I think the whole concept of a villains "sister series" is beyond awesome, and I especially love the backing cards with the crossed-out name! That said, even though the sample pins look really nice quality-wise, imo the designs aren't on par with Beloved Tales. I think the BT pins are so gorgeous (for the most part) because they have really creative, incredibly detailed designs that are usually lifted from actual film scenes, like the Something There scene from BatB and Under the Sea from TLM. Beloved "Tales" is quite a fitting name, because the pins evoke stories, not just characters. Some of the Dark Tales pins do the same (mainly Ursula and the Queen of Hearts), but others are just sort of generic, standard character poses (like Lady Tremaine, Chernabog and Yzma.) They don't feel nearly as cinematic as the BT pins. Personally I think DT Scar is the least imaginative of the set - it looks a little too much like the WDI Villains Series pin released last year.
I know, I know, Scar playing with a mouse *is* from the film, but it still feels lackluster to me. I wish they would've chosen a more dynamic and iconic scene, such as Be Prepared, Mufasa's death, or Scar fighting Simba at the end. How badass would these moments look on a pin??
I just feel like they could've done a lot more artistically, even with Lady Tremaine, who is probably the least exciting villain included the series (in the sense that she doesn't
do anything particularly exciting, like fight Cinderella to the death in a blaze of hellfire.) Still, there are several visually striking shots of her in the film to draw inspiration from, such as when young Cinderella sees Tremaine for the first time, looming menacingly in the window, or when Tremaine stands in Cinderella's doorway with the key, about to lock her inside, and her eyes are glowing with malice.
To be honest though, despite being somewhat disappointed with the series as a whole, I do really like the Hades and Facilier pins and hope I'll be able to add those to my collection someday, if I ever find a reasonable price or a trade I can live with. But these definitely aren't grail-level pins for me and I'd certainly never pay the huge markup prices I've already seen from sellers (anywhere from 4.5 x the original price to 13.6 x original price.) I realize this hobby is all about supply and demand, but damn, sellers are just so quick to exploit the collectors. But that's a rant for another thread... lol.
Anyway, sorry for analyzing everything to death and being an all-around Debbie Downer! Hey, you wanted a discussion right?
I know many people here are very enamored with this series, and if you like it, that's truly all that matters. I hope everyone pining for some (or all) of these pins is able to hunt them down! Good luck!!
PS: Yep, still keep misreading Dark Tales as Duck Tales and instantly getting the theme song stuck in my head. It's a duck blur...
