Another year has passed and despite the hobby being on the brink of extinction, I am still collecting. This may be the year that I've added the least to my collection but there have been new pieces I've picked up, both from releases this year and in previous years. I also began collecting Funko Pop figures this year, which I swore I would never do but I guess I needed it to fill the void. I'm not quitting Vinylmation and selling off my collection, it's precious to me and I'll treasure it forever, even if there comes a time when I no longer add to it.
There have been Vinylmation releases this year, but for the first time there were not any Vinylmation Jr. series released in 2017. The year started off strong with several releases each month for the first quarter of the year, but after that we saw a total of 4 months without any releases at all, and in the months where a new figure or set was released, there was only one in a whole month. Remember way back when there would be something new release once a
week? Following that recap, here's 2017 in Review!
Number of Vinylmation in my collection as of this post:3" - 1869" - 11Jr. - 16Park Starz - 9
My favorite Disney artist right now is:
This is really hard to say this year. I think Thomas Scott did a fantastic job with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and I love his Park Starz #5 designs, Maria Clapsis-Stuckey blew me away with how much her Luke Skywalker figure looks like Mark Hamill, I adore Caley Hicks's Minnie Eachez figures, and cute doesn't even begin to describe Jerrod Maruyama's Kingdom of Cute series! If I can only pick one I would go with Maria because of how on point her Luke figure is.
Holy grail that I wish I owned is currently:
Despite people quitting the hobby and selling off their collections, I still do not have the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater 9" from Park #4!!! I'll keep looking I guess. I also still want the Br'er Fox and Congo Queen variant figures. It's not a grail exactly because it's still being sold and I could pick it up for retail price, however that's not cheap so I haven't yet, but I would like to own the 9" Wonderground Gallery Haunted Mansion Bride.
My favorite purchase this year was:
Well I only purchased 5 Vinylmation figures this year if you can believe it. I focused more on Funko Pop figures. The shame. However I did pull the variant from my Holiday Goofy Eachez blind box which was impressive, in all these years of collecting that's only my second variant from a blind box. I absolutely adore the Disney Store 30th Anniversary set I purchased this year! So pretty!
The artist whose work I added most to my collection this year was:
Marvin Lao. This is kind of cheating because I only bought 5 figures this year, and out of those five, two were in a combo set designed by Marvin Lao. I also added a figure by Ron Cohee, Thomas Scott, and R. Bristol.
Something new I did this year was:
I didn't really do anything new this year in terms of Vinylmation. However I did do something I said I wouldn't, and I started collected Funko Pop and Dorbz figures. Not all of those are Disney, but the majority are. Having asked you guys if you'd be interested in me expanding this blog to cover the Funko line, I have made the decision that Funko posts will appear on this blog in 2018. This won't become an exclusively Funko blog, but in order to keep posting new content, sometimes Funko will be the topic - if it's Disney.
My highlights for 2017 are:
I may be in the minority, but I loved the two 9" figures that were released this year! I hope to one day own the Wonderground Gallery Haunted Mansion Bride and I did like Hipster Minnie even though I don't intend to purchase her. She would look fantastic next to last year's Hipster Mickey! I like the artsy turn that some sets have taken this year, not just the Bride 9" but also the Haunted Mansion Designer Eachez and the Kingdom of Cute set. They appeal to theme park fans, Vinylmation fans, and art fans which I think helps keep the hobby going if casual collectors can enjoy and purchase sets and figures.
To accompany the artsy sets, I'm glad that known and loved franchises have also been represented in their true form, meaning they were designed to look like the characters they're based on, not an artsy version of. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and The Last Jedi were expertly designed and very appealing to movie fans and Vinylmation collectors. Overall I think there's been a great mix of movie, TV, comic and artsy releases this year - something for everyone. The only drawback has been no Park figures :(
I am nervous to see what 2018 will bring!
