Noah: One-of-a-Kind Little Mermaid Custom Vinylmation!

I was up and at em' early this morning! There was a lot of buzz on-line for this Vinylmation so I anticipated there would be a good amount of people showing up. A good rule of thumb I like to use is if the Vinylmation is pre-selling on eBay (which it was) you can bet the "eBayers" will be out in force to try to get their hands on this piece for resale (just a insider tip for ya)!

I was up early for this release! I awoke at 3am! I got to the donut shop so early in the morning that the baker hadn't even finished baking the donuts yet! But something in my gut told me to hurry and make my way down to Downtown Disney! And I'm glad I did! I arrived at 4:45am and luckily was able to secure the 10th spot in line for a Limited Edition release of 12! I was very lucky! Now of course, no one is supposed to be inside the Downtown Disney parking lot until after 5:45am. So here come's security, and they asked us to leave the parking lot. But by that time there were already 16+ people in line. And no one wanted to risk losing their chance to get a wristband! We were all very un-willing to move from our line. But after security had threatened to call law enforcement (which they referred to as "Delta", haha) on us, we finally were allowed to stay in the parking lot IF and only if we stayed inside our cars.

But that didn't last too long. Little, by little, people started to linger out of their cars and towards where we were supposed to line up. You could feel the high tension in the air. The people who were first in line were bound and determined to remain first in line, and the people at the back of the line were bound and determined to make "the 12" cut off! But instead of making everyone get back in their cars, the security guards were just chit chatting away. While an entire group of people slowly edged their way closer and closer to the sidewalk. It got to the point where we all were literally 5 feet away from where we were supposed to line up. Finally, a cast member asked us to line up, and everyone made a a short dash to line up, where we were literally chest to back with one another. We were all squeezed together so tight, no one wanted to give an inch to the person in front or behind them. Quite frankly, it was madness. And I don't blame it on us collectors (and eBayers), I put the blame for all the tension and disorganization on one single security guard. Our friend Richard from Lake Elsinore, a.k.a. Officer Barbrady. Thanks for single handedly creating such a ruckus!

People were upset because now they lost their place in line that they had before, and people arrived later were more aggressive and made their way into "the 12". People were complaining, and whining all morning! The pandemonium ran rampant from 4:45am through 7am! Everyone wanted to get their hands Noah's custom Vinylmation.

Finally, they handed out wristbands just after 7am, and without looking back I made my way to the California Adventure entrance! I didn't want to stick around and see who got a wristband, and who didn't. I was just glad to be out of that uneasy atmosphere!

But like I always said, collecting a Noah piece is an experience. And even though all the craziness in the morning was uncomfortable, it just added to the memory, satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment at the end of the day!

After "the 12" had their wristbands, it was smooth sailing from there. Half of us went directly to the California Adventure entrance gate to wait another two and a half hours for the park to open. This is my favorite part about Noah releases, is just being around other collectors and exchanging laughs! I got to meet some more great collectors, and hangout with my Vinylmation friends! We ate breakfast (Bacon Croissant Breakfast Sandwich, thanks Judy!), and just talked to each other. I don't want to get all sentimental on you, but it's these moments that I enjoy the most!

We wer finally allowed in the park, and we all walked to the Treasures in Paradise store located on Paradise Pier across from Ariel's Grotto, where we again waited in line to enter the store! Once in the store, we were escorted to the register where we first paid for our merchandise, which lead to our fourth and final line of the morning!

Finally, we were in front of these beauties! As always, one by one we were able to approach them and pick the one we wanted. They all have saddle differences, and everyone get's a chance to pick thir own... well I guess except for the 12th person in line.

Ultimately I chose the custom in the third row, far left! But it was between the two Vinylmation pictured below before I made my final decision! What made me choose this particular one was the hidden Mickey on it's right ear!

Next, we got to pick our 3" Vinylmation (if you purchased one, of course)

And of course, no Noah 3" custom would be complete without it's artist signed box!

Then we came face to face with the man himself, Noah! And as always meeting with Noah is like the icing on the cake of a wonderful morning/experience. For me personally, it was like catching up with an old friend. He so graciously signed my pieces, and stopped to take some photos! As I have stated in many of my posts before, "Thank you Noah for being awesome!"

And that wrapped up our Noah release experience! Great friends, great talks, great Vinylmation, great episode with greta memories made! I can't stress the "GREAT" enough!

But now on to the actual Vinylmation! We do go for the adventure, but climatically we are all their to take home a piece of art! Here is a great shot of the 9" and 3" Little Mermaid Vinylmation together!

Remember, you can always click on a picture to enlarge it! There is a lot of great detail, it's worth a closer look!

First up, we have the 3" Vinylmation custom! I chose this particular one because of the Hidden Mickey located directly in the middle of the face of the 3" I love the way the color fades from light to dark.

This 3" is truly a perfect accompaniment to the 9" Vinylmation!

Next, on the to the main event! Noah's 9" Little Mermaid Vinylmation Custom! You definitely have to take some time and click on each image below to appreciate the details on this piece!

The VinylMania Staff had a nice long (and fun) discussion as to what gesture and/or action Ariel was portraying. We settled on singing (haha) and running her hands back through her hair.

The reason I picked this particular Vinylmation was this Hidden Mickey on it's ear! It caught my eye and I never second guessed!

There's also a second Hidden Mickey on the back of it's head!

This characteristic was the center of much discussion. At first glance, the Vinylmation seemed to be scratched. But upon closer review there seems to be seashell like patterns embedded in the Vinylmation. It's a little hard to make out the shapes at first, but if you really look you can see the shell shaped imprints with spirals and all! This (to my knowledge) is the first of it's kind seen on a Vinylmation. Only with a really good camera (luckily I have one) can you pick up these subtle details. One word sum's it up... "Amazing!"

A closer look at Ariel's silhouette.

And of course, no Noah custom would be complete without his famous signature and logo, and blessing! I love this!

The 9" and the 3" on it's stand! The background is a replica of Noah's original painting.

He signed the stand as well!

The stand by itself. Identical in shape and size as the POTC Vinylmation stand.

Two more amazing pieces added to the Grand Collection!

Overall, the release and Vinylmation was a huge success! As always, it was an absolute pleasure standing before Noah and getting the opportunity to have a small chat and snap some photos! If you have never have had the opportunity to come down to one of Noah's releases, I would highly, highly recommend it!

To Noah: "Thank you again, my friend, for another awesome release. The way you carry yourself alone will ensure my loyalty and continued support of your work! The friends and memories I make at your events are not only priceless, but very dear to my heart! You have always made me feel important, and for that I thank you! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next!"

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