My Thoughtful Spot - Walt Disney World Vinylmation Trading

Given the recent news on Vinylmation trading being removed from Walt Disney World, I've been gathering my thoughts on this executive decision, and I've been trying to process and make sense of it. In this post, I'm writing that all down.

The Why:

Why has Disney removed the trade boxes? They haven't said. I think there could be a number of reasons. Many people complained at the quality of the figures in the trade boxes and rightly so. Many people would buy vinyls at outlets for less than $5 a piece, that were unpopular (hence their presence at the outlets), and trade them in to the boxes where instead they'd pull out a more desirable $12.95 figure. BUT - that doesn't mean all the figures were bad. I saw people pull out much more desirable $12.95 figures that didn't go to outlet, even variant figures.

The outlet issue was also mostly Disney's fault. If they didn't produce so many undesirable sets (which has stopped now I'd like to point out) we never would've had that problem. Another issue was figures moving to the outlets quickly, not because they were undesirable, but because Disney had so many releases it was out with the old, in with the new, to make room. Again Disney's fault. It seems Disney's answer to this problem was to remove trading boxes at resorts, so you at least needed Disney park admission to dump your crappy vinyls in exchange for better ones.

Now Disney have stopped with the horrendously unappealing sets, but they can still be too quick to send things to outlet, so that part of the problem remains. But I think if this was the reason for the removal of the trade boxes, the correct answer would be to give it more time for the bad figures to filter out, or just take them out of the boxes.

Another reason I think the boxes may have been removed is because of the inconsistency in the trading rules. This was another complaint among collections, and I too have experienced it. When I traded at Disney Traders in EPCOT, I got to pick 3 times and the Cast Member kept all 3 on top of the trade box for me to choose at the end. He also said I didn't have to trade if I didn't want to. Over at D-Street, I had to keep the figure I picked, and I only got to call 2 numbers.

This inconsistency didn't bother me that much though, I knew what I was in for, and I still just wanted to trade. I can see why this would be discouraging if you have to give up your figure potentially for something you have already or don't want. However, I don't think this issue is reason enough to remove the boxes. I'm sure Pin Trading faces the same issues. How many times can you trade with a CM? Does the CM have to agree to trade with you? Yet Pin Trading continues.

The Impact:

I don't think Vinylmation is headed to the grave. Maybe I'm wrong, but it still seems hugely profitable for Disney. They retail at $12.95 and I bet it costs them pennies to make. Even when tons go to outlet, I bet Disney have not lost much. If they have, it's easy to just reduce the quantities produced. Not to mention that every new release this year of a combo set or Eachez has sold out the same day online. People are still going crazy for Eachez - and those retail for $16.95! Plus there's rumors of popular sets like Frozen on the horizon.

Having said that, if Disney are concerned by the previous state of trading and merchandise is going to outlet, the decision to remove the trade boxes is only going to make problems worse. I can tell you right now that the days of me buying blind boxes are over. I found it a little hard to trade in the first place with most people wanting the same thing and getting it quickly to avoid crazy secondary market prices. Now I'm thinking it will become near impossible. Especially with some people giving up on Vinylmation and selling off their collection.

The parks were by far my favorite place to trade, where I knew I always could, and where I met some great people and had some fantastic interactions. Now that's gone. How am I supposed to trade? I am not spending $12.95 to be stuck with a figure I don't want that Disney won't let me trade any more. It's unacceptable. Trading is the linchpin of Vinylmation - that's why you buy blind boxes. It's fun not knowing what's inside, it's amazing when you get what you want, but you can always trade. Well, not anymore. If others like me are going to stop buying blind boxes, Disney really will think no one cares about Vinylmation anymore. Apparently it's too difficult to make the connection that it's because of the removal of the essential trading outlets.

The knock on effect of removing trade boxes is big enough to warrant its own post, and I will be posting that. Suffice to say, removing the trade boxes will make collecting and buying blind boxes a lot more difficult for people. It also sends out an ambiguous message that many are interpreting as the hobby is coming to an end.

I have so much to say on this topic, that I will draw the line here and pick up in another post. Thanks for reading!

Reports on Vinylmation Trading at the Parks

It's been reported that trading at the Parks is still in practice, despite planned discontinuation on February 5. Here's what we've heard:

Downtown Disney:

• Pin Traders is reportedly still using its Vinylmation trade box
• D-Street even their Vinylmation trade box has been removed, however they are currently trading using open trays:

(Photo credit: Vinylmation World)

EPCOT:

• Mouse Gear is not trading and has had its trade box removed
• Disney Traders is still trading using the original black trade boxes

Other locations:

• Animal Kingdom is reportedly trading as normal with regular trade boxes
• Magic Kingdom is reportedly trading as normal with regular trade boxes
• Hollywood Studios is reportedly trading as normal with regular trade boxes

While this is currently the case, it could change at any time. It certainly makes me think, that while it doesn't look as attractive, using empty trays to trade instead of the Vinylmation trade box would solve many of the previous issues with the Mystery Trade Box. If those problems had anything to do with the removal of the boxes, it seems Disney have potentially solved their own problem. 

Trade Boxes Facing Removal from the Parks

Vinylmation World has received a tip that Vinylmation trading boxes will be removed from the Disney Theme Parks on February 5th. 2015. Disney have not made an official announcement at this time, nor have they explained the reason for the removal.

I know the trade boxes weren't always the best, there were a lot of outlet vinyls that were used to trade for better figures, but I still thought it was fun to see what you'd get. It made it that much sweeter too when you pulled out a desirable figure, or better still, a figure that you wanted.

This news is adding fuel to the debate that Vinylmation are soon to become a thing of the past. I won't comment on that now, but I am already thinking of a plethora of things along those lines that I want to write about.

Disney Store Trade

I had a great time trading at my local Disney Store yesterday. They have a clear 3 figure trade box that seems to change multiple times a week. I guess we have a strong collecting community here! There's the usual, predictable vinyls in there that people don't want from time to time. But I've seen other, more desirable figures in there too.

When I visit a couple times in a week, there's always at least 1 new figure in the box, sometimes all 3 are different from the last time I visit. That really keeps me coming back! Yesterday I took my Wild West Pluto that I picked up trading at Walt Disney World last year, and traded him at my local Disney Store for Captain Gantu from Villains #4. I wanted that figure, but not enough to try my luck at blind boxing or to buy from the secondary market. Very pleased to have traded in store!

Trade-Cation: Vinylmation Trading Log

A little while back I posted about an adventure I was planning at Walt Disney World, that I call: Trade-Cation. I was aiming to discover where I could buy and trade Vinylmation at the Walt Disney World Resort. I was also hoping to get some spontaneous trades going with fellow collectors and to check out what was lurking in the trade boxes around the parks. This post will serve as my log book of what happened on my adventure. So grab a cup of Joe and join me!

Tuesday, October 29 - Magic Kingdom

Today featured my first trade of the trade-cation. I brought along my Big Eyes Mickey figure to trade:

I headed over to the Frontierland Trading Post to see what I could trade. I found 2 clear trading boxes, but no mystery trade box at this location. (You can check out the vinyls they had for sale here). I looked at one of the clear 12 trading boxes for a figure to trade for. There were 4 High School figures, 2 Zooper Heroes figures, 2 Extreme Wrestlers, 2 Under the Big Top figures, John Carter and an Urban 5 Popcorn. Needless to say, I went for the Urban 5 Popcorn.

It doesn't surprise me that the trade box was full of junk, I was expecting it, and my reason for trading was for fun and also as an experiment to see the best figure I could pull, given that the boxes are full of junk. But it does prove my point that these non-Disney series are not what collectors want.

Frontierland Trading Post

With my new Popcorn figure in hand, I headed out, when as I left the sales desk I had my first (and what would turn out to be my only) spontaneous trade with another collector. He was a very kind gentlemen who saw me trade at the desk and asked if I wanted to trade with him. I said sure! He traded me my Urban 5 Popcorn for his Little Mermaid Ariel figure. I was really happy since I already have the Popcorn figure, but more so that I had a great and fun interaction with another happy collector.

Wednesday, October 30 - Pin Traders

For my second trade of the trip, I headed over to Pin Traders at Downtown Disney's Marketplace. I brought my Honey Hunt figure from Park 12. At Pin Traders I saw only a Mystery 15 trade box and tried my luck.

Ironically, my first pull was another Honey Hunt figure. Seeing that I had this figure already, the Cast Member told me to pick another number. I chose again and pulled the Urban Redux #2 Woolly Mammoth - common not the variant. The Cast Member put the Honey Hunt and Mammoth figures next to each other on top of the trade box and told me I could either take one or pick a third number.

I decided to take the Woolly Mammoth since I figured it was better than a High School, Extreme Wrestler or Zooper Hero figure I was at risk of pulling. I took the Mammoth and handed over my figure. The Cast Member seemed confident in what she was doing, but seemed pretty indifferent in her attitude. She also didn't explain the rules beforehand. It was interesting to note the different attitudes of cast members at each trade location.

Wednesday, October 30 - D-Street

My third trade took place on the same night as my second, but over at D-Street. I took Skippy with me, a figure from the Park #6 Alien Encounter combo set.

D-Street had a Mystery 15 trade box and a clear 3 trade box. I didn't see anything special in the clear box so I asked the Cast Member if I could trade from the mystery box. She seemed excited that I'd asked and looked in the mystery box. She said "the box is bad" and asked another Cast Member to "switch" the box. The other Cast Member ran out the back with the first box and brought out a new one. This was new information for me. I had heard about "refreshing" trade boxes, but I didn't know this meant switching the mystery box entirely at the discretion of cast members.

They seemed to have much stricter rules at D-Street, which one would expect being the flag bearer Vinylmation vendor, but from my past experiences here, I was not inspired with confidence that the staff knew the first thing about Vinylmation. The Cast Member made me surrender my vinyl before I could pick a number. She also didn't explain the rules to me before I traded.

My first pull was the Disney Cruise Line Killer Whale. I did not cruise to Alaska, so I tried to get another figure I might like. I had to give up this figure in order to choose a second number. The Cast Member told me this was my last trade (not the case at other locations, as I've already mentioned above). So I had to keep whatever I pulled this time. I pulled... Wild West Pluto. I was happy with that, it definitely could have been worse and I liked it a lot more than the whale.

Thursday, October 31 - EPCOT

This turned out to be my fourth and final trade of the trade-cation. While I'd hoped to do more trading, I just got too busy. For this trade, I headed over to Disney Traders.

I brought my Urban Redux #2 Woolly Mammoth to trade. Inside I found a Mystery 15 trade box and a clear 3 trade box. Once again I didn't see anything I liked in the clear trade box, so I asked the Cast Member if I could trade from the mystery box. This Cast Member also seemed excited that I'd asked to trade (although the Cast Member at D-Street wins the award for most excited).

My first pull was Drago Smackdownovich from the Extreme Wrestlers series. Hardly surprising, but the Cast Member did a great job of trying to make it seem like an exciting figure. I asked to pick again and the Cast Member kept Drago on top of the box and told me to pick another number. I chose a number and pulled Donald/March from the 2013 Poster Art series.

The Cast Member put Donald next to the wrestler and said I could pick for a third time. I decided to take Donald as I didn't think I'd pick anything better. I handed over the Woolly Mammoth and the Cast Member gave me Donald.

My trade figure

The Cast Member at Disney Traders was very helpful and polite. He asked me what I was looking for and checked the trade box. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, since I was trading for fun and didn't expect anything decent to be in there. I also didn't know how much he knew about vinyls so I said Star Wars in the hope that those figures (if there) would stand out to him. He looked but of course, no Star Wars figures in the box.

In-Park Trading Review

To summarize and review my thoughts on this experience and experiment, I felt that overall there wasn't anything amazing in the trade box. However, I was expecting this and I was definitely prepared to end up with A LOT worse than what I took home. Your typical outlet fodder was definitely in there but I avoided taking it. I was pleased to see so many CMs have an enthusiastic attitude toward Vinylmation trading, it made trading a lot more fun and enjoyable. I hate it when they seem thoroughly disinterested, you kinda regret asking.

I was surprised to see different rules of trading practiced since the changes in the trade boxes. I thought Disney were aiming to make the rules more uniform and that reducing the number of trade box locations would help that initiative, but it hasn't happened yet from my experience. Although the rules seemed the same at each location other than D-Street, which had its own rules, so maybe less boxes has helped. I should mention that despite the undesirable nature of the vinyls in trade boxes, they all seemed like they were in great condition which I was extremely happy about. Nothing worse than a vinyl you don't want that's also beat up.

Mystery 15 box at Villains in Vogue - Hollywood Studios

I had a great time trading and would have traded more had I had the time, but since it was my honeymoon, trading definitely took the backseat when we visited Downtown Disney and the theme parks. I was thrilled to make a spontaneous trade with another collector and what I got was absolutely shocking and outstanding in a good way. I was surprised and pleased that not every collector brings discounted outlet vinyls to trade with at Walt Disney World. I enjoyed trading with another collector much more than the trade boxes and hope to do this again.

One thing I would say to others who plan on in-park trading,  is to not take trading there too seriously. Trading was fun because I wasn't expecting to get anything amazing like a chaser, variant or something that I really needed/wanted to fill a gap in my collection. If you go in with that attitude, you might be disappointed when all you pull are non-Disney series, or discounted outlet vinyls when the Cast Member makes you surrender one of your $12.95 Park Series vinyls. However, if Disney listen to collectors and reduce the number of vinyls they make and stop producing those terrible non-Disney sets, I think these issues will eventually become a thing of the past for in-park trading.

Coming Soon to Vinylmation Isle... The Trade-Cation Adventure

If you've been here a while, you'll know that I have a trip coming up real soon to Walt Disney World. Trading has changed a lot at the World since February, so I've decided to start my own adventure that I'm naming - Trade-Cation. It's a vacation centered on Vinylmation trading at Walt Disney World and I wanted to use this post to explain what I'll be doing.

I have main aims for Trade-Cation:

1. With the recent trading changes around the parks, I'm going to be scouting out where trading takes place these days. We're aware of 5 main trading locations around the resort that I've posted about before. However, I've also heard reports that trade boxes can be found at other locations. I'll take a look around and report back
2. It doesn't necessarily follow that were you can buy Vinylmation, you can trade Vinylmation and vice versa. I aim to take notes and pictures of every Vinylmation trade and sale location I come across on property
3. I want to see if I can meet other traders and get some spontaneous trades going. I've already posted about my Vinylmation bag and pin that I'm taking with me. I hope it will get the message across that I'm up for trades! I won't have many traders on my person around the parks, but I love to trade just for the fun of it. I'll be missing out on the big Disney Trade Night by just 2 days (which I'm super upset about) so I hope there will still be some folks around looking for trades
4. I also want to see what the quality of park trading boxes are like. I've had that despite the changes, the trade boxes are still full of buy one get ones and other outlet figures. I've even heard that some of the figures can get pretty banged up and are lacking accessories, despite Disney's rules about the figure's condition. I'm going to keep a written and video log to see the best and worst vinyl I can pull

I'm only at Disney for a week, so I hope I can accomplish all that I'm setting out to. I'll be posting and possibly sharing videos from my Trade-Cation experience when I'm back, so I hope you'll follow along on my adventure with me!

The Collector's Space - Vinylmation Trading Pin

Over the last couple months, I've heard numerous reports that trading is becoming difficult, or less appealing shall we say, over at D-Street Orlando. I don't want to talk about what's been happening over there because they're not my experiences and I do like D-Street, so I don't want to bring them into disrepute. My point is, that I am looking for ways other than being at D-Street to get trades going with other collectors while at Walt Disney World.

I plan on trading for fun the next time I'm at Walt Disney World this Fall, so if I make a collector's day, or trade just for fun and don't get something that I want - I'm happy with that! They're traders for a reason. So I decided to buy a Vinylmation bag and a Vinylmation Mystery Pin to hopefully get the message across that I'm a Vinylmation fan and collector, and I am willing to trade.

I will report back after my trip on how well this went and in the meantime, if you happen to be at Walt Disney World from October 24-31 and you see me, please say hi and let me know if you want to trade! I will only have a small handful of traders with me each day, but I would love to meet you and trade :)

If you'd like to schedule a meet for a trade, or you'd like to share another idea on how to get spontaneous trades going at the parks, please leave a comment!

Vinylmation Vacation Video

I came across a video today made by a Vinylmation fan named David. David made a film about his experiences buying and trading Vinylmation at the Walt Disney World Resort, titled, "Vinylmation Vacation". He saved up a whole bunch of traders in anticipation of the 2013 Vinylmation Trade Night at Disney's Wild World of Sports Complex, which he combined with a vacation for his birthday.

I really enjoyed watching this video, which follows David and his wife Tayelor buying and trading at several Walt Disney World Resort locations. For those of you like me who have yet to experience a Walt Disney World Vinylmation trading event, this video was a great insight into what that's like. It's also a helpful on where you can buy and trade vinyls at Walt Disney World, given the recent changes that took place in February 2013. Finally, it's really interesting to see the types of vinyls that end up in Disney Resort trade boxes.

I invite you also to live vicariously through David for 45 minutes by watching this video.

WARNING: May cause Disney homesickness

Walt Disney World Trading Locations

***PLEASE NOTE: I'm leaving this guide up for reference, however, trading has since been removed from the Walt Disney World Resort***

You might be new to trading Vinylmation at the Disney Parks, or you might be a seasoned collector wondering where in the World you can trade after Disney re-vamped park trading in February 2013. Whichever category you fall in, I hope this post will be useful for finding out where to trade when you're at Walt Disney World.

Magic Kingdom

Frontierland Trading Post

EPCOT

Mouse Gear
(photo credit: WDWLive)

Hollywood Studios

Villains in Vogue

Animal Kingdom

Island Mercantile

Downtown Disney

D-Street

Please remember that trading is not always the same at each location. There may be Mystery 12, Mystery 15, Mystery 24, and/or clear trading boxes at each location. The trade boxes available at these locations may also change.

Happy trading!

Vinylmation Beginner's Guide - How Does Trading Work?

Blind boxes can seem very daunting for new collectors - how can I get the vinyls I want and what do I do with all my extras? Trading is a solution to that problem and that will be the focus of this post.

There are so many different ways to trade, but one method I endorse is trading at the Disney Parks. I know people have some issues with this, like the same types of vinyls ending up in the box, but for a beginner I think it's great, especially if you have too many duplicates.

There's a video here from Steven Miller explaining how to trade at the Disney Parks that I would recommend watching. One thing Steven doesn't mention in that video that's important to note, is that you cannot trade for a vinyl in the clear trading box, if the vinyl you want to trade for is already in that box.

I would like to point out here, that the rules do vary. Steven covers the basics in that video, and those are the official rules, however some Cast Members will not make you trade your vinyl for the one you pick from the mystery box if you don't like it. Others however will strictly enforce that rule. Some Cast Members will also let you trade from the mystery box more than once, but again, others won't. Sometimes it just depends how busy the Cast Members are.

Clear trade box in Animal Kingdom

If you're not heading over to a Disney park any time soon, there are other ways to trade away from the parks. There are websites solely for trading vinyls, there are trading groups on social media sites like Facebook, people trade over Instagram and there are forums for trading. I do not want to recommend any of these methods without trying them for myself, so I'm, letting y'all know that they're out there but I am not going to put my name to anything specific.

If you're a new collector, I would be prepared that people might turn down your trade offers. I am not trying to crush your spirits, just noting that some collectors have been around for a while, and have A LOT of vinyls in their collection. If your collection is small, you might not have anything they're looking for. Long term collectors will also know the secondary market values of vinyls and might not want to trade vinyls 1-for-1 if they don't have equal value on the secondary market.

Mystery 15 Trading Box

I would also like to mention that you should be careful with these internet methods. I personally have not used any because I'm just too afraid of the worst case scenario. I do not know these people and there's no buyer protection that after I give them my money, they'll send me my vinyl. There's also no guarantee that if I receive the wrong vinyl, or a damaged vinyl that I will receive a replacement or my money back. But, I know plenty of people who have had great experiences from Facebook trading groups, Instagram and trading websites. If you're cautious, you'll be fine!

Whatever method or methods you choose, good luck trading!