First Post

    This is just an introductory post for my blog. Since it is going to start off as reviews for Vinylmations, I should explain what Vinylmations are. When you type in the word "Vinylmation" into a text box, your browser tells you that the word does not exist and there is a red squiggly line under it telling you to fix your spelling. That is because the word is not in any dictionary.The word "Vinylmation," is a mix between the words 'vinyl' + 'animation.'
   Vinylmations are figures produced by Disney that are molds in the shape of the world renown Mickey Mouse. The figures are made out of a vinyl material because vinyl is cheap and easy to produce and have a lot of endurance. There are many different shapes and sizes of the mold. The most common one is the 3" vinyl. There is also a 1.5" one and a 9" one.
     There have been many molds released. The old mold has two pieces, the body and a detachable head. There is a protruding nose, a line where Mickey's pants go, and buttons on the front. The hands are always right hand curled and left hand normal. The new mold has three pieces; this time, the feet are also detachable and the body has been rounded out to make it fuller. There is no longer a line for the trousers and no more buttons nor nose, it is all in all, a very smooth mold. Lately, Disney has come out with different molds such as a mold with a wide skirt and a bow on the head to represent Minnie Mouse. There is also a very cute mold that shows up on some of the animal characters where the hands are brought up to the front to show the appearance of paws.
     Vinylmations come in tins, blind boxes or "bloxes," and even open series. Tins are sealed metal boxes where you can not see what is inside the box but you already know because it is either printed on the box or there are pictures circulating around. You can always open and reseal the tin if you ever wonder what is inside. Bloxes are mystery, sealed boxes that you have to open to be able to see what is inside. The 3" ones usually comes in a set of 12 where 11 of the set is printed on the box and the last one is a mystery "chaser." The 1.5" are called Jrs and they come in a set of 24 with two as chasers. 9" Vinyls are mostly open series which means instead of a box where you can't see what is inside, it has a clear front so you can decide which one you want to buy.
     Vinylmations can be bought and traded. The 3" retail for about $12.95 each; although some that are more limited editions may be higher priced, such as $14.95 and even $29.95 for a set of two of 3". The 1.5" Jrs retail for $9.95 (used to be $8.95) for each blox. The Jrs do have some open series and those come in pairs, they retailed for $16.95. The 9" on the other hand, have a much steeper price! They go from $39.95 to $99.95!! Some even come with a 1.5" Jr or a 3" vinyl companion. Prices can always vary depending on the edition size of the vinyl or even the characters depicted on the figures.
     Trading, is a very interesting concept at Disney locations, there are these big black boxes with numbers on the front. You can choose a number and the employee (called Cast Members, or CMs) shows you the vinyl from the number you have chosen and you exchange it for one that you have on hand (preferably one you don't really like, so don't pick a number if you don't want to give one up!) There are also clear boxes which are usually at Disney Stores around the States. These can hold from 3 up to 10 or 20 Vinylmations and the boxes are clear so you can see exactly what is inside. If there is one you like, you tell the CM and give them one from your collection. It is smart to keep "traders" away from your actual collection. Traders are the Vinylmations that you got that you don't really want to keep, but of course you won't be throwing them away; instead, just keep them for when the opportunity comes and you see something you would like to trade for.
     Trading with humans on the other hand, is much more complex, people may not always want what you have even though you would give an arm and a leg for what they have. There are also different values to Vinylmations. There is personal value, and there is also monetary value. To intense traders, they will not trade a retired vinyl (no longer sold in stores) with a new one that is recently released or still in stores. But some people are good with trading anything as long as they are happy. The best type of trades are when both parties are happy with what they end up with.
     Now to talk a little bit about myself:   My personal collection currently stands at 96 give or take one to two for margin of error. I have a very detailed log of all my acquisitions. The first Vinylmation I have ever gotten is the 3" Mardi Gras one from the Holiday 2 series that released in December 2010. I got it in June of 2011, I still remember exactly where I was standing and what I was thinking when I got it. My collection took a lull after that. I started with 12 at the beginning of this year, and when I started joining Facebook groups and learning about trading with other humans instead of just at Disney locations, my collection grew exponentially. And now, three and a half months later, my collection is eight times what it was at the beginning of the year with more to come!

Stayed tuned for the first official Vinylmation Review post and video! Let me know if I missed anything, and please subscribe to this blog and to my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/cattyliu816 there is a lot more content on there!

Also, if you are interested, I have an instagram where I take one of my Vinylmations to places with me and take pictures of him having fun. Enjoy! http://instagram.com/tiggeradventures

Keep Calm and Disney On~