Since inception in 2013, Disney has had a presence in Funko’s Mystery Minis line. Disney Series 1 was one of the first sets ever marketed and produced. Since then, there have been numerous Disney inspired sets, such as Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney Series 2, Disney Series 2 (SDCC Version), Frozen, and, the latest, Disney’s Heroes vs. Villains. This newest set, which just came out the beginning of May, pairs up classic Disney and Pixar Heroes with the Villain counterpart. Overall, there are 16 figures in this series: 8 which appear in all cases, 4 which appear only in Hot Topic cases, and 4 which appear in non-Hot Topic cases. Long story short: even if you buy a case of 12 from a store, you will not get the entire set of 16.
Today, I am going to look at 12 of the 16 figures, as I was able to get a case of these beauties from my local Hot Topic. In the Hot Topic cases, the exclusive figures are Rapunzel vs. Mother Gothel and Simba vs. Scar.
Before we get into the look of the individual figures, I want to show the progression of the figure design from 2013 to today. First off, we have Tinkerbell from Series 1. Her face is a flat sphere, with all of the details painted on. She also does not have a nose. This is common in the first few releases of Funko Mystery Minis, until Funko decided to put more money into the development of these figures (probably because the collectible caught on like wildfire, partially due to the decline in popularity of Vinylmation). By the time Series 2 came out in the summer of 2014 (represented by Alice), you could tell there is a totally different approach to the designs. We even see a more detailed approach in the Frozen set, here with Coronation Anna. Lastly, Rapunzel shows us where Heroes vs. Villains took the design: a bit more cartooney and a drastic change in scale of some of the figures.
Now let’s take a closer look at the character match-ups.
Rapunzel vs. Mother Gothel (Hot Topic Exclusive)
Jasmine vs. Jafar
Anna vs. Marshmallow
Experiment 626 vs. Gantu
Ariel vs. Ursula
Simba vs. Scar (Hot Topic Exclusive)
Overall, I really like this set. I am still hoping to track down the remaining four: Peter Pan vs. Captain Hook, and Heimlich vs. Hopper from the Pixar movie A Bug’s Life. A great job by the Funko team all around.
The two standouts, for me, are Simba and Scar. I love the design and the look. Ursula herself is awesome, but I am not fond of Ariel. Same with Jafar and Jasmine: great villain, lackluster hero. The Rapunzel and Mother Gothel pairing is strong, and I know it’s already becoming popular because, if nothing else, there isn’t much out there to collect for Mother Gothel.
Disney’s Heroes vs. Villains have started appearing across the US in Hot Topic stores if you are looking for the Hot Topic exclusives. If you are looking for the rest, our friends over at Entertainment Earth have both full cases and random 4pks up for purchase. You can find those items here.
Will you be trying to collect the Disney’s Heroes vs. Villains set? Let us know which one is your favorite.
Matt Norris