A few weeks ago, I shared a glimpse at some exciting changes planned for Vinylmation. One of the first series the team addressed dates back to the very beginning of Vinylmation – the Urban series. This graphic focus series allows Disney artists to express their individual art styles on figures shaped like Mickey Mouse. I met with Disney Design Group artist Thomas Scott to learn about the new direction for this series.
“We began considering enhancements to Vinylmation in early 2012,” explained Thomas. “We released nine different Urban series in the past four years, but felt it was time for change. We titled this new series ‘Urban Redux,’ as we wanted a fresh start. We kept some of the great elements like strong visual graphics and whimsy, and added some new things we think collectors will love.”
The first noticeable thing is the tray now consists of eight boxes, not 24 as previously featured. Each tray will contain at least one of each of the five known designs shown on the packaging. The tray will also contain at least one of the following three figures – a “mystery” chaser, a variant figure or a super mystery chaser. Odds are also now featured on the individual boxes which indicate your chances of finding a particular figure. These changes mean that a tray may not contain a mystery chaser figure like before.
“We wanted the strongest possible designs for these smaller collections,” Thomas continued. “The smaller series will give our fans the ability to complete a series faster. We also added fun surprises to Urban Redux, like a small number of figures hand signed by the artists that we mixed into the trays.”
I asked Thomas if those autographed figures were considered the super mystery chasers. Smiling, Thomas said they were not such figures. Rather, they were something very unique and something we’ve not done before for a mystery series.
This new series will be released on March 22 at D Street in California and Florida. The series will launch on the Disney Parks online store on March 25. We are holding a special release party on Friday, March 22 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at D Street in Downtown Disney West Side at the Walt Disney World Resort. There, you can meet the Disney artists behind this new series, including Thomas Scott, Maria Clapsis, Billy Davis, Caley Hicks and Monty Maldovan.
For more news on Vinylmation, read the posts below:
Comments
Hi! I am really new to vinylmation and all the lingo such as chasers and such. I love the lucky cats but I notice they don’t seem to be part of the set. Are they something different or is there something I don’t know? 😀 any help would be very appreciated as I love those!
Love all the new changes to the vinyls. I love the smaller series and the chasers with the odds listed. Sound so fun. When will there be at trading night at WDW??
@Hannah and Diane – I wish I had news to share. The merchandise special events team is actively reviewing options. At this time, we do not have any dates to announce. Please stay tuned, and thank you for your patience.
Interesting concept!
If there is an April Trading Night we are planning on making a trip down to WDW. So it will be nice to see these new changes to vinylmations. Could you give some insight on the April Trading Night date? We have to make reservations and plans for our trip, but it is hard making plans for around a PTN when we don’t know the date. LOL
Love the new chasers and super chasers concept. Will they happen to park series too?
Any idea on a WDW trading night? Also, do you have a time frame for when the Sept pin weekend signups will begin?
@Chris – I asked the Vinylmation team who said that some of these elements, like Super Chasers, will be unique to the Urban Redux series. Other series will still see mystery chasers or variant figures. Yet, they weren’t ready to share all the details for future series but I know things look pretty cool.
As for Disney Trading Night at Walt Disney World, the merchandise special events team is reviewing options but I do not have any updates at this point. I also don’t have firm date for the opening of registration for the September event. In the past few years, registration has typically opened in May.
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