Vinylmation Beginner's Guide - Don't Be Fooled by eBay

For today's Vinylmation Beginner's Guide post, I want to talk about how eBay can be misleading, especially to the new collector, and how you can safeguard against being fooled online.

There are many eBay listings that advertise a vinyl as "Limited Edition", "Rare", "Hard to Find", and/or "Parks Only". There most certainly are limited edition Vinylmation and some sets and series are only available at the parks (for example the 2013 Poster Art Series). I would take more caution when a listing says "rare" or "hard to find", as these terms are much more subjective. Coveted and retired figures like Creepy Wallpaper from Park #1 are not as common as a new release figures, but I still wouldn't call it "rare" or "hard to find", since you can pretty much find at least 1 listing for this figure on eBay at any given time. It's my personal opinion that sellers include these words to attract more attention, not to give you bona fide information.

However, when a Vinylmation is listed as a limited edition or parks only figure, this is not always true. Sometimes the seller makes a genuine mistake, some figures start out as park only but then make it to the Disney Store online and/or to Disney Stores and outlets. But other times this is intentional to get more bids or a quicker sale.

So how can you find out if a vinyl you want really is parks only, limited edition or retired? I would suggest the following:

1. Start by visiting Chasing Vinylmation and searching for your figure. Let's say you want the Orange Bird from Park Starz #2. When you search for your figure, you'll see that it's not a limited edition and also that it's still active, meaning it's still in production and being sold. If you wanted Oswald from the 2013 Poster Series for example, you would see that the rarity of that figure is 1:2013 meaning it has a limited edition of 2,013
2. So now you know if the figure is active, retired, common or a limited edition and if so, the size. Your next step (if it's not a retired figure) is to check out the Vinylmation section of the Disney Store online. If your figure is listed here (like Park Starz #2 is) then you know it's not a Park Exclusive. But if you don't see it (like Oswald) it's likely to be exclusive to the parks
3. You could also do a good, old-fashioned Google search to find info on your figure. What's the going rate on the secondary market? Has it been retired? When? Are they still being sold online/in store/at the parks? Is it a Park Exclusive? Limited Edition?
4. If a series/figure has been retired, it's likely to be more difficult to get a hold of than an active figure you could pick up or buy online. But this isn't a general rule. A search of eBay's completed listings (both sold and unsold) will give you an idea of how often that figure is sold and for how much
5. You can also see a good, extensive list of Limited Edition and Exclusive figures and sets over at Vinylmation World

I hope this helps with buying vinyls on the secondary market. Until next time... happy collecting!