Episode 173 Dr. Strange

Ep. 173 Dr. Strange This week we talk about the release of the 2014 Halloween figures and the short upcoming release calendar. We also unveil the ballot for the 2014 Dee Vee Awards. Also, Brendt gives us the highlights of his trip to NY Comic Con 2014. Some Disney talk in there, but mostly a geek-out session about TV, Marvel, shopping and more.

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Episode 164 Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ep. 164 Spaghetti and Meatballs This week Nick and Brendt have a lot to talk about. SD ComicCon brought about the release of new Disney Pixar Villains and the news of more to come. Duffy and Sleeping Beauty blind boxes were released and Animation 5, Haunted Mansion 45th and Halloween Vinylmation were previewed.

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Tokyo Halloween Juniors for 2013

Vinylmation Exchange has posted a photo of a pair of Halloween themed Juniors that are set for a September 3rd release in Tokyo Disneyland.

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!

A Haunted Vinylmation Photoshoot

Reward Yourself with Vinylmation

The Disney Movie Rewards program now offers a Vinylmation for 850 points. It is the 2012 Halloween Minnie Mouse. An interesting choice, especially since they do not seem to be offering the Pumpkin Patch vinyl along with it.

They also have some Funko Pop! Vinyl Marvel figures and other Marvel merchandise available through the rewards program.

Up until now, I've just been stocking up on Starbucks gift cards with my points. These offerings are not enough for me to bite, but they are moving in the right direction.

Episode 086 Blocks

Ep. 086 Blocks Recorded live at Star Wars Celebration VI this week's episode features a review of Star Wars series 2 and the hologram Princess Leia. We also rundown the official Mickey's Circus itinerary with more hints and tips. We read and listen to your Mystery Mail Bag Questions and Comments. And like always, we deliver the latest news and release dates.

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2012 Halloween Vinyls

Update: 08/21 Steven Miller commented on blog about price and release date. Thanks to Andrea for noticing!

Disney has unveiled it's Halloween merchandise for the fall of 2012 and some Vinylmation showed up in the mix.

These two vinyls were posted on the Disney Parks Blog. No release date given, but it seems like September is the norm for the Halloween figures. Scheduled release date: September 21st and WDW and DLR. Scheduled price is $16.95. (see screen capture at bottom) The one on the left looks great. A stack of four carved pumpkins with the top one looking like Mickey. The arms are a clear green with vines painted onto them. The Minnie Mouse on the right is dressed in her Trick or Treat costume complete with pointed hat. This look replicates her style on the main 2012 Halloween merchandise. Some other non-vinyl products also caught my eye...

This design is incredible! I will be dropping some hard earned cash on merchandise that features this twisted take on the creepy wallpaper from the Haunted Mansion.

Japan Halloween Vinyls

Thanks to @Vinylmati0n for the tweet about these new Halloween themed vinyls to be released in Japan.

September 1 is the released date and 1200 Yen ($15) is the price. There is a glow in the dark Mickey Vampire. The cape looks similar to the Vampire Goofy released today at Disney Stores. The face looks great and I like the little bit of shading drawn into the ears and feet. There is also a Mickey Pumpkin with a witch hat. The body of that one has a Minnie Pumpkin floating through it and appears to have clear blue arms. I think I would rather have 2 different ones or the pumpkins stacked on top of each other. The third is a Ghost Mickey with a hat. The body says "Halloween Party" with another ghost floating through it. The bottom looks like the top of a trick or treat bag. Its a fun Halloween design.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Cesar

Update: 10/30/11 Remember, Cesar's custom Zombie Vinylmation go on sale Monday, October 31! There will be 31 different Zombies to choose from. See more info at MyCustomations.com. And check out the interview below for details.

DV: If someone is new to the site, could you review who you are and how long you've been making customs?
Cesar: For those of you that don’t know who I am, my name is Cesar Diaz and I’ve been creating custom Vinylmations for a good year and a half now. Recently I organized and put together The Customation Project with the help of Proxart, Toi and Romo. It was an art show displaying custom vinyl work by six talented artists.

DV: This is a special release, tell us more about the details?
Cesar: The Zombie vinyl’s will be sold on my website (mycustomations.com) on Halloween morning for $40 each plus $8 shipping. There will be a total of 31 unique, one of a kind Zombies; basically one Zombie per day for the month of October. Each Zombie will be signed and dated according to the day it was made. They will be sold at random and are limited to one Zombie per person, per household. You don’t know who you’re going to get, but your guaranteed an original design.

DV: Zombies, eh? Where did you come up with the idea for a whole set of Zombies?
Cesar: The idea for the Zombie set has been floating around in my head since last year. To be exact it was when I saw the premiere of the TV show The Walking Dead on Halloween night. At the time it was obviously too late to start any Zombie customs. Plus I was still experimenting with techniques on creating custom Vinylmations so the project was put on hold. Months later when I created the LOST set, the idea of the Zombies came back to me. Originally I was going to make 12 Zombies, but unfortunately I had to put the idea on hold again because I got so busy making 9” customs for the Customation Project. Now that the show is over I went back to the Zombie idea. I rethought how I was going to make them and the quantity. 12 Zombies is just not enough! You need an army of them! Then I came up with the idea of making 31 Zombies for 31 days of October.

DV: We know you're not finished with all of them yet, but which ones are your favorite so far?
Cesar: I'm having so much fun making my version of Zombies. So far they're all my favorite.

DV: Where there any challenges involved with these characters?
Cesar: I haven't encountered any problems as of yet. From the start I knew I wanted to make the ears the night sky with the moon, clouds and the stars.

DV: What's your favorite Zombie movie?
Cesar: George Romero's Night of the Living Dead of course!

DV: If this is successful, will you do another set for next year's Halloween or other holidays?
Cesar: I would love to keep doing Zombie sets. They don't necessarily have to be for Halloween. I would love to do a Walking Dead set.

DV: Will any of the Zombies come with a brain accessory?
Cesar: Sorry Nick, no accessories this time around. Maybe next time.

DV: Thanks for your time, and once again, great figures. We hope the sale goes well!
Cesar: Thank you very much. Your readers can follow me on twitter at @mycustomations to see up to the minute info and pics of upcoming Zombies.

Halloween Special- It's Alive Project

Some people might not know how Vinylmation first started. Back in 2003 celebrities decorated six foot tall Mickey statues as part of the "Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations" celebration. Disney had borrowed this idea from an artistic movement that had been trending across the nation (Liz Art in Orlando in 2000, Cows on Parade in Chicago in 1999, and Lions in Zurich in 1986) where cities had been asking artists to decorate copies of the same statue and place them around the city. Once then had been seen for a while they would be auctioned off. The idea of a blank Mickey canvas lead to the very first vinylmation: plain solid colored create your owns.

Yesterday, I was wondering around Orlando and saw an art installation that took a similar approach (one template, lots of artistic interpretations) and it reminded me of custom vinylmation I had seen. I asked around and here is the info I found.
This series of 80 busts of Boris Karloff are designed by 80 different artists, as a celebration of 8 decades of the Frankenstein Monster. The show will be running thru November 15th at the CityArts Factory in Downtown Orlando. All 80 busts are available for purchase with proceeds going to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. More info can be found at orlandoslice.com or by called the CityArts Factory at 407 648 7060.

Cool...

In fact so cool that I'm going to stop talking and just let you take a look.

I Guess It Will Have to be Trick

The 2011 Trick or Treat Vinylmation is Sold Out at D-Street Orlando and can not be found any longer in most stores that did have it in the parks. According to two different Cast Members at D-Street, the figure is Sold Out and no more shipments are expected. We will look into this further.

Halloween Vinylmation on Display

Nick was at D-Street today and got to check out the new display they had. Here's a couple pictures of the new Halloween vinyl they are releasing.

What do you think? I miss the tins! (The last one of these was the Candy Corn piece. It had a tin.)

Here's a look at the side of the box. Interesting....

An Early Halloween Treat

Disney has shown off its 2011 Halloween Vinylmation Release.

Copyright Disney

This Trick or Treat inspired Vinylmaiton was designed by Eric Caszatt and will be released all over Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort. D-Streets and many resort stores that carry Disney Halloween merchandise will also sell this Limited Release figure for $14.95. How does this figure compare to past Halloween Vinylmation Releases?

This is Halloween

Headless Horseman