Harry Potter, with all the books and all the movies, is a world wide phenomena.  And yet, there have been so few actually good collectibles based on the property. 

Oh, there’s a few, including the nifty wands from the Noble Collection.  But when it came to figures, statues and busts, things were beyond weak.  Don’t even start talking about the awful toys from Mattel.  That all changed a little more than a year ago, when Gentle Giant released their first mini-busts.

In reality, it didn’t quite change then.  The first couple busts – Harry and Sirius – were good, but not outstanding.  It wasn’t until the very cool second set of Snape and Dumbledore were released that folks really started to take notice.  Then the Dementor and Dobby hit, cementing the fact that this line was going to be a major hit.

Once again this summer Gentle Giant released a convention exclusive Potter bust, limited to just 500 pieces.  This time it was Lucius Malfoy in his Deatheater costume.  This was technically a variant, since at about the same time they were releasing a more generic Deatheater, along with Nearly Headless Nick.  I’ll take a look at all three of these guys tonight.

If you have any questions, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com, or visit my other site at Michael’s Review of the Week.

“Harry Potter Busts – Nearly Headless Nick, Malfoy as Deatheater, and a Deatheater”

Both the regular Deatheater and the Nearly Headless Nick are regular releases, and the runs were 1500 each.  Lucius Malfoy in his Deatheater garb was an SDCC only exclusive, and as such they only made 500 of him. 

Packaging – **1/2
While past GG Potter busts have had windows, all three of these releases have dropped them.  You won’t be sure of the condition or appearance of the bust til you open him up.  There are photos of the actual product on the package, and the interior styrofoam design is so good that you’ll have very little to fear in terms of breakage, but the windows will be missed, at least by me.

 

 

All three of these come with Certificates of Authenticity, but they continue in the recent tradition of being more like trading cards in terms of size and style than COA’s.

Sculpting – Deatheater ****; Malfoy, Nick ***1/2
The sculpting on the Potter series of busts continues to amaze me.  While there are issues with human likenesses for every company, including Gentle Giant, they seem to be doing every one of the Potter busts with extra care and attention.

 

 

Nearly Headless Nick looks almost exactly like the Cleese character.  It’s not quite as perfect as either the Snape or Dumbledore, but it’s damn close.  The face is a little flat to be perfect, and that may actually be an issue of the mold, not the original sculpt.

There’s a ton of detail in the body as well, with the various buttons and edging actually sculpted.  There’s also some nice gorey detail in the neck, reminding us just how he got his name.

 

 

I think the best work in this set of three is actually in the generic Deatheater.  The face mask is a rotting human skull, and the realistic detail in the teeth and bone is amazing.  I also like the overall pose of the body, head and arms, and the sculpted translucent flames above the torch are excellent.

It’s nice to see that everything flows in the same direction too – the various flaps of clothing match the flow of the fire, giving the impression that the wind is blowing them all the same.  Details like these help cement the subliminal realism of the sculpt.

 

  

The Malfoy is nice as well, although his mask isn’t quite as appealing or visually interesting as the generic version.  Here’s the part that really surprises me – he’s truly a new figure, not just a basic variant.  As far as I can tell, the only reused sections of the sculpt is the torso and stone base.  The arms, hands and entire head (including the cap) are entirely new, which was a big surprise.  That greatly increases his value on the shelf!

Paint – Nick, Deatheater ****; Malfoy ***1/2
Paint ops are solid once again all around, with absolutely no slop, poor cuts, or bleed.  It might appear that there’s a little less detail work here, but that’s not the case at all, and once you get up close you’ll see the intricate dark patterns on areas like the Deatheater caps.

 

  

Nick has some excellent work on his face and head, but the real stand out here is that his entire body, from the sliced neck down to the stone base, is actually translucent.  It’s hollow, and cast from a greenish blue plastic.  At first glance it appears solid, but in reality passes light quite easily.  The combination of the painted head (and hand) and small details on the costume, with this clear material to imply his ‘ghostly’ appearance, makes an otherwise nice bust fantastic.

 

 

The regular Deatheater is also quite nice, with some wonderfully realistic work on the mask.  There’s plenty of small detail work too, but it’s this bone paint work that really sets him apart and gives him a truly creepy appearance.

 

 

That leaves Malfoy, who has more detail work on the costume and body than the regular Deatheater, including a great snake motif on the front of his cap.  However, the blonde color of the hair is much too yellow, and mine actually had a couple stray marks on the robes.

 

 

Design – ****
While the technical aspects of the sculpt and paint are always crucial to a bust or statue, the actual design of the character is what really sells it.  What’s the pose, expression, and demeanor?

 

  

Nick is in a classic pose, exposing his neck to you, just so you know why his name is Nearly Headless, instead of just Headless.  His expression also implies that he’s none to happy about it, and would have been much happier had they finished the job cleanly.

 

 

Both Deatheaters look dangerous, with slightly dynamic poses.  The robes flow nicely, and the hand positions match up well with the direction the head and body are facing.  Everything looks natural, avoiding any awkward appearance.

 

  

I still can’t get over how distinctly different the two poses are between the Deatheaters.  Altering the set of the head and arms made all the difference in the world.

 

 

Value – ***
You’ll pay around $40 – $45 each for these, although if you hunt (and pay attention to my suggestions at the end of the review), you’ll come in closer to $40.  That’s below the price of most of the GG Star Wars busts these days, and considering the quality and design, I’d say it’s a good, if not great, value.

 

 

Things to Watch Out For –
There’s not much.  Both Deatheaters have wands that are easy to break, but as long as you take some care you’ll be fine.

Overall – Deatheater ****; Nick, Malfoy ***1/2
This line continues to impress me, and could easily become over time the finest set of Potter collectibles produced.  With critical characters like Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Voldemort, and Mad Eye Moody coming up soon, and dozens of other potential characters to produce, this series could last for several more years.

Where to Buy –
Online options are almost you’re only bet, and Ebay is probably you’re only chance for Malfoy now, unfortunately:

– Dark Shadow Collectibles has these two at $41 each, and they have pre-orders for the upcoming releases of Mad Eye Moody and Hagrid, already up.

– Fireside Collectibles is sold out already of these, but has an excellent preorder price of $40 on upcoming busts in the series.

– Alter Ego Comics has the two regular busts for $42.50 each.

Related Links:
While there hasn’t been a lot of Potter merchandise, I have reviewed it:

– first, there’s my review of the Snape/Dumbledore and Dementor/Dobby releases, along with a guest review of the initial Harry/Sirius busts.

– there’s also the first full statue based on the license from GG, the Hungarian Horntail.

– There’s the Potter wand from the Noble Collection.

– and if you like bad toys, there’s always the Extreme Quidditch Harry action figure, and one of the Dueling Club Harry.

– and finally, there’s the little Magical mini-Dumbledore!

 

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