Scuba Owl’s -ions

There’s never a shortage of opinions on VinylmationKingdom.com. In this column I will share my own opinions, objections, and at least one prediction. This week, however, I will start with a…

Correction: Disney Store Trading

It appears there are some rules after all. As it turns out they do limit trading to one trade per customer per day (so bring a friend.) Also, they officially don’t care about cards. So you don’t need the card with the figure in order to trade, and you also shouldn’t expect to get one back. Now, onto the good stuff…

Opinion: Alice in Wonderland

Our first glimpse of this long-rumored came from a shady eBay auction that was removed soon thereafter, but the little green hedgehog looked great, in my opinion. Or at least, as good as anything can look on that new mold…

Objection: Doug?

Last Tuesday we got word of a previously un-announced (un-rumored, even) addition to the Disney Afternoon Vinylmation series: Doug? You mean that meh cartoon from Nickelodeon?

In case we needed evidence of Disney greed (or is it Disney Greed™?) we had the original Disney Afternoon Vinylmation pricing debacle. This was when Disney, noting the great anticipation for the first DA set (Talespin), delayed the release of the set by several hours in order to jack the price up by two dollars and try to cover their tracks by going back to any mentions on their sites of the original price and changing them to reflect the new, higher price. What was really ridiculous about this is the fact that the set had a limited run of 1000, meaning Disney’s nickel and diming netted them an extra $2,000, or five nights at the Polynesian. Time’s are tough, eh guys?

And now we get Doug?, which I refuse to type without including a question mark after it. Here’s how the imaginary conversation at Disney Marketing went:

“Hey, those Afternoon sets are selling really well.”

“They sure are! Wait a sec. How many Afternoon series do we even have?”

“Not many…. unless you count stuff like DOUG[?].”

(silence)

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah”

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah”

“Let’s do this thing.”

So yeah, its starting to feel like just maybe Disney is starting to dilute the series a bit in order to milk it for all its worth. In regards to the set itself the nicest thing I can is that I like the handwriting in Doug?s ear. I also like… ahem… nothing else about this. Bring on Darkwing Duck for crying out loud! Not something that makes people say “That was Disney’s?”

Opinion: Urban 7

The first time I saw artwork for Urban 7 I thought, “Are you kidding? A squirrel and another penguin?” Five seconds before that I though, “Urban 7? Didn’t we just get Urban 6? And wasn’t that one pretty weak?”

Several weeks have passed and now, after seeing some actual photos, I’m starting to think Urban 7 might be the best Urban yet, and quite possibly one of the best overall sets to date.

I won’t get too specific because I’m sure Xero will be ‘Hero and Zero’ing it soon enough, but let me give tell you three aspects I look at in judging a set like this.

1: Trade bait. Trade bait is a figure that you know from the outset you don’t want (see Park 6 Troll.) They’re the ones you tell yourself right before you open a blind box, “As long as its not _______ I’ll be happy.” In the case of Urban 7, I count one, and only one trade bait: that stinkin’ ugly punker dude. I would be totally happy pulling any of the remaining 11 out of a box (even despite not knowing what the chaser is because, hey, a chaser’s a chaser, right?) Now you might disagree on the punker, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find much more than one trade bait in this set.

2: Have to Haves. This is exactly what it sounds like. How many in the set do you just have to have? These are pieces that will make you go on an uncontrolled blind box run, or just buy the whole dang set. I count at least six must haves in this set, and this might very well be the first time I buy a whole case.

3: The Chaser. With a few exceptions (see next Opinion) chasers are generally awesome. We haven’t seen the Urban 7 chaser yet, but there’s little it could do to detract from this set. Let’s hope its killer; the icing on Urban 7’s cake.

Tentative opinion? Urban 7 = Best set yet.

Opinion: Cutesters, Like, No Thank You

Let’s start with the most obvious issue: calling the Disney Store and having them tell you they’re getting “Cutesters, like you.” Ok, I may have messed with the punctuation there, but this is exactly how awkward it sounds over the phone.

Now for the actual set (I’ll keep it brief.) Being a glass half full person I for one am glad to finally have a set that I can skip entirely. Even the chaser is bad. Haven’t seen it yet? You will soon enough and you won’t be impressed.

Prediction: Xero’s Dreams a Reality

This may be shooting fish in a bucket, but I think Xero’s Wishes & Desires: Resort Series will happen. From a fan’s perspective this would make a great set. From the Disney perspective, this would be an easy way to reach into our pockets while we’re smitten with sentimentality. The final form it takes will be determined by marketing interests, though I think Xero’s idea of having them be exclusive to each resort would make a lot of sense.

Those are my opinions, objections and predictions for this week. As much as I love voicing my opinion, I love having my opinions changed by hearing yours, in the comments section below!