D Street Closing
It is with much difficulty that I type the words you read. Topics of holiday shopping, world class restaurants, and exciting attractions send my fingers flying over the keys- sometimes they get so excited my thoughts can’t keep up with them. Today, I’m almost forcing my fingers to work for me. Today’s story calls for a different kind of introduction, one that brings a warning of possible tears.
It’s Official
Last week, Disney has announced the impending closing of D Street on January 2, 2018, in the Downtown Disney district of the Disneyland Resort. The store opened in 2010 and was a haven for collectors of the 3” figures called Vinylmation. D Street was the place to go for new releases and inside information about new sets that weren’t released yet.
In recent years, Disneyland has transitioned the store away from its Vinylmation-based beginning and moved into selling Star Wars, Marvel, and other select merchandise items they felt would sell. The D Street in Walt Disney World closed its doors in 2015 and re opened as Star Wars Galactic Outpost, selling Star Wars merchandise. Because Star Wars merchandise is so difficult to find at Walt Disney World…. let’s take a look back at the D Street of yore.
Vinylmation Past, Present, and Future (?)
It’s always sad to report on a store or attraction, but this one hits especially close to home for me, as I am a huge Vinylmation fan and collector. Needless to say, being a collector of these figures meant I spent a lot of time in the Walt Disney World D Street. When the store announced its re branding in 2015, I had a foreboding feeling that stemmed from deep within my Viny-loving soul.
The first Vinylmation figures were released in 2008, and quickly gained somewhat of a cult following among Disney toy collectors worldwide. Vinylmation series releases quickly became a regular thing both online and in the parks, with series like Star Wars, Mickey and friends, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Marvel, and countless others selling out faster than D Street was able to stock the shelves! The online releases were nearly impossible to snag unless you were waiting at your computer in the dead of night and had the fastest fingers of anyone else out there trying to secure the same figures.
Surprise!
Vinylmation are a special kind of collectors’ item, as they are usually packaged in a ‘blind box’ (figures are released in series of 8, 12, or 24) and while you may know which figures are in the series, you never know which particular figure is in the box you choose! Are you holding Indiana Jones himself in your hand? Or is the figure in your box a less exciting, less sought after figure? That’s the thrill of Vinylmation collecting…you never know what you’ll get until you open the box!
The excitement and anticipation (while frustrating sometimes-trust me) leaves collectors hungry to get their hands on the figure(s) they want, no matter how many boxes need be purchased.
Just like Pin Trading?
I can most closely compare the Vinylmation world to the Disney pin collecting/trading world. Ok, we don’t wear 3” vinyl figures on a lanyard around our necks, but trading is definitely a big part of the game. So much so, that Disney went as far as holding official Vinylmation trade nights on their properties, further fueling the Vinylmation epidemic around the world! These trade nights were the place to be to trade for elusive figures, and you really had to know your stuff and what you had to bargain with, because most serious collectors knew the exact worth of each figure, making an amateur holding a limited release figure as a bargaining token an easy target! Sometimes, Disney even released exclusive Vinylmation at these trade nights- just another limited edition figure out there for collectors to want to get their hands on!
Cameo Appearances
Since the closing of the Walt Disney World D Street, production of Vinylmation series has gone way, way, way down. I mean, Disney hardly releases any of these little figures anymore. Big series release announcements didn’t happen at the last D23. The shopdisney.com website’s Vinylmation section has featured the same figures for months now. However, sometimes an occasional figure will make an appearance, like a Holiday exclusive Vinyl for this year- check out an overview of that figure here, among other great gift ideas! [insert link to shopping for the Disney fan article].
This brings me to my next point: Vinylmation is not dead…yet. Like the holiday figure, Disney throws collectors a bone every now and again, but is it enough to keep interest alive? I’ll always be excited for new figure releases, but the key to any collectible’s success is gaining new fans, something I fear won’t happen with the (lack of) current offerings. Gone are the days of Vinylmation hauls from local Disney Stores. The YouTube-ers whose followings were made by Vinylmation figure unboxings and reviews’ channels are dwindling. I know I sound like an old geezer telling stories of how the olden times were better, but in this particular case, Vinylmation past was certainly more exciting than Vinylmation Present.
What the Future Holds
As for Vinylmation future, your guess is as good as mine. I like to consider my knowledge of the Vinyl world vast, so I can confidently predict the following: Vinylmation is on its way out. Disney may never fully discontinue the figures, there may be a few releases here and there to appease us over the hill collectors clinging to dreams of the past, but the future looks bleak. I don’t foresee resurgence in the manufacturing of Vinylmation, so if you’re looking to start a Disney collection of some kind, I would recommend looking to a different product like the new Toybox series or the classic Disney pins.
Do you own any Vinylmation figures? Are you sad to see the closing of D Street? What are your predictions for Vinylmation’s future? Let me know in the comments and we’ll have a discussion!
Special thanks to Maria Salerno for writing this article: Hiya pal! I am a NYC-based writer/musician thrilled to be bringing you all things Disney! I’m a WDW Annual Passholder, so you can find me in the parks regularly throughout the year. In addition to being a Disney Parks loving girl, I’m also a Disney toy and merchandise collector, a runDisney enthusiast, and Disney music and movie aficionado. You can follow me on Instagram: NYCtoAP and find me on YouTube: NYCtoAP. Thanks for reading, hope to see ya real soon!