If you’re at Comic Con,
and you want to get the low down on what’s coming in the vinyl world at Disney,
there is no one better to talk to than Disney Store North America director of
toys John Balen.
There are a ton of
items on display, classics, frankenweenie…
We have a lot going on, this is actually the first year
that we brought vinylmation here to sell at comic con, So we’re excited. We did
our first comic con exclusive which is our So Tasty series. We did 8 unique
flavors, which the only place you can get these 8 are right here at comic con.
If we have any left over, after comic con is over, we’ll sell them at disneystore.com.
They’ll premiere at $10 each. We have
Carmel Apple, Pizza, Soft Serve Ice Cream, Super Nachos, Orange Soda, French
fries, Cherry Freeze and Cotton Candy. I personally love the Orange Soda, its
nice and refreshing. Each one is scented, so they smell like that food, and
they’re really fun. We had a few available tonight, we sold out immediately. We’ll
be releasing two a day over the next four days, so we’ll have some available
all weekend.
Are you going to have
any of the Artists available to sign?
We do have Artists here, but we don’t have set up
signing times with those artists, but they may periodically pop by so you never
know.
Last year, special
edition…
This year we did blocks. Monsters Incorporated. These
are some great takes on Sully, that was taken from the Art of Pixar Book. These
are some of the early color renderings of Sully, what Sully could have looked
like before they landed on the final design. So we did 480 pieces of each one.
These are only here just at comic con, and once they’re gone they’re gone. We
also have some great pop figures. We sold out of tonight’s allocation already.
We have this great Sully and Boo set that’s exclusive, we had this great set
with Sorcerer Mickey and Chernabog, a glow in the dark Oogie Boogie. He’s like
really great. And those are available here at comic con, first and foremost. If
we have any left we’ll sell them at disneystore.com, but we think they’ll go
this weekend.
I know a lot of the
special editions went immediately last year.
We were surprised at how enthusiastic the reception was
at what we had to offer. It was like what can we do to make it more special
this year, so we brought a few more.
We were stuck in the
booth trying to get over here to you, and it was absolutely insane.
It is swamped. We’re so excited over how much traffic we’re
getting.
Last year I came to
interview you I did it in the booth, and it was no problem.
We just did it against one of the walls.
Right, but this year,
we’re in our own separate booth away from everything.
I know. We can’t even fit in there anymore.
Tell me about this
guy
He’s one thing that we are really excited to present, we’ve
got the first piece of Frankenweenie product that we
released for the new Tim Burton Film Frankenweenie that comes out this
fall. We’ve done this vinyl exclusive with funko, it is $40, limited edition of
1000 pieces. Available here exclusively at comic con. This is Sparkysaurus.
Do I have to stand in
that crazy line to get one?
You would, even I would have to stand in that crazy line
to get one, I know! It’s crazy I know. We’re releasing a quantity every day, so
if you get to the Funko booth first thing in the morning, it’s your best bet. I
keep telling people to come back early, so this is really great. It’s the first
Frankenweenie
item we’ve got. It’s the only iteration of him as Sparkysaurus and once it’s
gone it’s gone. It’s pretty special and we love this one.
And what about the
rest of the beauties in this case?
We have some fantastic previews on display here. Like
Starwars 2, which is coming out this fall. There’s a great preview of that
series. One of the items that I’m love
with is here, on the top shelf. It’s a part of the online exclusives that
correspond here with comic con. There is a different item available everyday
online. Here we have the cosplay boy and girl set, this one is available here
today. The pixar series, Carl and Ellie
is available tomorrow. That’s the first
art we’ve done from Up. They’re online exclusives that we’ll have available until
we sell out.
Can you tell me about
anything that’s coming up that you’re really excited about?
We’ve got so many things coming up.
Okay how about the
number one most exciting.
Okay, my number
one exciting program that we have coming up is,
the Disney Villains designer collection. I don’t know if you’ve heard
anything about that, but it’s pretty amazing. It’s a unique stylized fashion
twist on classic Disney villainess’
Is it going to be
similar to the Disney Princess Designer Series?
It is! It is a counterpoint to the Disney princess
series. It’s going to be released in August, released online. We have a full
collection of dolls, 6 dolls, limited edition sized. We’ve got cosmetics,
drinkware, stationary, lithographs, we’ve got a whole product line of apparel and
accessories. We’ve got cosmetic bags that look amazing, lots of bling, lots of
glitz and glam. These villains have definitely taken a fashion twist so they’re
a fun stylization of characters that everyone knows and loves.
And is there a number
2?
Number 2 has to be the Cinderella Collection. Cinderella
is coming out on diamond DVD and Blu Ray is October. Cinderella is coming to Blu ray for
the first time, and it looks unbelievably good on Blu Ray. We’ve designed a
whole line of items for that collection. But my favorite, favorite is the
limited edition Cinderella doll. 17inches tall, covered with crystals, she’s
like blinged out to the max. She is the most beautiful Cinderella I have ever
seen in my career of designing Cinderella products, and I’m thrilled to be able
to offer her. That one will go on presale when the blu ray does, later this
month.
Great, and now I’m
sure I know what my daughter will want this fall. Thank you so much to John
Balen, for taking the time to speak with me at the chaotic Comic Con. And a
special thank you to Katie Western, Nina Ronstaldt and Marissa Martinez for setting up the
interview.
Be sure to keep your
eyes on disneystore.com for that lovely Designer Villains Series, and the
blinged out Cinderella.
_poster.jpg)
