ANTHRAX DRUMMER CHARLIE BENANTE DESIGNED A TOY FOR MY COLLECTION!

While I was in Disney World this Summer, I discovered the wonderful world of vinyl toy collecting. Disney recently(ish) started an exclusive vinyl toy line called Vinylmation that you can only get inside the Disney parks. They’re 3-inch figures (all with Mickey Mouse ears) sold for $10 each in blank boxes, so you don’t ever know which one you will get until you open it up. If you’re unhappy with what you got, Disney retailers offer you the option of trading from a large mystery box with little numbered doors to choose a different one. The whole thing is really fun/addicting, especially since Disney regularly releases new sets of these toys to reflect different parts of their brand/associations. There are sets for things like Muppets and Toy Story, as well as ones that represent iconic parts of the Disney Parks, and even random stuff like “Holiday,” (there’s a Baby New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas, etc)) or “Urban,” which are mostly artsy fartsy designs. Just a few days after I left Disney World, they released the Nightmare Before Christmas set. (SO PISSED I MISSED THAT), and word on the street is that there’s a Star Wars set coming soon, which I totally wanna get my hands on as well.

I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of Anthrax, but I was stoked to hear Charlie Benante designed a figure for this line, since he’s a pretty unsuspected person to get involved in something like this. According to the Disney Parks blog, his figure (seen above) is a special edition for the Vinylmation series. There were only nine of these sheet-music-mummified Mickeys made, and they are one of a few Vinylmation toys that are 9 inches tall, instead of the normal 3 inches. I’m not sure how/if these rare figures will be sold, since they were not produced at the same quantity as others like them, but he apparently has more up his sleeve in the near future with this, so I guess I’ll be sure to check back.

It’s cool to see someone like a member of Anthrax collaborating with Disney, especially since most “metal” people seem to totally despise anything even remotely corporate/happy/fun. But there definitely doesn’t seem to be any money-hungry intentions here, plus it’s TOYS (who the hell doesn’t like toys?), so hopefully the fans will support it.

Maybe I’ll soon get to add to my (tiny) collection that is displayed prominently on my desk at work:


From left to right: Bunsen & Fozzy (both from the Muppets collection), and a little cheeseburger man from one of the “Urban” lines. He’s cute enough to eat.

Some of the Vinylmation sets (that have already been out for while) can be purchased on their website. What other musicians do you think could design for Vinylmation?

-Elise