Sleeping Beauty Explained

Sleeping Beauty Explained
July 28, 2014
$12.95

8 figure blind box mystery set designed by Disney Store artist Gerald Mendez. Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney and based on Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm, and The Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault.

Updated 7/28/14 Chaser and Variant revealed

Blue Dress Variant photo by Vinylmation Exchange member Chris Seesselberg

Chaser photo by Vinylmation Exchange Member Chris Scanlan

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	Aurora Mary Costa I love the ears and the crown. The design here, as with most of this set, is clean and simple... a departure from normal Disney Store sets. It looks like classic animation.
	Prince Phillip Bill Shirley Beautiful colors and great ears once again. This Phillip seems a more pleasing design than the Animation series version.
	Flora, Fauna and Merryweather Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen and Barbara Luuddy A trio of juniors in a single blind box never gets old. Perfect use of this technique.
	Maleficent Dragon Nice design and it will be great to have a really good 3" version of the dragon. The wings and neck extension are spectacular.
	Maleficent Eleanor Audley This is the best 3" version of Maleficent. Quincy's Villain is great, but the face is crowded by the collar and the horns blend into the ears. RoE is just bad. And Masks doesn't have to stick to the platform. This version is so well proportioned.
	Goon Great! Love his facial expression. Perfect use of ears.
	Owl Dallas McKennon This is my favorite figure in this entire set. What a creative way to depict the owl on this platform that doesn't waste space on the canvas!
	Briar Rose

Episode 148 Kali River Rapids

Ep. 148 Kali River Rapids This week, the news is sponsored by Enrique Pita's Instagram. For the latest news on Vinylmation, visit Epitart on Instagram. We joke, but most news this week comes from the Disney Store artist. We also talk about the release of Cutesters Snow Day, the Variants that were pulled and the Tinker Bell Mini Medals.

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Aladdin Junior Series 10 Explained

Aladdin Junior Series 10 Explained

Release Date: January 10
Where: Disney Stores, Online, D-Streets
$9.95 per blind box
18 figure set

This Junior series based on the 1992 Disney animated feature film is the first Junior series designed by Disney Store artists.

Update: 02/04/14 Based on the officially released imaged by Disney and the leaked photo of the side of the case of Aladdin vinyls, it appears Disney has released images of the chasers early. They did not officially announce them as chaser, but if the box is not a misprint, than they certainly are. They do not seem to be variants of any other figure. The two figures assumed to be the chaser are the last two photos on this page (in case you do not want to see them) Also, Disney seemed to not release images of 4 of the common figures: Abu, Jasmine in red dress, Aladdin and Jafar as old man in prison.

image from Vinylmation Exchange Facebook page

Presumed Chaser

Presumed Chaser

Episode 145 America on Parade

Ep. 145 America on Parade This week we review the Park 13 Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror LE box sets. We preview the upcoming Indiana Jones series. We have news about Valentine's Day, Aladdin and Disney Store figures. And we have an interview with Disney Design Group artist Maria Clapsis.

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Episode 144 Zipper

Ep. 144 Zipper This week we review the releases of the past week including Animation 4, Disney Character Star Wars and the Dated 2014 figures. We also give our thoughts on the Eachez line of Vinylmation and have a full updated release calendar.

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Details on Disney Store CM "Thank You" Figure

We finally have insight as to what exactly the Disney Store "Thank You" Vinylmation is. According to Vinylmation Kingdom, a Disney Store Cast Member has confirmed that DS CMs around the globe are getting these 3" Cast Exclusives as thank yous for all the hard work they do. They were created by the Vinylmation specifically for CMs and the figure was mentioned in the "Cast Communication" newsletter. Here are some photos of the figure and the box. As with the Japan D23 vinyls, I LOVE the box art more than the Vinylmation. Do you spot all those characters in there!?

Episode 138 Side Mickey

Ep. 138 Side Mickey This week we talk about the release of Jingle Smells 3, the reveal of the Urban Redux 2 Chaser and some new Japan figures for the holidays. We also have a full release and events calendar.

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Jingle Smells 3 Features Character Nutcrackers

The 2013 installment of Vinylmation's best smelling series will have the theme of Disney Characters as Nutcrackers. Vinylmation World has posted a leaked photo of Jingle Smells 3 and it features a peppermint scented Goofy, a Mickey that smells like sugar cookie, Minnie with a strawberry scent and a chocolate scented Donald.

Like the previous sets, each Jingle Smells 3 figure has an ornament top with a ribbon for hanging. No word on if they are designed by Disney Store artists like series 1 or Disney Design Group artists like the second series. Vinylmation World reports that Disney Stores and Disneystore.com will release these four open window figures in the next few weeks. I hope D-Street gets them too like last Christmas, but no word yet.

Overall, I like the unique take on the characters. They have vibrant colors and cool accessories. I think I would still say series 2 is more fun, but these are well though out and exactly what collectors want.

New San Francisco Trolley and Lombard Junior Key Chains

Disney Store Artist Enrique Pita showed off a photo on Instagram of his 3" Lombard Street design turned into a Junior key chain.

The junior is now available at the San Francisco Disney Store along with a Junior version of the RED Trolley. That is kind of interesting seeing that the Red Trolley design is a Dan Beltran design from a 3" back when Mickey still had a contoured nose. Enrique just recently released an updated, green version of the trolley. Here are both new Junior key chains in their packages courtesy of Vinylmation Exchange.

Disney Store BOGO with Villains 4 Release

Villains 4 is coming to Disney Stores on October 11th and Vinylmation Kingdom reports that guests will be able to grab a free Wild West or Medieval blind box for every Villains 4 blind box you purchase. Deal depends on your store's current stock.

Never Produced Disney Store Vinylmation Artwork Surfaces

Over the past week, a few interesting pieces of artwork of never produced Disney Store Vinylmation have surfaced. The first was released intentionally by Disney Store artist Jim Valeri on his personal website. Back in 2012, the Disney Store released a Blind Box set of 13 figures that would light up when placed on a base (sold separately). The set celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Disney Store and featured the following line up.

Apparently, the set was planned to be much more ambitious. Jim Valeri has released the following artwork showing 13 more figures.

Here is a quote from Jim Valeri off his website: “This Vinylmation series was designed for TDS 25th Anniversary which came out about a year and a half ago. The original idea was to have 25 pieces….for the 25th Anniversary…see the math there? Anyway, that turned out to be a little too ambitious given our timing and manufacturing logistics so 13 of the intended designs were nixed…”

I personally never enjoyed the style of this collection, but did appreciate the artwork. I would have for sure liked to see a few of these replace the released figures. I'd take Genie, Donald and Peter Pan over Goofy, Tink and Dumbo. How about you?

Also in the past week, a piece of artwork, seemingly unintentionally, was leaked to the internet and discovered by a member of Vinylmation Exchange. Last year, series of open window figures called Disney Tunes was released to the Disney Stores. It featured six Disney characters with a musical theme.

It appears that there was at least one more design that never made it to the production factory (or will be released in the future?)

The Cheshire Cat, dressed to the nines like a hip jazz cat, was designed on a blue clear body with musical instruments and music notes floating about.

RoE: Robots Series 4

Sometimes they listen and just do things right. The fourth series of Robots, like number three, will use Disney Characters. All we have is the Big Bad Wolf's head to go on here, but it's enough to peak my interest!

RoE: Aladdin Junior Series

An 18 figure Aladdin Junior series designed by the Disney Store will be released in 2014.

They did a great job giving us variations on the characters. Also, artwork on juniors is amazing these days.

 Aladdin, Jasmine, Prince Ali, Cave of Wonders, Sultan, Magic Carpet, Abu, Abu as Elephant, Rajah

Genie, Cobra, Henchman, Jafar, Iago, Jafar as Old Man, Jafar as Sultan, 2 Mystery Chasers