Smoke and Mirrors Hinder the Car Chase

There are many signs now that point to the fact that although Holly Shiftwell is the mystery figure on the side of the Monorail Series 1 box, she may not in fact be the most rare figure and therefor not the chaser.

We didn't think too much of it when Zoe sent us this picture of the Monorails display at the DCA Merchandise Event last week.

After all, how often have we seen minor screw ups like putting the chaser out for display. In the above photo, Holly Shiftwell is in the case, but Chick Hicks is not. 

Couple that with the fact that I have seen many people, even in store pull Holly and get excited AND my friend Austin opened up his case yesterday to find 2 Holly's and only 1 Chick Hicks (Matter is the triple by the way)... and it is easy to see the possibility that Chick Hicks is in fact the chaser and Holly is the mystery common.

This is reminiscent of the Jr. 5 This or That chaser mix up where Wing and a Prayer and Up and Down became the chasers instead of the PBJ and Smoke and Mirrors even though the box portrayed the opposite scenario. 

If you picked up a case, let us know your findings. I believe the Vinylmation Blog will be announcing a chaser change up sometime this week.

The chaser could be This, could be That.

In another interesting development, Disney has revealed that the Chasers to the Jrs 5 set "This and That" have changed. Disney had this to say.

"We learned that the trays were accidentally assorted incorrectly. If you buy a tray, you will still get the entire series yet the mystery chaser figures were switched. -Vinylmation.com"

Original Chasers

New Chasers

To me, this is a good thing. I really enjoy the "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Peanut Butter and Jelly" over "Ups and Downs" and "Wing and a Prayer". This also explains the curiosity we discussed on the latest podcast, because both the old chasers were on display.

But this production error after Furry Friends and whatever happened with the Disney Store 25th Light up set makes for some curious problems in the Vinylmation arena. Does this bother anyone, or do you accept it as one of the downfalls of the world?

M.C. Rescues Some D-Street Releases

M.C. braved the rain to hit up D-Street today. Let's see what he found...

Rescuers 2-Pack with Bernard and Bianca from Animation 2 for $26.95. He was excited enough to wake up early and go grab these. I enjoy the design, but not enough to grab them. Especially since I never really had a connection to this movie. No real line reported and plenty of the 2-pack still left. We will probably see them for sale at tonight's trading event at the Contemporary.

Junior 5 also officially released today. M.C. grabbed some chaser shots. Oddly enough, they were out in the open in the display.

Smoke and Mirrors. Love this one! Looks like Junior 5 is giving us the first clear part Jrs. The smoke is actually painted onto a clear head and body.

Peanut Butter and Jelly. Don't like as much, but a cool use of a clear purple bottom.

Also today, the 3" Valentine's Day figure was out in the stores. This is a very lovely display.

Release Dates Confirmed

Today Disney confirmed some release dates.

On Friday, January 27, this Bernard and Bianca 2 pack from Animation 2 will release a D-Streets for $26.95. It is an LE 1200.

Jr 5 This and That releases at D-Streets and other park locations on Friday, January 27 as well. We have seem these around the parks already, but things get official tomorrow.

It wasn't a misprint... this ONLINE EXCLUSIVE 9" Park 8 Main Street Electrical Parade Dragon retails for the ridiculously high price of $74.95. No 9" has ever been priced so high. They made 1500 of these! Its already just an OK design in my opinion. I have a feeling this one will be 50% next Christmas. This is our first look at the turnaround and Maria did a great job. I'm actually coming around on liking this design after seeing the whole thing, but not for 75 bucks.

Our best look yet at this trio. Love it! Can not wait to pick this Fife and Drum set up for $44.95. It is an LE of 5000 and is also an ONLINE EXCLUSIVE.

Jr 5 This & That Explained

Junior 5
This & That

Release Date: Rumored 1/27
Price: $8.95

These pictures were found on VinylmationTraders.net. The 5th of the Junior sets is themed This and That and pairs up either objects that we are used to putting together or total opposites.

	Apples & Oranges How does this Jr compare to the others? I like the use of orange and red in the ears and arms.
	Bells & Whistles One of my favorite designs in this set. It's clean, simple and visually pleasing.
	Bread & Butter I knew the body had to be bread, but it took a few minutes to see it... then it was genius. The use of the arms and neck for crust is great.
	Chicken & Beef I just think of the Cow and Chicken Chick Fil A battle here.
	Hats & Streamers It's party time on this colorful figure.
	Hearts & Flowers I like the contrasting colors here.
	Comedy & Drama We assuming a Dramatic mask face on the back.
	Moon & Stars A little empty for my taste, but works well in this theme.
	Pins & Needles Are you on these for this set? In all honesty, it will probably be a pass for myself but only because I focus on more Disney themed figures due to the slew on products coming out.
	Stop & Go A perfect fit in this set.
	Rice & Beans I'm thinking of sending this one to Dave Ramsey. Any financial talk radio fans out there? Ok, maybe I shouldn't. He would yell at me for buying any Vinylmation based on my income.
	Thunder & Lightning This one seems so simple, but is one of my favorite designs in the set. I like the font choose on the Boom! How often do I get to praise a font style on Vinylmation?
	Unicorns & Rainbows I'd bet my Park 1 chaser Maria Clapsis had something to do with this one.
	Up & Down Make your own variant. Turn it on it's side and its Left & Right.
	A Wing & A Prayer I was going way too deep on this one before MC pointed out what it was. I started looking up Greek Gods to figure out who went with Mercury.
	Xs & Os Kind of like play book from Sports Jrs. This can also be Hugs and Kisses for you romantic thinkers out there.
	Mystery Chaser 1 Click image to reveal chaser. Highlight white space below for commentary. My favorite figure in the entire set! Smoke & Mirrors. I seem to always like the chasers from Jrs.
	Mystery Chaser 2 Click image to reveal chaser. Highlight white space below for commentary. We don't get it. Can you help?