I've Given In to Tsum Tsums...

As you may already be aware, my Disney collectible soft spot is Vinylmation. I tried the pin thing, but it never really held my attention. I would only buy pins that I wanted, so why would I trade them? I stopped with pins because there wasn't really a way in my mind that I could neatly display them, and it didn't make sense to me to keep buying them (at $10-$15 a pin) only to stick them in a drawer.

Vinylmation were perfect - little 3" Walt Disney World memories, with the option of trading if you bought a mystery figure you didn't want to keep. They stand upright on their own, so they are easy and neat to display. But they could get expensive, so I decided I didn't need any other Disney collectibles.

In the summer of 2014 Tsum Tsum were released in the U.S. and Disney's focus seemed to shift from pushing Vinylmation to pushing Tsum Tsum. My favorite hobby is still in existence, but it's much different now. There used to be weekly releases, an entire store at Downtown Disney dedicated solely to Vinylmation, trading stations at every Disney park and most resorts, merchandise, the list goes on. Now much of that is over and all that promoting is geared toward Tsum Tsums. There's a game for your phone, twice monthly releases, merchandise, etc.

But I never understood the point of Tsum Tsums. Okay, they're cute, they're soft, and you stack them. So what? Where am I going to stack these things? Am I just going to look at them in a stack? At least with Vinylmation when I look at that display, I remember past trips, extinct attractions, favorite Disney memories... there's more to them than just putting them on a shelf and looking at them every once in a while. They'r not just a toy or another Disney merchandise item, they're meaningful and sentimental. Tsums don't have that, so why should I jump on the bandwagon?

Well, I finally did it. I gave in to Tsum Tsums. Disney knew how to get me on board - release lines of Disney parks Tsum Tsums and I'm there! When I first saw the Disney Parks Attractions collection, I wanted almost all of them. Unfortunately, so did everyone else and they sold out super quickly at the parks, on the Shop Disney Parks App, and the Disney Store Online. However, a kind friend of mine sent me the two pictured above for Christmas and that began my collection.

I've started to grow my collection since then, and I have also started another blog that purely focuses on Tsum Tsums - previews, releases, pictures, and my collection. I invite you to join me there also! Come stack with me over at Tsum Tsum Wonderland, I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!