Harry Potter Advent Calendar - Day 11

@YanVanLan said:
"Hmm...
I figured this was the Head Goblin - in - charge - of - all - Goblins of Gringotts Bank,
as he would be the one standing behind yesterdays desk, not Griphook.
Great minifigure either way!"

That would have made sense but its definitely meant to be Griphook. The Goblin you mention has a few marked differences from Griphook, the most notable being a pair glasses (a feature this minifigure’s missing).

@YanVanLan:
Griphook was played by Warwick Davis, who also played the goblin who takes Harry to his vault in the first movie. Dialogue in the seventh movie indicates that this is the same goblin. This is the goblin who was standing behind the front desk when Harry is first brought to Gringotts, so it makes sense within the focus of this calendar. I believe he was behind the same desk when they broke into Bellatrix’ vault, so this appears to be his regular post in the bank.

Warwick Davis is famously known foe Wicket the Ewok is Star Wars and also plays Griphook the goblin in Harry Potter. He's one of the few actor minifigures that is completely unrecognizable as a minifigure.

So I’m building the minifig, and thinking to myself, “One more spoiler down.” I looked through what’s shown on the box vs what we’ve built so far, and it’s always a shock to realize just how much they give away when you’re still standing in the toy aisle with a sealed box.

Spoilers: Seven to go, ten down (days 1-6, 8-11).

Surprises: Six to go, only one down (Day 7’s Leaky Cauldron sign)

That’s just over 2/3rds of the contents that you can identify from just the box. I suppose for a kid, it might not be so bad. If a parent buys the set when you’re not present (or you forget what you saw two months earlier because you have the memory of a goldfish), hides it until you’re in bed on November 30th, pops the seals on the main flap, and sets it up so all you see is the daily doors and the display mat, there’s actually only one day (the Sorting Top) that they reveal on the inside of the flap.

@PurpleDave said:
"So I’m building the minifig, and thinking to myself, “One more spoiler down.” I looked through what’s shown on the box vs what we’ve built so far, and it’s always a shock to realize just how much they give away when you’re still standing in the toy aisle with a sealed box.

Spoilers: Seven to go, ten down (days 1-6, 8-11).

Surprises: Six to go, only one down (Day 7’s Leaky Cauldron sign)

That’s just over 2/3rds of the contents that you can identify from just the box. I suppose for a kid, it might not be so bad. If a parent buys the set when you’re not present (or you forget what you saw two months earlier because you have the memory of a goldfish), hides it until you’re in bed on November 30th, pops the seals on the main flap, and sets it up so all you see is the daily doors and the display mat, there’s actually only one day (the Sorting Top) that they reveal on the inside of the flap."

yeah it's a shame, that's why when I was ordering mine I made sure to not focus much on the box other that making sure I'm getting current year (all 3 were available still). I like the surprise element od AC, and the extra effort not to spoil myself should not be needed

@Rimefang said:
"Warwick Davis is famously known foe Wicket the Ewok is Star Wars and also plays Griphook the goblin in Harry Potter. He's one of the few actor minifigures that is completely unrecognizable as a minifigure. "

Which is sort of ironic given he’s the actor with the most minifigs based off his roles

@PurpleDave said:
" @YanVanLan:
Griphook was played by Warwick Davis, who also played the goblin who takes Harry to his vault in the first movie. Dialogue in the seventh movie indicates that this is the same goblin. This is the goblin who was standing behind the front desk when Harry is first brought to Gringotts, so it makes sense within the focus of this calendar. I believe he was behind the same desk when they broke into Bellatrix’ vault, so this appears to be his regular post in the bank."

Griphook was on Harry's shoulders under the Cloak of Invisibility at the time, right?

But anything to add to Warwick Davis' minifig collection, thumbs up!

As Gustoffr2d2 said, Verne Troyer played Griphook in Philosopher's Stone, but this uses Davis' likeness from the two final films, thus adding a touch of continuity, which is kind of nice, although I way prefer the goblins' design from the first film over the Deathly Hallows versions.

@fulcrumbop said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @YanVanLan:
Griphook was played by Warwick Davis, who also played the goblin who takes Harry to his vault in the first movie. Dialogue in the seventh movie indicates that this is the same goblin. This is the goblin who was standing behind the front desk when Harry is first brought to Gringotts, so it makes sense within the focus of this calendar. I believe he was behind the same desk when they broke into Bellatrix’ vault, so this appears to be his regular post in the bank."

Griphook was on Harry's shoulders under the Cloak of Invisibility at the time, right?

But anything to add to Warwick Davis' minifig collection, thumbs up!"

Yes, Griphook was on Harry's shoulders under the cloak. And yes, love the additional Warwick Davis minifiig.

@Gustoffr2d2:
What? This is the first I’m hearing of this character-swap. I suppose it’s more obvious if you’ve read the books, but I don’t remember hearing a single goblin’s name until the seventh film. I don’t think I started watching the films until Troyer was gone, so I may have subconsciously edited him out the first few times I watched that one, and while I do sorta remember recognizing him during a later viewing, I had long associated Davis’ portrayal of Griphook later in the series with him playing _a_ goblin in the first, so I must have assumed Troyer was playing a different goblin.

The other goblin with glasses I legitimately forgot about. So, if Troyer had still been around for the final films, he would have been locked in Bellatrix’ basement. Would Davis then have been the one they take with them to her vault, or was that a third goblin?

All the arguments I’ve read over when Davis got a goblin minifig make more sense now. My take on it was the only minifigs from the original run were generic goblins with no names, so you couldn’t count them as any specific portrayal, while others were arguing more about who played what character in which film. I never saw Troyer’s name brought up in those arguments. The sad thing is this basically screws him out of his one chance to get a minifig. They did both versions of Dumbledore, and both versions of Flitwick. Why not at least make one minifig of Troyer’s Griphook?

I got this dude yesterday and today I got a second one. I guess I'll just have to make today's goblin stand on the yesterday's one because I don't have the desk. Or maybe Lego will send me my missing pieces and I'll have a bonus goblin for free?

@PurpleDave
Yeah, Verne plays the Goblin that takes Harry to the vault and is named Griphook in the book but not named in the movie. And Warwick plays the Goblin at the desk but is not named at all (he also plays Flitwick in the same film). Then Warwick takes over playing Griphook in the later films and mentions being the Goblin that took Harry to his vault. That confused me at the time, because I thought to myself "that wasn't you. that was Verne Troyer."

In the original Gringott's Bank set 4714 there are actually 2 Goblins, so I guess technically one is Warwick and one is Verne.

@PurpleDave said:
" @YanVanLan:
Griphook was played by Warwick Davis, who also played the goblin who takes Harry to his vault in the first movie. Dialogue in the seventh movie indicates that this is the same goblin. This is the goblin who was standing behind the front desk when Harry is first brought to Gringotts, so it makes sense within the focus of this calendar. I believe he was behind the same desk when they broke into Bellatrix’ vault, so this appears to be his regular post in the bank."

Just to clear up your confusion, it was Griphook who took Harry to his vault in the first movie.

@Gustoffr2d2:
But the goblins from 4714 were never identified by name. For play and private collections, they can be whoever you want, but they are always cataloged as generic goblins. Only Davis’ Griphook has been released as a named minifig.

But what about the goblin who leads them to Bellatrix’ vault? Is that the same goblin who was played by Davis in the first film? If not, did Davis’ original character show up again in a latter book or film?

@PurpleDave said: "So I’m building the minifig, and thinking to myself, “One more spoiler down.” I looked through what’s shown on the box vs what we’ve built so far, and it’s always a shock to realize just how much they give away when you’re still standing in the toy aisle with a sealed box."

That's why I picked the Marvel calendar, this year.

Less than half the contents are given away by the box. There's been a few really great surprises, and there's going to be a few more, before we get to the 24th. I was quite impressed by their restraint.

I remember opening a City Advent Calendar, a few years ago, and by about the 20th, there were no surprises left. Everything remaining was somewhere on the box art. So I just opened them all and was done with it. It was pretty disappointing.

My word, who knew the Gringott’s goblins would be such a contested issue? Don’t get me wrong, the discussions been very civil and I’ve found reading it enjoyable and informative, I just think its funny that the topic sparked such a lengthy discourse.

@Zordboy:
Yeah, but there’s nothing in it that really interests me. What’s the use in being surprised by a bunch of lumps of coal?

@PurpleDave said: " @Zordboy: Yeah, but there’s nothing in it that really interests me. What’s the use in being surprised by a bunch of lumps of coal?"

Well, in the calendar's defense, there's only been, like, one of those so far.

@captaincassianandor said:
" That would have made sense but its definitely meant to be Griphook. The Goblin you mention has a few marked differences from Griphook, the most notable being a pair glasses (a feature this minifigure’s missing)."
Can’t believe I missed that! Couldn’t remember the character clearly, so had to look him up. The hair is different as well. The first books and movies have been a while and the memory isn’t what it used to be either, I guess…

Loving the discussion, though! ;-)

@Gustoffr2d2 said:
" And the Goblin behind the desk when they break in is a completely different Goblin. "
@PurpleDave said:
" But what about the goblin who leads them to Bellatrix’ vault? Is that the same goblin who was played by Davis in the first film? If not, did Davis’ original character show up again in a latter book or film?"
The goblin in Deathly Hollows when they break in is called Bogrod. While he appears to be high up the ladder (he bosses other goblins around and occupies the main desk), it’s not clear if he is the one running the bank (i.e. the Head Goblin) and thus the same one as in the first movie. There are some resemblances (glasses, very light/grey hair), but this is further obscured by the fact that the goblins in the first books and films are never called by name and that they generally look quite different from the ones in the later movies.