Star Wars series 1 launched at midnight on January 14th, 2011, and The Vinylmation Station was on the scene! We take you to D Street at Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney West Side to see all of the fun and festivities, and then grab an exclusive interview with Merchandise Communications Manager Steven Miller.

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WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee visited D Street at Walt Disney World earlier today and here’s what’s happening in Vinylmation:

Plenty of Dreamfinder and Figment to go around

Same for Retro Magic Kingdom

Animation 3″ now available

Star Wars coming out next week, but I’m sure you already knew that

Beast 9″ from Animation available

Very cool box for Animation Series #1

Plenty of Beast and Elliot/Pete 3″+9″ available

Zurg & Bo Peep 9″ still available

Vinylmation + watches still available, despite being absolutely amazing

Vinylmation and ear hats still sitting around too

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

Happy new year everyone! We’re really excited about 2011 and the great collections that will be released. So let’s get started with the preview…

Starting off we have more news on Animation #1 and a preview of a 3″ figure we haven’t shown before:

 

Those who have been paying attention should notice that this Pinocchio figure differs from the one we showed earlier. This other design is a new feature in Vinylmation™ collections that we call a “variant.” These figures will be a similar design to the normal figure found in the series, but with a twist. For example, the more commonly found Pinocchio in Animation #1 has donkey ears and the variant does not. Expect to see these variant figures in many of the upcoming Vinylmation™ series.

Let’s continue our look at Animation #1 with the limited edition figures:

 

Fans of Disney’s Pete’s Dragon will love this 9″ + 3″ combo set with Elliot the Dragon and Pete.

 

Another 9″ figure is the Beast from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast exhibiting a rather fierce expression.

All of these figures will be released along with the 3″ collection on January 7. However, there are four other 9″ figures coming in late spring. One of them is Hyacinth Hippo from Walt Disney’s Fantasia. We particularly love the inclusion of the tutu skirt:

 

Next we have a follow up on Park #6, which is currently scheduled for a late winter release:

 

This figure was inspired by the Primeval Whirl Attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park.

 

Casey Jones designed this figure inspired by the tiki totems found in the Adventureland® Area.

As we’re sure our Vinylmation™ collectors know, the combo packs for the Park series have been featuring Mickey Mouse in some of his most famous starring roles. So what’s next for Park #6? Presenting Mickey in one of his most unusual shorts, Runaway Brain:

 

Now we’re going to switch gears and move to a different series that has been generating a lot of excitement, The Disney Afternoon. These Vinylmation™ Figures will be limited edition and sold in open windowed boxes of two, similarly to the Wall-E/EVE release in 2010. The first set will feature Baloo and Kit Cloudkicker from Disney’s Talespin:

 

Finally, we have a preview of a new previously unannounced series, Vinylmation Jr #3 – Good Luck + Bad Luck. As you might expect from the title, half of the designs in the series focus on items associated with good luck (such as horseshoes, four leaf clovers) and the other half on things associated with bad luck (like friday the 13th, and a broken mirror). Here are two cats, one lucky and one not-so lucky:

 

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

 

We are happy to announce a release date for Vinylmation™ Animation! This collection will be released on January 7 at D-Street at Disneyland® Resort and Walt Disney World® Resort. This collection will also be available at Disneyland Paris® Resort and at Disney Store locations.

A new Vinylmation™ collection was just released at Disney Store locations in Japan. The Vinylmation ™ Villains Collection features many of the most infamous Disney Villains including the Old Hag from Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cruella de Vil from Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, Kaa from Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book, and Ursula from Disney’s The Little Mermaid to name a few.

You can click on the link above or here to get a “spoiler” of the chaser in this collection. We’re still awaiting the final release date for the Disney Store locations in the United States, so keep checking the blog for the latest Vinylmation™ news.

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

Lots of information to share today.

The 9-inch figure designed by Tyler Dumas from Holiday #2 will be released at D-Street in California and Florida on Friday, December 10. The figure resembles a birthday cake (if only it was real!). The edition size is 1000 and the retail is $44.95.

We also have a release date for the much anticipated Disneyland® Resort – A-E Ticket book set. This set will be released at D-Street in California on December 10. The edition size is 1955 and the retail is $99.95. The artwork for this set was done by Lin Shih from Disney Design Group.

There will be 100 sets released on the Disney Parks on-line store at a future date. Stay tuned as we do not have a confirmed date for the on-line release.

There will be a special Artist Meet and Greet session this coming Friday, December 3 at D-Street in Florida. The event will take place from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will feature several Disney Design Group Artists including Eric Caszatt and Mike Sullivan who designed the Vinylmation™ – Timepieces with figures being released on Friday. There will also be Monty Maldovan and Maria Clapsis who designed figures from Vinylmation™ – Holiday #2. We hope to see you there!

Speaking of this coming Friday, we learned that D-Street in Florida will be opening at 8:00 a.m.

And now, another look at the upcoming Animation #1 series. This time we have Philoctetes from Disney’s Hercules designed by Eric Caszatt.

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

We have lots of great Vinylmation™ Figures to reveal this week, beginning with a look at the three figures for Animation #1:

As you can see, Animation will include a wide variety of Disney characters, even some you don’t see very often (such as Dodger from Disney’s Oliver and Company above). Look for lots more images from this collection that’s full of character tomorrow!

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

 It’s corn by Monty Maldovan from Holiday #2.

We’re going to take a brief break from the blog while we feast on Thanksgiving goodies. See you all on the other side of our post-turkey slumber!

This very patriotic figure designed by Maria Clapsis celebrates the Fourth of July.

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

With the release of the 3-inch figures for Vinylmation™ – Holiday #2 coming up on December 3, it’s time to start our look at the figures from the series.

Up first, it’s a “lucky” figure celebrating St. Patrick’s Day designed by April Kelly.

From Official Vinylmation Blog:

December 3 will be an exciting day at D-Street in California and Florida. We will be releasing several things including the 3-inch figures from Vinylmation™ – Holiday #2, the Vinylmation – Ice Cube Tray with 3-inch figure, and three different timepieces with 3-inch figures.

You probably recall reading a Disney Parks Blog article about the Steampunk inspired timepiece as few months ago. Here are some additional details.

This timepiece plus 3-inch figure was designed by Mike Sullivan from Disney Design Group. It has an edition size of 750 and a retail of $150.

This timepiece plus 3-inch figure was designed by Eric Caszatt from Disney Design Group. It has an edition size of 750 and a retail of $150.

This timepiece plus 3-inch figure was designed by Eric Caszatt from Disney Design Group. It has an edition size of 750 and a retail of $125.

For fans in Florida, we are finalizing details for an artist autograph session with Disney Design Group artists to be held on December 3 at D-Street. Stay tuned for more details.

Project Manager for Disney Trading Steven Miller was gracious enough to give us a few minutes of his time to take a look at some upcoming Vinylmation being previewed at the Vinylmation booth at Festival of the Masters at Walt Disney World this weekend. Here is our Vinylmation Station exclusive video!

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