"Figures for Harry Potter" Topic

Wasn't sure which board to put this on, but this is a serious gaming question. Are there any figures that can used as characters from the films? Thinking there must be some school kid figures somewhere that with the edition of a wand could stand in for the Hogwarts faithful. I know Copplestone have a boy wizard in their wizard pack. What about the teachers? Is there wizard characters that could stand in for Dumbledore, Snape etc

Also, while I'm at it, is there any Quidditch gaming rules out there?

Hey Norrins a great idea for something different for the pulp genre. I would certainly be interested in what people may come up with in the way of figures.

Lookie here:

soapyvision.blogspot.com

Lookie here too:

link

This fellow did a whole Battle of Hogwarts game using the figures from Dicers supplemented with other 15mm figures.

link

Dicers:

auction

This would be one of those projects that I throw months of my time and gallons of blood, sweat and tears into customizing figures and terrain and rules, only to be ridiculed for my love of Harry Potter when I show up with all of it at game club :o(
HA! I actually was questing for this several months back and sort of came to the conclusion that I'd have to custom make at least 75% of the figures to pull it off.
Sadly,
Mongo

Just discovered that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley figures come with the Corgi Ford Anglia.

I'm pretty sure I saw a Harry Potter board game with Quidditch players on flight stands.

If you search through Board Game Geeks, I'm sure that you'll find it.

There is a Quidditch board game .. all 2d though. NO flight stands, and the rules are bunk…

Maybe you can use Splintered Light's Redwall line and just make it Hairy Otter instead of Harry Potter.

Around the time of the first film, some toy company released playsets of Hogwarts, Hagrid's Cottage, and so forth. The figures that came with them were roughly 28mm, and I've used 'em for years -- they're about the same size as the figures that came with the Ford Anglia, but robed. They included Hagrid, Snape, Ron, Hermione, and Harry, as well as a translucent Invisible Harry.

Is this stuff available on Ebay?

This subject gets started every time a Potter movie is released. So far no luck with ready made figs. In the past people have suggested different models, see those threads.

What were they called Dr. Bedlam? Were the figs 28mm also?

Peter…

Do you know if those are 28mm? And is he gunna cast them up?????

I really hope so! I would buy SEVERAL sets!

I am working on a Savage Worlds version of Quidditch. I am at the point I need figs…

There is a good Harry in Freebooter's 28mm. Its called the Wizards Apprenence. You have to look in the Figures section…
link

The FIGURES were 25mmish to 28mmish, and a little on the cartoony side; all but Hagrid were articulated at the waist so they could sit down. The Ford Anglia set featured similar figures of Harry and Ron, but not articulated, somewhat more realistic, and in street clothes, not wizard robes.

The PLAYSETS were scaled to fit the figures, pretty much -- the only one that was really well suited to gaming was Hagrid's Hut, which came with a table, a crossbow, a chair, and various little accessories.

Some links to the products:
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link
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I am surprised to find that many of these items are still available for sale (I bought the Hogwarts set at clearance for twenty bucks; Amazon here has it for $150, American! The Ford Anglia playset is surprisingly cheap, and the figs are roughly 25mm.

I am sure some judicious use of Google and the words "Harry Potter Playset" will provide much enlightenment. Hope this is of use to you!

Oh, yass.

This retailer has the Quidditch playset. Comes with Harry and Malfoy, and is apparently scaled to work with the other playsets from Mattel… and the price is surprisingly cheap.

link

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And if that ain't enough, here's some closeup pictures of the playset and the figures.

richarDMB

They are 28mm. Soapy sculpts for Gripping Beast so I guess they are compatible with them in size.
I don't know if he is going to have them cast.

Peter

What we need are three adolscent wizards pointing their wands, Spekky with an owl perched on his left arm, Bushy Haired Girl(but beautiful) with a book in her left hand and Freckly Red Headed guy with either a Deluminator or a broom in his other hand. In fact if you made the left arm separate you could change around what they had on those arms – Gryffy's sword, Basilisk tooth, whatever. I would certainly buy these as well as the Quiddich team – but you need more girls on the team for it to be realistic. Realistic? what am I saying!

Does seem that whenever a new film comes out there is an upsurge in Harry Potter interest. With 2 more films due out, surely some canny manufacturer could cash in?

Well Peter N C Frost, I can REALLY HOPE!!!

If you happen to know him, have him PM me please…

Comments on Soapy's blog are encouraging him to have them cast, saying JK Rowling won't mind. I bet she won't but Warner Bros. certainly will.
I contacted their IP department asking if it was possible to publish a set of Quidditch rules I wrote. A definite no go. Unless you have a big market product that will sell a lot of units don't go near it!

BTW I was threatened with legal action (politely) if I did a 'not Harry Potter' dodge. Seems their lawyers have heard it all before…

Don't advertise them as "not Harry Potter". If you did three juvenile wizards, two boys and a girl and one of the guys had specs there is no court in the world who would agree that infringed anyones copyright. Same with figures on brooms.

A few simple changes. For example, you could use one goal with a circle within a circle instead of three separate goals. Maybe add a extra team member or some other simple changes. Change the name to "Wizard Polo" or "Broomstick Hockey" and it becomes your own game.

They didn't invent magic folks on brooms. Someone did that a few hundred years ago. The "Bewitched" television series of the 60s and 70s had sporting events with witches and warlocks involved. Both mixed with normal folks and on their own.

There is a TV series here in UK with girl witches in a boarding school too so figures of young witches and wizards waving their wands isn't copyright. So lets have some pleeezzzee!

This copyright concern is really a little silly. While you musn't copy the image, you are certainly allowed to be inspired. I think that a movie company or Rowling would really attempt to stop someone from making miniatures that were in robes riding on brooms. Now, if they look like the characters, are similarly dressed, etc. then MAYBE they have a case. But don't forget that the Hawaiian Shirt case: In that case, there was shirt maker whose prints were being very closely copied and knocked off before he could get them to market. The court did not care one iota and said that competition could very well be inspired by the designs of their competitors. Also, don't make a miniatures game called Quidditch. Like another poster said, invent "Flying Witch Hocky". But, forget making scultps of the truly individual elements: i.e. goals, sneetches, boggers, etc.

I think freebooter has a young wizard with a wand

1ngram
Is that "The Worst witch" -excellent -predates Potter ,I think.
Goes more down the Malory Towers route than Dark Lord but still.

'This copyright concern is really a little silly. While you musn't copy the image, you are certainly allowed to be inspired.'
'A few simple changes. For example, you could use one goal with a circle within a circle instead of three separate goals. Maybe add a extra team member or some other simple changes. Change the name to "Wizard Polo" or "Broomstick Hockey" and it becomes your own game.'

Good luck with that.
According to the 'Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988' (British law) anything that bears a STRIKING SIMILARITY (actual wording) is an infringement. The Quidditch type figures mentioned above are very similar to images from the films, if it was me I wouldn't risk it.
However, if Someone wants to, go for it, safe in the knowledge that the amateur lawyers of TMP will fight your case!

"The Quidditch type figures mentioned above are very similar to images from the films"

But then the quiddich images from the films are "very similar" to umpteen illustrations in childrens books over the ages of witches and wizards riding broomsticks. Do you really think JKR invented witches on broomsticks? This is by no means an original idea. Certainly the helmet Ron wears in the latest film might be so construed but young wizards on brooms – no way!

Even more so for wizards and witches on foot with wands in their hands. Have the existing not-Potter figures from Copplesrone etc produced lawsuits? Of course not. Lets see them.

Ben Ten, what you fail to recognize is that Copyright protects a particular incarnation of an idea; not the idea itself.

Another question is, even if you have not truly appropriated any IP for your product but you get sued for it anyway can you survive taking the case to court and doing what is necessary to win it?

Big concerns can usually afford to go to court with a doofy overly general case that ignores lots of prior art and then politely say "oops" if/when it blows up on them. Smaller concerns often cannot. This encourages big concerns to shoot first and ask questions later, and possibly assert improper control over usage of a broad concept, and it leaves many smaller concerns in a position where they cannot afford to defend their own rights well enough to do what they should be able to do. They can effectively be harassed to death forcing them to overspend money to avoid summary "no show" judgements against them. And of course those big concerns who don't defend their IP vigorously enough may risk losing their right to defend it against actual infringement.