Many Vinylmation collectors are aware that last week, September 5-7, the annual Walt Disney World Vinylmation and Pin Event took place at EPCOT - this year titled "The Imagination Gala". Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the event myself, although I tried hard to make it happen. Hopefully one year I'll be able to finally go. Although I wasn't personally there, I was keeping track of all the happenings on Instagram and Vinylmation websites, and from what I've seen online, this year's event looked miles better than last year's Reflections of Evil event. But that's another story.
As always, the event was filled with plenty of news, updates, pictures and previews, so I wanted to share what I consider to be the highlights of the event. The upcoming releases that I am most excited about!
(Photo Credit: Destination Vinylmation)
Maybe it was the Figment theme of the Imagination Gala that made it look so great to me. He is by far my favorite Disney character! The feeling that I got from following the event online made it look professional, well organized and a lot of fun. (Not to mention how jealous I am of everyone who purchased a Vintage Vinylmation Vault blind box! But again I digress...)
Let's start with the first previewed set I saw, a Lilo and Scrump set that will accompany the recently released Animation #5 series:
(Photo Credit: Vinylmation World)
This set is scheduled to release in November for $29.95 and was designed by Ron Cohee. Lilo looks like she jumped right out of the film! She looks exactly like she does in the movie and I have wanted a Scrump Vinylmation for years! So excited for this set.
The next set I saw was the Haunted Mansion Blonde & Medusa set:
(Photo Credit: Vinylmation World)
This set was designed by Casey Jones and has a limited edition size of 1,000. There are so many possibilities for Haunted Mansion Vinylmation and it's an extremely popular attraction. I am so pleased that more merchandise is being released (not just vinyls) and that it's all been tastefully done. I don't think Haunted Mansion vinyls have been exhausted yet because they've all been such fantastic quality.
These two figures come from paintings in the hallway of the Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom. At first you see the painting of the blonde, in what looks like a Roman forum, then when the lightning flashes, she changes into a Medusa. This set is due to release in January 2015 for $29.95. I'm very excited to see such a great idea for a set released!
Another interesting announcement was the upcoming set Pirates of the Caribbean Mickey & Friends:
Similar to the recently released Haunted Mansion Mickey & Friends, this will be a 5 figure revealed/concealed set featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Stitch. It follows the way in which the Topiaries was released. Mickey will be the one revealed and the other 4 figures will be concealed inside the blind boxes.
It's a great idea for a series, especially considering how popular the Haunted Mansion set was, however I thought Disney had made progress by adding a second revealed figure in the aforementioned set. I'm sad to see that a step backward has been taken with this set, in that there is only one revealed figure again with Pirates of the Caribbean. This series will release in December for $24.95 per blind box.
I'm also excited to see this fantastic Vinylmation be released, a Mickey Waffle Annual Passholder Eachez:
This Vinylmation will be released in Walt Disney World and Disneyland in October for $16.95 a blind box. The above picture shows the common figure with the ratio of 9/10. It's a Mickey waffle covered in chocolate syrup on a Disney plate. The below picture shows the variant figures with the ratio of 1/10. The figure on the left is the Disneyland variant - a Mickey waffle with powdered sugar. The figure on the right is the Walt Disney World variant - a Mickey waffle with whipped cream. I just love the detail of the resort plates!
I am also excited to finally know more about D-TOUR #2! You may recall that it was first previewed one whole year ago at the Reflections of Evil event. It's still not been released but at least now we know the details.
This will be an 8 figure set of 7 commons plus a chaser, with figures on both the Mickey and Minnie platforms. The artists who took part in designing the series are: Maria Clapsis, Caley Hicks, Anne Marie, Sara Hall, Thomas Scott and Eric Caszatt. They will be released in blind boxes this time for $12.95 each in October. I love the Queen Minnie figure so much! She goes perfectly with King Mickey from the first D-TOUR series.
Now let's look at the Holiday 2014 Vinylmation. I love seeing what Disney has in store for Christmas Vinylmation each year! First up is another 2 figure combo set, this year it's Mickey and Minnie:
The 2014 Mickey and Minnie Holiday Snowmen will be released in October for $29.95. The set was designed by Rachel Bristol and will have a limited edition size of 2,500. I think this is a really cute holiday set that would go well with Santa Minnie and Mickey released in 2013 and 2012 respectively.
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I absolutely love this Gingerbread Duffy Bear! Nothing says the Holidays like decorated gingerbread and while I've never particularly cared for the Duffy Vinylmation line, this figure is just perfect! So Christmassy, so Disney, so cute! I can't wait to see this released and I will be picking it up. Designed by Caley Hicks, it will be released in October for $16.95.
Finally, while it's not a must-have for me, I really like the idea and the artwork of Holiday 2014 Christmas Tinkerbell Eachez:
This red outfit will be the common figure with 9/10 odds and the picture below shows the variant figure wearing a green outfit and winking, with 1/10 odds. I think this is a great idea because Tinkerbell is a popular character, especially for Walt Disney World merchandise, and she hasn't been used to death in the Vinylmation world. The artwork is very well done and Tinkerbell looks great in a Christmas outfit!
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Ron Cohee designed these figures and they will also be released in October, for $14.95 a blind box.
There are other upcoming releases that I am not overly interested in adding to my collection, but I'll quickly mention because I think they have been done very well: Star Wars Luke Skywalker Eachez and Yoda Eachez, the Iron Patriot and War Machine set,, and some of the Villainous Duos sets: Pain & Panic, Flotsam & Jetsam, and Jafar & Iago.
Those are my highlights, the Vinylmation I am most excited about having followed the Imagination Gala online. What Vinylmation releases are you looking forward to?
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