Review of Cedric Diggory - Harry Potter mini-bust

Introduction

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan - both the books and the movies. I've said before that my single favorite series of collectibles based on the franchise is the Noble Collection wands, but a very close second - very - is the mini-busts from Gentle Giant. I love busts in general (yea, you know what I mean), and the Harry Potter series has been a favorite. It's had some real highs and lows, but the character selection has made it one of those series that looks better in whole than in its individual parts.

It's also a series that folks thought would die years ago, and yet has managed to hang on. The latest release is Cedric Diggory, one of the few characters pre-Half Blood Prince to die on screen. Robert Pattinson did a good job as the ill fated wizard in training, but then went and ruined it with Edward Cullen. Gah.

This is a limited edition of course, just like all the others, and is fairly deserving of the title with only 1750 produced. There's at least only 1749 now in existence, since I managed to drop mine to the floor from about a foot off the ground. It wasn't a long way up, but it was definitely a hard and unforgiving floor.

EDIT: An observant reader let me know that the '1' I thought I was seeing in front of the 750 was actually a slash - the whole thing is hand written this time around, making it an easy mistake. So yea, now there's only 749 of these guys!

This guy is disappearing pretty quickly too, which I got to find out when I had to order another one.

Packaging - ***1/2
The box is similar to the previous, with photos of the character as well as the bust. There's also a window that allows you to see the bust you're buying, which is always a big plus.  And of course, they've included one of the very cool baseball card style collectible Certificates of Authenticity.

Sculpting - ***
I think there's a very good Cedric sculpt lurking under the rather weak paint, but it's tough to tell.  The nose, a key feature of Pattinson, is very good, and the general bone structure is decent. I'm not quite sold on the hair, and the eyebrows are definitely off, but overall it's decent.

The work on the body is even better, with nice detailing on the wrinkles and folds and even a form of texturing on the yellow inner layer, which have small holes. The material would have had these to 'breath' and allow sweat to evaporate, and it's a nice - and unusual - touch on Gentle Giant's part.

Past busts have had a Hogwart's style brick base, and Cedric does too. But it's almost entirely hidden by the long robe, an interesting look that gives the line a bit of variety.

The pose is not dynamic, but that's good - here we see Cedric in a stoic, determined stance, ready for the games ahead.

Paint - **
I suspect that if this bust had an excellent paint job, the real quality of the sculpt would shine through, and the Sculpt score would have been higher.

But paint quality has been a problem for Gentle Giant and the Harry Potter series on several of the recent releases, especially the normal human characters. Kreacher was great - but otherwise, things have been pretty shaky in this category lately.

The problems here start with the skin tone, which has a weird rosy cheeked look. I don't mind the very white skin - that's a Pattinson thing. It made him pretty much perfect for a vampire. But these rosy cheeks look very false, like he's gone a bit overboard with the makeup.

The eyes are pretty straight, but lack any real life, and the lips are crooked, a common problem.

There's lots of slop on the costume and hands, and the nails are painted in an odd color as well. Cut lines are poor, and let's not even talk about the dirty ears. Even at a fairly reasonable price point you should really expect better.

Value - **1/2
At $50 - $60, these busts have been holding pretty tight to the same price point for several years now. You have to give Gentle Giant credit for that, but with the weak paint I can only manage an average value score here, which means it won't hurt or help them when it comes time for me to evaluate the Overall impression

Things to Watch Out For -
Don't drop it on a concrete floor, even from 12" up. Seriously. Anyone care for a few Cedric chips?

Overall - **1/2
I love this line, although I have to say I haven't loved every release. Some have been truly outstanding, and others...well, they're like Cedric. Underneath the weak paint is probably a pretty nice sculpt, and the general design is unique enough to make it interesting in the pack and yet familiar enough to fit the pattern.

With one more movie coming, I hope we can see Gentle Giant continue this series at least through a few more characters.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him at $60.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Harry Potter busts include:

- most recently reviewed was Kreacher and the second Sirius Black.

- There's Ginny Weasley and Ron in his Quidditch gear.

- there were two Lupin's, regular and transforming.

- prior to that was another set of 'twins', the Weasleys.

- I've covered others including light up Harry, Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy, Merperson mini-bust, Voldemort, Hagrid and Mad Eye Moody, Ron and Hermione, Snape and Dumbledore, Dobby and Dementor, and a guest review of Harry and Sirius.

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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