Alice in Wonderland Photoshoot

When the Alice in Wonderland series was released, I knew there was only one place to take pictures of them at the park... The Mad Tea Party Tea Cups at The Magic Kingdom. Austin helped me out with this shoot and I couldn't have done it without his long reach and willingness to go off the beaten path to set up a Vinylmation or two. And remember, I have uploaded some extra photos to our Facebook page.

Vinylmation Speculation with Mike Boon: Muppets 4.8 Pops

	POPS The Muppet Show (1980) Originally performed by: Jerry Nelson Pops was first introduced in the fifth season of The Muppet Show as the near-sighted and forgetful stage doorman for the Muppet Theater. His most famous role was as the owner of The Happiness Hotel in The Great Muppet Caper. "Love the details, especially the suspenders and the mustache!"-MC
Mike Boon joins us every day this month with speculation of a future Muppet Series vinylmation. For past posts click here. You can also check Mike out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

Vinylmation Wallpaper from Artist Tyler Carantit

Tyler Carantit is an artist out of Colorado that has created some great looking Vinylmation themed wallpaper that he would like to share with you. You will find the link below, along with info on how you can be involved. Feel free to download, use and share these creations to spruce up your desktop. But first, we'd like to get to know this artist a little better.

Glow

Destination Vinylmation: Tyler, what do you do for a living?
Tyler: I am a Graphic Designer. My business partner and I started Tyler Dominic Creative (www.tylerdominiccreative.com) over 5 years ago and do any form of advertising for our clients, web and print.

DV: What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
Tyler: Owning your own business, I do enjoy the flexibility of work hours.... it gives me the chance to go to the local Disney stores and be there for Vinyl releases! I am usually the only one in line since Vinylmation collecting is a bit slow to catch on around here. Work-wise, I enjoy working on conferences. We do everything from creating notepads to large scale graphics. To see your work sometimes at 15' tall by 50' wide can be impressive!

DV: What drew you to Vinylmation as the subject for some wallpaper?
Tyler: I started downloading the Vinylmation wallpapers from the official Disney Vinylmation website. I liked how they used graphic elements along with the Vinyls themselves. Then they stopped creating them, so I figured I would try making a few myself! I try to make my desktop images not too busy, because if the user is like me, I have a few folders on the desktop and they can sometimes get lost if the wallpaper is too busy.

Snow

DV: Do you collect Disney Vinylmation?
Tyler: I do collect Vinylmation! First time I saw one was at the Disney store at the Orlando airport in February 2009. It was the 9" E Ticket from Park #1. The cast member told me they were the new thing and they had 3" ones but they sold out really quick. I checked them out on eBay a few weeks later and bought my first one (Yeti from Park #1) March of 2009. I only collect 3" and have 130 right now.

DV: What are some of your favorite figures?
Tyler: Favorite figures that I own would be the Hawaii Exclusive. The finish of the vinyl and the detail make it really feel like a wood carved tiki. I also like Runaway Brain from Villains 2. Great use of the full body with the tongue down to his feet and it is Mickey, just a twisted version of him! Figures that I don't have but I really like is the Alaska Disney cruise... kind of has the same wood carved feeling of Hawaii Exclusive and I like the 2010 Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

DV: As a creative person, have you ever thought about creating custom Vinylmation?
Tyler: Actually I have not have had the urge to do any customs... yet. I do have a few CYO, but they are being displayed as-is right now!

DV: Where can people go to view and download your wallpaper?
Tyler: People can go to http://gallery.me.com/carantit#100401. Right now I have the wallpapers at 2560 pixels x 1440 pixels. I may may a few different options for other screen sizes in the future. I started with Wallpapers, but I can easily manipulate them to work for phone screens and other uses.

Flowers

DV: You said you are going to keep adding to the gallery and also take suggestions from our readers and listeners for future designs. How can people contact you?
Tyler: I will be adding more content for sure. I am limited to my personal collection and what I can find for images online, so please understand the limitations when giving suggestions. People can contact me at tcarantit@yahoo.com

Disney North: The Mystery of Mindstyle’s Mini Stitch Figures

As a collector of all Disneyana, I’m always on the look out for new items. I’m obviously a big Vinylmation fan (or I wouldn’t be writing for this site), so when I stumbled across the Mindstyle Mini Stitch figures, I was immediately intrigued.

Some history… Mindstyle is a pop culture toy company that makes a range of products from Disney to Looney Tunes. You may have seen some of the larger Stitch figures appear at San Diego Comic Con and the D23 Expo. Like 9” Vinylmations, they are limited edition designs based on the Stitch figure, called Experiment 626.

TRON Stitch

Urban like design

The company ran a blog talking about their new designs and I quickly added them to my Google Reader feed. Soon after I added them, they announced Stitch Mini Figures.

As per the company’s first post from May 2010:

The all-new Stitch mini figures are sized at 3″ tall featuring Disney’s standard and vault characters. The Stitch vinyl trading figures (VTF) come in a blind box and in a display tray of 16 blind boxes. In each display tray there is one complete set with doubles of the most popular characters, two variant figures and the chance of a randomly inserted “super-secret chase figure.”

I was instantly hooked. I thought that the figures would perfectly compliment my Mickey Vinylmations.

Skip ahead to December of 2010 and they company announces that series one would be available in quarter 2 of 2011.

Within a week of announcing when series 1 would be available, the company announced a series 2 coming out in quarter 3 of 2011!

Even before series 1 was released, I was instantly hooked. I patiently waited for more information. And then…. NOTHING! The last time the company posted anything on their blog was January 9th of this year (which I’ll talk about in another post). I’ve attempted to contact the company via email, but have not heard anything. Mindstyle also has a Facebook page, but it has also been quiet.

So, what has come of the Stitch Mini figure set? What has come of Mindstyle? The website still exists, but where are these awesome figures?

If you know of anything, PLEASE let me know. I would love to add them to my collection.

Vinylmation Speculation with Mike Boon: Muppets 4.7 Dr. Bob

	DR. BOB (ROWLF) The Muppet Show (1976) Originally performed by: Jim Henson Rowlf the Dog played Dr. Bob in the “Veterinarian’s Hospital” sketches from The Muppet Show alongside Nurse Janice and Nurse Piggy. A master at horrible puns and vaudeville-style jokes, Dr. Bob was often described as “a quack who has gone to the dogs.” "I loved this sketch and was disappointed when I didn't see it in the movie. Great looking figure, and there could always be a set with the two nurses. Or maybe even a LE set with the nurses, Bob, and a patient."-MC
Mike Boon joins us every day this month with speculation of a future Muppet Series vinylmation. For past posts click here. You can also check Mike out at his own blog: baboondesign.blogspot.com

Holiday 3 Vinylmation Explained

Artist: Various
Release Date: December 9th 2011
Price: $9.95

Update: A reader Don sent us an email confirming the Dragon as the chaser from a seller on eBay who has already been able to open a fresh case.

Update: 11/29/11 Pictures of 11 of the 12 figures and 2 variants from this set have shown up on Disney's Vinylmation website. This revealed one figure we have not yet seen:

The Chinese New Years Dragon. This figure is absolutely amazing looking. The colors and detail make this instantly one of my favorite Holiday vinyls. The only figure from the 12 piece set not pictured on Vinylmation's website, but already revealed as a Holiday 3 design was Puppy Love (see picture below). As I said, two variants have been revealed:

An inverse colored Christmas Ornament. This one makes a ton of sense and is a perfect color change variant. The second one doesn't make as much sense to me.

Instead of a green clear, this Jelly Bean variant uses red. The green made so much sense to me as it represents the fake green grass inside the Easter basket. It's a nice variant, just does fit logically for me. We also updated some of the pictures blow with the first look at the non-pin version or artwork version of Pot O' Gold and some interesting figure backs that stood out to us. Also standing out, is the side of Fireworks with the fuse.

Update: 11/21/11 Date for release: December 9th 2011.

Update: 8/28/11 New pics added as most of set was revealed at the Sci-Fi event and D23 Expo. And we have a release date... this is the first announced 2012 release. We will see Holiday 3 in January 2012.

Last year we got the first glimpse of the Holiday 3 set. This page will keep track of the list of vinyls as we get them. Keep checking back for more.

	Christmas Ornament We now have plenty of Vinylmation to make your spirits bright around the holidays! This is a nice red and green design you would find on a glass Christmas Ornament. Would have liked to see a hook accessory, but that may be saved for Jingle Smells. Variant
	Founding Father Hail to the Chief. Looks like a President's Day figure. Powdered wig, a colonial uniform and the Presidential Seal in the ear.
	Jelly Beans Multi-colored jelly beans falling against what could be fake plastic green grass that you would find in an Easter Basket. With all these sweet Holiday Vinylmation year after year, Disney will have to make a tooth fairy vinyl because my teeth are falling out. Variant
	Fireworks Boom! And explosive design to celebrate the 4th of July. I like this design a lot. The pointed head will be great. The warning label in the ear is a perfect touch. Love the back!
	Day of the Dead A colorful tribute to the Mexican Holiday. We have the Trade City Day of the Dead, but this one has great detail. It has a skull in the head. The maracas in the head and ears make this an exciting design. A beautifully designed vinyl
	Cranberry Sauce Vinylmation Farms apparently grows cranberries in addition to raising cows for milk and squeezing OJ. The silver on the arms and feet represent the can and label lets us know there is a yummy Thanksgiving Day side dish inside. It appears to already be coming out of the can as represented in the head. Nutrition info NEVER gets old
	Pot o' Gold This was revealed on St. Patrick's Day 2011. The body is a green pot with a four leaf clover. It is filled with gold with rays of golden shine filling the head of the figure.
	Shot Thru the Heart Puppy Love Revealed on February 16th 2011. It seems like a bear or is a dog who's been hit with an arrow from Cupid. Poor guy, he doesn't know what he's in for. With all those hearts, it seems like a prime place to hide a Mickey. Now that Disney released the official name, Puppy Love, the dog makes much more sense.
	Dreidel Hanukkah This was shown back in November of 2010. The body is a dreidel, with the front showing the Shin side (which means you add one to the pot, the worst possible outcome to a spin). Shown on the head and the right ear are gold Hanukkah gelt, which is sometimes used while playing with a dreidel. These days the gelt are gold foil covered pieces of chocolate. Also of note is that one of the gelt has a picture of a menorah, the candelabrum used during Hanukkah.
	Witch This was a popular figure. A cool hat accessory comes with this green witch. She has a lot of ugly detail in her face. And her ears are painted a Halloween purple. Unfortunately, nothing special on the back.
	April Fools Jester Disney has often given us some great April Fools Day pins, so it's a bout time we get a Vinylmation to celebrate this jokesters holiday. He has a simple, fun look to him. I like the eyes and tongue sticking out.

Get Vinylmation for buying your underwear!

The guys over at vinylmationkingdom.com were pointed towards ComfortRewards.com (which is run by Hanes) to check out the latest rewards for buying underwear. Apparently, if you like Hanes and Vinylmation, you're in luck! Just buy lots of underwear, earn points, and then get free blind boxes of Muppets 2, Urban 7, Have a Laugh, Park 6, Cutesters Too, and Urban 5.

We don't know how many pairs of undershirts you need to buy, and we have all of these sets, but it still sounds like a neat reward. Much better then just getting more free undies!

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?

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Annemarie Brown

You know Annemarie Brown from her various speculation articles on our website including Park Starz and Furry Friends, but did you know she is an exceptional custom Vinylmation artist? We recently talked with Annemarie about a couple of her creations.

Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?

Annemarie: I began fairly recently, I made Roger Rabbit this summer and he was my first.

DV: In that short time, how many have you done?

AM: I've done about six, and I'm currently working on a new set.

DV: Why did you pick Roger Rabbit as your first custom?

AM: Roger Rabbit has been my favorite Disney character since I was a kid, I have an entire room in my house devoted to him. It's actually rather impressive, if I do say so myself. :-) So as soon as I picked up my first CYO Vinylmation I knew it would be Roger, there was never a doubt.

DV: How long did Roger take to create?

AM: Roger didn't take me very long, maybe a couple hours. Once I got his design on the mold the painting went rather quickly.

DV: What was the most difficult part about making this character?

AM: Since it was my first one, I was kind of flying blind. Everything was a bit of an experiment. His hair and cotton tail were extra pieces I had to form and stick on, and I just used glue, which has been working fine so far. I considered sculpting the ears but I wanted to utilize the area of the vinyl as much as I could.

DV: Your Peter and the Wolf has an extraordinary amount of characters and detail packed into it, yet it doesn't looked overcrowded. How much planing went into creating this custom?

AM: I'm extremely proud of Peter and the Wolf, he's definitely been a labor of love. At first I considered doing a 3" figure, but I quickly realized it was going to be impossible to include all the characters since I was hand-painting it, so I switched to a 9" to get all the detail. First I plan everything out two-dimensionally so I can be sure everything will fit where I want it to. I knew I'd put Sasha the Bird in the ear, since he was the only flying character. Ivan the Cat and Sonia the Duck had a playful relationship in the film, so I wanted to be sure to incorporate that into their design and expressions.

With the Wolf, I considered just doing a 3" figure to go along with Peter, but I realized the Wolf needed to be larger, and he wouldn't have looked as menacing in the squat Vinylmation form, so I decided to paint him in full glory, sneaking up on Peter from behind.

DV: What is the most rewarding part about creating custom Vinylmation?

AM: For me, it's being able to create characters and moments that may not ever be created. I knew the odds of getting a Peter and the Wolf Vinylmation figure were slim, and I wanted one, so I made it for myself!


Annemarie wanted to share this Youtube video featuring a turnaround of her Peter and the Wolf

DV: Do you have any tips to pass onto other custom artists?

AM: Everyone has their own method, but I would recommend designing/drawing everything out beforehand, it will save you time in the long run. But more importantly, create what you like, since you're going to be looking at it for awhile while you're making it. You don't want to be stuck in the middle of making something you don't care about.

DV: Thank you for all your work and for sharing these custom with our readers.

AM: Thank you for sharing it, and for all you guys do!

Annemarie is a contributor to Destination Vinylmation. You can follow her on Twitter @admiralakbrown and stay tuned for more spotlights on her work soon.