VIDEO: 100 Subscribers Giveaway

We have reached 100 subscribers on YouTube and thought we would do something special with a giveaway. If you would like to participate, please watch the video below, follow the simple instructions and good luck :)

Updated Wall Of Vinyls

With the latest addition to our "Vinylmation Museum" being our complete set of Muppets 3, it was time to redo our famous "Wall of Vinyls". Check out our updated picture below (click to enlarge):

VIDEO: 2013 San Diego Comic Con Haul

Thank you to our friend Daniel Jue, the owner of R2-DJ Toys and Collectibles, here is a video of our trade for some fantastic 2013 San Diego Comic Con exclusive releases!

The Mouth of the Snowth

The latest blind box series from Disney is Muppets 3 which was released on 7/26/13 and retails at $12.95. A bit of exciting news is that an unannounced variant has been discovered and is definitely becoming a hot trade piece at the moment

The variant Snowth is the one on the right with the oval shaped mouth. A very subtle variant so please be sure to check your figure carefully as you would not want to trade away a potentially valuable one. These have also been confirmed to be two per case. 

We can't wait to unbox our case and of course post the video to follow! Wish us luck in getting the variant :)

VIDEO: Muppets 3 Vinylmation Unboxing

Watch us unbox the entire case of Muppets 3 which is a blind box series that was released on 7/26/13. The extra set of 11 is for trade/sale if anyone is interested. Thanks for watching :)

She Go or No? Park Starz 2 Variant Carnotaurus

Scheduled to be released today is the Park Starz 2 Variant Carnotaurus. This variant comes in a tin with a limited edition run of 1,000 pieces and retails at $26.95. For those of you interested, this is available for purchase at both D-Street locations and online at the Disneystore.com. It is also the featured vinyl for this "She Go or No?" segment.

The first thing that we always look at is the price. We have been in this hobby for such a long time that price is always a factor first and foremost. This is our mindset because of all of the price drops that has occurred over the years that made us feel a bit foolish for not waiting. It has definitely changed our buying habits and will probably continue to do so going forward.

But anyway, looking at the price, it is definitely a fair one considering the tin, the limited edition nature of this variant and the fact that the Park Starz series have always been bigger and heavier than normal Vinylmation releases. They also tend to be a lot more detailed. We believe that this is one release that will be sold out before it would get a chance to drop in price.

Taking a look at the design itself, this is a million times better than the original! Making clever use of a clear body in some areas gives it a nice reflective look that stands out from the crowd and makes it very easy to identify for those of you collectors who open your tins. This makes it a fantastic display piece for any collection!

This variant release gets a "She Go" from us and we recommend you pick one up quickly before it sells out. 

VIDEO: Vinylmation Mystery Bakery Series Unboxing

Check out our unboxing video for the Vinylmation Mystery Bakery Series! Did we get them all? Do you want to trade for any of these? Let us know :)

Sneak Peek: Our Vinylmation Museum

Check out this sneak peek of our Vinylmation Museum :)

We will eventually do a video tour so hopefully this is enough to quench your appetite for vinyls!

VIDEO: Our Vinylmation Traders

Thank you so much for all of your messages and e-mails asking us what we have for trade. Here is a video of what we currently have and feel free to let us know if you need anything :)

A Very Manly Muppet

It's no secret that we were planning on buying a case of Muppets 3 on release day since we are going to try and obtain as many Mahna Mahnas and Animals that we can possibly get our hands on! But, the chaser has been revealed (pun intended) and this is definitely another fantastic figure!

Walter! The manliest Muppet of them all! I absolutely love this design and his spot in our Vinylmation Museum is already awaiting his arrival :)

PayPal Is Your Pal, Pal!

If you have ever bought or sold anything on eBay, chances are that you have a PayPal account. Outside of its usage for eBay, PayPal can be a very useful tool when collecting Vinylmation or any other hobby really.

The first and perhaps biggest thing that helps with PayPal is the fact that it is a record of your transaction. This helps to protect yourself against potential scammers because as all of us tend to learn the hard way that not everyone on the Internet is your friend! Having this record is your proof and is often the difference between you getting swindled or just having a minor disturbance of the Force.

But, our favorite part of PayPal is using it for shipping! The more you trade and sell, the more you will end up paying for both shipping supplies as well as the cost. Using the PayPal shipping tool, you will save on average about 30% of what it would regularly cost you by going to the post office! In addition to saving you money, every shipping label comes with a built in tracking number which is more than useful to both you and the trader or buyer on the other end.

Think of it this way, if you have spent $100 on regular shipping with USPS, you would have saved $30 with PayPal ship. Spent $1,000, and you would have saved $300. Or if you are a lifelong collector like we are, spent $10,000 and PayPal ship would have potentially saved you $3,000!!! These savings add up over time to both more money in your pocket, more money to purchase more collectibles in your various hobbies, or of course a better profit margin for all of you business minded folks out there :)

PayPal is definitely your Pal!

Ballin' On A Budget

There is no such thing as a cheap hobby! The more involved you get within it, the more your wallet will begin to cry!

Being a Vinylmation collector is no different! Collecting all of the 1.5", 3" and 9" figures that you want can get very pricey in a hurry! So, as a staff, we thought we would share some helpful tips with you on how you can be a baller on a budget.

The first way is to be alert and always look out for sales. There are numerous sales each and every month at both your local and online at the Disney Store. Of course, we recommend you grab whatever is available that you want while it is on sale in your store as it saves you a lot of money rather than having it shipped to your house. With the Disney Store online, there are often many free shipping codes out there once you hit a certain spending threshold and that always leaves you with more money to spend on the actual vinyls rather than just the shipping.

Applying for and using a Disney Visa card is another way to save money especially in stores. Anytime you spend over $50 on qualifying merchandise (we have yet to not get this discount on Vinylmation purchases), you receive 10% off your entire purchase. Having one of these will allow you to plan your Vinylmation purchases in store so that it can become 10% cheaper which adds up to be huge savings the longer you participate in this wonderful hobby.

It is assumed that if you are a Vinylmation collector, it is because you love Disney! And it is impossible to love Disney without picking up your favorite films on both Blu-Ray and DVD. Any time you purchase a Disney Blu-Ray or DVD, it comes with a Disney Movie Rewards code on the inside. Using this codes have gotten us vinyls in the past such as the Halloween Minnie. Our advice is to save these codes until they have double points days, or you can find a bonus code that will add even more points to your account. There are also a few days here and there where entering a certain amount of codes (generally 3), gets you a free bonus Blu-Ray and all you pay is the shipping ($3.95)!

D23 is the official Disney Fan Club and joining it has its perks as well! Besides being able to access a cool members only website and having exclusive offers and discounts, our favorite thing about the D23 membership is the ability to purchase exclusive Vinylmation figures that the general public does not have the same access to. The D23 Expo is set for August of this year and you will be able to see all of the fantastic exclusive merchandise soon!

Last, but certainly not least is if you became an Annual Passholder. If you and your family go to the Disney Parks often, this is definitely a must have! Not only does it save you money for your frequent visits but you will be able to get 20% off your Vinylmation purchases there as well! Definitely another way to save money in this hobby and combine it with the magic of visiting a Disney Park and having another great excuse to go :)

Until we win the Powerball lottery, this is how we save money in this hobby whenever we possibly can and thought these would be some helpful tips for everyone as well! Happy Collecting :)

She Go or No? Park Starz Pirates of the Caribbean Variant Set

For this installment of "She Go or No?", we bring you perhaps the longest Vinylmation name ever with the Park Starz Pirates of the Caribbean Variant Set. 

Scheduled for release on 7/12/13 at both D-Street locations, this sepia-toned variant set is a limited edition of 2,000 and will retail at $49.95. It is unknown currently as to how these will be packaged but our assumption is that they will be in some sort of open edition display. 

I have always been a fan of the Park Starz series and this is a very interesting color scheme with the sepia. But, for these two particular vinyls, I cannot seem to justify the price tag! Although by being connected to the Pirates franchise, there are a ton of different possible display options here within our "Vinylmation Museum" set-up should we ever obtain these. 

Unless there will be a price drop on these and I don't believe there will be, this set gets a soft "No". 

They're Baaaccckkkkk!

Multiple reports have been pouring in about the Park Starz 1 series resurfacing at D-Street Florida. This is fantastic news for all of you who still want to add this to your collection or are missing a few pieces needed for the complete set.

There is no real timeframe for how long these will be available so we definitely recommend getting them as soon as possible. These retail at $18.95 per tin.

A Baker's Dozen

This exciting picture has surfaced today which shows off a fantastic preview of the Vinylmations that will be released on Friday 7/12/13.

Nothing makes us more giddy than the mysterious, yet open edition Bakery Series that is shown across the bottom of the display. Once the news broke that both Stitch and Little Green Men would be included in this set, we were sold. Those are two of our favorite Disney characters and our mission has always been to get every release that they are featured in. 

Friday cannot come quick enough!

Summer Days Driftin' Away

Today marks a fantastic release at Tokyo Disneyland of the Summer Fun Mickey and Minnie. These vinyls are open edition and currently Japan exclusives but we are definitely keeping our fingers crossed that we will get to see these stateside at some point. The retail price on these vinyls come out to roughly $12.25 which would lead us to believe they would be $12.95 if they arrive at the US Disney Stores.

What do you think about these? We have a special place in our hearts for all of the Japan releases and this one is no different. These two were an immediate add to our wants list :)

She Go or No? Park 12 Country Bear Jamboree

In this installment of "She Go or No?", we take a look at the upcoming July 12th release entitled Park 12 Country Bear Jamboree

This three figure set will be an open edition with a limited run of 1,500. It will retail for $39.95 and will be sold exclusively at both D-Street locations. 

One thing that is wonderful about having your own blog is getting the opportunity to be brutally honest when called for and this is one of those times. You know how when you were in elementary school, the teachers always preached "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all"? I really just wanted to post a picture of these vinyls with the word "NO" in big bold letters. But, it would not have been right to not post the release information for all of those interested.

With all of that being said, this gets a definitive "No" from our staff and can see this set sitting on the shelves at D-Street for quite a while. 

She Go or No? July 2013 Poster Art

Today marks the start of our new series of posts that we will be calling "She Go or No?". These posts will be reviews where we take a look at the newly released vinyls and share our thoughts about them.

Here in the islands, the term "she go" can mean a wide variety of things such as okay, great, yes and etc... And by popular request for us to add a little more local flair in all that we do, this seems like a good place to start.

The July 2013 Poster Art Vinylmation was just released on 7/5/13 at both D-Street locations and is an open edition limited run of 2,013 that retails for $14.95

As with the rest of the 2013 Poster Art series, this one has many collectors on the fence as to whether or not they should pick it up. On first glance, we see the number 13 which has been significant on all of the Poster Art series vinyls mainly because of both the year and limited edition amount of pieces made. Definitely do not mind this as it helps to easily identify the vinyls for all of the out-of-the-box collectors.  The rest of this vinyl seems to have an Independence Day/4th of July feel to it but just seems to fall flat for us. 

Unless July is your birth month or you do like the design of this vinyl, this one gets a "No" rating from us.

Video: Disneystore.com 7/3/13 Haul: The Not-So Great and Powerful

Check out our latest haul from last week's sale online at the Disney Store :)

Video: Disney Vinylmation Hawaii Exclusives

Check out our newest video that features a quick overview of every Disney Vinylmation Hawaii Exclusive :)

If Only Money Grew On Trees...

When the first of each month arrives, it has become a traditional to check out our notes and see what Vinylmation releases will be coming and which ones we will want to purchase. Generally, certain months are expensive due to the sheer amount of releases but this month will be a bit different...

Looking at our notes and calendar, there are three releases that have really caught our eye; Mystery Bakery Series, Disney Afternoon Series 2: Ducktales and Muppets 3. With the plans we have for each one, we are definitely glad that we have been saving our money!

The Mystery Bakery Series is a very unique concept! Although they are being touted as Open Edition vinyls, they are actually more of a blind box series. There will be 6 different characters and 3 different designs of each one making this a set of 18. What is so unique about this particular set is that all of the characters look the same from the outside but taking off their cupcake hat is the only way to reveal which design you actually have purchased! Our plan is to get one of each character to display in its Open Edition glory within our "Vinylmation Museum" and then multiples of the Stitch and Little Green Men in an attempt to get each different design.

With the Disney Afternoon Series 2: Ducktales set, taking one look at it should say it all. Anyone who was an 80's child can tell you stories about rushing home from school to turn on the TV and catch as many of the Disney Afternoon cartoons possible before starting their homework. The feeling of nostalgia is so high with this release and of course, anyone who tells you that they do not know the words to the Ducktales theme song is covering up their secret love of Scrooge McDuck and the gang!

And last but not least, the Muppets 3 blind box series! The only thing that really needs to be said is...MAHNA MAHNA! 

That Darn Cat!

The longer you stay in a hobby, the more likely you are to meet a few people who share the same interests as you. While we definitely do not think we have been collecting for very long, one of the people we have been blessed to meet is Catherine Liu.

Catherine Liu is not afraid to admit her love of all things Disney. And to further share her experiences with everyone out there who may feel the same, she has created both a blog and a YouTube channel dedicated to her "obsession"

Cat's blog: http://bit.ly/14K7jN6

Or if you are not the reading type, her YouTube channel features many videos that you will not be able to find on her blog. Definitely worthwhile to check out both

Cat's YouTube: http://bit.ly/19Roov3

Remember to show her some love with a like, subscribe or even a comment. She has been known to not only respond to everyone but amaze them with her incredible knowledge of Disneyana!

Spellbinding Sorcerers

Can you believe that it is July already? Time has been absolutely flying this year and we hope that it will continue because D23 is lurking around the corner and our anticipation and excitement is only growing!

With the full previews of the D23 specific vinyls being released, this series of three was the first to catch our eye! Designed by Caley Hicks, these D23 Sorcerer's Logo will be a limited edition run of 2,000 pieces and retail at $16.95 a piece.

Such a simple yet elegant design that just screams out for you to collect them all as if this were Pokemon! We are quite optimistic that we will be able to get one of each color and already have it planned out for where it will sit in our "Vinylmation Museum" :)

August Rush

For each month of the 2013 year, Disney has been releasing a limited edition Poster Series Vinylmation and they have been somewhat hit or miss. That trend will continue in August except this one is in our opinion the best one thus far!

This release is a collaborative effort from Maria Clapsis and Jonathan Bishop that is scheduled for 8/2/13 and will be at both D-Street locations as well as the Disney Store online. Just like its predecessors in the series, this will be an open edition with a run of 2,013 pieces and retail for $14.95.

What do you guys think about this one? Have you been collecting each figure every month? This vinyl is an absolute must have for us :)

The Full Monty

If there is one regret that the Vinylmation Revealed staff has as a whole, it is not picking up every single Disney Afternoon Series 1 release. But, we will not make that same mistake twice!

Today, we get a look at the Disney Afternoon Series 2 release from Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers. This is actually a three vinyl set! It would appear that it includes a 3" Gadget, 3" Monty and a 1.5" Zipper! We are being told this will be released on 8/16/13 at both D-Street locations and online at the Disney Store. This will be a limited edition run of 1,500 and will retail at $29.95.

This is a must have for our staff, how about you? 

The Lone(ly) Ranger

Disney has definitely given a new meaning to T.G.I.F. for all of their Vinylmation collectors. But, inevitably in all busy release months, there is bound to be a set or two that gets forgotten in the shuffle. For this month, the Lone Ranger is odd man out...

Released on 6/21/13, the same day as the Beauty and the Beast blind box series, it may have been doomed from the beginning. This two-pack is a limited edition run of 2,000 sets that retail at $26.95 and includes both the Lone Ranger and Tonto. In person, this set is absolutely beautiful and our staff is assuming that the popularity of this set may possible increase if the movie gets rave reviews. If not, a price drop may be imminent.

What do you guys think of this one? Did you pick up a set? Can you imagine the open display possibilities for these guys? Check out this example below from Disney World.

Surfin' U.S.A.

Here is our unboxing of the Mickey Surf tin that is a Hawaii exclusive released on 6/26/13

See Ya Later, Ben Ali Gator!

Just when you thought your wallet was safe, yet another Friday release is coming!

Fantasia 8 which is a two-pack of Ben Ali Gator and Hyacinth Hippo is scheduled to be released on 6/28/13. This will be a limited edition run of 2,000 sets that will be retailing at $24.95 and is a park exclusive.

Any thoughts on this set? Outside of the initial Fantasia two-pack, the staff has not picked up any of the following releases in this series. Though, if this ever does price drop to the sub $5 range like the Oz sets recently have, it will be a deal that is too good to pass up!

There's No Place Like Home...

They say that all good things in life come to those who wait...and boy are we glad we waited!

Right now, online at the Disney Store, all of the Oz the Great and Powerful Vinylmation open edition 2-packs are $3.99! Yes, you read that correctly, these sets are $3.99! For all of you collectors who have been waiting for a price drop, this is as good as it will get on these beautiful sets!

We checked our local Disney Store today to see if the prices were the same in there and it was not. This is an online ONLY deal for the moment unless you live near an outlet as that is the price for these sets there as well. If you are looking for other vinyls to purchase online to get free shipping, it is worth noting the all of the in-stock NBA vinyls are $3.99 along with the 2013 Valentine's Day release. Or if you have not completed your Whiskers and Tales or High School sets yet, they are buy one, get one free. 

Happy Collecting and we hope you jump on these deals while they last :)

You Rang, Sir?

Since it's release on 5/3/13, the Tower of Terror Bellhop has been one of the most sought after figures from the Park Starz 2 series. And since Disney does its best to never disappoint their loyal fanbase, a variant will be released on 6/28/13 at both D-Street locations and online at the Disney Store.

Here is a sneak peek of what the tin that it will come in looks like:

We are being told that it is a limited edition run of 2,000 pieces and will retail at $24.95. 

What do you guys think of this one? Is this a must have? Our staff will be camping out online to pick one up as he is just too awesome to not join his fellow bellhops in our collection :)

They Call Her Mellow Yellow...

The Bimbettes...triplet sisters who stick together through thick and thin. Including being sealed up in blind boxes!

With the newly released Beauty and the Beast Vinylmation series, three different versions of the Bimbette have been showing up in cases. Paula (green) is the common one in the set and both Claudia (red) and Laura (yellow) are variants. I mean, with them being triplets, they couldn't not be together in a set right?

Here is a close-up picture of our Laura (yellow) variant that we pulled from our case:

And yes it has been confirmed that these are two per case. So if you get one, there is another in the case. Very good trade bait in our opinion if you are trying to collect them all :)

Video: Beauty and the Beast Case Unboxing

Release day of the Disney Vinylmation blind box series Beauty and the Beast is finally upon us. Many people camped out online waiting for the cases to go on sale at the Disney Store and they sold out in 10 minutes! We were lucky enough to grab a case from our local Disney Store since we were waiting before they opened.

Check out our video as we unbox the entire case:



Interesting notes:

• 2 Yellow Bimbette variants in our case
• Both Gaston and Beast had 3 a piece in our case (production error confirmed with Disney)
• Only 1 Maurice in our case

We Can Learn To Love A Beast!

Rarely ever do we look forward to waking up early when a 9 hour work shift lies ahead, but today is a much different story!

For weeks and weeks now, the anticipation surrounding the Beauty and the Beast set has continued to grow. Growing in to a hype train that cannot be derailed and finally, after we have all been patiently waiting, release day is upon us! 

The decision to buy a case of this series was made well before the preview of the set of 11 commons became available. We knew from the initial announcement that this was one we could not pass up because of our attachment to perhaps the best Disney love story ever told! And besides, after watching Once Upon A Time, Belle has definitely become a favorite of the staff!

Being at our local Disney Store at 9:30AM sharp is the plan but outside of that, we want to know what kind of content you want to see from this case from us. We are planning on shooting an unboxing video of the case (we promise to edit it so it will be shorter this time), but is there anything else you loyal readers want to see? 

Let us know and we hope to see you in line bright and early :)

Video: Vinylmation Mail Day #2: Killer Tofu

Another week has gone by and another great batch of vinyls have arrived in the mail!

Check out our video below to see what we got :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvSve_i_8e8

Tale As Old As Time...

With the upcoming Friday release of the Beauty and the Beast blind box series, time cannot move fast enough! As we all watch the clock tick down, Disney has given us a nice preview of the chaser for the series which appears to be Human Beast

As if the hype surrounding this release was not huge enough already, this only gets us more excited! This series was already a must buy for many Vinylmation collectors and having such a beautiful chaser can only make it more sought after. We will be waiting in line bright and early at our local Disney Store on Friday to pick up our case and will be sure to post a video for everyone to see!

T-Shirt Time!!!

Speculation has been running high since last Friday's release of the Monsters University blind box series about whether or not there will be a variant. All of that came to an end today when we found out that there is a variant!

On the Archie figure that is designed by Ron Cohee, the variant version has a different logo on the back of the t-shirt. As pictured above, the variant has the Monster's Inc logo rather than a different fraternity's logo/lettering. We are unsure of what exactly to call the design on the regular version because we have not yet seen the movie and cannot accurately put a name on it.

It is still unclear as to whether these variants will be exclusive to the Disney Parks but for those of us who do not live near one, we can only hope that the Disney Stores across the country will see their fair share of these as well.

Our staff has never been big on variant collecting, but being that we loved Monster's Inc and of course anything that Pixar puts out, this is a must have for us! If you come across one of these and want to trade/sell it, please let us know!

Video: Complete Pixar Series 1 Collection

Check out this great video of our complete Pixar Series 1 collection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F60QnZZ-OjU

Monorail Blues

With the release of Park 12, a surprise variant was found by Doug Robertson and he was kind enough to share the photo with all on the Facebook group Vinylmation Exchange

Prices have already skyrocketed for this variant and the demand is high. This definitely looks to be the next "grail" of many collectors. 

Have you pulled any Park 12 bloxes? Are you looking to get your hands on this beautiful variant? Would you keep it? Trade it? Sell it? 

Disney Cruise Line Greece Release Day

Today brings a Disney Cruise Line Vinylmation release, this time for people taking their vacation to Greece!

This will be a limited edition run of 1,000 pieces and will retail at $14.95. Like all other Disney Cruise Line releases, we are positive this will be a 3 inch figure in an open window box packaging. 

What are your thoughts on this one? We feel like this is a pass for us but could definitely change our minds once actual pics of the release do surface. 

Monsters University Release Day!

Today is the release of Monsters University! It is a blind box series and retails for $12.95. As with all releases, we never really know about any variants and or the chaser until release day.

Here is a picture of the chaser:

Definitely not the most impressive looking vinyl, but this character must have some sort of importance in the movie which will be in theaters on June 21st. No variants have been announced/found yet but we will keep you updated. 

Did you pull any blind boxes or perhaps the entire case? What figures are your favorite from this series?