Mickey's Really Swell Diner Release

The Mickey's Really Swell Diner Reveal/Conceal Vinylmation series has been released today at Disney Pin Traders in Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disney Store Online. Chef Mickey is the reveal topper included with every blind box. Inside the blind box itself is one of 4 mystery figures: Goofy, Minnie, Donald or Pete. All 5 figures were designed by Thomas Scott and each blind box retails for $24.95

Pirates of the Caribbean Mickey & Friends Release

Pirates of the Caribbean Mickey & Friends has released today at The Disney Store Online. The series reportedly released January 2 at D-Street locations. This is another Revealed/Concealed set, where similarly to Combo Toppers, you get two figures: one known figure on the top of the box and a mystery figure inside the box.

In this series Mickey is the only revealed figure, leaving Pluto, Minnie, Donald, and Stitch as concealed figures inside the box. Mickey is Jack Sparrow, Minnie is Elizabeth Swann, Stitch is Barbossa, Pluto is a pirate dog, and Donald is Will Turner. All of the figures in this series were designed by Mike Sullivan, and each box retails for $24.95

My Thoughtful Spot - Revealed/Concealed Vinylmation

The "Revealed/Concealed" concept has been a new creation in the Vinylmation world this year, after the introduction of the "Eachez" concept last year. These are both new spins on blind boxing, designed to breathe life into the hobby and increase the excitement and anticipation of blind boxing. In this post, I'm going to share my thoughts on Revealed/Concealed Vinylmation.

The first time we saw this style of blind boxing, was back in March when the Topiaries series was released. In that series, revealed/concealed functioned more like a combo topper, a concept we were already familiar with. The difference being you had to pick up what seemed like a combo topper when you bought a blind box from the Topiaries series.

I liked all of the figures in the Topiaries series, with Donald being my favorite and Sorcerer Mickey being my least favorite, just because I think collectors have had their fill of that platform after the 2013 Poster Art Series and 2014 Sorcerer Mickey. But what I didn't like about Toparies really was the revealed/concealed concept. $12.95 is pricey if you want to blind box most of the figures you want, but with Topiaries, you had no choice but to pay $24.95 per blind box (because you were getting two figures) and you would be guaranteed multiples of Sorcerer Mickey. Even buying 2 blind boxes would leave you with one extra Sorcerer Mickey and you'd have $50 less in your wallet.

I'm still not sure where Disney thought they were going with this. What is more attractive about blind boxing when you have to pick up the same figure over and over just for a chance of getting a new figure at the same time? Everyone who bought more than one Topiaries blind box has a Sorcerer Mickey they don't want, so who can you trade with? Especially if you have several. I really don't think revealed/concealed worked with this series at all. It certainly stopped me from buying any blind boxes. On the flip side, it did make the concealed figures more valuable, probably for that reason. Few people wanted to risk blind boxing. I won't say revealed/concealed ruined this series, aside from that method of blind boxing, the figures are fantastic. But I will say that it was a huge drawback that ended up being a deal-breaker for me. I still don't own any of these figures, as much as I would like them.

The next time we saw Revealed/Concealed Vinylmation was with the recently released Haunted Mansion Mickey & Friends series. This time around I think the concept worked a lot better. There is still a revealed figure on top and one of four concealed figures inside, retailing for $24.95 each. Mickey and Minnie dressed as Haunted Mansion Cast Members are undoubtedly popular figures, making them perfect as the revealed figures in this series. Many collectors will want them, so having multiple extras will be easy to trade. Furthermore, this time around there are 2 revealed figures. You could pick up Minnie and then Mickey, which makes it possible to buy 2 blind boxes and have 4 different figures, which was not possible with Topiaries. A much better use of $50.

As with a lot of things, I think there's pros and cons to revealed/concealed. I did not like it at all for Topiaries. I don't think it really worked, although perhaps from Disney's perspective it did. Topiaries did sell out quickly online. But I think the quick sell out could be attributed to the wonderful design of the series instead.

However, I think revealed/concealed had more positives in Haunted Mansion Mickey & Friends. You could easily pick up two figures that you want guaranteed (if you like the revealed figures that is) and try your luck at another two concealed figures. Just adding that extra revealed figure makes so much difference to the way the concept works, and can encourage more blind boxing by those who perhaps don't want to take a 1 or 2 in 6 chance of pulling their favorite figure.

I'm interested to see if and how Revealed/Concealed Vinylmation continues.

Haunted Mansion Mickey & Friends Release

The second "Revealed/Concealed" series has been released today at D-Street locations at at the Disney Store Online. Haunted Mansion Mickey & Friends is a 6 figure series, featuring two known combo toppers (Mickey and Minnie) as the revealed figures, with one of four concealed figures inside the blind box (Donald, Daisy, Goofy or Pete). The entire series was designed by Ron Cohee and each blind box retails for $24.95. This looks to be a popular series, as it has already sold out online.

Vinylmation Review - Topiaries

Released: March 28, 2014

Revealed/Concealed Blind Box

Topiaries was the first Vinylmation series to use the new "revealed/concealed" concept, where each blind box has a "revealed" figure on top, plus a "concealed" figure inside the blind box. My thoughts on that are for another post, this post will be a pure review of the 5 figures in the series.

This series was released as part of the 2014 Flower and Garden Festival celebrations at EPCOT. During this time, topiaries can be found of different Disney characters around Walt Disney World, particularly at EPCOT. The figures in this series are to reflect some of those characters in their flower form. I think this was a fantastic idea for a series! Something new that we haven't seen before, something memorable from the parks thats appeal to those who have never experienced the Flower and Garden Flower, whilst commemorating the occasion for those who have.


Reasons to love this series:

• It's something a little different - 5 characters and no chaser (unless you consider all 4 "concealed" figures as chasers) making it much easier to collect the whole series. (Let's not open the can of worms on how much that would cost you and how many Sorcerer Mickeys you'd have left over)
• The use of 3 molds - here there are technically three different molds: Sorcerer Mickey, Minnie and the regular Mickey mold. Mixes things up a little and is very appropriate for the figures included
• The use of ears - I love the bumblebee and Donald's hat in his ears, plus the butterflies in Daisy's ears, so cute!
• The accuracy - the characters look just like they do in their flower form, especially Donald, who is my favorite in this series. In my opinion they look realistically like topiaries, although I haven't seen any in person
• The character choices - there are plenty of characters to chose from that have been used for topiaries. Sticking to some of the Fab 5 I think was a good choice. They're loved by a wide audience and can instantly be connected to the Flower and Garden festival

Things that aren't so great:
I don't really have anything to say here. The only issue I have with this series is not related to the series itself, it's a criticism of the method in which the boxes are sold, the nature of the revealed/concealed concept, but I won't talk about that here because it's a marketing strategy. It doesn't reduce the quality or appeal of the figures, it's just a potential deterrent to blind box them. (You can read about my feelings toward the Revealed/Concealed concept here).

Topiaries Series Release

The Topiaries Series has been released today at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort and at the Disney Store Online. This is Disney's first Revealed/Concealed series, where each blind box has a known Sorcerer Mickey figure on top, but the figure inside is unknown until you open the box. There will be 1 of 4 known figures inside each blind box but you can only buy blind boxes with Sorcerer Mickey attached. Each blind box retails for $24.95

Preview of the Topiaries Series

The Disney Parks Blog posted an article today previewing the upcoming Topiaries series. This series was first previewed at the 13 Reflections of Evil event at Walt Disney World last September, but now we have more information on this series, including actual pictures of the figures.

Topiaries has been dubbed a "revealed/concealed" set, which means every blind box will have the "revealed" Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey figure (pictured on top of the box) as a combo topper and one of the other 4 figures will be a "concealed" mystery figure inside the box. 

This series promotes EPCOT's annual Flower and Garden Festival and will be released on March 28. All 5 figures were designed by Caley Hicks. No retail price has been announced as yet.