Harry Potter kicks ass. Really. The books might not be grammatically, syntactically, or structurally the finest pieces of fiction ever produced by humans, but they’re damn fun to read. Ms. Rowlings snagged on a formula that works, and not the least important aspect of this formula is how the books grow in complexity and darken in tone as they move forward, just as her young readers age.
While all the films haven’t been quite as good, they’ve done an admirable job telling the story in that medium. The international trailer is out for Order of the Phoenix, and it looks fantastic. Anticipation is certainly running high for this film, and with other major blockbusters hitting this summer like Spidey and Jack Sparrow, this is likely to be a record setting box office year.
Gentle Giant began making their line of Harry Potter busts about a 18 months ago, and they’ve given us some good, and some amazing. The latest release is just hitting, and includes lovable but huge Hagrid, and much smaller and a whole lot less lovable Mad Eye Moody. Retail on these is around $45, just like the rest of the series.
Gentle Giant Hagrid/Mad Eye Moody Busts
If you’ve been buying these from the start, you’re collection is starting to round out pretty nicely. These two make busts twelve and thirteen (or thirteen and fourteen, if you count the convention exclusive repainted Sirius), with all the major characters (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Snape, and Hagrid) having a bust, along with a few secondary characters (Sirius, Dementor, Deatheaters, Moody) and some visually interesting C string characters (Nearly Headless Nick, Dobby) to round it out. Next up is Voldemort and the Riddle gravesite (should be out in the next month), with an older Harry, Cho Chang, and Malfoy all hitting this summer.
And for those interested in numbers, both of these are limited editions (of course), with 2000 made of Hagrid, and 1750 made of Moody. These are small edition sizes, especially considering the overall popularity of the line so far.
Packaging – ***
Both come in the standard Potter boxes, with window – a big plus! The box for Hagrid is also huge, at least twice as wide as the regular boxes due to his expanded girth and separate hands. They include the nifty little baseball card sized Certificates of Authenticity as well.
Sculpting – ****
It can be tricky at times to pull Sculpt and Paint apart. The final result depends on both so heavily, and one can effect the other so much, that seeing where one ends and the other starts is quite the trick.
I think that’s going to be an issue for these two, and Hagrid in particular. Underneath the face and hair paint is a fantastic sculpt, capturing the facial contours and proportions of the character extremely well. There’s also some very nice texturing in the clothing, a complaint on some other Gentle Giant busts, and the small detail work is top notch. The only issue I have with the sculpt itself is the scale, and that’s a fairly minor nit. Hagrid is a huge character on screen, and while this bust is much larger than usual (there’s probably twice the polystone here over the usual adult bust), he’s still not as big as he really should be to be in scale with the rest of the line. However, I fully understand the need for Gentle Giant to try to keep this bust in the same price range as the rest of the series, and to do so required cutting back a bit on the size.
Moody is also an excellent sculpt. There’s something in there that’s not quite as dead on accurate for me – perhaps the face is a little thinner than I expected – but I’m not sure that’s so much the sculpt as the paint. He has some wonderful work on the mad eye, and the facial scarring (especially on the right cheek) is really, really impressive. His outfit is also quite detailed, and while there isn’t quite as much texturing as with Hagrid, he does sport more than the usual GG bust.
Both of these sculpts are near the top of the series, capturing the characaters extremely well. But I suspect that the next category causes them a couple issues when it comes to convincing everyone of that fact.
Paint – ***
Don’t get me wrong – the paint work here isn’t awful. In fact, most of it is extremely clean, especially the work done on their costumes. There’s even some excellent weathering added to Moody’s outer coat that looks terrific. Ah, but the faces…
Hagrid’s sculpt is held back a bit by the paint work on his face. The edge of the hair line, where the face and mane meet, is the biggest problem. It’s tough to get that line to be realistic, and companies have tried lots of tricks. In the end, it is the one spot that detracts from the realism of the sculpt the most, making it all the more obvious that this is a painted bust, not a real person.
His skin tone is a bit wonky as well, with a little too much variation. He has sort of an odd tan thing going on, and the mottling hurts the realism as well.
Moody is another tough one to pull off. The scarring is pretty good, and the uninjured eye looks great. The hair and skin colors are a little too close together though, and blondes are always tough to do right. The paint work on his hands is a little gloppy and thick, but my biggest issue is that the pupil and iris of his fake eye are a squidge too small. Just a little is obvious even in this scale, and the smaller size makes the eye less bizarre and scary looking.
Design – ***1/2
Hagrid has the advantage over Moody – he’s been in the films since the very beginning. The choices for design for him are far greater, but Moody fights back by having one Hell of a bizarre appearance.
Fans of the films will recognize Hagrid from the first film, as he takes Ron, Hermione, Harry and Malfoy into the woods to search for the killer of the unicorns. Hagrid took with him the lantern and the cross bow, both being carried by him at this point. His hands are removable, carrying the bow in his right and the lantern in his left. The sculpt is dynamic without being over done, and matches extremely well with the scene from the film.
The big plus here is that the lamp actually lights up! Push a small button on the bottom, and viola – let there be light! It glows with a soft blue light, and looks terrific in a darkened room. Adding in this clearly more expensive detail on a bust that’s already much larger than the others was something I hadn’t expected them to pull off.
Moody isn’t quite as classic (at least I can’t pick out this exact screen moment from memory), but the pose works well. He’s leaning on his wooden walking stick, staring off center from his body. While the general pose isn’t too dynamic, his funky eye actually moves within the patch, and can be posed staring in any direction! That’s a huge plus, and quite a nice addition to the basic bust design.
Value – Moody ***; Hagrid ***1/2
Retail on these is $50, the same as previous releases. However, you’ll find them at most places around $45, and some (with links below) even have them as cheap as $40. Generally, at $45 I’d give a regular release **1/2 stars in this category. But with these two guys, you’re getting some extras. Moody has his cool moving eye, and moving parts is something you don’t generally get in a mini-bust. And Hagrid isn’t just huge compared to the other busts, but he has a very effective light up feature, all for the same price as the much smaller and less complex busts like Hermione. Now that’s a value!
Things to Watch Out For –
Obviously, you’ll want to take your time inserting the hands on Hagrid. The pegs are made from resin as well, and can be broken or chipped if you’re careless. Once they’re on though, they stay on, and I’ve leave them that way. If you’re handling the bust though, don’t forget that they ARE a separate piece and can fall off. That would be very bad.
Moody has some minor issues with his eye. Moving it can be tough, especially if it gets too far over to one side. The slightly elevated pupil can stick a bit on the edge. Take your time with it, as scratching it is a distinct possibility. Again, I got it in a place I liked it and left it there once I was done with the photos.
Overall – ***1/2
I have tons of mini-busts in my collection for every conceivable license from companies like Palisades, and Sideshow, and Bowen, and Diamond Select, and many others. Very rarely am I a completist in any of them, and even the Gentle Giant Star Wars line, which I have *almost* all of, I feel no real compunction to complete.
But the Harry Potter line has been extremely well handled so far, with generally excellent sculpts for what is predominately a human based license. It’s always easier to do monsters than it is to do real people, and yet GG has shown that they can do amazing work with this series. This is one series that I’ll be doing my damndest to complete, and I suggest that if you are interested in these, you pick them up sooner rather than later. Very few of the previous releases are still available, and I’m betting Hagrid ends up being a tough one to find very shortly.
Scoring Recap –
Packaging – ***
Sculpt – ****
Paint – ***
Design – ***1/2
Value – Moody ***; Hagrid ***1/2
Overall – ***1/2
Where to Buy –
Lots of online options:
– Fireside Collectibles has them for just $40 each.
– Alter Ego Comics has them both for $42.50.
– CornerStoreComics has them for $43 each.
– Andrew’s Toyz also has them in, at $45 each.
Related Links –
I have a fair share of Harry reviews:
– there are my reviews of the other Gentle Giant busts including Ron and Hermione, Snape and Dumbledore, Dobby and the Dementor, and both Deatheaters and Nearly Headless Nick, and I have a guest review of Harry and Sirius.
– don’t forget the new action figures from NECA!
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