Review of Ron Weasley - Harry Potter
Action Figure

Introduction

The number of Harry Potter collectibles coming out has certainly dropped over the last few years, and it's really just Star Ace and their sixth scale series that are keeping them in the action figure realm. But McFarlane Toys picked up some of the slack, adding the license to their 7" scale line of action figures this year, starting with a wave of four main characters. This first series includes Harry of course, as well as Ron, Hermione, and Voldemort. Oh, and there's Buckbeak too, rounding out the initial series.

The humans will run you around $20 each, and are showing up at Target and Walmart stores. You should also be able to find them at your favorite online retailers as well.

Packaging - ***
The boxes are attractive, using the Tattler paper design we've seen recently with other Harry Potter items. The plastic tray shows off the figure and accessories well, but it's not collector friendly, with a ton of tape and even a tie holding things in place. There's also no instructions, which would be handy for figuring out how to attach the background to the base.

Sculpting - **1/2
This is generally a 7" scale line, and Ron comes in around 6 3/4".

The hair is a tad clumpy, but at least the hair style is a match to Ron. The portrait is one of those where the angle really matters. From a few directions, you can make out Ron, but from others there's nothing about the face that captures the character.  It also doesn't help that when it does look like him, it looks like him at 30, not as a teenager. There's a harshness to the cut of the sculpt that ages him considerably.

The work on the clothing is good, with multiple detailed textures to differentiate between sections. I'm not loving the slightly pudgy look to the torso though, especially with teen Ron.

It's also worth noting that the funky ankles and wrists show a lot of the joint, something that helps the articulation but definitely does not help the appearance.

Paint - **1/2
The bar for production paint on 6 - 7" action figures these days has been lifted quite a bit over the last few years. What once would have been great is now merely adequate.

The work here is pretty clean, especially on the clothing. Stripes, lines, and edges are all quite sharp, with very little slop. He also avoids the dirt and mess effect we often see with McFarlane figures, a wise move here.

But the eyebrows are a tad off center, and the eyes could be better. But most egregious is the uber washed out white skin, with several clumpy spots on the nose and chin. Yes, Ron (and Harry) were definitely white, but in hand these figures are much too pasty.  Add in the aforementioned clumps, especially on the end of the nose, and he takes a big hit in this category.

Articulation - ***1/2
McFarlane got a rep for not making articulated figures, but it's an unfair characterization. They do make Nerd Hummels at times, but when the figure warrants or deserves more articulation, they can certainly do it. Look no further than their terrific line of Halo toys to see what I mean.

Ron is a nice example, although not all of the joints are particularly useful. The ball jointed neck gives you plenty of lean and tilt, and the rotating hinge shoulders, cut biceps, double pin elbows, and rotating hinge wrists all work great. The wrists aren't the greatest looking, but they doe provide a lot of posing.

The legs work well too, with hinge hips, double pins knees, and rotating hinge ankles. The hips could use a cut to give the legs a little more outward turn, but it's a minor nit really. The ankles are ugly, much like the wrists, but they do have a ton of movement.

There's also a rolling ab-crunch, but due to the sculpted shirt, you won't get much of any movement here. Oh, and I almost forgot - there's even a half foot pin joint!

Accessories - ***
Ron has a nice set of extras, although a couple more items would have gone a long way to improving this score.

He has his wand, perhaps the most critical extra. It fits in the sculpted right hand, but take care not to damage it when slipping it between the tight grip fingers.

The coolest extra is his poochy patronus, sculpted in translucent plastic. There's a clear base and display support rod for the patronus.

He also has a display base. There's two clear plastic attachments which are used to hold the cardboard backdrop in place. The backdrop isn't much to speak of, being a winter shot of Diagon Alley, but at least they gave it a shot.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With some decent extras and great articulation, you can really have a lot of fun posing and reposing this figure. You can also set up some pretty sweet dioramas with the other figures, and kids will have a ton of fun battling Voldemort.

Value - ***
I'm giving them a slight boost up in this category, at the $20 price point. That's where most 6" mass market figures are at, and NECA charges more for their 7" lines. Keeping this series in line with the smaller figures gets McFarlane an extra half star above average from me.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned, take some care putting the wand into the very tight, hard plastic right hand. Other than that, you should be good to go!

Overall - ***
I really waffled around on this series when I saw them in the package at the store. I hated the washed out skin - and still do - and didn't realize the articulation would work as well as it did. I haven't found Voldemort and Hermione yet, but after opening Ron I was much happier with my decision to pick him and Harry up. I'll be reviewing Harry soon as well, and when my local store finally gets the other two, I'll grab them. Do I wish he looked more like Ron? Of course. But the other factors overcome the weak likeness, at least for me.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth have him for $20 as well.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Most of the recent Harry Potter figures have been from Star Ace in their sixth scale line, like the Dementor, Griphook, the prisoner version of Belletrix, the regular Bellatrix, 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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