Review of Hermione Granger - Teen Version
Harry Potter Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

I love the Harry Potter films. Doesn't matter which one, doesn't matter where I come in at, I can always watch them. Over time, my favorite character has shifted and moved. Harry of course, and Ron for awhile, with Snape taking the spot for best adult. I was even all about Luna Lovegood for a time. But after many viewings and many years, I think it's Hermione that ends up being the consistent favorite for me, a person of constant strength, integrity, and character throughout the series, never failing in her resolve.

Star Ace did an amazing sixth scale version of young Hermione from the early films. They also did young Harry and Ron, and have followed that up with several more versions of Harry. Announced long ago, they are finally shipping the teen version of Hermione, available in two different configurations. There's the regular version, which comes in her school uniform, or the deluxe version, which includes a second casual outfit.  You can pick up the first for around $210, while the second (which I'm reviewing tonight) will run about $230 or so depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
The artwork is sort of an odd departure from the more recent boxes. They didn't go with the spot laminated photo of the actual character, opting instead for a photo of the figure itself. I'm not sure why the departure, although I have my theory.

It's all collector friendly of course, and the double trays hold the figure and accessories safely. There's an instruction sheet, although it's fairly useless, with almost no information.  A note on working with the 'hippy' belt would have been nice, but I figured out a way that worked for me on my own. There's also a note on swapping clothes they could have included - see my Things To Watch Out For section.

Sculpting - **
From certain angles, I can sorta see Emma Watson...if I squint real hard and the angle is just right. And I've had enough 'Christmas cheer'.

But there's a harsh reality - this is the worst of the Star Ace Harry Potter figures released. Some have been mediocre (Snape or Moody), others have been terrific (young Hermione, Dumbledore), but none have been this far off from the character or even the prototype.

A big chunk of this is the fault of the paint. I'm not sure what's happened with Star Ace and their production paint work, but what we saw on the prototype was more in line with what we've seen from earlier releases from them. More on that in the next section, but suffice to say it makes an assessment on the underlying sculpt difficult.

The first big problem is with the hair, or more specifically, the part. Hermione almost always had her hair parted to the side, not down the middle, and small changes like that can throw off a look, even if it seems subtle. The hair line is too high, and while Emma has plenty of forehead, this version has five and six head, with a squared off Frankenstein's Monster look.

As I said in the opening paragraph, I can sorta see Emma from certain angles, but it's far from perfect in terms of accuracy. While the expression is fine - if a bit bland - the realism is lacking as well.

The rooted hair is actually pretty good, if you can ignore the misplaced hair line and huge forehead. Out of the package it looked terrible, but I futzed with it for awhile, fluffing it up on the sides and top just a bit, and creating a slightly less flat appearance, and I ended up satisfied if not thrilled.

She only has three hands, but the sculpts work with a variety of poses. She comes in just shy of 11 1/2" inches tall, and fits in pretty well with the rest of the series scale-wise.

Paint - **
IF there's one area that really lets her down overall, it's the paint. The cheaper operations make it tough to see through to find any resemblance in the sculpt, and they are well below the expectations at this price point.

The skin has none of the soft mottling we saw with the prototype, and the eyes are much more flat and lifeless. The eyebrows and lips are clean, but more like a Barbie than a high end figure. There's no realism here, no subtlety. It looks like they cut costs at the end, and the paint work (being a pure unit cost) is often the victim of last minute reductions.

The paint work on the accessories is better, particularly with Crookshanks. He has life in his eyes!

Articulation - ***1/2
The underlying female body works well, and because I swapped outfits, I got to appreciate the working of the various joints a bit better.

This figure isn't too restricted by the costume, and the shoulders and hips are particularly mobile. I was surprised by the range of movement in both, and the cut bicep, hinge elbows, rotating hinge wrists, hinge knees, and ball ankles all work to create some excellent stances.

The ball neck is unrestricted by the hair as well, so you can get good tilt and lean movement in the head. The mid-torso joint doesn't work quite as well however, and you won't get much turn or twist out of the torso.

Swapping hands and feet was a little tricky. The feet are very tight, and it takes a pretty good amount of pull or push to accomplish it.  The hands aren't as bad, but I did manage to pull one of the two wrist balls apart. I snapped it back together again without any serious problem, but you should hold the ball together with some needle nose pliers when pulling off the hands just to be safe.

Accessories - ***
She's only getting a B here because of the quantity, not the quality. Considering the price point, she's a little light in this category.  I'm also counting the second costume - including the shoes and belt - in the Outfit section, not here.

She has one extra hand to go with the pair of relaxed hands she comes wearing. This extra hand holds the wand. While it might be nice to get a couple more, these three work pretty well with a lot of poses.

She has said wand of course, sculpted in the proper design and scale. She also has a very nice Time Turner necklace, complete with real metal chain.

Harry and Ron have had their animals, but the previous release(s) of young Hermione lacked Crookshanks. They've corrected that here, and the sculpt is quite extraordinary. Most sixth scale animals seem to be an after thought, and usually end up with dollar store sculpts, even from high end companies. Consider the Ghost with Jon Snow, or Jonesy with Ellen Ripley. But Crookshanks has a solid sculpt, and great paint work on the eyes, giving him more life than poor Hermione herself.

Finally, there's a basic display stand and support. This is not one of the fancier flying stands, but a simple black stand with the Harry Potter logo.

Outfit - ***1/2
Perhaps the best feature of this figure is the costumes. Both look terrific, especially in hand.

The school uniform includes the shirt, tie, skirt, stockings, sweater, cloak, and shoes. The tailoring is great, and the materials are very high quality. In photos, the sweater can look a little bulky and the tie a little large, but in hand they are just about perfect.

There's all the usual little touches too, like the thin wire through the edge of the cloak to improve posing. Most of the closures are actually Velcro, but it's such a thin Velcro that it adds no additional thickness to the seams.

The second, casual costume includes shoes, jeans, a shirt, a belt, and her hoodie. Again, tailoring and material quality are top notch. The zipper and pockets are a decent scale, and the jeans actually fit up around her waist, not her butt. The belt has real metal loops and terrific colors, and the pink hoodie even looks good with the hood up. In fact, thanks to the forehead, she might look better with it up...

Fun Factor - ***
Even with the less than stellar sculpt and paint, this is a fun figure. The articulation works great, and the accessories allow you to pose her with the Teen Harry.

Value - *1/2
At $220 - $230, this is a painful situation.  While she's a little light on accessories, the second costume makes up for it. The articulation is great as well...if you had a great portrait on this figure, this score would have been average, right where you'd expect. But with the weaker portrait, she gets a weaker value rating as well.

Things to Watch Out For -
Costume swapping can be tricky. A couple notes that will make it much easier:

First, when you're swapping you're REALLY swapping, and it's enough work to go back and forth that you won't want to do it a bunch of times. Pick a costume you'll stick with for awhile.

Pop the head and hands off. Not the feet yet! The stockings are actually over the feet which are inside the shoes - wait on those feet. Take off the cloak, sweater, tie and shirt, making sure you seal up the Velcro on each again to avoid anything getting snagged.

Now slip the stockings down to her ankles so you can pull off the shoes, feet, and stockings all at once. You could pull off the shoes, then the stockings, then the feet...but that's a whole lot more work.

Put all the new clothes on, pop the head and hands back in place, and you're all set.

Overall - **1/2
There is no doubt that the portrait and paint work on this figure are a disappointment. While the prototype wasn't a perfect likeness, it was much more realistic and life-like than this final release. Potter fans are going to be unhappy, no doubt about it. It is worth noting though that I really hated her look right out of the box, but with some futzing I was able to get her to an acceptable - if still disappointing - place.

The saving grace is the accessories, articulation, and costumes. All three are in line with the rest of the series, and fit in well with the other figures in terms of quality and appearance.

I have a bad feeling this might be the last Harry Potter figure we see from Star Ace. While I've gotten the majority of figures I need for my display, I really hoped for a terrific McGonagall before it was through. Perhaps we'll see a Christmas miracle...

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- You can get the version without the second outfit for $210, or the one with both outfits for $240 through Sideshow.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered lots of Star Ace Harry Potter figures, including 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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