Vinylmation Stories - Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones is one of my favorite movie franchises, so I love seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark come to life in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I will never get tired of seeing that show, especially because the experience is a little different each time with a new set of volunteers for the extras.

There are two reasons I had to have this figure. First, I think it is expertly designed by Thomas Scott. It is not easy to translate humans on the the Mickey mold, and although Indy in unavoidably chubby, I think his face is absolutely perfect - he looks just like Harrison Ford! The legendary hat is of course a must, so I'm thrilled that they used an accessory that looks the part instead of trying to paint the hat in to the figure.

His outfit is designed brilliantly too, including the satchel that Indy is never without in Raiders. Finally, the ears have been expertly designed, with fantastic detail that accurately reflects the scenery behind our hero as he attempts to steal the Golden Idol.

The second reason why this Vinylmation was a must for me is because the Epic Stunt Spectacular took on a whole new sentimental meaning for me in 2013 when my husband and I were chosen to be shoppers in the Cairo marketplace. This figure is from the Indiana Jones series, and was not designed to reflect the live action show at Hollywood Studios. However, since Indy is the show's star, this Vinylmation serves as a great reminder of the attraction.

My love of Indiana Jones, the wonderful artwork of Thomas Scott, and the reminder of my time as an Epic Stunt Spectacular extra, is the story behind why I had to add Indiana Jones to my collection.

Vinylmation Review - Indiana Jones Series

I was pretty excited for the release of the Indiana Jones series, especially because it's Raiders of the Lost Ark themed. I think that's probably my favorite. While it doesn't scream Disney to some people, I think it's a good choice for Disney fans. There's the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland in California, there's the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios (which I have had the honor of participating in) and there's a scene from Raiders in the Great Movie Ride at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, so this series can be a great theme park souvenir as well as some great movie memorabilia. 

Reasons to love this series:

• Every memorable character has been included. The man himself, love interest Marion, Indy's pal Sallah, the evil Nazi Major Toht, villain Rene Belloq, the swordsman in Cairo who picked a fight with the wrong guy and the Nazi mechanic
• The chaser is pretty impressive. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't see that one coming. The Golden Idol was a fantastic idea and although it's not perfect in my opinion, it looks pretty dang close to the real thing
• The accessories - Indy needed a good hat and he got one, plus the Cairo swordsman by definition needed his sword
• Good use of ears. If you've been reading here for a while, you probably know that being lazy with the design of the ears is one of my pet peeves. Sallah's and Marion's ears are a little plain, but I love the fire in Major Toht's ears, resembling the scene in Raiders where he burns his hand in a fire, the propellers in the mechanic's ear look like he's standing in front of a plane as he does in the movie, the bricks in the swordsman's ears really reflect his scene in Cairo, and Belloq's ears show the scene where he inadvisably opens the Ark
• I think Thomas Scott did a great job with most of the figures. Major Toht, Indiana Jones, Sallah and the Cairo swordsman all look true to their human counterparts. The mechanic and Belloq still look good, just not as good to me
• The combo topper is also awesome! Indiana in his Egyptian disguise was another great choice of figure and more what I was picturing for the chaser. The face is spot on with Harrison Ford's and the disguise is accurate too. The hieroglyphics in his ears are just perfect, an impressive touch, and adding the staff of Ra as an accessory? What more could you want?!

Things that aren't so great:

• Not to be too repetitive, but again, it would have been good to see a better use of Sallah and Marion's ears, but that's just me getting picky
• I'm sorry to say but I really don't like Marion. I know human faces are hard and I couldn't do any better, but the face doesn't look human or like Karen Allen

Thanks for joining me for another Vinylmation Review!

Indiana Jones Combo Topper Release

The combo topper for the Indiana Jones Series has been released today at D-Streets and the Disney Store Online. The topper is Indy in disguise with a Staff of Ra accessory. This is the only figure in the series to be designed by Maria Clapsis. You can pick up the combo topper for $24.95

Indiana Jones #1 Release

In my opinion, one of Disney's best choices for a Vinylmation series and one of Vinylmation's most anticipated released was finally released today - Indiana Jones Series #1: Raiders of the Lost Ark. This series is based on the first Indiana Jones movie and follows the new case setup of 8 figures in the series, all designed by Disney Design Group artist Thomas Scott.

Indiana Jones #1 is available at D-Streets and the Disney Store Online for $12.95 per blind box. A combo topper, also featuring Indiana himself, will be released in 2 weeks on January 24.

The Collector's Space - Upcoming Vinylmation

For today's Collector's Space post, I'm going to talk about upcoming Vinylmation series that I'm really excited for.

First up, I'm pretty excited for the Park #13 Haunted Mansion Stretching Room combo set which I recently previewed. This is a set of 4 figures all designed by Ron Cohee, that draw inspiration from the portraits that stretch in the Haunted Mansion. There's currently no information about this set on Disney's Official Vinylmation website, but non-official Vinylmation websites have reported that it has a Limited Edition size of 2,000 and a retail price of $59.95. It was announced at the Reflections of Evil event that this set would release on December 20.

Back of the figures (source: DestinationVinylmation)

I'm also excited for the release of the Park #13 Tower of Terror combo set. Collectors were wondering how the previewed Park #13 bellhop figure would manifest in this series and now we know. (I knew he was the bellhop from the Tower of Terror movie!) This set is comprised of four 3" figures and one Jr figure to make a 5 piece set of the five characters from the ride. The Limited Edition size will be 1,500 with 150 of those sets being variant sets. The commons will be black and white versions of the characters as they appear in the Library pre-show. The variants will depict the characters in their "ghostly" form seen during the Tower of Terror ride.

Personally, I prefer the commons (which is lucky since I'm more likely to get those) but I wouldn't complain if I miraculously received the variants. This set's release date was announced at the Reflections of Evil event as December 27 but we have yet to be informed on the retail price. I've been saving since I heard about this set, I get the feeling it's going to hurt my bank balance.

Variants pictured top, commons pictured bottom

(source: DestinationVinylmation)

And finally, I'm pretty excited about the release of the Indiana Jones series. Not much is known about this set right now, other than what was announced at Reflections of Evil. The series will be based on Raiders of the Lost Ark and is scheduled to release in 2014. I'll be interested to see the case size and the artist(s) involved in this series.

Series artwork (source: DestinationVinylmation)

Obviously there are plenty more interesting and exciting vinyls coming our way, not to mention some of the amazing series that have been released recently. I just wanted to share what I'm most excited about right now. I'm almost certain that all of these series will make it to my collection. (Hopefully I can afford the Tower of Terror set and hopefully the Indy series will have a good choice of characters with amazing artwork).