Finding Nemo: "MIne, Mine, Mine..." Seagull Plush

 Everyone who has seen Finding Nemo remembers the hilarious seagulls that have now become a pretty iconic part of the film.

 Disney Parks now currently has a collection of merchandise that features these seagulls with their quote of "Mine, Mine, Mine...", such as this awesome plush, a mug (which I have, seen here), a snow globe, an iPhone case, a couple T-shirts and many more. You can find this merch at gift shops throughout the Disney Parks and resorts, but the biggest selection can be found in "The Seas with Nemo and Friends" gift shop at Epcot.
 

This is a really cute, soft well made plush, with the highlight being the fish in the Seagull's mouth that say "Mine" on them. I thought that was a really creative touch that really sold me on getting this toy.  It also has a near perfect likeness to the seagulls in the film, which I love. A lot of the time, Disney has a hard time getting the likeness of the characters into plush form, but for this one they did an exceptional job.

 

Do you love Finding Nemo or have a little boy or girl that does? Well then, this is the plush for you or them as it's great for play, snuggle or (if you're an adult collector) display.

A big thanks to my awesome wife who grabbed this a Disney World for me last night and hooked me up with it in a Finding Nemo themed package for my birthday. It's currently displayed proudly on my shelf! Love it.

 

You can pick this up at the Disney Parks, call the Disney Parks Merchandise hotline at 877-560-6477 or on eBay using the link below:

Finding Nemo: Seagull Plush

Cars: The Art of Disney Exclusive Laser Cel Limited Edition Print

Eight years ago from yesterday (June 21st, 2006), my wife Brita and I had our very first date! We were just 16 and we've been together ever since. For our first date, I took her to see Cars, went out for ice cream and I met her family for the first time. 

To celebrate our first date yesterday, Brita and I exchanged some presents. She was thoughtful enough to have gotten me yet another amazing Art of Disney exclusive 3D laser cel print, this time featuring Lightning Mcqueen from Cars. How appropriate!

This post is following the write ups I did for two of the other prints I've received so far, the Finding Nemo one and The Incredibles one. If you've read those, then you've pretty much read all the info you need to know about this one as well.

When we were there at the Art of Disney Store (at Downtown Disney) during our Disney World trip last month, Brita noticed how much I loved this particular collection of prints there and secretly bought them all. This Cars one actually wasn't available at the store anymore so she was cool enough to track it down on eBay once we got home. There are six Pixar themed prints that were released total. The others besides this one include images from Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles (already mentioned) and Up. I'm not sure how many pieces of these "limited" prints are out there, but few enough that I can see these going up in price very soon and becoming hard to find.

At the Art of Animation store, they retail for $39.99 and are 8" X 10" in size.

It's hard to tell on here from the picture below, but Lightning Mcqueen is "raised" (with the background behind them about 1 cm) for the really cool 3D effect.

These are quality made prints with vibrant colors. I've yet to take the clear shrink wrap off to I can keep them protected until I have room to display them one day, but it's obvious to tell how nice the material is that this print is matted on.

Also included is an official Disney Parks certificate of authenticity.

 

These prints are just so awesome in person. The pictures doesn't really do it justice. I just love the clear, glossy "window" looking into such a colorful, iconic, 3D Pixar image. It really pops!

Some of these have shown up on eBay, so you can check out the link below if you're interested in buying. However, they sell for about double (or more than double) the store's price.

Disney/Pixar laser cell 3D Limited Release

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to keep coming back here daily to see more items from my Pixar collection. 

Up: The Art of Book

I'm that much closer to finally having the full collection of the Pixar "Art of" books! I was finally able to get "The Art of Up", which has been on my wishlist for quite some time, and I'm thrilled to now have it to read and display.

This gorgeous hardcover book by Chronicle Books is written by Tim Hauser with a forward by the film's director, Pete Docter.

The opening of the book starts with a fantastic layout of Carl character sketches through his ages, starting with his youngest appearance to the oldest seen in the film. From there, turn the pages to find the very insightful and well written foreword by Pete Docter who talks a little about how the film's story came to be.

  There is no denying that the art direction in Up is one of Pixar's finest. From the lush, epic landscapes of South America to the smaller, more intimate and emotional character moments such as Carl and Ellie's love story. It's all beautifully crafted. The imagery in the film is just pure imagination, like something out of a dream. Seriously, who besides those genius enough to work at Pixar would have thought of a house with thousands of balloons tied to it flying through the clouds? Even the house alone has become quite iconic and well known throughout the world. The film truly was an instant classic.

I love seeing all of the concept art (especially the character designs/evolutions) in addition to all of the storyboards and the photographs taken during the research trips to Venezuela.

 Compared to some of the "Art of" books, this one is much heavier on the pictures and focuses less on text, which I like. A lot of text is cool when it comes to being able to read a lot of the behind the scenes stories (don't get me wrong I do like that as well), but I kind of like just keeping that to a minimum with these books and just have it be focused on the art. This one, to me has, has the perfect  balance of text and images. The text is in short blocks/paragraphs and is very straightforward, yet insightful, while keeping the art the main focus of each page.

Above, of course, are a few of the great images you'll find in this book. Want to see more? Of course you do! You can easily get this book on Amazon, so head on over and grab a copy today if you haven't already. It's on sale currently for only $25.32 which is a great deal. I completely recommend this to any Disney/Pixar fan, epically if you're a lover of Up.

You can check out my write ups on the other "Art of" books that I have so far (and all of my Pixar related books) by checking out my "books" label to the right. More to come!

WALL-E: Hot Topic T-Shirt

A few months ago when I discovered that Hot Topic (the one store in the mall that you'd never see me at) has Disney/Pixar shirts, I've been obsessed! They have some really cool designs, one of them being this WALL-E tee which was released just recently. 

I love the way this shirt looks, feels and fits. What I love about the Hot Topic tees is that they're fitted and not "boxy", like the Disney Store shirts tend to be. 

I especially love this shirt because, really, how many WALL-E shirts are out there these days or in general? Exactly. This really was a gem of a find.

 If you're a WALL-E lover or just an overall Disney/Pixar fan, I would not miss the chance to own this shirt. Grab it now online while you still can here (UPDATE: Sold Out).

Thanks for stopping by and please let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. If you like what you see, be sure to stop by daily for more items from my Pixar collection.

Toy Story of Terror: Figure 3-Pack (Gift Pack) UPDATED

Finally! More than half a year later and we finally have some Toy Story of Terror merch! Here we have the brand new Mattel Toy Story of Terror figure Gift Pack featuring Buzz, Jessie and and the first ever toy appearance of Combat Carl!!

These figures are made of sturdy plastic and are about 4 (or so) inches tall. 

First of all, Buzz Lightyear glows in the dark, which is pretty cool...

...But then we have Combat Carl, which is just awesome. This memorable and hilarious character from the short has now been immortalized in plastic. Although this figure is supposed to represent the large Combat Carl figure seen in the film (since he is in scale with Buzz and Jessie here), he can also pass for the Combat Carl Jr. figure seen in the short since he's just about the same size and make that "Jr." would have been as a real action figure!

Also, thanks to my good friend T.J. over at PixarPost.com who brought it to my attention that Carl's right hand actually pops off just like in the film! I thought that was pretty neat. More on that soon when I get the time to post some loose pics of this set.

I really hope they make the large 12" version of Carl. It seems as though Thinkway Toys would be all over that idea. 

Then there's Jessie who is also a quality figure with a great sculpt/likeness, but of course, we've seen her as a toy many times. I really wish there were some more new characters from the short available as figures, but who knows, maybe more are on the way.

This set also comes with a DVD of the Toy Story Toon Small Fry (not quite sure why, but hey, I'll take it) and a clip from Toy Story of Terror featuring Combat Carl (the scene when he meets Jessie in the bathroom). This DVD isn't too important to me, since the full Toy Story of Terror special is going to be released on DVD and Bluray this summer, but it's a nice little tease for people to want to see more. 

The back of the package has some cool screen shots from the film and a little info on Combat Carl.

 This is an awesome set with the real highlight being the Combat Carl figure. If you loved the short, you can pick this up on Amazon for $19.99! I'm not sure where else this is currently available or if it will be in stores soon as well.

Like I said, I really hope there are more figures (whether small like these or full size) from the short as well such as Transitron, the PEZ cat, the LEGO Bunny, the Pocketeer and Old Timer the clock.

Thanks for stopping by for today's post and be sure to check back daily for more!

UPDATE 6/22/14

When I wrote this review a few days ago, I was in a time crunch so I didn't have time to take loose images. Well, I'm back from my trip so I decided to go back to this post and take these guys out of the box for you. For your viewing pleasure, below are some loose pictures of the three figures included with this set, including Combat Carl's famed removable hand!

The only accessories included are Jessie's removable hat and her "Toy Story" stand (which is required for her to be able to stand up on her own). I suppose you can count Carl's hand as an accessory as well. 

 

Buzz and Carl both stand up perfectly on their own without the need of a stand. 

 

Combat Carl has just eight points of articulation: his head, both arms, his right wrist (the one his hand pops out from), both his legs and both feet. Though it looks like he has articulation in the elbows, those are actually just fake molded joints.

 

 

 There we have it! An amazing set, now displayed proudly, loose on my shelf.

   

Toy Stor 1 2 & 3: Funko POP PAGE UPDATE- Woody, Jessie and Buzz

 Today's post is a page update to my Toy Story Funko POP collection! Head to the original post HERE to see more on these and the others-including Zurg, a pizza planet Alien and Lotso.

You can see all of my POP! Funko vinyl figures by exploring the "Funko POP" label to the right.

Lifted: Pixar Studio Store Exclusive Stu Plush

If you've been following my blog, you may know that I'm a gigantic fan of any of the merchandise released related to any of  Pixar's short films. The reason is simple...there's just not much of it! Whenever something short film related is released, it's a rare treat. Plus, it's usually a limited release or only available at the Pixar's Studio Store (which is in the Pixar Studio main building, invite only). 

I'm so excited to have just added this Lifted Stu plush to my collection. However, I couldn't have done it without my amazing wife who got me this as a great birthday present. A BIG thanks to her!

Lifted was Pixar's 2007 theatrical short that was released alongside Ratatouille. It was directed by Gary Rydstrom, who is a long-timer there at Pixar working in the sound department. Gary has been at Pixar for years, harkening all the way back to the original Toy Story. He also directed Pixar's first Toy Story Toon: Hawaiian Vacation.

In the film, this character, Stu, was the "teenage alien struggling to pass his human-abduction test." What a hilarious concept. I really love the cleverness and humor of this short. It never fails to makes me laugh out loud a few times.  

This is a  16" plush toy that was available ONLY at Pixar Studio Store in Emeryville, CA. Really the only way to get it now is to snag one on eBay. Listings for this plush pop up occasionally, but be warned, it can get pricey since it is so rare. Currently, there is just one selling for $119.99. I was lucky enough to come across a much more reasonable price. Keep an eye out!

This is one out of seven "short films plush" that I've been lucky enough to own. The other ones are the Gopher from Boundin', Alec the bunny from Presto, Bambino from La Luna, Bird from For the Birds and the Jackalope/lamb 2-pack from Boundin'.

I absolutely LOVE this plush. It's a most welcomed addition to my collection, especially being my first item from Lifted. It's without a doubt another one of my most prized pieces. 

You can check out the current eBay auctions for this using the link below: 

Pixar Lifted Plush

UPDATE: As a side note, I have to mention the awesome way Brita give me this guy. After my party and present opening was done, I had totally forgotten that I was even expecting this. When I went into our bedroom later that night to go to sleep, there he was waiting for me! Such an awesome little surprise.