Harry Potter

Mattel may have gone overboard with the Harry variations when they had the Harry Potter license (and they did), but face it: when the character's name is the title of the book, you're going to have to make him more than once. NECA isn't immune to this, either, having already given us two Harrys, an exclusive, and a third Harry due in the next wave. Still, they're all ones seen in the films, not "Magical Samurai Quiddich Harry" or any stupid crap like that. For instance, the Goblet of Fire version, which sees Harry in his Triwizard Tournament uniform. When Harry is selected as one of the competitors in the Triwizard Tournament, he quickly finds himself in over his head. His friends are alienated and the tournament is designed for a wizard with much more skill and experience. Now it's not even about passing the tests - just surviving them. This is Harry from the end of the film, so he's bloodied, dirty and generally in pretty bad shape. Of course, a lot of that is due to the paint, so we'll get to it in just a moment. First, the sculpt. As we said, Harry's wearing his sports clothes rather than his usual sweater and tie. That means a long-sleeved shirt (not tucked in), track pants and sneakers. He's got a fairly extreme pose, and the wrinkles follow it well. The small details are very nice, like the crisscrossed laces on his shoes or the stitching up the sides of his legs. He even has little pockets, and the cut on his arm is sculpted. The likeness is what truly matters on licensed movie figures like this, and NECA delivered. It helps that Harry Potter is a character best known for his accessories rather than his actual looks - put together tousled hair, glasses and a scar, and you've got yourself a Harry. Same way that an Abraham Lincoln can look like anything as long as he's got the beard and the hat. However, there's a good Daniel Radcliffe face behind all the Harry Potter pieces, you know? The scar is a sculpted element, and the glasses are a separate item that's glued in place. Harry is 5¾", but would be taller if he was standing up straight. Articulation is sparse, with joints only at the ankles, waist, biceps and neck. Really, he's got his one pose and that's it. The figure's paint is done really well, however. It's not just the shadows and mud on his clothes, or the multiple colors on his shoes. The Hogwarts emblem on his chest is remarkably detailed and crisp, and his name shows up on the back of the shirt despite the red-on-red paint scheme. The cut on his right arm red, but isn't yet smeared with blood (in an approximation of the Dark Mark), and the spots on his hands and face look more like smudges of dirt than drops of paint. Very nice! The figure includes his holly wood wand, of course, the one that shares half a phoenix feather with Voldemort's. Since this figure is taken from the film's final duel, he's gripping it with both hands - probably throwing out a desperate expelliarmus. The wand is a fine approximation of the one we see in the films. Harry also includes an oddly shaped display base with a grassy texture on the top. There's a footpeg that will fit in either shoe, but it seems to be intended for the right foot. The figure stands fine without the base, but given his pose, some extra support is welcome. Goblet of Fire Harry is a good figure, but you still shouldn't buy him. Why? Yes, he's the first Harry NECA made, and is in a costume you're unlikely to see in a future line, but still, stay away. See, in addition to the individually carded version, this sculpt is also seeing release in a big box set that features Lord Voldemort. Why buy two figures by themselves when you can get them both at once, and with a big diorama, to boot? So Harry's cool and all, but the figure is nice enough that waiting for the box set just makes sense.

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