Flower and Garden Topiary Explained

Flower and Garden Topiary
Release Date: March 28
Where: Epcot Flower & Garden Festival merchandise kiosks and Online
Price: $24.95
Artist: Caley Hicks
Vinylmation's first Reveal/Conceal series. Each purchase will include a Sorcerer Mickey revealed figure attached to a blind box that contains one of four designs.

Rare Mammoth Unearthed

We thought it didn't exist. Disney did not promote them. No one had claimed to pull one. ...until now. About 6 month after Urban Redux 2 was released, a collector posted a photo of a one-of-a-kind Super Chaser on Vinylmation Exchange.

Eric Pham was the lucky collector and posted this message on Vinylmation Exchange.

Not sure what this one is? Got it from a bloxing purchase of Urban Redux 2 at DS.com. I could not find any info from anywhere. What do u guys think??

It is a hand drawn, one-of-a-kind figure based on the Mammoth figure in Urban Redux Series 2. The first series had 24 Super Chasers overall (4 hand drawn figures for each of 6 designs). This is the first we have documented from series 2.

Cutesters 6: Snow Day Explained

Cutesters 6: Snow Day
Release Date: January 17

This is a blind box set of 7 base figures and a Mystery Chaser. Caley Hicks designed a majority of the figures while Maria Clapsis designed two. This is the sixth set in the Cutesters series.

There will be a signing with Caley and Maria on January 17th at Orlando's D-Street from 5-7pm.

MYSTERY CHASER

VARIANT

(photo from Vinylmation World)

VARIANT

(photo from Vinylmation Exchange)

ZoMG: A Look at Cutesters Snow Day

With the holidays right around the corner it makes sense that we have received a preview of the upcoming Cutesters Snow Day Vinylmation series. I wish these would come out before the holidays, they would look so adorable next to my other Christmas decorations. This series is a must have for me.

First we have what at first glance I thought was a snowman, until I looked at the other side of the figure and saw a tail. This brings me to believe it is a Narwahl. A Narwahl is a medium sized whale that lives year round in the Arctic. Which makes perfect sense for the Snow Day series. The Narwahl is simply adorable.

Then we have the seal with ear muffs. I love the addition of ear muffs to this figure, the baby seal obviously needs them to stay warm on a snow day!

The next figure I think is one of my favorites. The cloud with snowflakes falling down. Here in Southern California we don't any snow but I will say, if we did I hope it would have an adorable smile and look as perfect as this figure.

Then we have the owl wrapped in a warm scarf, who looks warm and ready to play with his other snow day friends.

Caley Hicks did a great job with the deer and fox figures. They have such cute faces and I love that the deer is getting festive with a holiday sweater and that the fox has paw print gloves.

Next we have the polar bear in a festive sweater and ice skates. I love the ice skate addition to this figure. I love the Mickey and Minnie set released last month that had the ice skates as well. I think it is a really fun addition to these winter themed sets.

Last but not least we have the chaser. I love that Maria Clapsis decided to use the Minnie Mouse platform for this figure. Not only is the Christmas tree smiling and adorable but she has a bow on the top of her head. Now I know that the figure has a clear bow but I still love that she decided to put the tree on this platform. It really adds character. The Minnie shoes serve as the tree trunk and she has adorable gloves on to keep her warm while she goes to play with her other Snow Day friends.

I think this is a great addition to the Cutesters series. I loved all the beach/summer themed series and it's great to see another season. I can't wait to head over to D-Street on January 17th to get these and add them to next year's holiday decor.

Happy Holidays everyone!!

-Zoe

RoE: Cutesters Snow Day

Cutesters Snow Day
Caley Hicks
Expected Release Date: 01/17/14
Expected Price: $12.95

The next installment of Cutesters will be called Snow Day and was designed by Caley Hicks. It is an 8 figure set featuring animals in a snowy theme. We know of: Cat, Reindeer, Seal, Penguin, Bear, Dolphin.

Halloween 2013 Figures Revealed

Caley Hicks had the honors of designing up some Halloween treats for us this year. I'd say, she succeeded in tempting my Vinylmation sweet tooth. There will be two to choose from this year. Both are Limited Release that will go up for sale on September 20 in the parks and online for $14.95 a piece. First up is Vampire Stitch.

The artists have really learned how to make Stitch work on the Mickey canvas over the years. This looks spectacular. Stitch has the most evil, up to no good grin on his face that covers the whole head. There are also two fangs sticking out. Then, he uses the much needed cape DDG developed that they use well throughout the product line. Up next is one of my automatic all time favorites...

The Mayor Scarecrow that sits in Town Square each and every Halloween season. I can't tell you how much I love walking around the Magic Kingdom when it decorated for Fall, and these scarecrows are a huge part of that. I have always wanted to see these in a box set or put into the Park series, but this is a great way to get at least one of them out. Great looking suit and sash. The grass drawn in around him is the perfect touch!

Is D23 Expo Vinylmation Selection Better than Reflections of Evil Event?

The 2013 D23 Expo takes place in Anaheim this August 9-11 and just like two years ago, there is plenty of special merchandise to pick up to commemorate the event. Yesterday, the RSP Merchandise and Dream Store Advanced Orders form was made available to Sorcerer level ticket holders. All the Vinylmation seen below will be available to any guest of the Expo inside the the Dream Store, but Sorcerer level ticket holders do get first crack at ordering a few of the products.

Of course, Vinylmation is among the merchandise offered at the Dream Store this year, and not only is it a more impressive offering than 2011, but it is more impressive than what should be Vinylmation's (and Pin's) marquee trading and merchandise event of the year... Reflections of Evil. There are 8 different product choices here! Five of them are two packs and one is actually three different vinyls. And each one is incredible interesting.

The most impressive part of this offering is the continuation of sets that we already have or soon will have. But the most intriguing part, is the one that still remains a mystery.

Designed by Thomas Scott, this still mystery Vinylmation refers to the upcoming web series titled "Blank, A Vinylmation Love Story" that we still know very little about. This is a really telling product as it shows the synergy in the brand. I think the web series can be successful if the various division within Disney collaborate on the effort. Now, successful is a relative term. Successful to Disney means a marketing effort to sell product that is disguised as entertainment. Successful to viewers means an entertaining viewing opportunity. Successful to collectors means that it doesn't go too hard core commercial and we loose the still niche side of the hobby.

Also to be released at the Expo:

Here we get the opportunity to add three more dual 3" combos to our collections to extend three sets that should all be available by Expo time in August. This gave Ron Cohee and Thomas Scott to drop in a few more Monsters University and Silly Symphonies characters that just didn't make the cut of the original 12. In the case of Beauty and Beast, Caley Hicks was able to give us variants. I love the idea of not just tossing in a bunch of random designs that try to be too special for the event.

Then we do get a few original designs that are stand alone for the Expo:

D23 is about a true Disney fan experience. It is about looking to the future, hence Blank and Monsters U, but it is also about appreciating the past. These offerings take a look back to classic Disney. The Donald Duck combo as Angel and Devil is masterful. I'm a little bias as a Donald Duck fan. This combo refers to the 1938 film "Donald's Better Self" and Thomas Scott did a wonderful job.

The black and white Minnie Mouse takes us back to old school Minnie just the way Eric Caszatt did with one of the most beautiful sets ever created... the Classic Collection. And Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox is from the 1958 Disney animated short.

You know my feelings that Ron Cohee is the best character artist in Vinylmation today, and I can not wait to see this combo in person.

The final Vinylmation to be offered is the 2013 D23 Expo Logo figure.

I am a HUGE fan of this one of three colors in blind box idea! It allows hard core collectors to have something extra to search out for and trade and collect over the course of the Expo. It also allows collectors like myself, that only need one, to just buy one, but happy and even trade it for a different color if you need mine. It's also well done and simple and should look great on the Mickey canvas. And further more, it is not three different designs... just a color swap. So back to my other point, I'm happy with whichever one I pull.

Great job Disney Design Group!!!

Artist signs are totally En Vogue

Artists Caley Hicks and Thomas Scott will be at D-Street in WDW on March 29th from 5 PM to 7 PM to sign the newly released Cutesters 5: En Vogue series, the first using the new Minnie platform. Like we do with all signing, we suggest that you say hi and thank them for all their hard work, even if you don't have anything for them to sign.

Which Cutesters 5 figures will you get signed?

Cutesters 5 En Vogue First Look

Disney showed off some of the new Cutesters 5 set today. We knew about the black dress one, but look at all the other options. Some weddings, some different colored dresses. This just brings up lots of questions. We know Caley Hicks was heavily involved with these from Mickey's Circus. It also looks like Thomas Scott is a major contributor. We will also see work from Martha Widener, who is new to Vinylmation. After consideration, I remembered that at Mickey's Circus they said this would be an eight figure set. I think these three sets below are variants, leaving 8 basic designs. This means one of the below is the chaser. We believe it is the flowers.

Caley Hicks designed this purse with a cute dog inside. The Light pink appears to be the regular version with a clear pink variant.

New to vinyl artist Martha Widener did these flower designs. This seems to be the chaser with a variant.

Then out of these two Thomas Scott figures, the yellow seems to be the regular with a blue variant.

This series will be released at both D-Streets and Online on March 29th. Each figure will be blind boxed in a tray of 16 and will sell for $12.95 each.

So far I only see I only see one really good use of the bow as not a bow (Audrey). - M.C.

I love the art style on these. They are not at all what I expected after seeing the concept art at Mickey's Circus, but I can still appreciate the designs. It is a very old school, fashionable art style that will sure ring a bell with a certain demographic (Zoe). The animals look to be right out of a mid 1900's Disney cartoon. Its a great use of the Cutesters line and a nice variation on the more cutesy cartoon stylize of the first few series. I think the bow is used perfectly. It only seems forced on the flowers. -Nick

It will be interesting to see where these designs go. Do we not get a "chaser" with this set? What do you think?