Review of Albus Dumbledore - Michael Gambon
Harry Potter Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

The sixth scale manufacturer Star Ace has done an exceptional job with the Harry Potter license. How many films (that aren't Marvel, DC, or Star Wars) in recent years have gotten almost 20 1/6th figures? We still need a Ron to go with the teen Harry and Hermione, and of course we absolutely have to get McGonagall to die happy, but there's very little after that to complain about. Fans still will - that's part of the job description - but this has been a very successful series in terms of character depth.

The latest to ship is Albus Dumbledore. But wait, didn't we already get Dumbledore? Why, yes - yes we did. I reviewed the excellent figure last summer, almost one year ago. But as you know, the character was portrayed by two different actors. Star Ace released their Richard Harris version first, aligning with the chronological movie reality, and have now released their Michael Gambon.

I preferred the Gambon portrayal, although I suspect I'm in the minority. It was a combination of things - the costume, the character's attitude, the slightly younger bounce in his step...it came together for me to create a more interesting Dumbledore.

This is a slightly early review, but this is a production figure. He'll start shipping any day now, and you should be able to pick him up for around $250 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
This one follows the same style pattern as the previous releases, with spot laminating used for the photo on the front of the actual character, not the action figure. Inside, the plastic tray holds the figure and accessories safely, and it's all very collector friendly. The card stock itself could be a little heavier, but it's a minor nit.

Sculpting - ****
I liked the work they did on the first Dumbledore - I love this one. I think the actual difference is more in the paint operations, and as you know great paint truly elevates a great sculpt. But the end result is the same - this is a very accurate, very realistic version of the Gambon Dumbledore.

He has a very serious look, but it's not overly dramatic or dynamic. The slightly squinted eyes and arched eyebrows add emotion to the portrait, and the finely detailed old dude skin gives it the realism that it needs.

It's also very accurate, even going so far as to remind you why lay people have such a hard time separating Dumbledore and Gandalf. Yes, you can mistake him for Gandalf...until you hold him side by side with a photo of the Gambon Dumbledore. The reality is they are very close in many ways, but the big difference is in the eyes and nose.

Like the previous Dumbledore, this is a rooted hair/sculpted beard combo. This has become the standard method for handling characters with long hair and big beards, and I think it works for mass market product. I also think this release is the best example we've seen so far.

The sculpted beard has plenty of detail in the strands and hairs. It's tied off at the bottom with an actual string tie with little bead ends, and the flow is natural and slightly asymmetrical, adding to the realism. The hair on his head is pure white, very fine, and there is LOTS of it. You'll have no fear of bald spots or empty areas around his head, and the long flowing locks down the sides and back are voluminous. You'll need some hair product just to keep it all under control.

When you remove him from the box, you'll notice a curly lock on either side of his face. The next photo, and the one for the Paint category, are pretty much right out of the box, zero futzing. I liked the look...at first...but it started to give off too much of a Santa vibe for me. I started to experiment with straight hair down and over the shoulders, right along the beard line, sometimes with more hair up front, sometimes with less, and you'll see a variation of one kind or another in just about every photo.

The good news is you don't have to straighten the curly locks to get straighter hair in front. The curly locks are actually back a bit from the face itself, and I merely hid them behind the shoulders. I pulled them back out toward the end of the shoot, and the top two photos in the review are actually the last I took. That means you can work on the hair with product and get just about whatever look you want, and still have the out of the box curls available to you.

I do think that to get the overall lay of the hair a bit thinner and flatter, you'll need to wash and comb it. Try to avoid straightening those natural curls though, as they can really make a nice addition to any pose.

It's worth noting that the glasses are metal frames, not plastic, which makes them more sturdy and also slightly adjustable. They are NOT removable.

Paint - ***1/2
I like this portrait overall slightly better than the Harris version. I have my suspicions that it's due to better paint operations, although I can't be 100% certain - the likeness is extremely good as well, and I think the hair and beard combo flow together better.

But I do think Star Ace continues to up their game with production paint, and the skin tone here is quite good. The eyes are uber-realistic, with no bleed or slop around the edge, and the beard color comes about as close as it can to matching the more translucent hair.

Articulation - ***
This is the same adult body that Star Ace has used through out the line, so there's no real surprises here.

The neck actually works better than I expected, thanks to the softer material they used for the beard. The movement is still restricted of course, but you can get some good tilt and lean action, and it even turns side to side quite a bit.

The shoulders, elbows, wrists, ab, waist, hips, knees, and ankles are all pretty standard stuff.  They are tight and solid, and can hold stances for extended period of time without too much issue. The tight robes can encumber the shoulders a bit, but not much more than they would actual human shoulders, which rarely move as well as they do on a standard sixth scale figure.

The hands can be a little tough to swap - it's a tight fit - but I had no fears of breakage or damage during the process. The ankles could use a little more rocker movement, but I doubt you'll be putting Albus into any ninja stances anyway.

In the photo below, I switched the hair to just a few strands in front of the shoulders, with the majority pulled back tighter and less 'loose'. In the end, I think I liked this look the best, but your mileage will certainly vary.

Accessories - ***
Here's  a category where he comes up a little short, at least in terms of quantity.

He comes wearing a set of relaxed hands, and there are three additional poses included. There's a set of gripping rights, one better suited for the sword, and one designed for the wand.  There's also one additional gesturing left, which comes wearing his two rings. These rings are removable as well, making them accessories themselves. A withered hand wearing rings would have been a great touch as well, but alas, they didn't include one. It does seem to me that he wore these rings on his right hand, not his left...but I might just be miss-remembering. Since they are removable, you could swap them over to the relaxed pose right if you wanted to. Of course, we saw these rings with the earlier Dumbledore as well.

He gets a couple more re-used extras as well - his special wand (the Elder Wand), sculpted with great detail and accuracy, and the Sword of Gryffindor. This sword also came with the Harris version, and while the sculpt and paint work are decent,they aren't quite up to the same level as many other modern sixth scale accessories.

There's one really big, really impressive accessory here - the podium or lectern from the Great Hall. We see him behind this, speechifying to the kids, at key times in the films, and it's a terrific addition for your display. The size is appropriate, and the detailed sculpt is excellent. There's a mixture of materials too, including the translucent blue 'ball', and the overall construction is very high quality. There's a light feature here too - more on that in the next section.

Finally, he comes with a standard display stand with the Harry Potter logo. Nothing unique here, but a character like this can easily hide the support with all his robes.

The photo below has a bit more hair over the shoulders, and it's not as quite as tightly bunched in back.  Notice how the hair can blend with the beard and cover the edges nicely.

Light Feature - ****
The light feature is fairly basic, but it works extremely well. The battery compartment is hidden from view by the back of the lectern, which pops right off easy peasy. Unscrew the small compartment, and you can slip in one battery (not included) quite easily.  The switch is on the bottom of the back, behind the owl's wings, and is also easy to reach. It lights up all the candle flames brightly, and thanks to the ease of use, this is a light feature you might actually turn on once in awhile.

Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit consists of the hat, layered robes/pants, and shoes. I'm including the shoes here even though they and the feet are one and the same because it made the most sense to me overall.

Of course, most of the focus will be on the robes. He's wearing a pair of pajama like silk pants under the inner and outer robes, and the entire combo looks great. I will say that the on screen clothes seemed to be rougher in appearance, less silky and soft, but the detail work here is excellent. The embroidered patterns, the various materials, the fine stitching on the sleeves - it's an exceptional quality all around.

They also included a wire around the bottom of the outer robe, making it possible to pose it in more fluid ways. It can be tough to get the ends and bottom of small clothes like this to hang with the appearance of actual weight, and the wire can help tremendously.

While the robes might be the center of attention, I think it's the hat that makes the overall look. It includes additional details, like the little bits at the top of the triangles on the hat band.  There's a long tassel which can drape over the side or down the back, and the material is high quality stuff. I played around with the hat placement too - sometimes straight, sometimes with a jaunty tilt. The fit is great, although it's a little stiff right out of the box. The real version has wrinkles and sags of course, but I found that the more I worked this small hat the softer and more realistic it got.

Also part of the costume but not visible is the fat suit. He's pudged up a bit in the torso and arms, befitting the look of the character.

Now let's talk about the shoes, the only truly weird, bizarre area on this figure. Thank goodness you won't seem them, because these things are flippers. Seriously, they're huge and they're flat, with unrealistic proportions. The sculpt and paint detail is nothing to write home about, but it's this weird looking shape that will astound you. The rest of the outfit is four stars all the way, but these weird feet end up pulling the score down slightly.

The photo below is a bit more wild in the hair department, still with straighter locks in front but a lot more of them.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
This figure is a little limited in poses by the robes and by the character, but you can still have a ton of fun incorporating him into your Harry Potter display. Add in a Harry or a Snape, or just put him at the front of the room lecturing the whole class.

Value - *1/2
At $250, this guy is slightly more expensive than even the deluxe version of the Harris Dumbledore. The extra cost is entirely accrued thanks to the lectern, a huge accessory that includes a light up feature. Still, with many of the other accessories being re-used from previous releases, a price tag closer to the $240 the deluxe cost would have seemed more appropriate.

Of course, this doesn't take into account the production run.  I have my suspicions that they aren't selling as many of the figures at this point, making the cut of the fixed cost each figure must bearer all the larger. That's not a good sign for longevity of course, unless there's enough people willing to pay this higher price tag to keep the line rolling. I know I am, at least until we get McGonagall and Bellatrix.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***1/2
I've been extremely happy with this line overall. There's been the occasional figure that's left me less excited, but overall the quality has been great and the price about right. My favorite of the bunch has been the young Hermione, but the Harris Dumbledore is a close second.

I think the Gambon Dumbledore might have them both beat. The more I messed around with the hair and the hat, the more I liked the figure, and I think with a bit of a wash and dry, I'll get this guy futzed to a point where he becomes my number one. The costume (other than those weird feet), the sculpt, and the paint have him perfectly poised to slip into the lead.

If you can live with the price point, there's little else to dissuade you from this one. Yea, the feet are goofy, but you'll never see them under the long robes, and the rest of the figure is well above average in quality.

The next photo shows him with what I like to call "Hermione hair", thanks to it's wild, all over the place look. As I said earlier, you have lots of options with the hair.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Light Feature - ****
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him at $270 with free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
The most recent Potter release from Star Ace was the Teen Harry. Prior to that we had the young Draco Malfoy, the Draco/Harry two pack in their Quidditch gear, the casual dress Hermione, the Casual Ron and Harry, Harris Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, Tri-Wizard Harry, the young Hermione, young Harry and Ron, Voldemort, Sirius Black, Mad Eye Moody, and Sirius in his Prison Garb.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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