Random figure of the day: hp117

Everytime I look at the Jar Jar minifigure I got from 7121, I kind of want to do a little paint job on the eyes and the head, but I never did. Mainly because I'm not that skilled.

Give it a hat and a striped sweater, and it would be a great Freddy Krueger minifigure.

Interestingly this is a fleshie version of one of the goblins from the original Gringotts. Those were -along with the Ewoks- the first short-legged minifigures back in 2002 (later in the year Yoda, kid Boba Fett and Dobby would join them). The originals had tan heads and hands.

Hence why a figure from 2011 might come of as primitive. Two came with the second ever Gringotts from the 2010-2011 version of the HP theme. The first were from the Gringotts from the 2001-2007 HP iteration.

He has a nose

@PurpleDave said:
" @CulturedBreads said:
"They could print those elaborate sarcophagus pieces in Adventurers (like that in 3722) over ten years before this, but printing the eyes on him? No. Still love 'em. classic."

I suspect it was a tradeoff for molding the heads, as they never painted the early heads for Yoda, Ewoks, Watto, Gamorreans, Geonosians, etc. Only Chewbacca ever got any printing, and even then it was just the bandolier and nose. No eye printing. I think it was 2010's Toy Story 3 theme when they finally started printing facial features on sculpted heads, and it's worth noting that all the new minifigure molds created for that theme appear to have been used exclusively in China, where the reduced labor costs would help offset the increased cost burden for tooling."

You bring up a good point, but I feel that by 2011, this figure is very outdated, particularly knowing the fact that those Toy Story 3 sets came out the year prior and many were completely new molds and had that printing. Plus, Star Wars characters were also getting printing, or at least many were by this point, just look at the Clone Wars figures.

Hey, I had this set this was in! I modified the three buildings to include backs on them, and for the one that was only one story I added a second floor as well. Almost all the HP buildings (once modified) work well for a late 1800's / early 1900's town.

@PurpleDave said:
" @CulturedBreads said:
"They could print those elaborate sarcophagus pieces in Adventurers (like that in 3722) over ten years before this, but printing the eyes on him? No. Still love 'em. classic."

I suspect it was a tradeoff for molding the heads, as they never painted the early heads for Yoda, Ewoks, Watto, Gamorreans, Geonosians, etc. Only Chewbacca ever got any printing, and even then it was just the bandolier and nose. No eye printing. I think it was 2010's Toy Story 3 theme when they finally started printing facial features on sculpted heads, and it's worth noting that all the new minifigure molds created for that theme appear to have been used exclusively in China, where the reduced labor costs would help offset the increased cost burden for tooling."

I think the first sculpted head with eye printing was Greedo in 2004, probably because the big eyes are such an essential feature for the character to be recognisable

"Goblin" indeed. Horrifying.

Glad they introduced a new version in 2020. This is an abomination.

@CulturedBreads said:
"You bring up a good point, but I feel that by 2011, this figure is very outdated, particularly knowing the fact that those Toy Story 3 sets came out the year prior and many were completely new molds and had that printing. Plus, Star Wars characters were also getting printing, or at least many were by this point, just look at the Clone Wars figures."

Different theme, different design team. If the mold still existed, sticking with it would have cut down on the cost to produce this minifig. Yes, SW had started getting into fully decorated sculpted heads, but between Ki-Adi-Mundi’s scalp and the new Geonosian head sculpt, people were complaining that 7959 (a $30 set) was $10-15 overpriced. But it took them a while to convert everyone over, possibly because they were waiting until molds wore out and needed to be replaced anyways. Chewbacca appeared in sets in 2011, 2012, and 2013, but didn’t get a new head sculpt until 75042, and still showed up with the old sculpt in two wristwatch packs in 2015 and 2017.

@Pollywanna said:
"I think the first sculpted head with eye printing was Greedo in 2004, probably because the big eyes are such an essential feature for the character to be recognisable "

I should have clarified that I meant full facial deco, since I’d already mentioned that Chewie’s nose was painted, and that goes back to 2000 when the character first appeared. I never got Greedo until the big Cantina set (which I still haven’t opened), so I have no idea what printing he may have received. I do remember, however, the first Green Goblin helmets (2002) had no printing, but the final set to include that character did have printed eyes (2003), so that’s even a year earlier if we roll helmets in with heads. Oddly, that first 2004 Greedo not only has printed eyes, but also some sort of pattern printed on top of his snout.

I don't think this one would be accepted in Magic: The Gathering's Goblin Bowling Team… [https://mtg.cardsrealm.com/en-us/card/goblin-bowling-team]

Crazy how the molded detail animals look amazing, yet they couldn't get down character creatures quite right.

@essel said:
[[I don't think this one would be accepted in Magic: The Gathering's Goblin Bowling Team… [https://mtg.cardsrealm.com/en-us/card/goblin-bowling-team]]]

I loved that expansion, and wished I’d gotten enough cards together to build a Chicken Dinner deck. Sold out too fast, though. I did manage to get a complete set, at least.

These goblins were extremely creepy. Great for scary minifigures though...