Spotlight On: Amber Gonzalez' Ladies of Disney

Amber Gonzalez is back, this time with some her Ladies of Disney set, including a few Minnie platform customs. We asked her what inspired this line.

"The new Minnie mold is what inspired me to make the Ladies of Disney set. It's perfect for dresses and Dainty shoes :) it brings out the perfect girlie touch . Picked 8 of my favorite girls to bring to life. My next project will be a set of Lady Villains :)"

You can find Amber's work at her new facebook page at facebook.com/vongeekcustoms

These figures are $48 shipped each. These are a 1:1 limited edition.

 

Funko Disney Pop! Vinyl Series 5

Over at funkofunatic.com's forums we noticed a poster named Capt Hook who had the above picture on several of his posts. It looks like this is the full set of Series 5 (including a 3rd Monsters University figure). They also think these will be out by May 28th.

Which piece do you like the most? Brave looks great. And you can't look at these without talking about the Rocketeer! What do you think?

New Japanese Set? eBay rumor

Rust pointed us to this auction on eBay. According to that auction this is a new Japan Disney Store series celebrating 110 years of Disney. No confirmation so far, but it's an interesting set. Lots of hearts and magic. Lots of figures we've scene before, almost like a combination of sets. The Cheshire looks similar to ones we've seen before. The three little pigs are all on one vinyl, like they will be for the Nursery Rhymes set.

What are your thoughts?

Spotlight On: Custom Pumpkin Artist Gyophry

It's January, so the thought on all our minds is of course... pumpkins! Last fall we featured artist Gyophry's custom pumpkins. He masterfully carves works of art into these pumpkins and being a huge Disney fan, many of his designs lean that way. This year he is embarking on a series of pumpkins that will pay tribute to the Disney theme parks.

I am attempting what could be my most ambitious series yet, and the 1st of this is the Epcot 30th anniversary.
This is special to me due to Epcot being the 1st Disney park i had the pleasure to visit way back in 1982. I wanted to do something that would also bring back memories for a lot of us fans.

I began by finding a pattern series and then outlining the design in a pencil, it is difficult to see most detail when taking the paper pattern and laying it on a round 3d surface. I then painstakingly use a pin tool to pierce the pattern to the pumpkin, this allows me to remove the paper to see the design better, this process took me approximately 4 hours to complete.

Then the fun part, its time to cut and carve. This is the most exciting and nerve racking point in the process. Any mistake and its all over, as you can see the amount of time taken on the prep allows for the fine line detail. Slowly but surely the final design starts to show up.

The carving all in all took  approximately 6 hours to complete, and other than some issues with the paint of the actual Funkin (brand of pumpkin), I feel like this was a great start to this series.

If you are wondering what the rest of the series will be....well all i can say is its like Park Starz in the way it honors the classic rides and attractions we all love and cherish. I look forward to keeping you and the rest of my Vinylmation fans in the Halloween spirit all year round.

Theme Park Connection Grand Opening

by Nick LoCicero

(article from OrlandoSkyRadio.com)

And on December 3rd 2011, Disney geeks from all over Central Florida descended upon Winter Garden. Theme Park Connection officially opened it's doors to the public today. For over 15 years, they have been a popular online Buyer, Seller and Trader of Disney items. Now, for the first time, you can visit their warehouse to purchase items from used theme park and resort items to attraction signs to posters to advertisements to toys to pins and other merchandise. You can check them out at ThemeParkConnection.com and view their extensive eBay auction, but why do that when you can just visit? I spent a few hours at the Grand Opening today sifting through items I have no room for, drooling over items I can't quite afford and picking up a few things at a great price. I covered every inch of the warehouse... check out the pictures below.

The store is located off a few side streets near the intersection of SR 50 and the 429. Easy to get to for locals, maybe a little off the beaten path for tourists. Here's a map.

My favorite things in the building! Now most stuff had great low prices, but these were $1000 a piece. Good news, Theme Park Connection does make deals and will look at your Disney stuff for trades!

(for all 70+ pictures and more details, see the full article at OrlandoSkyRadio.com)

More Vinyl Collectible Mickeys

At the New York ComicCon recently, a new line Vinyl Mickey's were shown off.

These are licensed by Disney and produced by a company called Play Imaginative and were debuted at the Singapore Toys, Games and Comics Convention in August 2011. There are 5 different styles to choose from. These new vinyl Mickey's stand 6.5" tall, are individually packaged in open window boxes and include a "design your own" figure.

No word on price or where to purchase these vinyl figures yet. Now, Vinylmation has been my gateway to a ton of other Disney toy collectibles that I had never seen before, but I think I'll personally leave these alone for now. I do like the look and a couple of the styles, but would have to see a price point before possibly adding one. Let us know your thoughts on this new collectible  The first figure is called Vintage Mickey.

Vintage Mickey front

Vintage Mickey back

Next up is my favorite, Pinocchio Mickey.

Pinocchio Mickey front

Pinocchio Mickey back

The third one is called Porcelain Mickey.

Porcelain Mickey front

Porcelain Mickey back

And the fourth style is Robot Mickey.

Robot Mickey front

Robot Mickey back (with a driver in there!)

Journey into Awesomeness!

The much anticipated Dreamfinder 9" Figment 3" combo Vinylmation was released today at D-Street Orlando and California! This is a perfect use of the 9", 3" combo and the detailed depiction of these two Disney fan favorites in spot on.

Dreamfinder and Figment were the stars of the former Journey into Imagination ride at EPCOT. The ride opened in 1983 and the pair happily entertained audiences for 15 years. In 1998, the ride was refurbished and Dreamfinder was taken out and Figment's role was reduced. Guests were very upset. One of the only places in Disney to get your Dreamfinder fix these days is in Mouse Gears. One of Dreamfinder's flying machines now decorates the EPCOT Mouse Gears store.

And this detail in Dreamfinder's right ear wonderfully depicts his blimp.

As another imagineer tribute to Dreamfinder, the name Dean Finder, appears on one of the lab doors in the current Journey ride queue. In 2002, Disney once again refurbed Journey and added more Figment for guests to enjoy. Now Vinylmation and Disney fans can enjoy this pair back together again with this Maria Clapsis designed Vinylmation limited to just 1,200 pieces. It retails for $74.95. And here are some of the first up close shots of the new 3" Figment Vinylmation that accompanies Dreamfinder:

Also released today is the 9" Retro Magic Kingdom for $44.95 at D-Street California and Orlando.

Let the Adventure begin!

This Friday, December 17th D-Street in California will release 2 of the 5 Disneyland exclusive Disneyland '55 Attraction Poster 9" Vinylmations ($44.95). Yesterday I told you about Tommowland, today we travel to Adventureland.

Walt Disney loved nature and adventure. This is evident in his award winning True-Life Adventure documentaries. Adventureland was meant to be based on these films and feature real life animals in the Jungle Cruise attraction. Since that was not feasible, Walt had his imagineers create the automatronic animals we all enjoy today. This Vinylmation features the attraction poster from the famous Jungle Cruise ride.

Interesting to note is the placement of the world "Adventureland". In the original poster, "Adventureland" is under the depticted elephant and boat in the brown space at the bottom of the poster.

What was designer Alex Maher's reasoning for this? To fill up the empty yellow space on the back? Or was it difficult to write the word across the Vinylmation feet? Also, how about the missing hippo? I would have liked to see the hippo on the finished Vinylmation. There appears to be room to wrap him from the right side to the front, or even on the back... there is some empty green space there as well. Those are 2 questions I will ask him if I get the chance... or if there is an artist signing out at D-Street in California, maybe you can ask for us? A nice Vinylmation gift may be in it for you!

Do You Know the Dormouse?

This Friday December 17th fans will be able to purchase The Mad Hatter Vinylmation 9" online at the DisneyStore.com.

We all know the Mad Hatter, but this post will focus on the less talked about 3" that accompanies Hatter, the Dormouse from Alice in Wonderland.

Did you know, the Dormouse in Disney's 1951 animated classic Alice in Wonderland shared his voice with a far more famous Mouse? Jimmy MacDonald, the voice of Mickey Mouse from 1947 to 1977, also voiced the Dormouse. Jimmy MacDonald was passed the job of voicing Mickey Mouse from none other than Walt Disney himself. MacDonald was also a legendary Disney sound effects artist. The Dormouse that was depicted in Alice in Wonderland also made appearance in a few other Disney animated productions including the Bonkers Afternoon Cartoon and Mickey's Magical Christmas.

Be sure to log on early to DisneyStore.com this Friday to get your hands on this limited edition of 1,200 Vinylmation set. It will retail for $74.95 and was designed by Maria Clapsis.

First Pictures of Disneyland A-E Ticket Booklet Set!

A BIG "thank you" to one of our listeners and twitter friend: TheRealWeinbeez, for these great pictures. You made us first on the web with the following:

Here is a first look at the backs of the Vinylmation:

And the Fronts:

Here is the inside of the box:

And the front:

Here is an up close look at the pin that comes with the set:

And here is the Display at D-Street in California:

All photos by TheRealWeinbeez