Disney·Pixar Bao Soundtrack Review (Music by Toby Chu)

You all know I love collecting Pixar merch and that extends to all the soundtracks as well! I've loved film scores since I was a kid (I vividly remember The Mask of Zorro being my first soundtrack CD I got and listened on repeat at eight years old—1998) and that passion is still with me today. I especially love and look forward to Pixar scores as they're consistently beautiful with tracks that are fun, tracks that are emotional and always feature memorable themes. Just like the films themselves, there's a certain charm that just can't be found anywhere else. I can honestly say out of 22 films and countless shorts, a Pixar score (regardless of the composer) has never disappointed me.

Until not too long ago, the music for short films was never available to purchase (which always kind of disappointed me). That all changed with the first ever digital release of a Pixar Short Film soundtrack in 2013—The Blue Umbrella! Since then we've gotten Toy Story of Terror in 2014, Lava in 2015 (featured on the Inside Out soundtrack), Piper in 2016, Lou in 2017 and then Bao in 2018 (the seemingly last Pixar theatrical short film; at least for the foreseeable future). For whatever the reason, Sanjay's Super Team and Toy Story That Time Forgot did not get soundtrack releases.

The music for Bao was composed by lesser known Chinese American composer Toby Chu (Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, Covert Affairs, Unforgettable, Burn Notice, Henchmen). I had never heard any of Chu's work before, but found it very cool that a composer of Chinese descent was chosen to tackle this project as it gave the film and the score that much more authenticity. This single (6:33) was released on June 15th, 2018 on iTunes and Amazon music for $1.29. I meant to get review up then, but it got put on the back burner and honestly forgotten! When I remembered that I never posted on this recently, I got excited to finally be able to share my thoughts on it here.

Composer Toby Chu

It really is a beautiful track to a beautiful film (even if the short was a little controversial or misunderstood by some when it was first released). The elements of traditional sounding Chinese music and instruments are wonderfully incorporated. It has a gorgeous melody throughout (the film's main theme) that will stick with you and has all the heart I've come to expect from Pixar scores. My favorite moments are when the orchestra really swells—especially at the end. I highly, highly recommend downloading it (or at least listening to it on YouTube) if you're a fan of the short, Pixar and/or film scores in general. I've included the links to purchase below.

Let me know your thoughts down in the comments! Hopefully this post helped those who may not have known this track was out there and available to download.

Disney·Pixar Incredibles 2 Apple iOS Sticker Pack

I'm a day late to the party, but did you know yesterday was National Superhero Day? Well, I realized I never posted on this super fun Incredibles 2 iOS animated sticker pack from a couple years back, so I figured why not now? In case you didn't know about these, here you go!

If you've never downloaded "sticker packs"for your iPhone before, they're absolutely adorable and I can't recommend them enough. They're colorful, perfectly stylized and have fun little motions/moving text...just an all around fun way to add some excitement and Disney/Pixar magic to everyday chats! I believe there's always a place for a Disney/Pixar quote or reference, no matter what kind conversation you're having. :) These stickers have been heavily used, in addition to my Toy Story, Cars 3, Finding Dory, Monsters Inc., Coco, Bao, Toy Story 4 and Inside Out ones. I just saw Onward stickers also came out recently, so I'll be getting those and posting about them soon as well!

Once installed, all you have to do is tap or drag and drop any sticker into any iMessage conversation and let the fun ensue. You can even resize and rotate them (using two fingers in the classic touch screen manner), stack them and place them on photos/messages within the thread. This pack includes 21 incredible stickers (characters include Elastigirl, Mr. Incredible, Dash, Jack-Jack, Violet, Frozone, Edna Mode Screenslaver and even that pesky racoon) which, I believe, are Eric Tan's designs. Price to purchase these was $1.99.

Take a look at all the stickers above and below and download yours on the app store today (direct link below) to see them in action! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments and stay tuned for more Pixar product reviews right here soon.

Pixar Pals Postcard (From "The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards" Set— Art by Ricky Nierva)

Hey all! Thought I'd do something a little different tonight. While this isn't a new item of mine, it's something I've never highlighted individually before. Years ago (back in 2013, the year I started this blog), I posted on the "The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards" boxed sets—volumes one and two. I was recently looking through them, as I do every now and then, and was reminded of this absolutely wonderful Pixar art by the studio's own Ricky Nierva that's on one of the postcards (in volume one). It's an all-time favorite Pixar art piece of mine and I just had to share it with you all! 

Ricky's style is one that's always appealed to me and I'm always very drawn to designs that have a bunch of different Pixar characters together. This one is absolutely brilliant, highlighting classic Pixar characters from Toy Story through Finding Nemo (plus icons Luxo Jr. and the Pixar ball)! It's just perfect, what else can I say.

The size of the postcard is unique (about 5 3/4" x 4"), so it's kind of hard to find a little frame that size. I've always wanted to frame this for my desk, but it just hasn't happened yet. I really wish this was available as a larger print so I could hang it on my office wall!

Anyway, that's everything for tonight. Just something short and sweet. If you're interested in adding either of the Pixar postcard boxed sets to your collection (they're a great price by the way; total must-haves), you can make your purchase using the Amazon affiliate links below. Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!

Monsters Inc: Good Smile Company Sulley Nendoroid Set (Deluxe) REVIEW

Welcome back! A week ago today, I posted on the fantastic Monsters Inc. Mike Wazowski & Boo Nendoroid Set and promised I'd be reviewing Sulley here on the blog soon as well... so let's do this! A lot of my thoughts will be the same (since they're applicable here as well), so I apologize if things sound a little too familiar.

If you've never heard of Nendoroid figures, let me introduce you. Nendoroids are super articulated, highly collectible stylized plastic figurines by the Japan-based company, Good Smile. What's unique about these is that they come with additional faces and other body parts that are all exchangeable, giving the characters a wide range of different expressions and almost unlimited poses. They also come with some really cool accessories to help you recreate scene specific movie moments! These are a collector's dream, especially for those who enjoy product photography like myself.

So far I have this Sulley, the aforementioned Mike Wazowski with Boo set, Buzz Lightyear and Woody (which I'll be reviewing soon as well). I felt a bit more confident going into opening Sulley, but since this is only the second Nendoroid I've ever opened and experimented with, there's still a little bit of a learning curve getting use to all the pieces, assembly and posing— but once again, after some practicing, I feel I'm a bit quicker and better at it. There's kind of an art to it, so I understand that there are many collectors who have been getting these for years who I'm sure are much better at posing them than I am.

This is the "Deluxe" version set, which includes more accessories (and is a bit more pricey) than the "Standard" set. This set comes with a base, three face plates with different expressions (smiling, scared/roaring and sad), thee pairs of movable/removable eyes (with different eyelids), two pairs of hands (open and closed fist), two movable/removable eyebrows, Boo's repaired door, Sulley's clip board with the last piece of the door (directly from the end of the film) and a "spare joint" (though I'm not 100% sure on what to use that for). Everything is so detailed!

Both Sulley and the door accessory are right around 4" tall. This set retails for $62.99.

Take a look at some of the poses and expressions you can create below! This is literally only scratching the surface. There is so much you can do with these, it's almost overwhelming! I'll be playing around with this one again soon, so be sure to stay tuned to my Instagram for any additional content featuring all my Pixar Nendoroid figures.

I love how all it takes is just shifting Sulley's eyebrows up slightly and his expression goes from mean/roaring to scared/concerned! It's amazing how much emotion is captured in the eyebrows alone.

Sulley doesn't need his base to stand (and there's no pegs on the stand or peg holes under his feet), so I guess it was just included for display purposes.

Boo's repaired door has some pretty remarkable detail! Everything in this set looks really great and is very well made overall.

I'm so impressed with how detailed this clipboard is for being so tiny!

I was lucky enough to get this as a Christmas present this past year from my parents, so a huge thanks to them! I'm so excited to post the last two soon as well. We originally purchased this from BoxLunch Gifts and it's still in stock HERE (they have the standard version too, right HERE). You can also still order it directly from Good Smile's online shop HERE.

For all you Monsters Inc. fans, I highly recommend picking this up if you're a serious collector or even if you're just looking for a really cool little item to display on your desk/shelf. Be sure to share your thoughts down below! What do you think of Nendoroids? Have you picked this up for your collection? I'd love to see any fun photos you've taken with any of the Disney/Pixar Nendoroid figures down in the comments.

Follow me on Instagram @danthepixarfan

Toy Story 4 Jigsaw Puzzle (48 Pieces— by Cardinal Games)

Love Toy Story 4? Love puzzles? Then you might want to pick up this adorable 48 piece Toy Story 4 inspired jigsaw puzzle by Cardinal Games featuring Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Aliens and Forky! I don't do puzzles much any more (if only I had the time), but I absolutely loved them as a kid. I'll be putting this away for my son Aidan who will hopefully enjoy puzzles like I did when he gets a little older! This was a fun surprise gift from my parents this past Christmas—I had never seen this before.

I'm not sure where my mom originally purchased this from, but it seems to be kind of hard to find at this point. There are a couple of listings on eBay though, so check out current listings HERE if you're interested in adding this one to your collection. 

I love the tin lunchbox packaging. It's part of the charm of this particular puzzle! The puzzle measures 12.5" x 15" when assembled and original retail price was, I believe, $7.99.

Shout out your thoughts down below and be sure to stay tuned to more from my personal collection of Pixar merch right here daily!

Mattel's PIXAR "Minis"—Series 1 Review (with Blind Bag Codes)!

I finally found Mattel's brand new PIXAR "Minis"!! These were first revealed on February 22nd at Toy Fair 2020 (which I reported on from the event) and started hitting store shelves not even a week later. It look a couple extra months for them to reach my area, but I finally found them this week at my local Target! I was so extra excited, especially since I had been checking for these a couple times a week for a while.

If you're unfamiliar with Mattel's "Minis", let me share a little more about them. The line began with Toy Story "Minis" Series 1 blind bags (and a 10-pack) back in 2016 and, was so popular, it continued on up through Series 5 in 2018. Last year, after a bit of a hiatus, the "Minis" made a comeback in a new Toy Story 4 centric collection—which had several series of its own in 2019 featuring previously released characters and new ones from Toy Story 4! Because of the success of these mini figures, Mattel has expanded the "Minis" style in 2020 to Onward (which I reviewed HERE), more Toy Story AND, as I'll be reviewing here today, a straight-up all inclusive "PIXAR"series featuring many iconic characters/duos from most of Pixar's films!

In this first PIXAR series, you'll find 12 fantastic characters: Lightning McQueen, Mater, Nemo, Dory, Wall·E, Eve, Sulley, Mike Wazowski, Arlo, Spot, Joy and Sadness. Each blind bag retails for $3.49.

As shown at Toy Fair, there are at least 20 more characters (across two more series, most likely) coming in the future: Merida, a bear triplet, Mr. Incredible, Syndrome, Remy, Chef Skinner, Jack-Jack, Elastigirl, Alpha, Dug, Heimlich, Flik, Ernesto de la Cruz, Miguel, Boo, Randall, Fear, Disgust, Kevin and Russell. Since there are always 12 in a series, who could the last four be? From what I've heard, it's possible that characters from Soul could be included in a future series later this year (but we shall see).

If you've followed me on here for a while, you probably know I'm a sucker for anything and everything featuring the Pixar ball. With that said, I love how it's front and center here on the packaging! The stylized artwork and overall design of the bags is absolutely phenomenal. Few things scream Pixar more than the Luxo ball. So cute. 

BLIND BAG CODES—
What's really neat about any of the blind bags that Mattel puts out is that you don't have to guess which character is inside if you know what to look for! There's a code (a series of numbers/letters) on the back of each bag near the bottom. The last letter is what you're looking for as it will correspond to a particular character. For example, the bag I have down below (I circled what you want to pay attention to) is bag E. That means, yup, Wall·E is inside. It's that simple!

Since there are 12 characters, the letters I'm referring to range from A-L. Below is a detailed shot of each character and their corresponding letter! I hope this helps you out on your mission to get all or certain characters.

Each figure is about 1.5" in size. 

LIGHTNING MCQUEEN—A

MATER—B

NEMO—C

DORY—D

WALL·E—E

EVE—F

SULLEY—G

MIKE WAZOWSKI—H

ARLO—I

SPOT—J

JOY—K

SADNESS—L

I would love to meet the artist/design team behind these figures. They're perfect! It's really hard to choose, but I'd say my favorites are Mike & Sulley and Wall·E & Eve (although, admittedly, I do already have similar mini figures of these characters in my collection). For ones that I love simply because I don't have any like them, I'd have to say Arlo & Spot and Joy & Sadness. They're all really great though and look particularly awesome when displayed all together.

Who are your favorites? Have you picked any up yet or plan to? Who's on your must-have list? Let me know all your thoughts and any questions you might have in the comment section below. Most importantly, have fun collecting and stay safe out there! 

UPDATE: You gotta check out the World of Pixar playset I posted on HERE. If you're a Minis collector, you will certainly want this.

Follow me on Instagram @danthepixarfan

The World of Pixar Sticky Note Set (Disney Parks/ShopDisney)

Straight from Walt Disney World and Disneyland, here we have this positively amazing sticky note set as part of the new Disney Parks and ShopDisney exclusive "The World of Pixar" line released earlier this year! This 8 1/4'' H x 6 1/4'' W folio opens up to reveal 10 Pixar inspired sticky note pads with 20 sheets of paper each. Many of your favorite Pixar characters and icons (such as the famed Luxo Jr. lamp and his ball) are here: Woody, Alien, Eve, Anger, Jack-Jack, Edna Mode, Mike Wazowski and Lightning McQueen! On the front of the folio, even more characters are represented.

The most fantastic aspect of this whole set is, of course, the art. Just WOW. I'm absolutely enthralled with the designs and wish I knew who the artist was behind all the "World of Pixar" graphics used for these products. It's minimal, stylized, colorful, adorable and unique...everything I look for in my Pixar artwork! Huge fan.

Retail price is $16.99. A huge thank you to my friend Paulina who helped me get this before Disneyland shut down! Luckily for anyone interested, it's now also on ShopDisney as well.

Here are all the pads that are included:

• Pixar Ball round pad
• Star-shaped pad with Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.
• Star-shaped pad with Anger from Inside Out
• Rectangular, lined pad with ''The World of Pixar'' and character screen art inside ''Pixar''
• Small rectangular pad with Eve from WALL•E
• Small rectangular pad with watermark star art
• Rectangular pad with Woody and alien from Toy Story 
• Square pad with Lightning McQueen from Cars
• Medium rectangular pad with Pixar Lamp
• Long rectangular lined pad with Edna Mode and Jack-Jack from The Incredibles

Pads are up to 3 1/4'' H x 5'' W in size.
 

Pixar fans, this is a must-have set for your office/home desk or school! You can purchase it right now on ShopDisney.com HERE, so be sure to snag it before it's gone. If you like what you see, you're going to want to check out the rest of the super fun "The World of Pixar" collection HERE & HERE —most of which is also currently on ShopDisney. See also: my post on the Pixar ball keychain.

Let me know all your thoughts down below! Did you pick this up for your collection?

Follow me on Instagram @danthepixarfan

Incredibles 2: Funko "POP!" Complete Collection!

Around this exact time two years ago, Funko released their incredibly EPIC collection of Incredibles 2 "POP!" figures featuring so many characters, it was almost overwhelming to collect—in the best of ways! For collectors, the hunt is half the fun and I had a blast heading from store to store tracking all these down (especially all the Jack-Jack variants; that was a wild ride). I know this post is long overdue (these POPs have been sitting and waiting in my room since spring of 2018), but it's because these kinds of posts take so long to create that I had to find the motivation to dedicate a full day to taking detailed photos of each of these figures and writing my review (the photographing, editing and writing these kinds of post takes about 10 hours). Anyway, today was the day and I'm happy to finally share my full write-up on this collection with you!

This collection has eight standard/common releases, one chase variant, one "POP! Rides" and seven retailer exclusives for a total of 17 fantastic POPs—
Commons:

• Mr. Incredible
• Elastigirl
• Violet
• Dash
• Jack-Jack
• Frozone
• Screenslaver
• Underminer

Chase:

• Violet (Invisible)  

"POP! Rides":

• Elastigirl on Elasticycle (Full review HERE)

Retailer Exclusives:

• Jack-Jack Chrome (Hot Topic)
• Monster Jack-Jack (FunkoShop)
• Fire Jack-Jack (Target)
• Elastigirl— New Suite (Target)
• Edna Jack-Jack (SDCC 2018)
• Diaper Jack-Jack (FYE) 
• Voyd (Emerald City Comic Con 2019/Walmart)

At the time, this was the most POPs I ever collected under one movie/collection! Toy Story 4 beat that record the following year. Please enjoy all my original photos down below!

MR. INCREDIBLE—#363

ELASTIGIRL—#364

VIOLET— #365

VIOLET (INVISIBLE)— #365

Chase Edition

DASH— #366

JACK-JACK—#367

JACK-JACK (CHROME)—#367

Hot Topic Exclusive 

FROZONE—#368

SCREENSLAVER—#369

UNDERMINER—#370

MONSTER JACK-JACK— #401

FunkoShop Exclusive

FIRE JACK-JACK—#402

Target Exclusive 

ELASTIGIRL (NEW SUITE)—#403

Target Exclusive

EDNA JACK-JACK—#404

San Diego Comic Con 2018 Exclusive 

DIAPER JACK-JACK— #405

FYE Exclusive 

VOYD— #509

Emerald City Comic Con 2019/Walmart Exclusive

What an assortment, right? Funko did a perfect job on each and every design. Though she's certainly not a favorite character of mine, Voyd is for sure my favorite POP in this series based on looks alone. Absolutely stunning! My other favorites include Fire Jack-Jack (love the clear orange plastic casing, which gives the figure some dimension), Frozone (that pose is phenomenal), the Underminer and Monster Jack-Jack. I also have to give a shout-out to the updated sculpts of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl—a vast improvement on the originals from 2011. It's also just cool to have the whole family as POPs after all these years. Lastly, as many of you were, I was shocked Funko didn't release an Incredibles 2 version of Edna, but at least I have the one from 2011 (which is actually quite rare at this point).

Which ones are your personal faves? Did you pick any of these up for your collection? Any other Incredibles characters you'd like to see made? If you're still looking to pick up any of these, the easiest way to get them at this point is by using the direct Amazon links below or by searching current eBay listings. (prices are down quite a bit these days on all of them).

Happy hunting! Shout out your thoughts down in the comment section.