Vinylmation Review - Park #12

For today's Vinylmation Review, I will be taking a look at the newly released Park #12 series

Released: June 14, 2013

Blind Box

As I'm primarily a Park Series collector, I was very excited for the release of this series. And I mean VERY! I found myself counting down the days for this release, which is partly what this hobby should be about. Disney teased me by saying on their official Vinylmation website that Park 12 would be released online on June 7th. As the collecting community noted, an online release of a series before a park release is unheard of, and suspicion was raised that this was a mistake. Indeed it was. I checked multiple times on June 7th, but no Park 12 online. This got me worried that they'd be a no-show on June 14th, but thankfully when I checked at 7am - they were there!

I have only been to Disneyland and California Adventure once and that was in 2003. Much has changed since then. So Walt Disney World Park vinyls are my focus, as I can appreciate them far more than Disneyland Resort vinyls, which don't hold much meaning for me. Having said that, I'm glad Park 12 mixes Disneyland with Disney World, so that there's something for everyone.

I've heard many people in the vinyl collecting community voice the opinion that Park 12 is somewhat of an anti-climax. I don't feel that way. I can see why characters such as Summer Santa and Goofy's Gas wouldn't appeal to the infrequent Disney vacationer, but for a Disney World veteran like me, almost all of these characters appeal but all are recognizable (from the World that is).

Reasons to love this series:

• As I already said, there's something for everyone here. This isn't a purely Disneyland focused series, nor is it solely centered around Walt Disney World. There are characters from both resorts which makes this series appeal to a much wider audience
• We're seeing some things we haven't seen before with this series, for example the Spitting Camel. The level of detail is amazing on its back and the metallic gold color isn't used a lot on vinyls
• In my personal opinion, the inclusion of lesser known characters is a plus. Some people might not recognize the Goat chewing dynamite, or Summer Santa, but I instantly recognized them. I love that Disney is appealing to those who want a wider range of Disney World rides/attractions rather than repeats. After all, the big names are in there too
• The attention to detail is incredible with some of these figures, in particular I'm thinking of the Dinosaur vinyl. The wheels are so much better on this vinyl than on the Kilimanjaro Safari vinyl (no offense Eric Caszatt) and the CTX-ROVER written on his arm, just wow, Billy Davis covered everything. He also incorporated a ton onto a small canvas
• This series features the work of some lesser known artists. I haven't seen much from Billy Davis and I haven't seen anything from Sarah Hall or Josh Henselmeier before. It's interesting to see their work alongside the more commonly featured artists

Things that aren't so great:

• I don't really have any not so great points with this series, only little aspects or features or certain characters that I would have done differently had it been me

My Verdict:

I absolutely love this series and I have ordered myself 8 blind boxes (the max. limit) from DisneyStore.com and I can't wait to see what I get when it arrives!

Please share your thoughts on Park #12 in the comments :)