Disney recently posted details on their Official Vinylmation website of Vinylmation figures that will soon be re-released. The first figure we heard about was Nerd Mickey, followed by Nerd Stitch and Nerd Minnie. Maybe these figures were extremely popular and will be re-released not only to make more money on popular figures, but also because these old mold figures will receive an updated look on the new mold. Nerd Minnie especially.
Re-release pictured left, original pictured right
(Picture from Vinylmation World)
Next came news of the US Flag re-release and three Theme Park Favorites figures: the Rainbow, Princess and Autograph Book figures. There are some minor changes/updates to these upcoming figures also, but they are almost identical to the original releases.
So what's the deal with these figures being re-released? To be honest, I'm not sure. This is the first time this has happened. I would guess it's due to the popularity of the figures. I can't comment on the popularity of the Nerds Rock series, but the American flag makes sense for tourists and the Theme Park Favorites are pretty good park souvenirs. (Well, the Autograph book and Princess figure are. I don't see the relevance of the Rainbow figure, never have).
Since these are all Open Window figures, it's easy and accurate to judge the popularity of each figure and re-release the ones in high demand. But I find myself asking, why these figures? Re-releasing Park #1 would make a ton of money from newer collectors who missed out the first time around and don't want to pay hundreds of dollars on eBay for some of Vinylmation's original figures. I'm not saying I want Park #1 re-released, I'm just noting that from a profit perspective, Park #1 would probably generate a lot more money than Nerds and Theme Park Favorites.
Do I like the thought of re-releases? I guess I don't have a problem with it right now. If they don't sell and end up in the outlets, I don't think the hobby will be hurt. Maybe they'll be sold for a while, perhaps indefinitely if they really are that popular. I think this will start to bug me if it happens too often with poor figure choices. There's no reason to re-release a figure that wasn't popular and I would prefer it if Disney put their money into producing new figures over old figures, so I won't be happy if most "new" releases are take two of old figures instead of new ones.
But we're not there yet. Where will this end? How many more figures will be re-released? It will be interesting to see how often this will happen. All of the figures mentioned in this post will re-release on March 21.
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