In Memoriam: Retired Vinylmation Series

It seems to me that in recent memory, with all the changes Vinylmation has seen, I've noticed series after series, some with potential sequel sets, not announced at the Imagination Gala four months ago at EPCOT. Now I must say it's likely that a couple of these series will return at a later date, but given the amount of time passed as well as how quiet the Vinylmation team has been in giving out the dates, I've decided to pay whatever respect I have had for these bygone series.

Here be my thoughts to the following recent series that have retired, perhaps for good:

Urban Redux

Oh Urban, how we hardly knew ye. It was a intriguing idea by Thomas Scott, introducing ratios, smaller case sizes, smaller number of figures in a set, and super chasers! All new to VM at the time. And yet something missed the mark. Was it the eclectic choices of vinyls, the lack of interest in the commons, somewhat okay chasers, or was having only 24 superchasers a turn off? Was it all of these? Honestly one of the few lines I think deserved a quick, peaceful death, moreso after Urban 9. But I'll admit several of the vinyls were cool enough to trade for.

Cutesters

This was indeed a series with a good long run, outliving the original Urban series. Without a doubt it was as the title says cute, the designs usually very creative and usually had a strong theme with each series. The initial series felt like a cutesy Urban mix that felt relevant to the interests of the urban community with pastel colors and minimalist artwork that simply fit with the old mold. And as the molds change, the designs became intricate, detailed, and more fun! While not expected to fetch value in the secondary market, they are a great starter set to collect for pure enjoyment.

Indiana Jones

Finally a Indiana Jones series! Truly a set that caught the attention of fans of the Raiders of the Lost Ark film because hey, it's Indy. He's a cool guy. And it is a great film. The chaser is also a clever one, being the Fertility Idol also chased after in the movie. And to have three Indys in the set, as a common, topper and variant, was great to also chase after. It's too bad the supporting cast, if you chose poorly from a blind box, were characters that didn't gained as much popularity unless you REALLY like that Belloq or Nazi, and continued to be found in trade boxes until February 2015, sitting at Fun Finds and Orlando outlets. Should a second series somehow arise, perhaps they should heed to the 'Limited Release' note literally and underproduce for higher collectability.

Silly Symphonies

I must admit I'm unsure if it was a stand only series, but given the number of Silly Symphony shorts produced, I wouldn't have been surprised if a sequel was planned. Despite the obscure characters, it was a different set that appealed to fans of the cartoon shorts, something with little merchandise of in the first place. A great thing was it having a mix of cutesy and not so cutesy characters from the more recognizable Symphony shorts, and they all were designed quite well. The Skeleton Dance chaser is of course a nice complement to the 9" from several years back too.

Muppets

One of my first Vinylmation was the Rowlf vinyl I unboxed back in 2010, from the very first series. I still have him too as I like the nerd. It was a challenge to produce these lovable characters on a Mickey mold but it was possible. And the designs just got better with the second and third series, with taking advantage of the ears and accessories more. For the Muppets fans, they were an awesome addition. For the casual collector, a real gamble. Near the end, the third series stocked and disappeared off shelves only to wind up in random places like at Image Works. Perhaps they thought the new Muppet movies would've brought interest especially with a Walter chaser, but it probably didn't in the end.

Whiskers & Tales

Now I'm aware that W&T (also known as Furry Friends 2) was released in 2013, but seeing how it's been almost two years with no W&T2/FF3 I feel like it must be included because these designs were adorable! I loved how it was a mix of recognizable and obscure Disney animals complete with the now traditional Furry Friends arms. Despite quality control challenges, these characters continue to be sought after as it appears these cats and dogs (and others like Peter Pegasus or Lambert the Sheepish Lion) will not be remade in another series for a while, like the time between W&T Lucky to the 101 Dalmatians series Lucky - two years! Definitely must haves in a Vinylmation collection and I'm sad another set won't be made, especially for villainous pets (to have Roscoe & Desoto vinyls would be incredible though!!).

Meet & Greet Mickey

Well he wasn't really a series per say, but it was an idea to have color variants of a extremely unique mold for certain events. I also applaud it bringing attention to the human hands Mickey sported back in the 70s. At $45 per vinyl however, I imagine it was a costly decision among the other unique collectibles to purchase at the events. It spent its last days in the outlets at less than $10 each. What's interesting is how low in popularity he was even though he was made for the exclusive events, so I theorize that the human traits Mickey featured confused collectors and probably turned them off (seriously...read the Parks Blog about the vinyl and you'll see all the comments about why he had those hands).

Duffy

It's been six months since the series featuring the Disney Bear was released, and I'll brazenly assume that it won't get a sequel series, and will remove this section if it does. But given the vinyls in the set, it wasn't as terrible as people complained about. The mold was unique and to see it revitalized with Urban like designs and colors, I believe it was a quiet hit with those that collect cute. The clear Duffy chaser was also a cool design and would look amazing as a night light. However I can see why this didn't appear to be as a hot commodity, as it clashed with vinyl collections and the designs could be a polar miss. Likely why the original open window Duffys are still available. Also, these should've been released at the initial reintroduction of the Disney Bear (and Shellie May to go with those unproduced vinyls) to American audiences.

Park Starz

Another Vinylmation series that could be removed in due time should it get a fourth series, but as December was traditionally its release month, I'll add it here. The original vinyl series for Disney that broke the mold and attracted even the most anti-Vinylmation persons with unique representations of park exclusive characters and icons. At $18.95, the tin blind boxes were a hard swallow but with luck (and weighing/shaking) had a 1/12 chance at a different vinyl if the original case on shelf wasn't shuffled with other tins. It had no chasers but a 'mystery' figure with the same 1/12 chance and usually represented what I assumed would be the artist's extinct park favorites (like how Mr. Funmeister was a early workplace for either Thomas Scott or Donald Ferro I forget). Can't forget the individually sold variants where most end up at the outlets simply because the majority were not worth $25 for - sepia toned Pirates? Party hat for Big Al? Granted there were awesome ones (clear Constance, Carnosaurus skeleton) but a general miss. Overall, a truly fun series that I'm surprised is no longer being produced.

Villains

A legitimately sad entry because it was the original Disney Store series that started out with classic Disney Villains that everyone loved to hate, that lasted into a rather dismal fifth series, ending with a whimper and a 50% off online sale. Being this was all about Pixar villains, it was a interesting selection of your atypical everyday adversaries to the downright bad. Some designs like Mor'du and Waternoose came out perfect. Additions like the fish bag with Nemo was clever. And the chaser was a nice way to spotlight Al in the chicken suit, complete with chicken head. And it did came a long way from the original series cleverly using the old Mickey mold for details like an apple on the foot, or Chinese writing on the back, to later series with controversial designs that split the face/head on the body or less interesting Villains like Mortimer. Nevertheless, it's a pity to see an awesome line snuffed out so soon.

Pixar

A series with great potential by introducing many popular Disney/Pixar characters in its first series only to be tarnished with a smaller second set with secondary characters and a chaser far underwhelming than the first set's awesome Pixar Ball. No seriously. Boo and her Mikey Jr, Alpha, Dory and Mr. Pricklepants were the saving grace of the second series because the other four were a total 180 degrees from the first set. I suppose this is what happens when you're stuck with limited characters to be approve to design. Then again, this set was one of the many released around late 2013 that would be moved to the outlets like Snow Day, Symphony and Redux. Probably came at the wrong time? Amazing how a stellar beginning was dashed with an awful sequel.

Robots

Now this was a series that kept reinventing itself since the second series, but despite the initial hype and viral marketing for the first series complete with a cool video introducing them, any interest did not last and dwindled past the third series which was chocked full of recognizable Disney characters. The fourth series did have a temporary spark of interest as they were released at the parks for the first time outside Stores, but the weird and (almost) ugly art styles for the Villains would kill interest wind up continuing the discounted trend. Personally, I loved the Robots series. Almost spending $100 on the whole Robots 1 set of twelve and trading for complete Robot 2 vinyls in the parks to taking drastic measures to feeling for Big Bad Wolf's awesome hat being he was the only one in Robots 4 I wanted badly, I genuinely loved the designs....but not everyone else for the most part. A necessary kill, per say.

~

But why?

What makes sense to me was (and is) the trend of waiting until they're reduced to $6 or less, something we've seen in the majority of these aforementioned series. Now it didn't mean there's not people who love every single vinyl in these series or was willing to even collect the ugliest of them....rather the idea that $13 per blind box could be spent on something else in addition to knowing how online auction prices would drop as time go by. Adding how various issues with the hobby forced a hefty chunk of collections leaving and selling their own collections, then it's obvious how long time series or revolutionary concepts for the Vinylmation hobby to branch off to was justified with a quiet takedown. Makes me wonder what's the next Vinylmation line to be discontinued - Star Wars and Marvel are too popular now...Animation? Parks? Toy Story? Theme Park Favorites?

7.2.15 EDIT: According to Vinylmation World's June interview with Thomas Scott, the Mike Wazowski and Minnie Mouse Theme Park Favorites vinyls will be the last of the TPF line, no other characters or merch styles will be reproduced as Vinylmation. My guess is the TPF vinyls simply do not sell as they first thought and want to get rid of them. I'm calling the whole line will be gone by 2016.
It's also important to note that the Park Starz variants for Disneyland 60 haven't shown up yet along with the Eachez, but what little speculation exists believe they will be released some time in mid July, in time for the actual anniversary date. The real question here is if they will sell out in some sort of special event at D-Street or just released without much fanfare and sit on shelves for ages.