210 replies to this topic

[Artistix]

Wait a minute. Does this mean I should wait to buy the Voldemort/Harry figure because this is going to be one big box set? Or is the grave going to be sold separately from the two???

Hold off on buying Harry & Voldemort right now.

Many people on other forums are a bit peeved that they bought the two figures, which are now being released with this awesome diorama.

Luckily I had not bought any yet.

Here's a pic of the Neca trio:


And some closer pics of the figures from Cards inc.


There are no pics yet of McGonagall & Umbridge...though Actionfigure.com reported that Dolores Umbridge is an exceptional sculpt.

For some reason, The Leaky Cauldron has taken down all pics of the playsets, as well as the pics of the figures included with them???

On other sites, the playsets & figures are shown, but mostly blacked out so you can make out no detail!

[The_Donster]

Sam, is this going to be in the same scale as the NECA Series 1 line though? It seems that their playsets have a tendency to be a little bit smaller. While I'll probable get both the series and the playset, I was just curious. The NECA stuff is definately looking pretty good so far, just hope they don't screw up Hermione.

[Artistix]

Well, at 19" wide & 16" tall....I would say the figures will be the same as those already released....I guess anyway.
Neca are also making a smaller line of 4 or 5" figures..or something like that. Scaled down versions of the bigger figures. Perhaps they are using them for the diorama.

I've never known Neca to do amazing work on faces...especially women. Not that their faces aren't attractive, they just don't seem to have the ability to get details just right in order to bring out the best likeness of the actors.

Take a look at their 'Grindhouse' figures....or those from the movie '300'....very nice figures, though they don't look like the actors.

[The_Donster]

Yeah, I know what you mean. But I think it's more the paint application than the sculpts. As I've heard many times, if I'm paying a premium price, I don't want to have to repaint the damn thing

[Artistix]

For sure. And I wouldn't be able to do that myself anyway!

It's interesting how some companies seem to hire the right factories to make their figures, with good paint applications & excellent character resemblance, yet other companies, while the figures are very nice, do not seem to have the same level of artistry (would that be the term!).

As I was saying, the Neca 300 figures are awesome looking, but do not really resemble the actors. And I'd imagine people pay a bit of cash for those kinda figures. They are often around $30 in my local ToyWorld.

Whoever painted the AA Star Trek figures, especially for Enterprise, did an amazing job. Archer, Travis, Phlox, Trip...all had great facial likeness.

[Artistix]

The Neca electronic talking Hagrid should be available soon....if you have a spare $100US!! go grab him.

[Artistix]

Some more, though very small, images from The Cards Inc.

McGonagal & Umbridge will be included with the Great Hall Playset:

[Artistix]

New pics of the Gryffindor House Playset including Ginny Weasley:

[TheHSBR]

I love the NECA line but this Cards Inc line looks great too! I dont know what to do!!

[Artistix]

Well, I can't resist playsets...so Cards Inc. had me from the start.

I may break down & buy some of the Neca figures. but as I've said, I'm not a fan of the Neca/Mcfarlane style of work.

[Wildcard]

^Those are some AWESOME playsets!!! I just wish they had gone with the 1st version of the "Fat Lady" for the portrait...but I guess they have to be accurate to the current film.

[Artistix]

Isn't the Fat Lady played by Dawn French?

[Wildcard]

Isn't the Fat Lady played by Dawn French?

Yes she is. You can read about her HERE

Which let me say that it's not the actress I have a problem with...it's her look. To me the books always seemed to imply that the Fat Lady portrait was supposed to be more British...Elizabethan even. The first movie had her look more to my liking (although I won't say I was 100% happy with it either). But here's a picture of Elizabeth Spriggs in her role as "The Fat Lady" from HP 1:



As you can see by her picture in the playset above, HP3 (and I'm assuming will be in HP 5) has her looking like she's in a Greek/Roman setting.

[Jedigreedo]

Maybe since the director already changed some stuff to be less accurate in HP3 (ie: them wearing regular muggle clothing at Hogwarts) he decided why not change her to (I assume) his preference of very larger women in robes made of very thin material?

[Artistix]

Ah yes, I haden't even noticed the change!
It has been many years since I saw the first Harry Potter movie.

I had read that Madam Hooch from the first movie was written out of all upcoming movies due to a TV series she stars in. Apparently they kept making Harry Potter jokes in the episodes, & this annoyed the Harry Potter people. Though I guess after movie one, all she ever did was referee the Quidditch matches.

Aside from that there seems to have been few changes in the cast, aside from new staff/students & the unfortunate Dumbldore problems.

[Wildcard]

^Well, there was never any real need to have Hooch again after the first year anyway. As you mentioned the only time she's ever shown up in books 2-6 was simply as a Quidditch referee, so from a book-to-screen play point of view, she was an easy elimination just like poor Peeves the Poltergeist and Weezy the Crouch's house elf.

IIRC the problem with the actress wasn't her show, it was her comments she made to the press. Apparently the actress wanted more of the revenue generated by the films and was very vocal about it.

[Artistix]

IIRC the problem with the actress wasn't her show, it was her comments she made to the press. Apparently the actress wanted more of the revenue generated by the films and was very vocal about it.

Well I'll be jiggered...thats not what I heard at all!

And why the hell would they have given her anything anyway?? She wasn't even one of the main professors!!

I'm glad they got rid of her if thats the case.

[slayerone76]

So y'all got me intrigued. Here's an article for you Sammy!

Hooch

[Artistix]

Ok, well thats more interesting.

Not sure what to think of it all now. You shouldn't screw over your actors. But surely they should have discussed these terms before signing on to do the film, yes??

Cheers for that Jeremy.

And that will learn me for gettin' my info from the Potter Wikipedia!!

***

Found some new images of TCI Dolores Umbridge, Hagrid & the Bus:

[Wildcard]

^Yeah, that's exactly what I was trying to recall. I'm not sure how accurate her statements and assesments were though. And you're right, they should have negotiated most of that with the initial contract. There is some leverage in serial movies to renegotiate contracts for the sequel if the initial movie goes well...and I mean stupidly well (like LOTR or Shrek)...but usually the gurus at the studio have enough insight on something like HP to deal with this upfront and make sure that the initial contract accounts for enormous success.

The trippledecker bus looks cool. I wonder what it has on the inside?