Man, 18, seeks Troll, 362, blue skin, 9 ft, enjoys bashing things
Written: Jun 20 '02 (Updated Jun 20 '02)
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Pros: Big, stupid and lumbering: the school-bully of your action figures
Cons: Where's the articulation, big guy?
The Bottom Line: He's an excellent figure, but the lack of obvious articulation in obvious places detracts from his value.
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| shocka's Full Review: Mattel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Mount... |
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was one of last Winter's big family films, building on the already huge fanbase from the books by J. K. Rowling. One of my favourite moments from the film was the troll scene, where the enormous Mountain Troll tried to smash our favourite heroine, Hermoine, in the girl's toilets. The massive, threatening troll, with it's slimy blue skin and dumb, confused look on it's face, reminded me of many simple but violent imbelcilic humans of whom it's been my immense displeasure to know. Anyway, the massive fiend himself has been creatively reproduced in action figure form, as part of a 9" Deluxe Creature line, also including oversized Hagrid and the three-headed dog Fluffy.
The Mountain Troll comes in attractive, 3D packaging reminiscent of the book art and the film. The bubble covers half of the package, with an illustration of the character in front of the clearly viewed figure. Hogwart's columns occupy the sides of the card, and the top is adorned with the Harry Potter logo and a picture of the young actor who played Harry. It's decent enough; the back of the card has a paragraph summary of the character and other details. The packaging is great for the MOC collectors, but collectors (and children) who open their toys will wrestle with the bits of cardboard.
The sculpt of the figure is very good; the Mountain Troll, coming in at over 8", has a dead-on likeness from the film; everything from the stupid look on his face to his enormously oversized hands and his bizarre leg-feet is perfect. The paint is applied well, detailed without fail. His clothes are made out of soft, material-esque plastic and they conceal his blue-grey skin perfectly. All of the figures in the Harry Potter line use real-scan technology, but the Mountain Troll is the best by far. The only problem is that the Mountain Troll is out of scale with the other figures in the line, including the wizard and children figures from the 6" line, but on display this isn't too much of an issue.
The Mountain Troll has some nice, suiting accessories, weighing in with his huge club, which is about the size of a 6" figure and well detailed to look as if it is made of wood, and a 'breakaway' sink. The sink is in scale with the 6" figures, a replica straight out of the girl's toilets in the movie, where the Troll attacks Hermoine. Smashing it with the club causes the top to fall to pieces; it can be put back together using pegs which hold it together. It's actually a really good accessory, fully detailed and painted with the Hogwart's insignia, and fits together well. It will have both play value for kids (use it in a wrestling match to break over Spawn's head) or for display value with the figs. Unfortunately, for the price, the figure could do with more accessories, but what he has is ok.
The Mountain Troll's articulation is where he loses major points; articulated at the neck, legs, arms and wrists. He can drag and swing his club well for a few different poses and play - but he would have worked a whole lot better if he had ball joints at the shoulders, which is usually substandard with big monster figures like this, and it detracts from his overall kewlness. I would have also liked peg jointed elbows, to enhance further poseability. Comparing him to say, Marvel Legend's Hulk figure, which is about the same size and slightly cheaper, the big Mountain Troll is going to get smacked silly.
For the Harry Potter fans, this figure is almost a must have. The memorable sculpt of the Mountain Troll is excellent, and the accessories are nice, but the articulation is a let down. It's not a total loss, as despite this, the troll can still go about important business - to swing that club into Harry's face. The monster line is a highlight of the Harry Potter action figure series, quenching my thirst for three-headed monster dogs, giants with pink umbrellas and baby dragons, and of course enormous mountain trolls. Collectors who aren't fond of the Potter franchise might be interested in the different figures offered in these lines. In the next part of this line, which has just been recently released, a version of our favourite Norwegian Ridgeback Norbert the Dragon has been released, with two other monster figures too. Overall, I recommend the Mountain Troll because the sculpt and character is great; he's worth another star if you can get him cheaper than the RRP - otherwise, he's deceisively average.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 12
Type of Toy: Action Figure
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shocka
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