Exclusives - The Double Edged Sword

For today's Thoughtful Spot post I'm going to talk about how I find Vinylmation "exclusives" a double edged sword and explain why. Maybe you feel the same way?

There are several "exclusive" Vinylmation, such as City exclusives (like San Francisco), Disney Vacation Club exclusives and special event exclusives such as the D23 Expo and 13 Reflections of Evil. I'm not going to talk about whether "exclusive" means exclusive with Disney in this post, although that can be an issue, I'm instead going to talk about the availability of the vinyls on the secondary market and how I feel about this.

For instance, I did not attend 13 Reflections of Evil because I wasn't at Disney World during that time. But I am interested in some of the merchandise, so in a way I'm pleased that although I personally didn't attend this event, it's still possible for me to pick up some of the event's exclusive merchandise from eBay.

But, at the same time, there are some Vinylmation that I wish could stay exclusive. I get kinda sad when I see "DVC Exclusives" on eBay because I like to feel special that I have DVC vinyls because I'm a DVC member. I feel like it's not really a "DVC exclusive" when numerous non-DVC members have acquired these vinyls from friends, or more commonly from eBay.

And that's why exclusives are a double edged sword for me. One part of me wishes they could stay true to their name and remain exclusives, but there's no way to stop people selling these items on the secondary market or trading them, nor do I think Disney should try. Our vinyls, our collection, our freedom. But another part of me is glad that if I wasn't able to pick up a certain exclusive (as opposed to just not wanting to) it's still possible through the means of trades or the secondary market.

Do you have any opinions on exclusives?

Silly Symphony Release

The Silly Symphony series has been released today at D-Streets and the Disney Store online. This is another 8 figure series like Urban Redux #1 and Cutesters En Vogue, instead of a usual 12 figure series. All the Silly Symphony figures were designed by Monty Maldovan and each blind box retails at $12.95

Throwback Thursday - Headless Horseman

Series: Animation #2

Artist: Casey Jones

Released: January 2012

Vinylmation Review - Mystery Bakery Seven Dwarfs

For today's Vinylmation Review, I will continue reviewing the "flavors" of the recently released Mystery Bakery series by taking a look at the Seven (well, three) Dwarfs.

Released: July 12, 2013

Blind Open Window

The "Seven" Dwarfs are one of my least favorite "flavors" in this series. Again, I am a big fan of mixing the blind box and open window concepts, and I love and respect the quality and accuracy of the artwork here. It's purely the character choice that I'm not a fan of. Grumpy has been used several times and Dopey has taken vinyl form before also. My personal feeling is that these characters are becoming over-used in Disney merchandising. You can always find a hat, mug, t-shirt, etc with Grumpy on at Disney World and your local Disney Store. (Although the same argument could be made for Stitch in the Vinylmation world, but he's one of my favorite characters. As I said, it's down to personal taste). I would have preferred to see more recent characters such as those from Finding Nemo, but I can appreciate that anthropomorphic characters work better in this series.

I do however think that this particular line in the Mystery Bakery series might be more attractive to some collectors because of the possibility of "bloxing" different characters, as opposed to the same character with different expressions.

So let's get down to reviewing the figures starting with the frosting. I really like the gems on the frosting to reflect the dwarfs' mine, very appropriate and very well done. Not as amazing as the frosting on most of the other figures, such as the Toy Story Aliens, but still done very well. I really like the diamonds and gems on the ears of the three dwarfs. I think it's a great use of the ears (blank ears are one of my pet peeves!) and it looks even more awesome when the ears poke out the top of the frosting. It all blends together really well. The expressions of the dwarfs and their facial appearance is exactly like their animated form, so I love that!

I don't really like that all three dwarfs are all dressed the same in red. In Snow White they each have their own iconic colors and so having them all in red makes them look a little less like themselves. It works with the Toy Story Aliens because they do all dress the same, but I know it wouldn't have worked to have each dwarf in a different outfit or it wouldn't be a mystery. My only other criticism is the same as a criticism I had with Figment: why have green frosting on the dwarfs faces when the frosting is blue? In my opinion it should be blue.

So overall, a good "flavor" for the Mystery Bakery series, just not my personal fav.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday! I didn't get any Vinylmation (or I would have taken a Vinylmation birthday picture) but I'm currently saving for my trip to Walt Disney World next month, where I will make up for it ;) a very merry UN-birthday to everyone whose birthday is not today!