Review of Griphook - Harry Potter V2
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Harry Potter remains one of the most enduring licenses of all time, finding a new generation of kids to fall in love with the story of a wizard in his teen years learning to cope with growing up between two worlds, all the while saving the everyone from destruction. It's a classic story, and one that will endure through many decades to come.

Star Ace continues their line of sixth scale figures, much to my appreciation. Oh, every release isn't a home run. Not even close. But there's more hits than strikes, and when they do get it right, they do so with style. I'm getting a very complete collection of characters on the shelf, and while the difference in quality from one to another can be rather striking, the full set is still impressive.

The latest release is the diminutive Griphook, the goblin banker who arrived at key moments throughout the story, and aided Harry in obtaining one of the horcrux. Of course, he also betrayed Harry, but who's counting. This guy comes in two versions, wearing differing costumes. I'm checking out the release they refer to as 'v2.0' on most retail sites, wearing a more traditional suit based on his look in the first film.

This figure will run you around $140, depending on the retailer, and should be shipping any day.

Packaging - ***
The small box shows the 'v1.0' outfit on the cover and in all the accompanying photos on the sides, back, and inside the fifth panel. It's all collector friendly of course, and it keeps him safe and sound.

Sculpting - ****
When I first pulled the guy out of the box, I was pretty impressed. The realism is quite good, with a properly aged skin texture, very detailed hair, and a perfect expression. It's quite lifelike, and the pursed lips, slightly squinting eyes, and arched eyebrows give him the pissed off, mistrusting demeanor so appropriate to the character.

Then I started comparing him to actual stock photos, and I was even more impressed. There were several photos of the character that I mistook for photos of the figure at first glance!  That's because the work around the mouth and chin, where there's an extra amount of wrinkling and aging, is extremely accurate to the on screen make up.

The hands are sculpted to match the scale and look as well, with long, gnarly fingers and sharp nails. This guy is small, standing only 7" tall, but that seems appropriate as well.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work is also quite lifelike, at least for this particular goblin. The hair has a nice salt and pepper look, difficult to do with paint, and the skin has a pretty heavy wash to bring out the finer details.

In fact, when I first took him out I felt this wash was too much, over darkening some areas like his chin and jawline. Ah, but then I compared him to the photos of the character, and realized this is more accurate than I remembered.

One area that always impresses me is the thin white line between the red lips and the rest of the facial skin. Getting this just right can add quite a bit of realism to any portrait. Here they nail it.

The eyes are sharp and clear, and there's very little bleed. My only real nit is with the accessories, where I feel a little more detail work would have gone a long way.

Articulation - **
I was pretty surprised by the articulation, and I'm usually not surprised. But the underlying body is lacking in some key joints.

The ball jointed neck works great, with lots lean and tilt. You can use this joint to add disdainful personality to almost any stance.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists all have a good range of movement as well, and while the suit is a little restrictive, it's not more so than a normal person would experience in a costume like this.

The ankles are also the usual rotating hinge joints. The feet turn in and out easily, but they don't have a ton of forward and backward movement. This is normally not a huge problem, but this time it has a greater effect.

Why? Because there's no hip or knee articulation. Nope, those legs are one solid piece. The entire body, torso and legs, feels like one solid piece. While I understand doing this from a cost perspective and from the simple idea that he's not going to be able to take super dynamic poses even with those joints, there are other consequences. It can be hard to keep him standing, because the ankles can't move quite enough to always get a good center of gravity. You can do it, but with a bit better movement in the ankles, the problem would be non-existent.

Accessories - ***
Griphook doesn't have a ton of extras, but he has some very critical ones.

There's only one extra hand. He comes wearing a set of open grips, and there's a tight right to swap in. This hand is closed off at the finger and thumb though, so it can't hold the cup, and the sword hilt must be slide inside.

And yes, there's the Hufflepuff cup, the horcrux he helps Harry obtain. There's also the Gryffindor sword, the price he requires of Harry for this help. The sculpts on both of these are very good, but the consistent paint job doesn't do much to highlight the detail.

He also has the bank clank, the alarm he used to summon the guards. It is one solid sculpt, with no moving parts, but it looks great.

I'm not sure if both versions have the wire rim glasses, but this one certainly does. They fit tightly, but because the arms are rounded to fit over his ears, I couldn't slide them down his nose quite as far as I'd like. They are metal, so they can be adjusted, and there are no lens.

Outfit - ***1/2
This version has a more traditional, old school goblin suit. There's the shirt, bow tie, patterned vest, coat with tails, pants, socks, and shoes.

The tailoring is great, and the overall fit is quite nice on this shorter, stockier body. The quality of both construction and materials is excellent, and by going with different cloth for different pieces - like the pants and coat vs the vest - they add a lot of realism and detail.

The original marketing photos didn't have quite the detail we ended up with, either. For example, the brass buttons on the coat and vest weren't in on the prototype, making this one of those rare times when the final release was better than the first look.

However, I'm going to be honest - this particular suit isn't my first choice for him. The other version, with the more modern pinstripe suit, is the one I recall best, and I ordered both versions because I needed to have the more iconic look as well. This is the suit from Sorcerer's Stone, and most of those scenes were pretty dark. Still, as one of the few characters in the films that was played by two different actors, it's nice to get a Troyer costume and a Davis costume for the display.

Fun Factor - ***
While the articulation is limited, there's quite a bit you can do with this guy and Harry Potter. He'll make a nice addition to the shelf, and getting these non-human characters is always a very big plus to me.

Value - ***
He's small, but the costume is still quite complex. Add in what is probably a very small production run, and I think the $140 is a pretty solid value for the figure.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***
I would have gone another half star on this guy easy, had it not been for the surprising lack of leg articulation. And while I get the idea of saving some money on the knee and hip joints - how much use would they be? - the fact that I had trouble getting a good center of gravity for regular poses with the limited ankles ended up making it a bigger deal.

Still, the sculpt, paint, and outfit are great, and he's an excellent addition to the line. I'll be reviewing Ginny Weasley next, and I hope they can break their recent run of bad luck with the ladies.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Star Ace Harry Potter figures include the prisoner version of Belletrix, the regular Bellatrix, along with the other Star Ace Harry Potter figures like Lucious Malfoy, Newt Scamander, teen Hermione, Dobby the House Elf, Dumbledore (Gambon), Teen Harry,  young Draco Malfoy, the Draco/Harry two pack in their Quidditch gear, the casual dress Hermione, the Casual Ron and Harry, Dumbledore (Harris), 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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