Sunday, January 28, 2018

2017 Vinylmation Isle Awards

Welcome to the 5th Annual Vinylmation Isle Awards! As an obsessive lover of Vinylmation, I decided there's no better way to honor the hobby I love so much, than to award some of the best figures and artists for their contributions to the Vinylmation universe this year. (Vinyls were only eligible to win in each category if they were released between January 1 and December 31, 2017).

And the winners are...

Favorite Disney Artist
Maria Clapsis


Favorite Variant Figure
Haunted Mansion Ghost
Series: Park Starz #5
Artist: Thomas Scott


Favorite Park Starz Figure
Computer Engineer
(affectionately dubbed "Foxy Brown")
Series: Park Starz #5
Artist: Thomas Scott

Waldo
Series: Park Starz #5
Artist: Thomas Scott


Favorite 9" Figure
Haunted Mansion Bride
Series: WonderGround Gallery
Artist: Jasmine Beckt-Griffith


Favorite Minnie Platform Figure
Disney Store 30th Anniversary Minnie
Series: Disney Store 30th Anniversary
Artist: Marvin Lao


Best Chaser
Jungle Cruise Boat
Series: Kingdom of Cute
Artist: Jerrod Maruyama


Best Use of Ears
Holiday Goofy
Series: Holiday 2017 Eachez
Artist: R. Bristol


Best Eachez
2017 Holiday Goofy
Artist: R. Bristol


Best Human Likeness
Luke Skywalker
Series: The Last Jedi
Artist: Maria Clapsis


Best Accessory
Holiday Goofy's Hat
Series: Holiday 2017 Eachez
Artist: R. Bristol

Haunted Mansion Bride's Candle
Series: Designer Eachez #1
Artist: Miss Mindy


Best Packaging
Kingdom of Cute
Artist: Jerrod Maruyama


Surprisingly Appealing
Minnie Mouse Eachez
Artist: Caley Hicks


Most Creative Idea
Kingdom of Cute


I hope you enjoyed the 5th Annual Vinylmation Isle Awards and thank you to everyone who voted! Please join me again next year! You can also check out the new 2017 inductees that will be coming soon to the Vinylmation Isle Hall of Fame

Friday, January 26, 2018

2018 Walt Disney World Eachez Release


A 2018 Walt Disney World Eachez has been released at the Walt Disney World Resort, the Shop Disney Parks App, and ShopDisney. The Eachez features Mickey Mouse and contains one of two possible figures: a Black/Red Mickey Mouse (the common figure with 9/10 odds of being in the blind box), or a White/Red Mickey Mouse (the variant figure with 1/10 odds of being in the blind box).

This is a limited release Eachez with exact quantities unknown. Both figures were designed by Disney artist R. Bristol and each blind box retails at $16.99.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Throwback Thursday - Polar Bear

Series: Cutesters Snow Day
Artist: Maria Clapsis
Released: January 2014

Saturday, January 06, 2018

Snapshot Sunday - Inside Out Funko Pop


For Christmas my husband got me Fear, Joy and Anger Funko Pop figures! I'm super excited because I love, love, love Inside Out but I was sad that Disney never made an Inside Out Vinylmation series, so I'm happy to have these figures in Pop form instead. I already have Bing Bong and Disgust so now all I need is Sadness to complete my set. If you'd like to trade please let me know!

Thursday, January 04, 2018

Throwback Thursday - Mail Pilot Mickey

Series: Mickey Through the Years
Artist: Enrique Pita
Released: March 2014

Monday, January 01, 2018

2017 Year In Review

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" - 186
9" - 11
Jr. - 16
Park 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!