A peek at Disney Pins, Vinylmation leading up to 40th anniversary of Disney World

A peek at Disney Pins, Vinylmation leading up to 40th anniversary of Disney World: "

I’ve had more than my usual allotment of Disney trading lately. Generally, I’m bewildered by all the options – but I also know if I were to start serious collection of pins and Vinylmation figures, it would hurt my bottom line.

Last week I attended the Disney Pins Celebration at Epcot with hundreds of other folks who don’t have that issue. The primary activity is trading, of course. I had not imagined that traders stood in lines to get up to bulletin boards and pick out two pins to swap for — with a one-minute time limit for browsing the board. Farther back in the showplace, folks spread out their vast collections. One woman told me she “only” had five books of “Nightmare Before Christmas” pins. Clearly, I don’t know Jack Skellington.

Most entertaining to me were previews of upcoming pins and vinyls, some devoted to the 40th anniversary of Walt Disney World in 2011.

Here’s a set with characters “creating” classic Magic Kingdom attractions.

More oldies in a postcard-inspired set (Notable: Flight to the Moon, nomenclature for Grand Prix Raceway.)

This fascinating set, when arranged just right, makes up Cinderella Castle. The artwork on the individual pins represents the posters seen underneath the train station/entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Vinylmation will be in on the 40th anniversary as well. (Sorry, shooting through glass casing is not my best event).

Also coming up: a Vinylmation series based on national flags. All 11 of the countries represented at Epcot’s World Showcase will have a figure, “plus Brazil, of course,” says Steven Miller, project manager, Disney Trading.

Earlier in the week, I visited D Street, a prime Vinylmation outlet at Downtown Disney. The store has settled in since the grand opening. It’s less crowded (some of the bulky artifacts from the late Adventurers Club have been removed), and it’s blending vinyls and other merchandise more.

I like the changing traffic signal outside.

Inside, I was drawn to the new “Toy Story” series. Note Buzz’s helmet, which is one of the first times that Vinymation has broken the Mickey mold. (See also Buttercup the unicorn’s horn from this series, plus a giraffe in the animal series and an angry emu in the Have a Laugh series.) Miller says they will reserve the right to accessorize “when it makes sense.”

Also graphically appealing is the Big Eyes series (this is Goofy, see?). Others represented in the collection, which was released this spring, include Buzz, Mickey, Minnie, Grumpy, Donald Duck, Marie, Mike Wazowski, Pluto, Stitch, Tinker Bell and “Pie-Eyed” Mickey.

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