 3 today Disney. Great job. I may have been more excited to see Up. I always love tributes to extinct attractions I love. But Sam the Eagle stole the show today. Hands down, one of the top five 9″ Vinylmation ever created. 

Pictures do not do the paint job justice. The colors are exquisite. As M.C. pointed out yesterday, take a close look at the beak. An amazing job by Monty to give an optical illusion that the beak is pointed down.
The USA flag colors in the ears and the feathers all around are painted on extremely well. Just an over striking figure. 
On the back, you have one of the coolest features… Sam’s tail. It’s a well done and sturdy piece that makes Sam stand out among other vinyls. It gives him and extra added presence that looks remarkable when posing him. 
A big win for Vinylmation today. He might be overshadowed by Animal and 3D Kermit, but Sam will end up being the best crafted of the bunch.

“Lofty Expectations” DV Review: Up

WDWNT on June 25, 2011

9″ Park 6 Up
Artist: Maria Clapsis
LE: 1000
Price: $44.95

There was a lot of buzz outside D-Street this morning for this figure. Even though, in my eyes, two other great pieces were coming out, Up was the Vinylmation everyone wanted.

To me, it is the simplest of designs. It is just the floating house and a head full of balloons. Normally I like simple, but with such dynamic characters in Up AND no official Up Vinylmation released yet, I think myself and other fans were wondering why there were none on this piece. There is one simple answer… it doesn’t need it. 
I was nervous that the Up Vinylmation wouldn’t look too impressive in hand, but I was wrong. The artwork is done very well and they pulled off some good looking balloons in the head. 
And in true Maria fashion, she gives us something special near her signature. She customizes a little piece of art for each piece. On the bottom off this one is a hand drawn heart with “C + E” written in it for Carl loves Ellie. What a fantastic little touch!

Would it be cool to have a Kevin on the roof or a Carl in the window? Yes, but this is just a nice piece of artwork that represents the film well. There is a painting of the sky with a little floating up house way in the background. I love that painting. I like simple and subtle Disney merchandise. Two things here… the desire to have Up characters on vinyl and the fact that pictures don’t do this one justice had me worried, but the final product is a must add to any Up’s fan’s collection.

“Close Encounter” DV Review: Alien Encounter

WDWNT on June 24, 2011

9″/3″ Park 6 Alien Encounter – “9 Alien and 3” Skippy
Artist: Maria Clapsis
LE: 1000
Price: $74.95

This design looked intricate from the concept art and the figure does not disappoint in person. In fact, I’d have to say I’m more impressed in person.

The 9″ Alien looks absolutely fantastic. Lots of detail and great colors used on him. Take a close up look at face, I didn’t notice the slimy drool oozing out of his mouth before I got the figure in hand.

Skippy is also well done. His droopy characteristics are captured perfectly by Maria.

One interesting note is that the foot is stamped “Primevil Whirl – Animal Kingdom”. An interesting misprint that appears to be on everyone’s Skippy.

Overall, a win in my book. A great tribute to a great attraction. Sorry Stitch, your awesome, but I loved the real Aliens that would scare the heck out of me as a kid. Just a note, no artist card is included with this combo.

Any Which Way But Foose

WDWNT on June 24, 2011

Update: 6/24/11 The artofdisney site had a second one of a kind Foose vinylmation on display. This one based on the character Ramone from Pixar’s Cars.

The vinyl is based on the flame design from the side of Ramone from the first Cars movie.
Like the previous one, there is only ONE of this vinylmation and it’s price is $1,500.00.

Do you like this one more or less than the Foose’s first one?

6/10/11 Today Disney announced another one of a kind custom. This 9″ is created by Southern California artist Chip Foose. Chip grew up designing cars and has even been seen in the reality TV show “Overhaulin'” of TLC. The design represents the lifestyle of the Huntington Beach area of California.


I like the sleekness of this figure. It’s simple, but looks good. The palm trees are a great extra touch! I also like the look of the finish. Very cool!

There is only one of these, and it will set ya back $1,500.00. It’s kind of a shame, because I’d totally pay $25 bucks for a 3″ version of this.

Both pics copyright Disney

Astrology Vinylmation Explained

WDWNT on June 24, 2011

Hidden on the Sneak page of vinylmation.com is the concept artwork for the Astrology Series. Check them all out here. Some cool things to note, both Cancer and Scopio have claws as hands! Also Leo and Taurus look amazing! It also seems like they have connected stars on some to create the constellation that they represent. We will see more when we get the turn arounds. We also expect to see these are open boxes so you can pick the one you want.

Artist: Not known
Release Date: None
Set Size: 12 Open Boxed- assumed

Aries
March 21 – April 20

The ram is the symbol of Aries.

Taurus
April 21 – May 20

The bull symbolizes Taurus. Great detail on this piece. I enjoy the nose ring. And the color is amazing.

Gemini
May 21 – June 20

Twins are the symbol is Gemini. I have a feeling this piece is going to make more sense from a side view. (Does this mean we are going to have to get two, so we can display both sides?)

Cancer
June 21 – July 22

Cancer is represented by the crab. Check out it’s hands, they use the claws that we first saw with the lobster from the Sea Creatures series!
Leo
July 23 – August 23

This is the lion. I love it. If they get the colors to look like they do here, then it will rock!

Virgo
August 24 – September 22

Virgo is symbolized by “the maiden”. It’s also an Earth symbol.

Libra
September 23 – October 23

The scales are what represent Libra.

Scorpio
October 24 – November 21

It’s kinda obvious, but Scorpio is presented as a scorpion. This one also used the claws as hands just like Cancer.

Sagittarius
November 22 – December 21

Sagittarius is usually represented by an archer or a centaur. It looks like they went the centaur way here, but it should be more clear once we see the back. Will there be a quiver. Will there be another set of legs and a tail?

Capricorn
December 22 – January 19

I don’t know what a sea-goat is. But this kinda looks like one. Right?

Waves on the bottom. Horns, and a goatee.

Aquarius
January 20 – February 19

Water is associated with this sign. Especially water carried in a jar (which you see spilling on the right ear).

Pisces
February 20 – March 20

Always represented by a pair of fish, here is Pisces.

What do you think of these pieces? Will you get the set, or just your personal one?

DSO Update: Hippo and Sunburned Man

WDWNT on June 24, 2011

Update: Thanks for everyone who reminded me (MC) that vinylmation.com said the 9″ Park 6 would be delayed back on the 20th. Thank you!

Update: We just realized that both 9″ Park 6 figures that came out in D-Streets stores today were also supposed to show up online. (See above screen shot from July 7th). According to accounts from both coasts, it seems like less than 400 were at the stores, which means that there are about 500 or more waiting to be sold online, but it’s not up yet. Weird….


Just a quick DSO update today. As of right now, both the 9″ Holiday 2 Independence Day (Sunburned Man) and the 9″ Animation 1 Hippo are available to purchase on disneystore.com. Sunburned Man is $48.95 and the Hippo is $39.95. Pick them up before the sell out!

Set your pocket watches for July 8th. Steampark.

WDWNT on June 24, 2011

Disney let it slip on their events page that the Steam Park series we’ve all been waiting for since 2010 is finally coming out on July 8th. This will be at both D-Streets. From what we know of the set, it will be a 6 piece set that will be packaged like the Sushi.

One interesting question. On the Steam Park page on vinylmation.com they left out the Commandant. I wonder if that means anything. What do you think?