Thinking About Hogwarts Castle

Mark Boyce posted:

EILIF,

Thank you for the link to the Entertainment Earth.  I see the whole group scheduled for August.  I just got back from WalMart.  I got the last Harry and Draco at 97 cents each.  If I get the whole set later, you can always have 2 Harry Potters. Thank you!! 

You're very welcome.  Note that the whole group doesn't include every fig. There are still a couple including McGonagal and Snape that aren't included in that set.  However, McGonagal is the only one not included that isn't available separatley (outside her 5-pack) at this time.

Ballz2 posted:

Good find on that link.

Hmm reg price is 30 bucks for 20 figures.  I would've figured it would be cheaper to buy the set.  That's surprising.

That Gryffindor Tower playset is interesting with some pretty good detail. It probably won't work as part of the train set since its an interior shot. Still a good find.

I'd keep an eye on other outlets when the set releases.  The price might be lower when there's a bit of competition.  Entertainment Earth doesn't always have the lowest price.

I received my Great Hall puzzle yesterday!  Very nice!   It was a surprise for my wife, and she likes the puzzle and the plan to have some appropriate scenery for the Hogwarts Express to run around!  Good deal all around!  Thank you!!

Finally reviewed the batch HP (and some Guardians of the Galaxy) "Nano Metalfigs" I got from WalMart last week.

Despite some shortcomings and a scale of 38mm sole-to-eye (1/43 aprox), there's alot to be said for these cheap little figs. This is epecially true considering the dearth of other affordable Harry Potter miniatures.

Review here:
https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...hero-nano-metalfigs/

Pretty extensive review.  Especially on the paint detail.  Would you say that the hero click scale is more in line with O Scale?  It seems that O scale would be 1:50?

Ballz2 posted:

Pretty extensive review.  Especially on the paint detail.  Would you say that the hero click scale is more in line with O Scale?  It seems that O scale would be 1:50?

Thanks1

       As far as I know O scale is properly 1/48, but of course alot of it is actually smaller as well as being compressed in size.    Heroclix vary quite a bit, but the current ones seem to vary from 33 to 35mm (to the eye) which is pretty much right on for 1/48.

One thing to note about Heroclix figs is that they will be a bit thicker than proper 1/48 figs because they are intended to hold up to handling.  Pretty good overall though.  

Alot of wargame shops will have bins of the less-desireable heroclix for a buck or less.  I've been slowly acquiring most any heroclix that have a civilian look as scenery for my wargames layout.

Figures are not usually measured sole to eye, so I think I understand why you say these figures are 1:43.

But a figure measuring 38mm head to toe, using metric conversion, is 1.5 inches. In O scale (1:48), 1.5 inches = 6 feet, the typical height of a hero figure (or average adult male) who is standing straight up.

Naturally, if a figure is crouching, and it still stands 1.5 inches, you could guesstimate it's closer to 1:43.

Again, for those who seem to not have heard this before, when you are talking about O scale, a distinctly American shorthand reference, it is referring to 1:48, or 1 inch to 4 feet. 1:50 has no scale name. Europeans are more apt to model 1:43, which is also not typically called by a letter scale. 1:43 is the traditional European proportion for O gauge trains. Gauge is the distance between the rails, and that's where the letter names Z, N, HO, S and O came from and over time were applied to the proportionate scales associated with each gauge. (Technically, we should say 1:87 scale trains run on HO gauge track, but no one says it that way anymore.)

Anyway, I picked up some of the Harry Potter figures as well as the Nano Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers figures, and they are all well done and close to 1:48. I now have too many options for Harry Potter scenes, but appreciate the tip nonetheless.

If you want to dramatically add to forced perspective, you can add the new Harry Potter Gringotts Bank that Hallmark released in July. It measures something close to N scale, though I have no idea of the dimensions of the prototype because I can't seem to find my way to Diagon Alley.

man the gringotts bank and the olivander's wand shop look so cool.  too bad they are crazy small. 

http://www.hallmark.com/orname...ent-2495QXI3045.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C...gid=pla-300456395506

Jim R. posted:

Figures are not usually measured sole to eye, so I think I understand why you say these figures are 1:43.

But a figure measuring 38mm head to toe, using metric conversion, is 1.5 inches. In O scale (1:48), 1.5 inches = 6 feet, the typical height of a hero figure (or average adult male) who is standing straight up.

Naturally, if a figure is crouching, and it still stands 1.5 inches, you could guesstimate it's closer to 1:43.

Again, for those who seem to not have heard this before, when you are talking about O scale, a distinctly American shorthand reference, it is referring to 1:48, or 1 inch to 4 feet. 1:50 has no scale name. Europeans are more apt to model 1:43, which is also not typically called by a letter scale. 1:43 is the traditional European proportion for O gauge trains. Gauge is the distance between the rails, and that's where the letter names Z, N, HO, S and O came from and over time were applied to the proportionate scales associated with each gauge. (Technically, we should say 1:87 scale trains run on HO gauge track, but no one says it that way anymore.)

Anyway, I picked up some of the Harry Potter figures as well as the Nano Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers figures, and they are all well done and close to 1:48. I now have too many options for Harry Potter scenes, but appreciate the tip nonetheless.

If you want to dramatically add to forced perspective, you can add the new Harry Potter Gringotts Bank that Hallmark released in July. It measures something close to N scale, though I have no idea of the dimensions of the prototype because I can't seem to find my way to Diagon Alley.

Yeah, the to-the-eye measurement is a wargaming convention used to take the variable of headgear out of the equasion when comparing minaitures.  38mm (nano Metalfigs) is close to 1/43 and 34mm (Heroclix) is close to 1/48.  There's a page here that explains the conversion of to-the-eye scales to fractional.  

http://theminiaturespage.com/ref/scales.html

It's good stuff except that the author is a wargamer and not a train buff so he or she mislabels O as 1/43.

Glad you found the figs useful, if perhaps a bit too useful!  :-)

It looks like some of the walmarts got some more in stock and they have that hogwarts interior scene in stock.  It shows that its available for "free in store pick up today".  Might check it out for lunch.  

 la-51320962143&wl5=9007585&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=146045010&wl13=&veh=sem" target="_blank">https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nan...mp;wl13=&veh=sem

Ballz2 posted:

It looks like some of the walmarts got some more in stock and they have that hogwarts interior scene in stock.  It shows that its available for "free in store pick up today".  Might check it out for lunch.  

 

 la-51320962143&wl5=9007585&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=146045010&wl13=&veh=sem" target="_blank">https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nan...mp;wl13=&veh=sem

Thanks for the update?  Have you by any chance seen Snape, Moody, Hagrid, Ginny, Kowalski or Neville in any of the single packs?  Those are the last charachters I'm looking for.

Hard to tell from the packaging render, but entertainment earth says Snape is one of the figures that comes with Gryfyndor tower.  I might pick that up just as a neat display place for my wargaming miniatures.

So I finally had the chance to go and just checked out one of the smaller Walmarts near me.  This place was almost sold out before but they were stocked up again. Looks like single packs had the same characters that I had before however they did have a new 5 pack with mcgonagall and Marcus flint. Even though I had the other three characters I decided to buy it - it was less than 5 bucks.  

Greetings all,

There are three Walmarts in the Salem, OR area, none of which are convenient to me.  I tend to decide to pay a little more and drive significantly less to get what I need; however, the posts about the Harry Potter Nano Minifigs available at "Wally World" peaked my interest.  A couple of days ago, I stopped by the nearest Walmart while running errands to check them out.  To my surprise, they were well stocked with HP, DC, Guardians, and other theme figs.

I bought two different five packs and one of each of the other individual HP figs I could find that did not duplicate a figure in a five pack.  I haven't checked yet, but I am probably short one or two of the HP group.  I also bought Newt and Tina from Fantastic Beasts (It's my layout!) and Wonder Woman for "Wonder Woman" (my Wife!).

As has been reported, the individual figs were $.97 each. The two five packs saved about $.05 on each of the 10 figs.  Several of the Hogwarts Gryffindor Tower display sets were there as well for under $25, but I didn't see it fitting into my little set-up, so I passed.  Besides, I am looking forward to "Wonder Woman" putting together the Diagon Alley puzzle I got her earlier and using it as a background piece for my Harry Potter Vignette.

Cheers!

Alan

Alan, were you able to find a Snape?  If so, I might have to make a trip to my larger walmart to see if i could find him

Sorry for the delay in responding, but we were at our beach house to watch the eclipse, and I just got back home to where I left my WalMart bag of goodies. I didn't remember getting Snape at the WalMart I got to, and I have confirmed that I did not.  I don't who was in any of the the Gryffindor playsets except for a younger Harry Potter.  Here is a list of the figures I found and bought:

Harry Potter Series:
Singles:
Lord Voldemort HP6
Argus Filch HP8
Nearly Headless Nick HP9
Dementor HP10

First Five Pack:
Harry Potter in Robe HP1
Ron Weasley HP3
Hermione Granger HP4
Percy Weasley HP25
Arthur Weasley HP26

Second Five Pack:
Harry Potter with Wand HP2
Albus Dumbledore HP5
Draco Malfoy HP7
Prof. McGonagall HP27
Marcus Flint HP28

Fantastic Beasts Series:
Singles:
Newt Scamander HP11
Tina Goldstein HP12

And for fun:

DC Series:
Singles:
Wonder Woman DC4

 Let me know who I may be missing in the HP series, and I will keep an eye out.

Cheers!

Alan

Sent from my iPhone

The set of 30 figures doesn't include everything.  There another fifteen or so that aren't included.  Additionally, not all of the figures have bene released individually or in the small 5-pack,  I know that Hagrid and Genny Weasley have not been released yet, except in that 30 pack.

Myself, I'm conflicted because Hagrid is a must-have for my layout, but I already have all of the available minis and that would make for quite a few duplicates.  I'll have to see just how many.  I guess I could always sell the excess, yeah?

on another topic, I'm looking for some suggestions.  I've done some research but my experience and expertise is limited on this so I'm hoping that someone might have a bit more experience and can lend me an idea or three.

I am going to be constructing a 'carousel' in my layout, something that will continually move (so not a railroad turnaround).  All of the mechanics will need to fix within a 2" high space with virtually unlimited horizontal space.  I am looking for suggestions on how to power it and was thinking about using a small electric RC motor then attack a gear to it and another gear under the turntable to translate the rotation from motor to disk.

I'll try and put up a diagram it I can to better illustrate my plans, but does that sound reasonable?  Has anyone else done something like this?

Thanks for your help!

Do a Google search for "jewelry display turntable"...I expect you'll find something useful...

Howard...

www.littleglitterhouses.com

Cool search term.  Depending on weight, 35 bucks or less. 

Oh my.  Perfect.  Thank you for the laser sharp suggestion.

I'm curious to see what you got and if it works.  It would be cool if I set it some kind of rotating hanger thing for harry, etc to fly around and between the hogwarts castle.

So I stumbled upon this today:  http://www.factoryent.com/metal-miniatures-s/135.htm

So first, while the justice league figures are really well done, the harry potter ones are.. very very bad.  I was surprised because I was initially drawn to it by the detail on the justice league figures and had heard they also carry harry potter.  Then I saw it.  No way these guys are worth 40 bucks. 

Man, the $1 ones we got are much better.

P.S. while the justice league ones are much better.. are they 40x better?  Probably not...

Ballz2 posted:

So I stumbled upon this today:  http://www.factoryent.com/metal-miniatures-s/135.htm

So first, while the justice league figures are really well done, the harry potter ones are.. very very bad.  I was surprised because I was initially drawn to it by the detail on the justice league figures and had heard they also carry harry potter.  Then I saw it.  No way these guys are worth 40 bucks. 

Man, the $1 ones we got are much better.

P.S. while the justice league ones are much better.. are they 40x better?  Probably not...

Took a look at that website, very high prices for what they are offering. I think the lower cost metalfigs were a better buy for the money. I haven't found them all yet but I will check walmart again this weekend.

Sean

I just came back from walmart and they restocked a bunch of figures - I think they released some mickey mouse disney figures so I imagine it all shipped with them.  My walmart was fully stocked but only had the figures I already had    

Still no Snape or other missing figures listed in the back which leads me to believe they haven't been released yet. 

Ballz2 posted:

I just came back from walmart and they restocked a bunch of figures - I think they released some mickey mouse disney figures so I imagine it all shipped with them.  My walmart was fully stocked but only had the figures I already had    

Still no Snape or other missing figures listed in the back which leads me to believe they haven't been released yet. 

I keep a watch in my walmart too and its the same figures. None of the others are available yet.

Sean

Ballz2 posted:

If you want better quality Justice League figures, checkout the Heroclix line.  The more recent heroclix are much better than the Nanofigs and most are much cheaper than the Factoryent figures.

If you want really high quality superhero figs and are willing to pay for it, There's a fair number from Knight Models (the company soon to release HP miniatures) that are unpainted but retail for $20 or less.

Ballz2 posted:

I just came back from walmart and they restocked a bunch of figures - I think they released some mickey mouse disney figures so I imagine it all shipped with them.  My walmart was fully stocked but only had the figures I already had    

Still no Snape or other missing figures listed in the back which leads me to believe they haven't been released yet. 

I've been back to walmart a few times -some of which were very well stocked- and I'm pretty confident that Snape, Ginny, Moody, Neville and Hagrid are not in the current regular single assortment.  Except for Snape, they are all in the 20 pack  which costs $30 but I'm probably going to spring for it anyway.  I'll just sell off the extras. I might strip the paint from the extras and sell them for a modest upcharge to folks who want to paint them.

At this point it looks like the only way to get Snape is in the Gryffindor Tower set. I purchased and assembled the set.  I've submitted a full review to our club's blog and it should be up within a week.  I'll let you all know when it's up.

Yea I was just looking for the harry potter figures and trying to figure out what had more detail, etc for the train set.  

Ballz2 posted:

Yea I was just looking for the harry potter figures and trying to figure out what had more detail, etc for the train set.  

-The upcoming Knight figures will have the most detail by far but will be unpainted and around $15-$20 each.

-The FactoryEnt 1/32 figures have pretty good detail and are painted but they look to be around $40 each and of course are going to be quite large if the scale is correctly labeled.

-The Nanofigs have the worst detail of the batch but I think it's good enough and at $1 the price is unbeatable.  I do think they're good enough detailed to be worth stripping and repainting if wants a bit more detail for foreground scenes.  It's a pretty easy process to strip the paint away with MEK from the hardware store.  Just use solvex gloves as MEK can be nasty stuff.

Alternatively, just putting some matte varnish over the glossy metalic paint jobs might make them a bit better for display.

___________________________________________________________________

In other news my review of the Gryffindor Tower playset is up.  It's slanted toward wargamers, but I think you all may find it useful.

It's a rather neat set, though saddly one-sided.  Still, if there was some front corner of the layout where this could be placed facing outward and a suitably castle'ish facade added to the bare side, it would be a pretty neat attraction for viewers and it doesn't take up a huge amount of real estate.  It also comes with Snape! 

There's quite alot going on here for just $25!

Our local Walmart didn't have the Harry Potter figures but Walmart.com did. Walmart used a subsidiary called ToyWiz which actually shipped the figures. The price was not such a bargain when shipping and handling was added. The irony was this was my first ever order from Walmart.com and the shipment was "lost" in transit (a curious route of UPS to USPS then me). After several weeks went by past the delivery date I contacted Walmart which was unhelpful, telling me to contact ToyWiz. ToyWiz was considerably more helpful and sent me a duplicate order at no cost to me but the very next day the original order showed up. Apparently the US Post Office misdelivered the items to the wrong address but it took someone at that address more than 2 weeks to finally return the misdelivered item. I had a hassle in returning the original package (opened by someone who initially received the items). Needless to say, this is the first and last time I ever order anything from Walmart.com.

The figures themselves are cast metal and painted, 5 per package, with Harry Potter repeated in each set. They are not bad looking and roughly the correct size. I have the Hogwarts express on an elevated line along with a station with a red roof. Right now I have the Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger figures standing on this platform.

John

John F posted:

Our local Walmart didn't have the Harry Potter figures but Walmart.com did. Walmart used a subsidiary called ToyWiz which actually shipped the figures. The price was not such a bargain when shipping and handling was added. The irony was this was my first ever order from Walmart.com and the shipment was "lost" in transit (a curious route of UPS to USPS then me). After several weeks went by past the delivery date I contacted Walmart which was unhelpful, telling me to contact ToyWiz. ToyWiz was considerably more helpful and sent me a duplicate order at no cost to me but the very next day the original order showed up. Apparently the US Post Office misdelivered the items to the wrong address but it took someone at that address more than 2 weeks to finally return the misdelivered item. I had a hassle in returning the original package (opened by someone who initially received the items). Needless to say, this is the first and last time I ever order anything from Walmart.com.

The figures themselves are cast metal and painted, 5 per package, with Harry Potter repeated in each set. They are not bad looking and roughly the correct size. I have the Hogwarts express on an elevated line along with a station with a red roof. Right now I have the Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger figures standing on this platform.

John

 

 

 

 

Did Walmart.com have a ship to store for pickup option for these figures? I've found that option is generally faster with no added shipping charges than having items shipped directly to my residence.

John F posted:

Our local Walmart didn't have the Harry Potter figures but Walmart.com did. Walmart used a subsidiary called ToyWiz which actually shipped the figures. The price was not such a bargain when shipping and handling was added. The irony was this was my first ever order from Walmart.com and the shipment was "lost" in transit (a curious route of UPS to USPS then me). After several weeks went by past the delivery date I contacted Walmart which was unhelpful, telling me to contact ToyWiz. ToyWiz was considerably more helpful and sent me a duplicate order at no cost to me but the very next day the original order showed up. Apparently the US Post Office misdelivered the items to the wrong address but it took someone at that address more than 2 weeks to finally return the misdelivered item. I had a hassle in returning the original package (opened by someone who initially received the items). Needless to say, this is the first and last time I ever order anything from Walmart.com.

The figures themselves are cast metal and painted, 5 per package, with Harry Potter repeated in each set. They are not bad looking and roughly the correct size. I have the Hogwarts express on an elevated line along with a station with a red roof. Right now I have the Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger figures standing on this platform.

John

I'm not trying  to defend Walmart but I've ordered from Walmart.com several times.  I always order from Walmart only and unless there's enough for free shipping  I have it shipped to my local Walmart for free pickup.  Never had a problem.  

When you order from a different seller you're pretty much using Walmart.com like ebay.  Lots of companies are doing things this way. Usually I'll just head to Amazon rather than use a second party dealer on a store platform.  

Ogaugeguy,

      Items from other sellers on Walmart.com usually cannot be shipped to stores.  There's not much from Walmart.com that can be ordered from the metalfigs line.

Despite having most of them already, for the sake of completionism I'm probably going to order the 20 pack of figures this weekend to get every character. If there is someone who doesn't live near a stocked Walmart and would be interested in buying my extras let me know and we'll work something out.   I'm darn sure I can offer a better price per-fig than Toywiz.

Thanks for the responses. The bottom line is that I ordered these figures through Walmart and payment went to Walmart, not ToyWiz. Therefore Walmart, in my eyes, is responsible. Walmart made little effort beyond telling me to call UPS to see what happened to my stuff. UPS in turn told me to call USPS. My local postman informed me of the misdelivery. The only information that Walmart had was the items had been delivered but they didn't know of the misdelivery. In effect they did absolutely nothing to find out what happened and left it to me.  In the end I did get what I ordered but it took almost a month to get the stuff.

As far as getting more figures I don't plan to get any Hogwarts buildings but rather a backdrop which I found on Amazon. I can place some of the remaining figures in front of this backdrop. Not exactly complete realism but for me its okay and I like the Hogwarts Express with the 4 extra cars I bought (the engine has no problem in pulling the tender and all 7 cars).

John

very cool John.  Send a pic to show us.  I was sort of interested in buying one of those dementor coach but it was essentially a regular coach with some dementor stickers and a flickering bulb.  Played around with an idea of cutting the sides of the roof to show actual figures in the window - the harry potter pop pen toppers fit perfectly - but I couldnt bring myself to do it. 

ToyWiz is not a subsidiary of Walmart. It’s a dealer. Walmart.com is the equivalent of Amazon.com, which is a website venue that can have many dealers. When you’re ordering from Walmart.com, you have to watch who the seller actually is.

There is no ship-to-store option if the seller is someone other than Walmart itself.

ToyWiz sets its own price and ships from its own location.

According to this article, it looks like we are looking only at wave 1 of the harry potter figures:

"The first waves for each brand will have over 20 figures to collect and multiple waves are planned for year one."

http://www.figures.com/2017/06...nano-metalfigs-line/

I've noticed some sites marking the harry potter figures we have as "wave 1" too so I'm curious to see what'll come out next.  $1 is the perfect price on these. 

Ballz2 posted:

According to this article, it looks like we are looking only at wave 1 of the harry potter figures:

"The first waves for each brand will have over 20 figures to collect and multiple waves are planned for year one."

http://www.figures.com/2017/06...nano-metalfigs-line/

 

I've noticed some sites marking the harry potter figures we have as "wave 1" too so I'm curious to see what'll come out next.  $1 is the perfect price on these. 

I'm sure the comic IP's will get a second wave and I really hope HP does too.  The price point and subject material is perfect. I'd love to see more minor charachters and especially some more bad guys.  DeathEaters please...

Target now sells nano figs..  the 20 pack!! For 20 bucks.   Hagrid and moody are the new ones here.  These guys are pretty sneaky -trying to get you to buy full sets to get all the characters.  Wished we realized that earlier... ah well. 

Fantastic! 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pick that up shortly.

Ballz2 posted:

Target now sells nano figs..  the 20 pack!! For 20 bucks.   Hagrid and moody are the new ones here.  These guys are pretty sneaky -trying to get you to buy full sets to get all the characters.  Wished we realized that earlier... ah well. 

Can't seem to find it on Target.com or Brickseek. Could you tell me what the UPC code is?  I'd like to see if anywhere near me carries it.

I didn't end up buying it, but when I go to target again, I'll be sure to look for it.

Yesterday, my wife said she needed to pick up some things at our local Target store.  Instead of my usual grumbling and because I had just seen Ballz2 report of his sighting of HP figures above, I said, "Let's go!" much to her surprise.  I looked through the toy section, and did not see any Nano Metalfigs at all.  Fortunately, a clerk happened by and asked if she could help.  My wife said we were looking for Harry Potter toys.  The clerk said she was not familiar with Metalfigs, but she said there was some HP and other movie character items on the back wall behind electronics and DVDs.  And there they were along with the other Nano Figs of Super Heros, etc.

i did not see any new names in the individual 99 cent packs, but there were a few different characters or characters in different costumes in the 20 Pack, so with my wife's encouragement, I spent the $20.  

I have edited my previous list below to add the new HP figures in the 20 from Target.  The duplicates I have indicated on the prior list with a "T" for Target, those unique to the new set from Target, I have listed below the prior list:

Harry Potter Series:                            In 20 Pack
Singles:
Lord Voldemort HP6                                 T
Argus Filch HP8
Nearly Headless Nick HP9                        T
Dementor HP10                                         T

First Five Pack:
Harry Potter in Robe HP1                         T
Ron Weasley HP3                                       T
Hermione Granger HP4                             T
Percy Weasley HP25                                   T
Arthur Weasley HP26                                  T

Second Five Pack:
Harry Potter with Wand HP2                      T
Albus Dumbledore HP5                              T
Draco Malfoy HP7                                        T
Prof. McGonagall HP27
Marcus Flint HP28                                        T

Target 20 pack:  Marked T above plus

Harry Potter  (Year 4) HP13

Harry Potter with Quiddich Broom HP14

Ron Weasley (Year 7) HP15

Hermoine Granger (Year 7) HP16

Alastor Moody HP20

Rubeus Hagrid HP22

Neville Longbottom HP23

Ginny Weasley HP21

Still no Severius Snape except in the diorama set!

Since Target is way closer to home than Wallmart, I didn't check to see if they have added the same 20 pack or anything else new.  I also cannot say whether Target has been carrying the same as Wallmart all along.  My Target store did not have a diorama when I was there yesterday, but I don't know if they were sold out or never stocked them.

Thus endeth my HP Nano Metalfigs Report for today.  I may now have some stocking stuffers for a couple of grandkids.

Cheers!

Alan