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Tomy Harry Potter Figure
by louisechackett
Last Christmas I decided to buy my son a good selection of Harry Potter character figures as a gift. We both love the Harry Potter films and books and we had spent a lot of time either watching or reading those and so it seemed a good idea to buy my son a few figures that he could play with in this range. There are many options out ... there for buying these figures and there is often the same character but dressed differently depending on the film they have come from. Strangely I had the most trouble finding a decent Harry Potter figure and in the end I bought the Harry Potter deathly hallows Harry Potter action figure which is made by NECa.
When the figure came the first thing that struck me with this one was that it looked more like a collector's item than a toy for a child. I believe many people do collect these figures and keep them in their original packaging to keep them in pristine condition but they are ultimately an action figure intended for play and so I purchased it for my son thinking that would be the case. This one came in a cardboard backed clear plastic packaging which featured all of the official Harry Potter names and logos on it so there was no doubt in my mind that this was an official product.
Obviously my son wanted to play with this figure and so it was taken out of the packaging for him to do so. This figure is around seven inches tall and so a couple of inches bigger than the Lord Voldemort, Hermione, Ron, Draco and Snape figures I had bought for my son but this one is made by NECa who I have never heard of and the others are made by Tomy.
When I got a closer look at this plastic figure I have to say I was impressed with the detailing used. Harry is dressed in black jeans, trainers and a light blue denim shirt like he wears for some of the Deathly Hallows film. There are crease marks in the shirt, pocket and button details and so it is well thought out in that sense. Harry's face is very much like the character and he has small round glasses on which whilst they are not removable they do lift slightly so you can get a good look. He of course has the small red lightening scar on his forehead where he was marked by Voldemort as a baby too. In terms of an action figure toy looking like the person it was based on I think this one is excellent really but it is not without its flaws either.
This action figure is ultimately a toy. It is sold through toy and game sections on amazon and I have seen them in toy shops such as toys r us too. For me a toy is meant to be played with by a child and so needs to be pretty resilient and this is where this one fell down the most really. A few days after Christmas whilst my son was playing with his Harry Potter figures the head off this Harry figure just fell off! He and I were both mortified really but tried to pop it back on but it just kept falling off again! In the end my only option was to pop a bit of superglue on to the next part and stick the head on in this way. It hasn't fallen off again since then but obviously the head is now in a fixed position. It doesn't matter massively to my son that the head is fixed because he would tend to move the whole toy around if he wanted to face a different way anyway but it was a bit of a let down for me that it broke so easily.
In terms of flexibility this toy is made from a quite rigid plastic and there isn't the same kind of movement that you can get with some of the other figures. Now the head no longer moves you can simply move Harry's arms or hands. His legs are completely fixed and whilst this is good in a sense as he stands up well on surfaces it would be better to have flexible legs too I think for a child to play with. My son has played with this figure on and off but he did play with it more in the first half of the year than he has in the second half but I do think we will keep hold of these as I think they will be nice to look back at and may even become collectable at some point (though probably not ours with his glued on head!) A child can make up their own stories with figures like this I think and can also integrate them in to other play sets which really helps them use their imagination and so I do think they are a good thing to own.
This particular figure comes with a backpack on Harry's back which is not removable as well as his wand which is made from a more flexible plastic and which fits in his right hand which is more closed so you can pop the wand in and out of there. The wand is really tiny and does make me think even more that this was made with collectors in mind as opposed to children really.
From memory this particular figure cost me around eight or nine pounds last year and I can confirm it costs £14.99 on amazon this year should you be interested in buying one. Whilst I think this figure is really good in its likeness to Harry Potter I do think that it is less of an action figure to be played with than the Tomy ones and so I would probably recommend getting one of those ones instead.
Thank you for reading my review!
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Schleich Polar Bear Female
by emmad5689
My elder sister used to collect these animals when she was little and when she finished playing with them they were in such great condition that they were put away for the next children in the family which as it turns out is my daughters aged 5 and 2 .
The Polar Bear was originally bought from mothercare and they do still ... sell some of the Schleich range but not as many different ones as you can get from Amazon. This Polar Bear sells for just over £5 with free delivery at the moment which is decent price and there are also another adult and a couple of cuubs available in the Polar Bears.
Mammy Polar Bear is about 11cms in length and she is actually pretty heavy although still not as heavy as some of them like the Elephant, the weight of some of the animals is my only concern about my 2 year old playing with them incase she causes someone an injury.
The Polar Bear is white in colour but there is quite a lot of shading on her and marks in the rubber to represent her fur, there is loads of shading around her legs as she is posed as if she is waliking and I think the detailing is fantastic as it does look like she is walking along. The Polar Bear isn't the friendliest of the animals as her face makes her look pretty stern but again there is plenty of detail and she looks really realistic.
My girls love all of the animals and the animals we have are pretty much all in family units so we play with my youngest daughter counting legs and grouping the correct families together which she manages really well, my eldest daughter groups the animsl in different ways such as which ones have wings or which ones go in the water. We have looked up some of the animals on the internet after playing too to help her learn a bit more about the animals.
The naimlas are great fun just for play and both girls love playing with them and growling at each other and often have the animals chasing each other. These animals are great value, they are rreally robust there literally isn't a mark on the Polar Bear abd she is years old. The animals are both fun and educational too which as a Mother is my favourite type of toys, this whole range is recommended by my household.
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Tomy Harry Potter Lord Voldemort
by louisechackett
Last Christmas I must have spent a small fortune buying my son lots of Harry Potter figures. We had spent a lot of time watching the films, reading some of the books and my son liked to play with his figures still and so it was a purchase that I thought would be appreciated. One of the figures I bought him was the Tomy Harry Potter ... Lord Voldemort 5" figure and this is my review of it.
The figure came backed in a cardboard backed clear plastic through which you could see the figure and accessories that came with it. It is my understanding that some people do keep these figures in their packaging as a collector's item but this was never really the intention for my buying it as I wanted my son to be able to play with it. According to the packaging it is suitable for children aged four years and up but in my opinion a child would probably need to be a little older than this to get proper use out of the figures as they are quite detailed in my opinion.
The Lord Voldemort figure is 5" tall and the one that we have is from the Deathly Hallows film where Voldemort is in possession of the Elder wand and is gearing up for the final battle with Harry Potter. There are other Voldemort figures available I believe but you may well be looking at paying quite a lot for them as I struggled to get hold of some figures last Christmas as collector's do seem to snap them up really even though they are really a child's play thing.
This figure is made from a plastic and feels a good quality. Voldemort is dressed in his long black robes and this is represented well on the figure and is made from a more flexible material so it does move slightly when you move the figure which gives the impression of it flowing. Voldemort does stand on his two feet but he is a little wobbly at times especially on an uneven surface as his feet are pretty small so sometimes he falls over. This isn't really an issue for my son though.
The figure poses quite a good likeness for Lord Voldemort for the most part and there would be no mistaking who this is if you are a fan of the series I don't think. He is suitably pale, has a snarling look on his face and his trademark almost snake like nose. The detailing is really good actually on this figure and he even has little detailed ears! My only slight niggle with it is that he looks a bit cross eyed on this figure!
The figure has a head which you are able to move from side to side, legs which are bendable but don't really bend well under the long gown anyway, movable arms and hands. The best part of this action figure is the movable arms and hands I think as you can really create some threatening looking poses with them which of course is how Voldemort would approach Harry Potter for the final battle. My son likes to pop Voldemort's wand in the closed off hand for when they are battling and the figure grips it pretty well.
With this figure you get Voldemort's wand, so the elder wand and this is nicely done so that it looks like the one used in the film. It is made from a bendy plastic which doesn't look as though it would break easily but I do think they would be easily lost in play. My son has a smaller box inside his box which holds his figures which he stores all the smaller accessories when he isn't playing with them to keep them safe. With this figure you also get Voldemort's side kick, the snake, Nagini who is much more present in the final film. Nagini is made from a hard plastic and comes in two parts so that his coiled body can make him stand upright whilst his neck and head part are in a more straightened aggressive pose with his mouth wide open which I am guessing is based on the part where he is about to attack when Neville Longbottom kills him. The snake with Voldemort makes a nice little set for a fan of the series as they can be used together for most of the playing time.
From memory this figure cost me around eight pounds but having looked on amazon for a more current price I can advise that it is selling for £9 with a £3 postage and packing charge on top but there is also a set with this figure and a Harry Potter figure selling for £15.20 and a 60p postage and packing charge which proves better value I would have thought. My son played with these figures quite a lot when he first got them and used them in his Tardis play set too so they were not just used for Harry Potter related imaginative play. Recently he has played with them less but I am reluctant to get rid of them as I think they may well just hold their value over the years. Some of the figures I bought my son last year didn't hold together as well as this one and so I do think the Voldemort figure is one of the better made, more durable figures for actual play and so I would recommend this one.
Thank you for reading my review!
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