Nerds Rock! Explained

Nerds Rock!
Release Date: February 25th, 2011
Artist: Doug Strayer
Open Edition, Open Window series featuring the Nerds Rock! artwork that is also used on other merchandise.

Update 5/26/14 Disney will be re-releasing Nerds Rock! Mickey, Minnie and Stitch on March 21, 2014. They will be on the new Mickey (and Minnie) platform and have undergone some design alterations. They will be $12.95.

Update 6/10/12 Available NOW online through the Vinylmation Facebook page store. Then will still be available at D-Streets starting June 22.

Update 5/29/12 Release date of June 22 and price of $12.95 confirmed for Stitch and Figment.

Yesterday Disney released pictures of the two next nerds in the Nerds Rock! series: Stitch and Figment. We first heard about these extras last year and now it looks like they are getting ready to stumble into our lives. No word yet on an actual release date.

	Nerd Figment Check out the wicked beanie on top. I wonder if the propeller will spin? It does not on the Donald Nerd. His shirt seems to say, "Let your ideas take flight." It is the logo from the Imagination Institute. Amazing! A must have!
	Nerd Stitch The poor guy doesn't look happy to be a nerd, but he sure is adorable. Even the glass cockeyed seem to add to the character. As many have said before, his shirt makes him look like a cast member of The Big Bang Theory. (Which just last episode had Shamy making their own podcast.) Also, a must buy!

Update: 2/13/11 The Disney Store Online will be releasing this series on February 25th, 2011.


Update: 2/7/11 We now have real pictures of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy vinylamtions. We also snapped a picture of what seems to be the Nerds Rock poster in one of the vinylmation videos on the events page. It confirms the set as an 8 piece set. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy, Chip, and Dale.
We also learned that Nerds Rock! will be released online at the Disney Store on February 25th.

2/6/11- With the announcement that the Nerds Rock! series will be released on February 18th at both D-Streets, we thought we'd go over everything we actually know about the series. It seems that so far in 2011 Disney has been very hush hush about release dates and actual content. Gone are the days of knowing every figure (and sometimes the chaser) in a set months before the release date is even mentioned. But here is what we have at the moment.

Nerds Rock! will be a series of Open cases. That mostly likely means they will be more than $9.95 each.

Each figure seems to be a representation of a "nerdy" version of the normal Disney characters.

In a video about Nightmare Before Christmas Vinylmations on the Disney Vinylmation Events Page, there is a quick shot of the Nerds Rock! collection. 8 vinyls are shown. That might mean this set only has 8 figures.

Here are the characters we've seen or know of at this point.

	Chip We saw the 3" figure at Trade City and then later at Festival of the Masters. Notice the tape on his glasses.
	Dale We saw the 3" figure at Trade City and then later at Festival of the Masters. He's got buck teeth and a pocket protector.
	Donald We first saw this figure at the Festival of the Masters. I love his t-shirt. Reminds me of Big Bang Theory.
	A clip of a video from the Vinylmation Events Page. This confirms several more 3" figures. We've pulled pins to show you what the characters look like, although I'm sure the vinyls final design will be different from these pins.
	Minnie In the video she has a bow, but here she doesn't. What happened to it??. I'm not sure if that's a skirt like in the pins or if it's her pants pulled way up high.
	Pluto Tongue hanging down, it's Pluto. No pants however.
	Goofy The vinyl shows his braces. Also, a fancy hat accessory.
	Mickey Looks like the Vinylmation version will have red shorts and blue glasses (Instead of the gray pants he wears in other versions of Nerds Rock1). They keep the pencil in his ear, and it seems to be an accessory!
	Daisy The last of the 8 confirmed by the video (the screen shot we have doesn't show it, but she's on the row to the right of Donald)
	Stitch? Confirmed in the Nerds Rock! line overall, and also the pin sets, but not seen in the video. Will he be part of the vinylmation set, or will there only be the 8 we saw in the video? Update: 2/7/11 From a screen capture of the poster it doesn't look like there is room for another figure, and Stitch is not part of the group. But I'm not giving up hope, maybe as a secret character, or a Jr., or as a cast trade only vinyl!

Flags Explained

Flags
Release Date: January 21, 2011
Open edition, Open window series

Update: 02/26/14 The American Flag open window figure will be re-released on March 21, 2014. It will be on the new Mickey platform and will feature a slight re-design.

Puerto Rico flag added to the lineup.

The Flag Vinylmation finally have a release date. They will be released in open boxes so you can choose which country you want (like the Sports and Nightmare Before Christmas).

At the D-Street in Florida they will be released on January 21st.

At the D-Street in California they will be released on January 28th.

The 12 vinylmation will be representations of the 11 countries in EPCOT's World Showcase along with Brazil. Brazil always has a lot of people visiting the parks, so it made sense to represent them.

Here are the rundown of the countries and a look at the Disney photos of them. (We'll start at the entrance of the World Showcase and move clockwise around the lake.

	Mexico Home to the Gran Fiesta Boat Tour which stars Donald, Panchito, and Jose Carioca.
	Norway Filled with gnomes, this country is also the location of the Maelstrom viking boat ride.
	China This country holds the Reflections of China film.
	Germany Celebrate Oktoberfest year round with authentic German cuisine.
	Italy Fine Italian dining at Tutto Italia Ristorante.
	United States of America Watch the American Adventure while enjoying funnel cakes.
	Japan Nick enjoys picking up imported Japanese candies in this land.
	Morocco Get your picture taken with Princess Jasmine and Aladdin in the Morocco Pavilion in the World Showcase.
	France Enjoy the Impressions de France film which celebrates the beautiful French countryside.
	United Kingdom If the phone in the red box is ringing, pick it up. It might be the guys from Destination Disney Radio Show. You could become famous!
	Canada And don't forget the O Canada! 360 degree film hosted by Martin Short. Also check out the Mounties.
	Brazil Just look around. There's always a tour group from Brazil somewhere in the park. (They're the ones wearing matching shirts!)

Info and some photos from the Disney Blog and Disney Vault

Theme Park Favorites Explained

Theme Park Favorites
Artist: Unknown
Release Date: January 20, 2012 (March 21, 2014 re-release)
Price: $12.95
Details: 10 figure set. Open Window Box.

Update: 02/26/14 Two years after the initial release, we are getting a re-release of some of these figures. Maybe they were the best selling? They will also undergo slight design changes. They will be released on March 21, 2014 and retain the $12.95 price tag.

The biggest change here is the positioning of the autographs. Not large moves, but noticeable. I do not spot any missing or added autographs.

The new figure will have smaller, but seemingly more defined princess silhouettes. The design overall looks cleaner to me. "happily ever after" will now be white as opposed to dark purple. The color of the ears, arms and feet look pink as opposed to dark pink.

Looks like slight changes in the spacing of each color band. And, it is hard to tell by photos alone, it seems there are slight changes to the intensity of the colors.

Update: 01/28/12 According to Vinylmation Kingdom, the Red Classic Fan in Ear Hat is a Disney Store exclusive and the Blue one is a Facebook promotion.


Update: 01/13/12 Disney has put a Friday, January 20th release date on this open window set. They have also confirmed the name "Theme Park Favorites". At the Florida Project, Disney Park Classics was a name used to label these.

From what we can tell, this series has several iconic designs that have been used in Disney Park merchandise. It ranges from the very specifically Disney to the generic.

	Peace Love & Mickey Peace signs, hearts and Mickey heads adorn this clear green figure.
	Character Logo Thanks Redtop for pointing out something interesting. Each piece is a different character. The body is Mickey, an ear is Goofy, the other ear is tigger, the feet are donald, the arms are Pluto and Pooh.
	Classic Fan Yellow Who's first visit to the parks didn't include a Mickey Ear hat? This clear figure also has a white Mickey tee.
	Classic Fan Red Same as above but with Red Clear. (possible Disney Store Exclusive)
	Classic Fan Blue Same as above but with Blue Clear. (Possible Facebook promotion figure)
	Happily Ever After This set has a figure for every group. This is a nice design for your little princess.
	Mickey Parts I like merchandise with the "Mickey Parts", but at least on concept art, this one doesn't appeal to me. This one is very different from the concept art:
	Yin Yang At peace with the world.
	Rainbow Flag A colorful, simple figure.
	Signatures In my opinion, the best in this set. I like this larger version of the Jr Autograph figure we got in Celebrations.