Review of Minerva McGonagall - Harry Potter
Deluxe Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Sadly, I have to start a toy review with a discussion of the obtuse, stupid behavior of the creator of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. For some inexplicable reason, she has decided to continue attacking and demeaning the trans community. It's like she's a dog with a bone, and simply can't let go. The behavior is mean, cruel, and hateful, and will forever damage her reputation.

How we each deal with this is a personal decision. For me, I will no longer be supporting new novels from her. Something that she and she alone is responsible for will be off the table. Even the Harry Potter books will be hard to read without cringing. She has damaged them for me.

The films are different. Long ago I realized that you had to separate any one person, even a creator, from an overall project. To decide that all the Harry Potter films are now 'bad' because Rowling is a shitty person demeans the work of thousands of others. The films, like all films, are the result of many creatives, each putting in their own piece. To dismiss the movie dismisses the work of all those people, and for some, you're dismissing the best work they'll ever do. It's almost like you're giving the asshole another win - they might be going down, but they'll take everyone else with them too.

So yes, I'll still be enjoying the films. I'll be buying the toys. And I'll watch the films with my grandkids - and I'll tell them the story of the creator, and how she turned out to be a piece of shit, and the lessons we all can learn from it.

Now, on to Minerva. Star Ace's latest release in their sixth scale series of action figures based on the films comes in two varieties, regular and deluxe. The deluxe includes extra accessories - lots - and I'll make that clear when we get to the particular section. She just started shipping in the U.S. last week, and you can pick up the regular for around $200, the deluxe for $350. The extra accessories that come with the deluxe can also be had individually for around $150, all depending on the retailer of course.

Packaging - ***1/2
The packaging is nicely done in the more recent style. It's sturdy, and the trays hold things safe. If you pick up the deluxe set, there are two white boxes in the shipper, and the larger desk accessories are packed in a high quality foam tray. There's also some basic instructions, but it's all pretty self explanatory.

Sculpting - **
Ouch. If you were to pop this head off the figure and hand it to me, I suspect I'd have a hard time placing it. There are three aspects to any sculpt - realism, likeness, and emotion. They missed with two of the three on this one.

Let's start with realism. Star Ace has greatly improved their work in this area, and the wrinkled skin, very detailed hair, and lifelike texture combine to create a very realistic portrait. The separate head and neck, while aiding with posing, does reduce the realism a bit, but overall this is the one area where this sculpt is still on point.

But then we get to the very critical likeness. Does this look like Maggie Smith as McGonagall? And I'd say definitely not. The very first issue is the glasses. While they showed plenty of marketing photos of her without them, they do not appear to be removable. I was able to get one of the arms out of the small hole in the side of her head with some tugging, but the other was firmly glued in, and the frames are quite easy to bend. Thankfully they are metal, so if you want to work at it you can, but I decided it was better to simply leave them in place.

However, they also come incorrectly positioned. The photo above - and a few of the others - show what they look like out of the box. They ride hide on her nose, right in front of her eyes, absolutely not the way she wore them. These were classic reading glasses, and she wore them down on her nose, looking over them menacingly whenever Harry, Ron, and Hermione did something they shouldn't have. I was able to stretch them out a bit and force them down further on her nose, getting a slightly better look, but it required some futzing that it shouldn't. The next photo shows the result.

The sculpt itself might be in the ball park, if it's a really big ball park. The slightly protruding eyes are right, and she's definitely old...but somehow they missed capturing the sort of likeness that jumps out at you, and considering what they had to work with - people with lots of wrinkles and age should be far easier to duplicate than 'pretty' people - it's definitely a disappointment. I can see her in the portrait from just the right angle, but in hand it's hard to maintain that illusion.

The emotive aspect doesn't help. They went for a scowling, displeased McGonagall, and while that's not out of character, it didn't really do much to further improve the recognizability.

She stands about 11 1/2 inches tall.

Paint - ***
While I'm definitely disappointed in the likeness, it's not the fault of the paint work. The quality is there, especially in the skin tone and the hair.

Sculpted hair is really hard to do right when it comes to the paint application. They've gotten a nice balance here between highlights and darker shades, allowing the sculpted details of the strands to come through. It's also quite realistic.

The skin tone, eyes, and lips are also quite good. They hair line could be a little more subtle, but overall it's a solid paint job. Unfortunately, it can't do much to improve the accuracy of the likeness, and it's hard to appreciate the paint when the sculpt is this far off.

Articulation - ***1/2
There's not much to complain about here, and the underlying body has all the joints you expect. The range of movement is generally good, even in the legs and torso. There's some restriction from the outfit, but not much.

The ankles work particularly well, even in the short heels, thanks to their ball jointed design. They are fairly stiff, and should hold most stances nicely.

You will find it easier to pose the legs if you push the long gown that's under the robes up above her knees. Bend them into a sitting pose, for example, and then pull the dress back down over the legs.

Along with the normal articulation, there's also a wire in the edge of the outer robe, allowing you to add some movement to certain poses.

Accessories - ****
I'm looking at the deluxe version, which includes the separate desk set.

Let's start with the items that should come with the regular release as well. There are five hands to swap in with the pair she comes wearing, and they work pretty well with the various accessories. Swapping was easy, and I had no worries about breaking the posts.

She has her particular wand of course, as well as her as a cat. The sculpt is nice - good scale, realistic look - and they did an excellent job matching the fur pattern to the on screen appearance.

To add her to your shelf with the kids, she has a short stool and the sorting hat. Any one of the kids can sit or stand on the stool and wear the sorting hat. The sculpt on the hat is great, and it includes the leather flaps on the inside. Also perfect for this scene is the list of new students, made of a sturdy cardboard rather than paper.

The last item with the regular release is her own hat. It's rather large, but then it always was. It fits neatly on her head, and while I didn't love it at first, as she's stood on the shelf for a few days now, I find it growing on me. However, this hat could have gone a long way to improving the overall match to the character. Had they sculpted it to fit slightly back and tilted to her right side, it would have made her more recognizable. Instead, it's designed to sit straight on top of her head, not a look that matches very well. I was able to get it to tilt a bit, but it tends to fall off this way.

The desk and its extras come in a separate box, and can be purchased on their own. The desk is quite large and heavy, and the top has an interesting grain pattern. The heavy chair is a little short - she sits too low behind the desk - but on it's own it looks terrific. Lots of detail in both of these large items, and they will work great with any number of other sixth scale characters. Perhaps your Snape needs a desk? Making them available separately was a smart idea.

The deluxe set comes with a number of other extras. There's the gold cup, which we've gotten before, as well as the quill and ink well. There's a couple closed books, and one sculpted open book to lay on the desk top. There's a couple sheets of blank paper just for good measure too.

Other adornments include the candlestick with lit candle, magnifying glass, and hour glass. The latter two items are actually functional as well. That allows you to have plenty of items sitting on her desk in the display, and you can always add in a few from other figures.

Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit is nicely done, with quality materials and construction. The tailoring is excellent, with a  clean fit overall.

There's a couple layers here, with the robes over the long dress. And yes, she's wearing underwear. The shoes are sculpted as part of the feet. The aforementioned hat completes the ensemble.

The soft, fuzzy material used for the outer robe is particularly nice, and the sculpted pin is firmly attached.

Fun Factor - ***
While she's not the most accurate, the accessories do make up for some of the fun, particularly when combined with the other characters. And while she's not as good as I'd like, she does look good standing with the kids wearing the sorting hat.

Value - *1/2
This was the other big disappointment, fueled of course by the likeness. At $350, you have extremely high expectations. To be fair, $150 of this is really for the desk set, and I'd be close to an average score of **1/2 if I were only considering it. But the $200 you're spending on the figure drives up the cost considerably, and the sculpt simply doesn't support it.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. You'll want to adjust the glasses, but take some care that you don't bend their arms too much.

Overall - **1/2
I'm very disappointed with this release, and this is the first one in awhile that has really let me down. While not every recent figure in the line has been perfect, they have all had their charms, and added quite a bit to the overall display. This time, what I received simply didn't seem to justify the high price.

I almost dropped the overall another half star because of this. And if I had only bought the figure, that would have been the case. But the quality of the additional desk set and accessories is great, and while I still have a few quibbles there, it's not at the same level. The deluxe gets the extra half star Overall, and if you only buy the desk set, I'm sure you can find a figure to go with it that's more to your liking.

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

Where to Buy 
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- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Recent Star Ace Harry Potter releases include the Head Goblin, Draco Malfoy, Wormtail, and Remus Lupin.

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