By Vinylmations are wonderful pieces of Disney art sold at the Disney parks and in the Disney Store. I very much regret not starting a collection earlier as there are some amazing figures out there. Unfortunately it’s not easy to get your hands on Vinylmations unless you’re a regular Disney Park visitor or order them from the Disney store website nice and early.
The Beauty and the Beast Series 2 Vinylmations were released in August 2016 and consists of 11 different figures. It includes Beast in his blue formal attire, Beast with blue bows in his fur (variant), Belle in her yellow gown, Chip, human Cogsworth, human Lumiere, The Enchanted Rose (Chaser), Gaston, wet Gaston (Variant), Wardrobe, and open Wardrobe (variant). This series was available on the Disney Store website, however it didn’t take long before they were completely out of stock in the UK 🙁 Luckily I visited the London one weekend and someone had returned an entire case because there were too many doubles. I was surprised someone was able to return doubles in mystery boxes, but it worked out well for me because I got to purchase my Vinylmations at a discounted price 🙂
There are varying levels of rarity for each of the characters in this series. The Enchanted Rose chaser has a rarity of 1:16 which means there is one per case. It is incredibly frustrating when there are varying levels of rarity. Vinylmations are not common and collecting an entire set can end up costing an arm and a leg. What happens is people will buy entire cases as soon as they’re released and stick them on eBay for extortionate prices.
In terms of quality and detail, I cannot fault this series at all. They are absolutely adorable and I wish I had the full set.
Here are the characters I did manage to get:
The Beast
The Beast has a lovely closed mouth smile on his face with his bottom teeth sticking out. Beast is dressed to impress! He is wearing his formal royal blue attire and is ready to hit the dance floor with Belle. The paint details on his outfit are beautiful and even includes gold paint detailing on his coat and around the big blue button his chest. On the back again there is lovely paint detailing Beast’s long ponytail and bow along with gold buttons near his tail.
On the Vinylmation ears, Beasts’s horns are painted on with a clear ballroom background. Behind the horns are two golden columns which must be in the ballroom and black lines of the windows behind them.
This Beast in the ballroom Vinylmation looks absolutely adorable and there isn’t a thing I would change about him.
Human Cogsworth
Human Cogsworth looks stunning and looks just as he does in the movie. Cogsworth has his thinly trimmed mustache and awkward but lovable smile. He is wearing brown toned clothes and is dressed to impress as well. He also has gold paint detailing around the small pocketwatch handing on his chest and on the buttons on the back of his coat.
On the Vinylmation ears, there is a blue stained glass effect using transparent blue paint. In the middle are references to his enchanted form with a clock on his left ear and a silhouette of his enchanted form on his right ear.
Human Lumiere
Like Cogsworth, Lumiere looks stunning in his human form and looks just like he did in the movie. Lumiere has a little side smirk, long nose, and raised eyebrows. He looks like he’s about to say something charming and alluring any second now. He is dressed more casually than Cogsworth with a white shirt, brown vest, and brown pants. On the back, we can his long ponytail tied with a yellow bow.
On the Vinylmation ears, again there is blue stained glass effect with transparent blue paint and references to his enchanted form. There is a silhouette of his enchanted form with his candles lit on his left ear and on his right ear there is a silhouette of Fifi, who we all know Lumiere was trying to seduce.
Chip
Chip is definitely my favourite Vinylmation in this series apart from the Enchanted Rose chaser. He has a yellow handle nose and his eyes are looking upwards to his mum. What really makes this Vinylmation stands out is his transparent pink body. This of course is reference to all the bubbly splashing everywhere during the finale of the Be Our Guest song. There is also lovely enchanted glassware detailing around his neck to form a collar.
On the Vinylmation ears, there is a stained glass effect only this time with a transparent light purple colour. There is an enchanted plate painted on his left ear and Mrs Potts painted on his right ear.
Chip is absolutely stunning and is definitely a show-stopper. Unlike Cogsworth and Lumiere, Chip is still in his enchanted form. I think it’s better they kept him this way because Chip doesn’t have obvious recognisable features in his human form and looks cuter as a cup.
Wardrobe
The Wardrobe may not play a massive role in the movie, but she is definitely a lovable character. I think it’s great she is included in this series and she of course looks great. She has a big open smile on her face and her cupboard doors are closed. There is a variant in this series where Wardrobe has her doors are open with moths coming out. While it would be nice to have the variant, I don’t feel like I’m missing out by not having it.
The Vinylmations ears are little simple on this one. There is a blue stained glass effect again with transparent blue paint with little ears matching the colour of the wardrobe. The only complaint I have about this figure is that there could have been a little more detail on the ears. I think it would be nice to see moths on the ears or even a little silhouette of a dress. Despite this, I think she looks absolutely wonderful.
Worth Collecting?
We don’t see very many toys or memorabilia of the castle characters in their human form so the Human Cogsworth and Lumiere are very refreshing. This entire series is obviously very beautiful and would be a great addition to any Disney collection. If you can get these figures at a reasonable price, they are definitely worth the purchase. If people are charging significantly more than £12 -15 pounds for each figure, it simply is not worth it. There is plenty of Beauty and the Beast merchandise out there to choose from and Vinylmations are not a must unless you are an avid Vinylmation collector. However, if you’re determined to grab hold of these figure I wish you the best of luck!
If you grabbed these when they were first released, good for you! They must look amazing and I am very jealous. If you have a full set or managed to find the chaser, please share your treasures below!