ZoMG: Under the Big Top Release Party

WDWNT on July 27, 2012

Zoe went to the Costa Mesa, CA Disney Store release of the new Vinylmation mystery box series Under the Big Top. Check out her pictures:

Poster advertising the big event!
–
There were clowns, a carousel, games and other entertainment.
–
Wow! The packaging looks great!
–
Gold and Silver tickets were handed out to guests. 
The more product purchased, the more autographs you could get.
–
Here is a look at what Zoe and her friend pulled from the blind boxes. All signed by artist Gerald Mendez.

ZoMG: Review of AP Merchandise Showcase at DCA

WDWNT on March 31, 2012

by Zoe

Today begins the three-day event for Annual Passholders to experience some of the new and exciting things coming to California Adventure in the upcoming months!

The Merchandise Showcase event was centered on Cars Land and the merchandise that will be available when the land opens June 15th, 2012. The event also had information about Mad T Party as well as new California Adventure themed merchandise.

Walking in to Stage 17 (which is located near the back of Hollywood Pictures Backlot) there was a pop-up shop set up in the center of the room. The set up reminded me of the D23 Expo set up.

They had all different kinds of Cars Land merchandise for fans of all ages! Ride posters with “Grand Opening” stamped on them were available, as well as matching Ride Poster T-Shirts. I LOVE the way these turned out. They are each unique to their ride and look awesome.

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

I love the details that they put on these T-shirts as well. Not only is the design great but also the little touches are what make it that much more magical.

–
–

Each T-shirt has stamped on the sleeve, “Grand Opening” as well as something about the ride. A Cast Member there told me that once they run out of the “Grand Opening” stamped merchandise, they will reprint everything but without the Grand Opening stamp. Also this extremely informative Cast Member told me that every 6 Months Disney is going to release 4 Attraction Posters (for California Adventure). This makes me so happy because that means my Little Mermaid Ride Poster is coming! (Sorry for derailing about Ariel, it happens.)

Now back to the Merchandise! There are plenty of T-shirts, jackets, mugs, plastic cups, key chains, and pins etc that were made for Cars Land. There is a limited edition 1000 pin set of ride posters, as well as a limited edition coin set.

–
–
–

Also available early today were the brand new Monorail Cars Vinylmation. They looked awesome in person! The tray comes just like a tray of Vinylmation, you get 24 figures, 2 sets and 1 chaser! I bought one blind box to see how the packaging looked and to see how the quality of the figures would be… and they look great! The box is a bit skinnier compared to our normal Vinylmation blind box, but it works since the design is a Monorail. I love the box design, it reminds me of a ride poster.

–
–

Now personally I wouldn’t go back and buy more of these, they just aren’t my thing. I like the idea of monorails and I absolutely LOVE all the Cars characters, but this set seems to me like it would appeal more to men/boys. Now maybe if the set were on the Vinylmation mickey mold I would re consider. But the monorails honestly didn’t do much for me! I was thinking how cool it would have been if they made a Lightning McQueen mold, and then put each car onto his mold! Who knows what the future will hold! Check out Destination Vinylmation’s Monorail Cars explained page for more on this set.

My favorite thing pertaining to Cars Land (which I bought!) has to be the Piston Cup figurine! I think this is absolutely awesome! It says Grand Opening on the front, and on the back of the Piston Cup it says “Cars Land”.

I love that Disney decided to add Cars Land to DCA, the Land is themed perfectly, the merchandise looks awesome, and I can’t wait to actually step foot into Radiator Springs!

The Showcase also featured some of the new DCA merchandise that will be available soon. I love the idea behind these designs. The theme is, Mickey and Minnie driving through California and all the different stops they make on their journey. Each stop is represented by a different stamp. Each stamp stands for a different attraction at California Adventure. There is a Toy Story Mania Stamp, Little Mermaid Stamp, Cars Land Stamp, and World of Color Stamp etc. I love this idea, the merchandise looks great! This design is available on many different products such as, T-shirts, Jackets, Cups, Shot Glasses, Blankets, Key Chains and more!

–
–
–
–
–
–
–

After walking out of the shop, Mater and Lighting were there for a photo op!

Next to Mater and Lightning was a display that showed the new costumes for Cars Land!

Lastly there was a display for the Mad T Party, which will be replacing ElecTRONica in June! The merchandise looks AWESOME! The Mad T Party merchandise wont be available until June as well.

–
–
–

There are various items like hats, rabbit ears, t-shirts, jackets and ties. Also there will be ‘Mad Treats’ such as, light reflective lollipops, rock candy, bagged candy, and Cheshire cat candy as well as mickey sprinkles!

There was an opportunity to purchase some of the new snacks that would be for sale during the T Party such as, dill popcorn (I didn’t try this but everyone that did said it was delicious) and sour apple/cotton candy slushies!

Over all I thought the AP Preview was awesome. It was organized, in a big area so everyone could see everything, the merchandise looks awesome and now I am even MORE excited for Cars Land and Buena Vista Street to open on June 15th!!

ZoMG: Popcorns!

WDWNT on February 9, 2012

by Zoe

On January 31st, Disney Parks Blog informed us of a fun holiday, National Popcorn Day! While that sounds fun and tasty, something caught the eye of Vinylmation collectors! Popcorn Vinylmation! The Vinylmation Blog decided to fill us in a little bit about this new series created by none other than Thomas Scott! This new series will come out in Summer 2012! After looking at the shadowy picture Disney provided us with for a sneak peek, I decided to lighten up the photo! After adjusting the brightness of the photo it revealed a Mickey!

I am at the parks a lot (obviously) so I take note of just about EVERYTHING. And the second I saw the shadow, I knew the shape looked familiar. There is a shirt that has this same Mickey shape on it at Disneyland! I wasn’t able to find the shirt at Disneyland to take a picture for you guys but keep your eyes open for a shirt with this little guy on it because I know its out there! If you have the shirt or have seen it please share it with us in the comments!

The information given about the set is that it will give popular Disney characters as ‘fresh’ new look! Thomas Scott is one of the most innovative Disney Artists to date, and I do not doubt that this set is going to be awesome. He likes to think out of the box and make everything he does extremely unique. Just looking at Mickey’s shape it is an extremely fun and different take on everyone’s favorite mouse!

No word yet on if the set will be open window box, or blind box BUT if you look at the picture they provided us with it almost looks like the back of one of the open window box figures! That’s just my guess! Or maybe something similar to Park Starz where it’s a new innovative tin that looks like a box of popcorn? Who knows! With Disney anything is possible.

Now, lets talk characters! First of all we have Mickey, I love the ‘pop’ feeling of the design. Its new, its fun, its not our original Vinylmation mold but I like it! I don’t think that they are going to stick with the same mold for each figure because that would be too easy! I think they will change each mold to go best with each character. If the set is open window, I doubt there will be 12, but if it is indeed a set of 11 with a chaser that would be fantastic as well – we will have to keep you updated when we hear more on that!

Now I’m going to throw out some ideas of characters,

  • Mickey
  • Minnie (if you have Mickey you have to have Minnie!)
  • Goofy
  • Pluto
  • Donald
  • Daisy
  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Tigger
  • Cheshire Cat (Thomas loves Alice in Wonderland)
  • Ariel (why not!)
  • Buzz
  • Woody
  • Dumbo
  • Pinocchio

I am thinking with this set they will stick with more classic characters rather than more park related/movie related characters. But you never know! Hey I mean there could be a few princesses in there right? Crazier things have happened!

I am looking forward to seeing what Disney decided to do with the set. It is a really fun and ‘fresh’ idea for Vinylmation. Stay tuned, we will keep you posted with any new info! Please share in the comments section any ideas you guys have for this new set!

ZoMG: Furry Friends Artist Signing

WDWNT on January 18, 2012

Saturday was the release and artist signing for Furry Friends Vinylmation at the Disney Store in South Coast Plaza Mall! I had such a great time at the event. I was working so I wasn’t able to buy any figures until I got off work BUT don’t worry my Grandma came with me yesterday to the event (she loves the Vinylmation community, they all call her grandma haha) and she surprised me and bought a couple figures and got them signed for me! She got, 2 Trustys and Patch, then went into the line and traded a Trusty for a Max! (Yay go grandma!) And by the way, that was her first ever trade haha!

Now let’s get to the event! I got to work at 7:45 AM and there were about 40 people in line! I saw so many familiar faces as I made my way inside! We had a large fixture set up in the front of the store with trays and trays of Furry Friends! We ended up opening the store an hour early around 9:00 AM to let everyone buy their trays to get in line for the signing!

The first guests making their way into the store to purchase Furry Friends!

There was a steady flow of people coming into the store purchasing Vinylmation to get signed. Guests were also purchasing Villains 2 to get signed as well! I was very happy to see guests who knew nothing about Vinylmation asking questions, getting into it and actually purchasing their first Vinylmation! I love that having the Vinylmation Events in the mall makes more people come into the store and get excited about it!

While everyone was waiting, the Home Base Disney Store team brought our store a present! My manager told Michelle (my Vinylmation loving co-worker) and I that we would get the honors of using our brand new 24 Mystery Trading Box!! And we would get to keep it in our store! Yay! I was SO excited first of all to see the trading box, and also to be able to trade with others! I am usually on the other side of the trading box so I was way too excited about this.

Ashley, Michelle and I waiting for everyone to come trade with us!

Finally the artists arrived and everyone got their figures ready to go! The artists on hand at the event were, Jim Valeri, Gerald Mendez, Enrique Pita, Quincy Sutton, and Matt Chittavanichprapa. Quincy and Matt are new to the Vinylmation world and I was very excited to meet them!

Jim and Enrique signing for fans!

The event went awesome! Each artist was constantly busy chatting with fans, taking pictures, talking about the series, signing figures, and sketching!

My Grandma and I getting Patch signed by Gerald Mendez!

One of the artists in particular, Matt Chittavanichprapa had a great idea. He had only designed one figure for the series, his FIRST EVER VINYLMATION Marie! In my opinion, Marie is definitely my favorite from this set. She looks absolutely fabulous! Since he only had one figure to sign, he brought out his sketchpad and starting sketching pictures for fans of Marie! It’s funny because I was worried he would have a short line since he only had one figure but he had the longest line that even went past the 1:30 end time of the event!

Matt sketching a picture of Marie for a fan!

Luckily I got off work at 1:00 so I was able to go into the store and buy 2 blind boxes to get them signed. I got Marie and Oliver! I was so excited because Marie was the one I wanted the most! I went to Matt’s line first so I could get Marie signed and a sketch!

Matt is great! While he was sketching a picture for me I asked him a lot of questions about designing his first ever Vinylmation! He said he was thrilled how the figure turned out and he was ecstatic they were able to make Marie’s bow out of ribbon! He joked and said that when he presented the idea for Marie they told him “we will see what we can do” and he assumed that meant “no” but to his surprise they were able to pull it off and it turned out fantastic!

I also asked him how each artist is assigned which figure to do. If they come up with the character themselves or how that whole process works. He told me that usually there is a team who comes up with the vision for the set, and then they assign each artist a character and then see what they come up with. I asked him if he was excited when he got assigned Marie. He laughed and told me that he didn’t go to work the day that the figures were assigned, and came back the next day and was told he got Marie. Now getting the girliest figure in the Furry Friends set wasn’t going to stop him from making it the BEST Marie Vinylmation. He told me that he looked at the other Marie Vinylmation and wanted to make sure it looked nothing like the others, which is why he opted for the extra large pink bow and I think he nailed it!! He was such a sweet guy and talked to me for a good 20 minutes, I’m really looking forward to seeing more from him in the future! Oh and you better believe I begged him to suggest a Princess set.. We will see what happens! (haha)

The picture that Matt sketched for me!

Overall, I think the event was a huge success! Over 200 people showed up, and the artists really had a great time. I was sad to read when I got home that many people were having problems with their set, such as scuff marks, fingerprints, and bad paint jobs. I checked out my figures again and they all seem just fine. Didn’t notice any mess-ups, or dirty spots but maybe some people got a bad batch.

I had a great time at the event, seeing all my Vinylmation friends and familiar faces! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

ZoMG: Furry Friends Photoshoot

WDWNT on January 18, 2012

by Zoe

When I got home last night, I took my Furry Friends out of their carriers and let them explore their new home.

First I found Trusty was going through my bags and found my Lady and The Tramp lithographs that I got at the Disney Store for pre-ordering Lady and The Tramp! He decided this was his favorite, obviously since he is in the picture!

Then I found Patch drinking some of Belle’s water! (Belle is my puppy!)

I then went into my room and saw that Max had found his good friend Ariel. She was so excited to see him!

Oliver made his way into my Vinylmation collection and found his friend Dodger!

I looked all over the house for Marie and I couldn’t find her anywhere. I thought to myself, where would a fabulous feline like Marie want to go? I went straight into my room and opened up my jewelry box and found Marie playing with my jewelry! She’s a girly girl, she can’t help it! I think Marie found her favorite place in the house!

ZoMG: The New D-Street Anaheim Window Decorations!

WDWNT on January 12, 2012

Walking through Downtown Disney the other night I noticed something different about the D-Street window. Disney finally decided to change it up and I absolutely love it.

I was surprised because I had no idea that a change was coming but it looks great!

Overall the window is fun and somewhat interactive. There are Vinylmation ALL OVER this window display. Vinylmation hanging at the very top of the window, some trying to paint the large create your own placed in the center of the window, and some just hanging around in boxes and lights.

I like this idea because every time you take a look at the window you notice something new.

To get the BEST overall look at the new D-Street window, I recommend stopping by at night.

I recommend this because during the day it still looks great but at night, the window is lit up and there are a few lighting surprises throughout the window that you don’t notice during the day!

With that said, next time you are at D-Street in California, make sure you take a peek at the new D-Street window display!

You might even find a hidden upcoming figure or two!

Here are a few more scenes from the window.

–

–

2011 Year in Review: Zoe Picks Her Top 10 Figures

WDWNT on December 28, 2011

Each day this week, someone from the Destination Vinylmation staff will give their Top 10 list from 2011. The lists can include just about anything from figures to sets to headlines to personal moments. Please feel free to comment with your favorites and memorable stories from the past year as well. (Other lists: Nick, Annemarie, Claudia)

Zoe
Writer/DLR Reporter

10. Tinkerbell (Park 7) – Casey Jones

I love Tink’s wings, her wand, and the glitter! The perfect Tinkerbell Vinylmation!

9. Mater (Cars 2 Pack) – Maria Clapsis
Mater is my favorite Cars character and this figure brings out all of Mater’s personality! He fits perfect on to the mold.

8. Marshmallow Snowman (Jingle Smells)
My favorite smelling one out of the bunch, and he is just so darn cute! LOVE that there is an actual ornament hook!

7. Simba (Animation 1) – Monty Maldovan

The tail is so cute! My favorite Simba figure!

6. Rafiki (Lion King) – Jim Valeri
I love the staff accessory! I totally predicted this accessory and all! It turned out perfect!

5. Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland) – Thomas Scott
Love the tail!

4. Walt Disney World Road Sign – By Thomas Scott

This reminds me of taking trips to Disney World when I was younger! Watching the signs go by on the bus trip back to our hotels. LOVE that they made these (variants too!)

3. Aurora Jr (Villains 1) By Oskar Mendez
The first Princess Vinylmation!

2. Life is Sweet – Kidada
I love everything Kidada does! From Disney Couture Jewelry, to her new Disney Store collection!

1. Ariel’s Undersea Adventure – By Maria Clapsis

I don’t really have to explain myself here. My favorite ride, my favorite princess, my favorite Disney movie, hands down the best Vinylmation in 2011!!

ZoMG: Alice signing with Thomas Scott- DLR

WDWNT on November 7, 2011

I would like to first start this article off by saying a big THANK YOU to Thomas Scott for making this Alice in Wonderland Vinylmation series possible. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite Disney movies and I really think Thomas nailed it. This is my favorite set of Vinylmation to date. I have never been so excited about an entire set (and I’ve been collecting for the past 3 years). I was so excited to finally meet Thomas and tell him how much I love this series and everything he created for it!

The Alice in Wonderland Vinylmation series includes, the set of 12 + 2 variants, the Cheshire Cat limited edition set of two 3 inch Vinylmation, as well as two 9 inch Vinylmation, the Walrus & the Carpenter (which will look so good with the 3 inch little oysters!) and some super secret information that Thomas told me today, a 9 inch crying Alice that comes with THREE jrs! One “Eat Me” cookie Jr, one “Drink Me” bottle Jr, and one happy Alice Jr. (See our post on Alice 9″ Combo)

All pictures by Zoe
Now lets get to the event!

I arrived at Downtown Disney on Saturday around 7:30 am and was 26th in line. The morning was very chilly but completely worth it. Everyone passed the time trading, talking and getting excited to go inside D-Street to buy their Alice in Wonderland Vinylmation!

After buying my tray I got into the signing line that was to begin at 10:00 am. I couldn’t wait to open up my tray so I got right to it! After opening my tray I realized that I got the pink Hedgehog variant! Pink is my favorite color and I really wanted this one so I was pretty excited. Little random note, only one pink variant in my tray not two, so I had one pink and one green.

The signing began at 10:00 and Thomas was so excited to see everyone come out to Downtown Disney to talk with him and get their Vinylmation signed!

Thomas spent a lot of time with each person, taking questions, Vinylmation talk etc. I love that he took time to talk with everyone. He genuinely loves what he does and I mean honestly who doesn’t. Thomas is definitely one of the best Vinylmation artists out there.

I was so excited to show him my variant! I had Thomas sign my Dinah, pink Hedgehog and my tray! I couldn’t stop telling him how much I love the set and the art, everything as a whole in this series. He was very happy to see how much I enjoyed the set.

Thomas actually told me that he has read some of the stuff I’ve done for Destination Vinylmation – how cool is that!

He also shared with me the designs for the Alice and 3 junior combo set! (Which I explained earlier)

After getting my Vinylmation signed I went to go trade the couple I had bought from the Disney Store the night before because I couldn’t wait until the event to see at least one of the figures in person! I had gotten the Mad Hatter and an Oyster. One of my friends noticed that my Mad Hatter had different feet than the one in my tray! That’s when we all realized there was ANOTHER variant!

Now me again just being SO excited, I run up to Thomas and say look did you know about this! Look another variant! And he laughs and goes, “Yes I know, I designed it” haha.

Needless to say, I had such a great time at the Vinylmation Alice in Wonderland signing event. I got the complete set of Alice in Wonderland, variants and all, the Vinylmation gods must have been with me.

The event today was organized and I think everyone had a great time and really enjoyed this new release! It was awesome to finally meet Thomas Scott and chat with him about his work, and have some of my figures from the set signed!

I can’t say enough good things about this set. I honestly can’t pick one favorite because they all look so perfect! Thomas captured the personality of each character perfectly and it goes perfect on to the Vinylmation mold.

If you aren’t close to Disneyland or Disney World, please visit your local Disney Store (if you haven’t already) and get some of the Alice in Wonderland Vinylmation!

Thomas Scott created an amazing set that I think every Vinylmation fan needs in their collection!

-Zoe

ZoMG: Cars 2 at Carsland

WDWNT on November 1, 2011

In honor of Cars 2 movie release today, I took Mater & Lightning McQueen through California Adventure.
The wanted to see how progress is coming on Cars Land which is scheduled to open in 2012!
First I took them to the Blue Sky cellar to see how plans were coming and what Cars Land is going to look like! They couldn’t be more happy with the result. Looks just like home!
I then took them to see the list of rides. Mater was thrilled that he gets his own ride!
Mater and McQueen then peeked over the construction walls to see how things are coming along.

Lastly we went to see some of the Cars art that they have placed throughout California Adventure on the walls hiding the construction. Mater and McQueen can’t wait to drive back over in 2012 and check out the final product for themselves!

– Zoe

ZoMG: Villains 2 Artist Signing and Release

WDWNT on October 23, 2011

Hello everyone!

Villains 2 Vinylmation were released a few days early today at the Disney Store at South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa, CA in honor of an artist signing event!

I don’t know if you guys know this but, yours truly recently got a job working at the Disney Store in South Coast Plaza (if you are in the area come visit!) I was asked to work this event since I have such extensive Vinylmation knowledge! I obviously said YES! I can’t wait to tell you guys about my day!

I got into work around 9 am and there was a huge line of eager and familiar Vinylmation fans waiting to get their hands on the early release of the Villains 2 blind boxes as well as the LE 9 Inch Combo of Jafar and Genie! Many guests told me they got in line around 7 AM, and actually got to sleep in! (Which we all know is rare with limited releases!) We started ringing customers around 9:30 and got everyone queued up for our event starting at 10:30!

The artists that were on hand at the event today were, Jim Valeri, Gerald Mendez, Enrique Pita and Kyle Jensen! All artists worked on series such as, Villains 1, Villains 2, Robots, and Certain city specific Vinylmation as well as Lion King.

Guests were so excited to meet the artists and get their Vinylmation signed! Sadly around 10:45 we sold out of all Villains 2 Vinylmation, but luckily we had plenty of Lion King and Robots to go around!

The artists seemed to be having such a blast with the fans! I worked line control so I was interacting with each guest before they would enter the signing area! Everyone seemed eager and really excited about the series!

While chatting with guests before the signing began we found out that so far there is, one variant in Villains 2, which is Shere Khan from Jungle Book. The regular Shere Khan has green ears and the variant Shere Khan has flames in his ears! I love this variant. I think that Kyle did an awesome job on these two!

I noticed that Jim took the time to draw little sketches on some guest’s items. On one guests tray he drew Goofy! so on some down time I asked him to draw me something!

I asked him to draw anything he wanted and he chose Tigger! I love it – he is so talented and funny! Thank you for being so great Jim!

After the signing came to an end, Radio Disney who was on hand for the event gave away, one full tray of Vinylmation Villains 2 as well as the LE Jafar & Genie. The lucky winner was a young boy and his brother who were SO excited about the set!

The artists were so excited they even got down on the floor with the winner and helped him open up his blind boxes! How cool is that!

After everyone starting clearing out when the event was over the artists all gathered on the stage to take a photo!

(Okay so I’m obviously not a Vinylmation artist BUT who knows maybe I could point them in the right direction of a Princess set? Just a thought!)

You guys can obviously see that today was a lot of fun and I’m so glad that we had such a great turn out! Fans were excited, the artists were happy and the set turned out AMAZING! Looks even better in person I promise! I can’t wait to go pick some up on Monday October 24th when they are released at the Disney Store!

Don’t forget if you guys couldn’t make it to the event, the Villains 2 series as well as the 9 inch combo will be online starting Monday October 24th!

-Zoe