The Vinylmation Villains set is one many including myself were very excited about seeing. As a whole, I think the set was very good with a few small problems. But I am extremely picky and hard to please in the vinylmation design department, so here are my thoughts.
In the order of the picture we have Steam Boat Pete. As far as design I think he is done fairly well. The placement of his character on the mickey in my opinion was done extremely well. The biggest flaw is the placement of his mouth. On the picture it looks fine, but in person I feel its oddly placed. Overall, I wouldn't trade it if I got it, but I could care less about it.
The next one is Prince John from Robin Hood. I love this one. I love the crazy eyes, the crazy face, the coloring, everything about it. I feel the placements are perfect. Granted it is a lot easier to place a tiger on mouse given the animal features but not all vinyls have pulled this off. The fact is the design on this vinylmation fits the characters design and personality perfectly. By far my favorite in the pack.
Next is the Old Hag, who I call the Wicked Queen because they are the same person. The vinylmation is too ugly for me to enjoy but that is also its charm. The fact is she is supposed to be a scary old witch and that is exactly what this design is. There are some slight flaws but as a whole its not terrible. But what I think really makes this design stand out is the apple on the Mickey foot. The bright red draws the eye to the apple and away from the dark colors on the rest of the figure. Putting the apple in that position was a brilliant idea. It is almost as though we the viewer are in the same position as Snow White, being drawn to that bright shiny red apple on this dark scary figure. Perfection.
Then there is Ratcliffe from Pocahontas who I think is the worst design of the set. The face is misplaced and in person looks just terrible. I can see where the design was trying to go with this figure, with the large evil grin etc, but to be honest it just didn't work. This figure was placed in the box that says "to be traded" and will never be looked at again.
Mad Madam Mim is hard for me to review. On one hand it is one of the few Disney Animated movies that I have not seen so it is hard for me to really know if the design describes the character correctly. With some research it seems the fact of her changing forms so much they just made her a puff of smoke with a head. Personally I find it creative, but as I said it is one of the few movies I haven't seen so in that respect I can't comment. But as a design that is aesthetically pleasing, I would say YES! The design itself is very enjoyable to look at. It is placed on the Mickey figure perfectly and gives a slightly different feel then just another body and a head. But this too is a "to be traded" vinyl for me.
Kaa from the Jungle Book. Well first off, I don't think he deserved to be a villain in the series. As a character I found him wishy washy and annoying, not really scary or villainous. I think there was a scarier villains. OK yes I believe he almost ate Mowgli a couple times, but its just my opinion there was scarier villains in the movie. Moving on, I appreciate the fact that the artist didn't bother trying to make Kaa fit on a Mickey. I feel there are way too many designs that fail because of that factor. Yes, there is some dead space, but its a snake on a Mickey figure, what else were you going to do. I think this vinyl is a keeper. Yes, I disagree with the character choice but again the design really fits with the character and on the figure.
Moving onto Cruella de Vil. I think there is a sizing problem in the design on this figure. The face is too small and it looks strange. The chin being on the nose works, but the face is squished in her hood to the point where it looks unrealistic to the size of her lower half. This is my only problem with the figure, but its a huge one for me. Sorry Cruella, not only do you stand against everything I believe in, you too go in the "to be traded" box.
Shan Yu from Mulan. This figure looks great. I really love how the artist used the dead space to put symbols instead of trying to fit in on the figure. This is a very common theme throughout the vinyls but I really feel this and Kaa are the two that it works best. Yes, the big chin is a bit too big on the figure, but I don't think that it takes away from the design. Still I personally don't care for it, but my fiancé loves it, so it doesn't get traded.
Banzai from the Lion King another animal placed on a Mickey that looks great. Why Banzai out of the trio? I don't really know, they were more comedic relief characters with Scar as the main villain. But as we know, he will most likely be released in a second series. The point is, since he is an animal it was easier to place on the figure which gives the design a more flawless and likable appeal. I wouldn't go looking for this one, but if I got it I'd keep it.
Stromboli. I have so many words and none of them are pleasant so I'll keep it short. The point is, the character is ugly the face looks strange on the Mickey. What really kills this design is the mouth. It looks awful! OK, I know there was no place else to put this or do it but, it KILLS it. I look at it and all I see is the mouth. This is the second worst in the set for me. This is a must be traded. Luckily, I haven't gotten him yet.
Ursula from The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite villains. When I heard she was being made I was pretty excited. There are plenty of flaws on this figure, but I think it came out decent. Again the main problem is the mouth but even still I feel how it was placed gives a creepy evil smile effect which too fits the character. The hair being split in the middle makes me feel like she is wearing pig tails which takes away from the scariness of the rest of the figure, but its doable. This one is already a keeper.
The last is the chaser. I was not going to give it away, but its Jafar and he was done perfectly! Jafar was the chaser is a perfect villain but one very hard to place on a cheerful Mickey figure. The detail and placement was flawless and I am glad we found it. What my fiance and I enjoy the most though is not the front of the figure, its the detail of the snake staff on the back. Just a little something extra to add that makes the figure worth looking for. A success!
So, as a whole the set was pretty decent. The ability to place the character on the Mickey was one of the best I've seen. The colors went well, most of the designs matched the character perfectly and other then a small few, none of them looked scary and strange. There have been many vinylmations that I have looked at and cringed, and that didn't happen for the majority of this set. For someone as picky as me, that is a really good sign!
To sum up this is my list for this set;
Keepers: Prince John, Ursula, Pete, The Old Hag (wicked queen), Bonzai, Kaa, Jafar,
"To be traded": Cruella de Vil, Mad Madame Mim, Ratcliffe, Shan Yu, Stromboli
The next one is Prince John from Robin Hood. I love this one. I love the crazy eyes, the crazy face, the coloring, everything about it. I feel the placements are perfect. Granted it is a lot easier to place a tiger on mouse given the animal features but not all vinyls have pulled this off. The fact is the design on this vinylmation fits the characters design and personality perfectly. By far my favorite in the pack.
Next is the Old Hag, who I call the Wicked Queen because they are the same person. The vinylmation is too ugly for me to enjoy but that is also its charm. The fact is she is supposed to be a scary old witch and that is exactly what this design is. There are some slight flaws but as a whole its not terrible. But what I think really makes this design stand out is the apple on the Mickey foot. The bright red draws the eye to the apple and away from the dark colors on the rest of the figure. Putting the apple in that position was a brilliant idea. It is almost as though we the viewer are in the same position as Snow White, being drawn to that bright shiny red apple on this dark scary figure. Perfection.
Then there is Ratcliffe from Pocahontas who I think is the worst design of the set. The face is misplaced and in person looks just terrible. I can see where the design was trying to go with this figure, with the large evil grin etc, but to be honest it just didn't work. This figure was placed in the box that says "to be traded" and will never be looked at again.
Mad Madam Mim is hard for me to review. On one hand it is one of the few Disney Animated movies that I have not seen so it is hard for me to really know if the design describes the character correctly. With some research it seems the fact of her changing forms so much they just made her a puff of smoke with a head. Personally I find it creative, but as I said it is one of the few movies I haven't seen so in that respect I can't comment. But as a design that is aesthetically pleasing, I would say YES! The design itself is very enjoyable to look at. It is placed on the Mickey figure perfectly and gives a slightly different feel then just another body and a head. But this too is a "to be traded" vinyl for me.
Kaa from the Jungle Book. Well first off, I don't think he deserved to be a villain in the series. As a character I found him wishy washy and annoying, not really scary or villainous. I think there was a scarier villains. OK yes I believe he almost ate Mowgli a couple times, but its just my opinion there was scarier villains in the movie. Moving on, I appreciate the fact that the artist didn't bother trying to make Kaa fit on a Mickey. I feel there are way too many designs that fail because of that factor. Yes, there is some dead space, but its a snake on a Mickey figure, what else were you going to do. I think this vinyl is a keeper. Yes, I disagree with the character choice but again the design really fits with the character and on the figure.
Moving onto Cruella de Vil. I think there is a sizing problem in the design on this figure. The face is too small and it looks strange. The chin being on the nose works, but the face is squished in her hood to the point where it looks unrealistic to the size of her lower half. This is my only problem with the figure, but its a huge one for me. Sorry Cruella, not only do you stand against everything I believe in, you too go in the "to be traded" box.
Shan Yu from Mulan. This figure looks great. I really love how the artist used the dead space to put symbols instead of trying to fit in on the figure. This is a very common theme throughout the vinyls but I really feel this and Kaa are the two that it works best. Yes, the big chin is a bit too big on the figure, but I don't think that it takes away from the design. Still I personally don't care for it, but my fiancé loves it, so it doesn't get traded.
Banzai from the Lion King another animal placed on a Mickey that looks great. Why Banzai out of the trio? I don't really know, they were more comedic relief characters with Scar as the main villain. But as we know, he will most likely be released in a second series. The point is, since he is an animal it was easier to place on the figure which gives the design a more flawless and likable appeal. I wouldn't go looking for this one, but if I got it I'd keep it.
Stromboli. I have so many words and none of them are pleasant so I'll keep it short. The point is, the character is ugly the face looks strange on the Mickey. What really kills this design is the mouth. It looks awful! OK, I know there was no place else to put this or do it but, it KILLS it. I look at it and all I see is the mouth. This is the second worst in the set for me. This is a must be traded. Luckily, I haven't gotten him yet.
Ursula from The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite villains. When I heard she was being made I was pretty excited. There are plenty of flaws on this figure, but I think it came out decent. Again the main problem is the mouth but even still I feel how it was placed gives a creepy evil smile effect which too fits the character. The hair being split in the middle makes me feel like she is wearing pig tails which takes away from the scariness of the rest of the figure, but its doable. This one is already a keeper.
The last is the chaser. I was not going to give it away, but its Jafar and he was done perfectly! Jafar was the chaser is a perfect villain but one very hard to place on a cheerful Mickey figure. The detail and placement was flawless and I am glad we found it. What my fiance and I enjoy the most though is not the front of the figure, its the detail of the snake staff on the back. Just a little something extra to add that makes the figure worth looking for. A success!
So, as a whole the set was pretty decent. The ability to place the character on the Mickey was one of the best I've seen. The colors went well, most of the designs matched the character perfectly and other then a small few, none of them looked scary and strange. There have been many vinylmations that I have looked at and cringed, and that didn't happen for the majority of this set. For someone as picky as me, that is a really good sign!
To sum up this is my list for this set;
Keepers: Prince John, Ursula, Pete, The Old Hag (wicked queen), Bonzai, Kaa, Jafar,
"To be traded": Cruella de Vil, Mad Madame Mim, Ratcliffe, Shan Yu, Stromboli
-Amanda
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