Episode 152 Polynesian Fire Dancer

Ep. 152 Polynesian Fire Dancer This week we preview the Disney Villains themed Robots 4 series. We also have a hearty debate about the practice of re-releasing figures with updated designs on the current Mickey platform that were previously on the old one.

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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 132 Cactus

Ep. 132 Cactus This week we give a step by step rundown of what to expect at the Reflections of Evil trading event. We also go over the full calendar of events. All that, and a look at new NYC and Tokyo vinys and a peek at Villains Series 4.

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I Love NY Combo Pack Released Today at Times Square Disney Store

A new combo packed called I Love NY was released on August 19th at the Times Square Disney Store. It retails for $26.95. No words if this will be available online. Thanks to the Playwright for the photos.

Episode 131 3D Mickey Chaser

Ep. 131 3D Mickey Chaser This week we review the D23 Expo. The Vinylmation, the events, the stores and the people. Nick chooses his set of year and MC says not so fast. We also have news about a new Nightmare blind box series, more NYC vinyls, Halloween Tokyo figures and much more.

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Where In the World Do You Vinyl?: NYC Specific Figures

Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of “Where in the World do you Vinyl” with Brendt and Ben. With this post, we’d like to review a couple of vinyls recently released that are very dear to us, as well as get in a general discussion about vinyls that are released exclusively in certain areas as opposed to others.

The vinyls we would like to review are the new New York City exclusives.  When we saw that these were coming exclusively to Times Square, we jumped with excitement, as we both live relatively close to NYC and rarely do exclusive vinyls get released outside of the parks.  These consist of the ‘Greetings from NYC’ postcard vinyl, as well as 3 new juniors which each represent a profession that are symbolic with New York City.

The ‘Greetings from NYC’ vinyl can only loosely be called an exclusive, however, as it has been released online as well as in Times Square.  Nevertheless, it is a wonderful representation of New York City.  The first image that immediately jumps out is the Minnie version of the Statue of Liberty.  We love how Enrique Pita’s wonderful design lives on in this vinyl.  It’s a nice little homage.

There are other landmarks present; including Union Square, and even the Times Square Disney Store gets a shout out.  The backs of the ears even have little apples painted on!  Down by the figure’s feet is the iconic skyline, which is a darker blue, which looks nice against the red backdrop of the figure.  The one minor gripe we have with this release is the fact that it is presented in an open window case and not a tin.  All of the other NYC, and even other city releases have come in a tin, so why break this streak?  There is something extra special about that presentation, and something a little cheaper about the open window appearance.  Overall a great design by Nacho Rodriguez.

But the real treasure comes with these juniors.  We never thought we would say this but there are actually juniors that we must have.  In fact, juniors have really taken a turn for the better lately and are definitely becoming much cooler.  The Star Wars droids set was the first time we heard people saying that there were juniors that they had to have, and its nice that another format of Vinylmation is becoming popular.

Anyway, these three figures are some of the most detailed juniors we have ever seen.  Mickey is represented as an NYPD officer, Donald Duck is an FDNY firefighter, and Goofy is a cab driver, all iconic occupations in NYC.  Some of the detail here is outstanding, as the expressions on each of the figures are superb, and Donald even has fire in his ears, as well as a painted skyline in Goofy’s.  Hats off to Enrique Pita for 3 awesome designs.

These 4 new figures got us thinking about how excited we were at the prospect of exclusive vinyls being released at a location near to us, until we realized that this is a regular occurrence for people who live close to the parks.  D-Street is, and will probably always be, the Mecca of exclusive vinyl releases.  Sadly, for us who live away from the parks, we’ll probably always be on the outside looking in.  What’s strange is that for the most part, these D-Street exclusives, remain D-Street exclusives and rarely make it online.  However, many of the city exclusives end up on online and no longer make it exciting to visit these cities.  The whole point of city specific vinyl’s should be making it special to get these vinyls, in the same way that we feel when we travel all that way and visit D-Street.

Needless to say, it doesn't change the fact that there are some great vinyls released elsewhere. New York is just one of many cities that have seen exclusives released that represent them.  So we ask you guys, are there exclusives released outside of D-Street that you absolutely love? Maybe another vinyl in the “City” series? Are you also jealous that you don’t get to partake in the craziness that is a D-Street release? We’re dying to know!!!

Episode 125 Orange Monorail

Ep. 125 Orange Monorail This week we talk about the news of the week including location specific releases, an update on Monsters University and the release of Beauty and the Beast. We also have an interview with Carl, the creator of ChasingVinylmation.com.

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New NYC Jobs with Character Jr. Key Chains

Disney Store artist Enrique Pita has been a bastion for DS Vinylmation release info since the flow of updates slowed from the company itself. Recently, he Instagramed three new junior key chains he created specifically for the NYC Times Square Disney Store.

The three figures are sold individually. There is NYC Cab Driver Goofy, NYC Policeman Mickey and NYC Fireman Donald! Wow, what amazing detail on these 1.5 inch canvases. They are getting better and better. To actually convey emotion on the faces of these is incredible to me. Here is a photo via Vinylmation Kingdom of each of the figures in the packaging.

Episode 124 Norway Troll

Ep. 124 Norway Troll This week we talk in depth about the Marvel and Little Mermaid Vinylmation series. We also discus some recent releases around the parks and Disney Stores and news about the Park Starz 2 Variants. We also review Park 12.

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The Pinstripes Take The Field at Times Square

With Linsanity taking over the Garden and the Giants just bringing home another Super Bowl trophy, the furthest thing from a New York sports fan's mind are the Yankees. But Spring Training is right around the corner and Disney has released the 3" New York Yankees MLB Teams figure at the NYC Times Square Disney Store.

Thanks to The Playwright for all these pictures. As you can see, they still have some 3" Hey Taxi tins and Muppets 2 on hand.

These look great in person... I just picked up my Red Sox the other day at WDW. So to the news that Red Sox sold out at D-Street... they got plenty more in stock. These MLB figures are my favorites of the Teams series designs. There is a ton of character and detail to them.

For those of you who keep your open window figures in the box, the packaging is nicely designed as well. The Yankees figure seen above has also been released at WDW and DLR in various stores as well as online. For detailed info, check out MLB Teams Explained.

Central Park Vinyl On Sale

Today, the 9" Central Park Vinylmation went on sale. This LE 1540 Oscar Mendez design retails for $49.95.

The Playwright stopped by the Times Square Disney Store to take some pics of this colorful creation on the shelves.

The side of the box explains a bit about Vinylmation and the NY series.

The other side shows the concept art and the LE number. I like the design a lot. A great job of depicting perspective and a great color pallet.

The good news is this figure also went on sale at DisneyStore.com. It is interesting to note that this one comes with an Artist Card!

Liberty for Sale, and Cheap!

The Playwright sent us this picture from the NYC Times Square store. The Statue of Liberty Minnies are on sale for $6.00!

Anyone going to NYC?

Take a walk in the 9" Park on January 30th 2012

Vinylmation.com released a pic of a new NYC exclusive 9" Vinylmation. We're calling this one "Central Park" until otherwise informed. The artist is Oskar Mendez and like many of the LE NYCs there will only 1540 of these. The cost is $44.95 and the piece will be available on January 30th 2012 in both the NYC Times Square Disney Store and Online.

What do you think of this piece? I think it looks pretty good. Great work with the skyline in the background.

9" Lady Liberty Will Be Online

It looks like some, non-LE Vinylmation will slowly makes their way to the new city specific section of the Disney Store Online. The latest is this 9" Statue of Liberty figure designed by Jim Valeri.

This open edition figure was released earlier in the year at the Times Square Disney Store in NYC, but will be available online as of November 7... which also has the distinction of being the one year anniversary of the new Times Square store (and was just 2 days before our first podcast!). The retail price is $44.95. 

The Disney Vinylmation Blog also re-announced two figures that have already been for sale at the Times Square Store for awhile. They will be at the Times Square store on November 7, but were not specifically mentioned as being online.

I "Mickey Head" NY is a 9" designed by Marcella Lau, LE 1,540 and a retail price of $49.95.

Bridges is a 9" figure designed by Oskar Mendez. It is open edition and has a retail price of $44.95.

1st Kidada still at NY Disney Store

Pic by @stitchkingdom

According to Stitch Kingdom, the original LE 9" Kidada from earlier this year is still available on shelves at the New York Times Square Disney Store (along with the Goth Cutesters Like You 9"). Weird....

US City Exclusives... Now Less Exclusive

On the heals of the UK Disney Store Online's release of the London exclusive Vinylmation, the US Disney Store Online has followed suit with select NYC exclusive figures now available for cyber purchase.

Only two of the 9" figures are available... Hey Taxi and New York, New York

The interesting note here is the price. Although $44.95 is the original price, if you were to go to the NYC Times Square Store to purchase them, they are discounted to $30 as of about a week ago. Vinylmation are not the only city specific items popping up online. The Disney Store Online now has a full section of the website dedicated to some of their big city Disney Stores.

You can go online to purchase select merchandise from NYC, Chicago, San Francisco and Hawaii. No Vinylmation in any other city yet, but look at this ad:

Vinylmation is the product they feature on the generic ad for this section of the online store. This leads me to believe other city specific figures will be online soon as well. We do know, the Honolulu, Hawaii Disney Store will take mail orders for the Tiki Mickey due out October 4. So since they are already willing to ship, I suppose the thinking is, why not make the process easier for Disney, and the guest, and let everyone purchase them online. I'm not a big fan of this shift. A NYC tee shirt or Chicago coffee mug are one thing, but placing collectibles online like this takes away from that specialness of the item. We talked about this on the latest podcast after finding out about the London vinyls. What are your thoughts on city specifics being made available online?

NYC: The Junior Apple? Exclusive Jr Vinylmation

Update: 9/27/11 Disney says the surprise release of these Jr Keychains was very popular and that more shipments are on the way. We also updated some pictures below.

The Playwright always has his finger on the pulse of the NYC Times Square Disney Store. They have just put an unannounced release on the shelves. Jr versions of some of their exclusive 3" styles. They retail for $9.95 a piece and are limited to 5 per style per guest.

I Mickey Head NY and Statue of Minnie Keychain Jr Vinylmation

Copyright Disney

Copyright Disney

Statue of Minnie

Back of packaging

Back of packaging

I think these look really good and will sell very, very well to tourists passing through the Times Square Store as little NYC themed Disney souvenirs. What a great product in terms of marketing.

NYC Bridges Release and Signing

On Saturday, September 17 the NYC Times Square Disney Store released the new 9" Bridges exclusive Vinylmation. Artist Oskar Mendez was on hand to sign figures for guests. Our friend The Playwright sent in this report:

I don't collect 9" so I didn't go. (but he had a friend that did) It went pretty smoothly according to my friend. There was a small crowd at opening, and by 9am, it was just a small and steady line up to when he stopped signing.

Disney Store Design Artist Oskar Mendez

Signed figure

9" Bridges

Artist Card

Signed Oskar Mendez Robot Cards given out to first 50 guests

Cars Vinylmation were finally on sale

9" NYC Vinylmation on sale!

Chicago, New York, San Francisco 9/17 Releases

A handful of location specific Vinylmation come out tomorrow, Saturday, September 17.

This Chicago Disney Store exclusive 3" figure is an open edition designed by Oskar Mendez. It will come in a tin.

This NYC Times Square Disney Store exclusive figure is a 9", open edition Vinylmation designed by Oskar Mendez. It features the celebrated bridges of New York City. Oskar will be signing figures at the store from 8:00 am - 11:00 am. Disney kindly asks that fans do not line up prior to 7:00 am. Oskar will sign only figures that he has designed. There will be a purchase limit of two (2) 9" Vinylmation figures per guest and signing limit of two (2) figures per guest, while supplies last (Note - talent appearance subject to change of cancellation without notice).

This San Francisco exclusive figure is an 9" LE 1,540 designed by Enrique Pita called "Kaleidoscope Mickey." It will be available at the Stockton Street Disney Store. Enrique Pita will be signing for guests from 8:00 am - 11:00 am. Disney kindly asks that fans do not line up prior to 7:00 am. Enrique will sign only figures that he has designed. There will be a purchase limit of two (2) 9" Vinylmation figures per guest and signing limit of two (2) figures per guest, while supplies last (Note - talent appearance subject to change of cancellation without notice).

Guests at the Times Square or Stockton Street stores will also be able to pick up the Cars two-figure set featuring Lighting McQueen and Tow Mater two days early! It's not scheduled to hit Disney Stores until the 19th.

I Love NY... Only Smaller

As we rumored a few weeks back, the Times Square NYC Disney Store did in fact release another 3" exclusive today and our friend the Playwright was there.

I "Mickey Head" NY in a tin

This I "Mickey Head" NY is a 3" version of a 9" figure that was released a few months ago. It is designed on the new mold, comes in a tin and retails for $12.95.

I "Mickey Head" NY with Hey Taxi and Statue of Liberty Minnie

Inside of tin

Thanks to the Playwright for these great pictures and report. He not only picked one up, but he toured the city with his new Vinylmation as well!

There is a lot to explore in NYC out of your tin

Best way to get around

He doesn't take up much room on the Subway