Talking about the hogwarts puzzle, it looks like they are releasing another one:
I'm thinking about modifying the roofs of one of the cars and remove some of the plastic to allow the window to show some figures through it. I wonder if I can cheaply order a replacement roof so I won't ruin the set...
So I just found these at walmart, diecast metal and 97 cents each! Online its 5 bucks each so i think its in store only. It might be a little big - maybe 1.75 inches in height? I'll try them at home to see. Will update soon. I hope it works cuz they have a bunch of different characters.. and they very affordable.
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Not sure if anyone follows this anymore, but the diecast metal figures turned out to be a tad too big. Its almost 2x taller than the pop pen figures, which seem to fit the hogwarts express train perfectly (see pics from before). The puzzle castle, scale wise, was already smaller than the train so the figures didn't quite work. They would work on traindame's huge castle though.
Speaking of puzzle castle, looks like its on sale again on amazon for 27 bucks.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The figures were only a buck so I'll probably keep them.
Yes, I'm following. Thank you for the tip on the puzzle sale! It is tempting, I wonder how it would do in a hot attic when the special layout season is over. I'm thinking of it for my 'temporary ' layout that changes with the seasons. Shows how busy we have been, the Christmas building s and snow are still there!!! The point is, Hogwarts could become one of the seasons, fall probably. Maybe I can find a place to store it in the garage. Probably better than the attic!!
It's Christmas in July! The Puzzle is this plastic foam material with paper graphics stuck to it. My guess is the heat would be fine, just as long as it doesn't get too humid or wet. For 27 bucks, I'd try it. The other part of the castle isn't on a good sale yet, but probably by the time you finish that half, it'll go on sale again.
Also, my christmas town is also still up too - I moved it to a corner. It seemed like a shame to disassemble it. 
Ha, seems like we are thinking alike; on this at least!
Well I ordered the puzzle castle last evening. My wife loves to build flat jig saw puzzles, so we will see what she thinks of this one. It will be cool running the Hogwarts train around the castle if that is all I do with it. Once my wife and daughters see it, I can come in and who knows what additions I will find!
Great! Good luck! I'll keep my eyes out for a sale on the other half and let you know
Ballz2 posted:So I just found these at walmart, diecast metal and 97 cents each! Online its 5 bucks each so i think its in store only. It might be a little big - maybe 1.75 inches in height? I'll try them at home to see. Will update soon. I hope it works cuz they have a bunch of different characters.. and they very affordable.
I picked up a batch of these. I measured Arthur Weasley and he's about 38mm sole-to-eye. That puts him at almost exactly 1/43 scale.
For the overall height in inches, he's 41mm which is just a smidge over 1 and 5/8 inches
As you point out, they'd probably not work with some of the buildings that have been mentioned but it seems like they'd work pretty well in the foreground of alot of O layouts. At a buck each I got every charachter I could find and I think I'm going to collect all of these if only for the possibility of doing some gaming with them someday.
Awesome. Over here, I went to three Walmarts and I couldn't find Snape and Hagrid. Also, I couldn't fit them inside the train, like I could with the funko pen tops, but you are right, I could probably position them in the foreground.
Happy hunting.
Were they in the toy department? I couldn't find them last weekend locally.
At my local WalMart they were in toys, on an end cap. They were mixed in with some super hero die cast.
I think I saw Snape and Haggrad in one of the 5 packs.
Gene Anstine
Yep, the toy section. In two of them, it was hanging near an endcap in a Nano box enclosure, mixed in with Marvel and other figures under the nano brand. In the super walmart I went to, there was a big box that they were in.
So Nano is the brand name? I'm totally out of it on action figures. We just have adult daughters who never were interested in action figures. No grandchildren yet either.
Nano metalfigs is the brand? Its this one:
Cool! I'm going to take a spin down to the WalMart right now at lunch time. Thank you!
oh, I got an email from the Big River that my puzzle should be delivered tomorrow
Ballz2 posted:Nano metalfigs is the brand? Its this one:
Yep "Nano Metalfigs" (from Jada) is the figure line but don't buy there. It's not actualy Walmart, it's a separate reseller "Toywiz". If you're willing to wait, there's no reason to pay much more than a buck each.
Currently the line is only at 2 of the 7 local WalMarts around me. I was able to find about 2/3 of the total of 25 HP figures and 3 Fantastic Beasts figures that have been listed so far. It appears that the line is exclusive to Walmart first but should be hitting wider distribution very soon. Here's what's coming very soon from Entertaiment Earth:
http://www.entertainmentearth....etalfigs&eeshop=
Looks like there's a Hogwarts interior playset coming too...
There are still some figs not in the multi-packs, so I'll have to be patient and get the whole line at regular retail.
I'll have a review of the figs and more pics up soon on my wargaming club's blog. I'll let you all know when it goes up.
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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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...
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:
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...
Those figures are listed as 1/32. If that's true they're going to be considerably larger than the aprox 1/43 Nano Metalfigs. Not nearly worth it in my eyes, but fans of a given IP will buy anything.
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.
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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
Alan,
"on the back wall behind electronics and DVDs" I will have to go back to Target and take a look. I never thought to ask if they were somewhere else other than the toy section. Thank you for the tip!! I got 3 or 4 of the single pack folks at WalMart, but haven't been back for a while. I hate the crowds at the nearest WalMart.
Oops. Yes, I also found them also in the DVD/book section. I didn't think to mention it! Happy hunting!
That's quite alright! I'm an 'old guy' who doesn't spend much time in either section! LOL The toy section sure looks different from when our grown daughters were young! As for DVD section; I guess the equivalent was the record section when an album cost about $10 for 10 songs back before double digit inflation of the late '70s early '80s. LOL thank you for broadening my horizons!!
There are a couple of new 3D puzzles out that may be of interest for this series. The
THE BURROW - WEASLEY FAMILY HOME
and knight bus
Alan,
Could you let me know the UPC code on the 20 fig box? Thanks for the heads up about the location. I was at the toy section of Target yesterday and they had no idea what I was talking about. I'll check the DVD section next time I'm there.
Christmas is coming and it's finally time to break out this entire harry potter train set/village! Well, at least be able to without anybody raising eyebrows
Here ya go
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Thank you BALLZ2! I saved the photographs to see if I can find the 20 pack too!
We visited Target Friday, and I found the 20-pack right where you said they would be. Now I see how they have similar items in that location. My wife was impressed with the quality for the price.
Ballz2 posted:Here ya go
Thanks!
Just pasted 801310844144 into UPC serach for Target here:
https://brickseek.com/target-inventory-checker/
...and it shows what stores nearby have it. In my case it appears to be available nearby at two locations in stock.
Much appreciated!
Thanks, Ballz2, for providing Mark and Eilif with the UPC code. My wife and I are, and have been for the past week, about 200 miles away from my Hogwarts stuff to be with my wife's sister in the hospital.
I had previously seen the Burrow-Weasley home puzzle mentioned by KJ356 on-line, but I can't tell how it would scale out with the Diagon Alley puzzle we already have. I would probably have room on the train table for both if the Burrow was the about same scale as Diagon Alley, but I think that would be a pretty small puzzle. My wife hasn't had time to put Diagon Alley together yet, but the dimensions stated would seem to indicate that the Burrow is pretty big in relation to D Alley.
Maybe someone will put them both together and post a pic. If my wife builds D Alley and then wants to build the Burrow, I'll be back.
On second thought, when has accurate scale ever been the hallmark of our beloved TOY trains?
Cheers!
Alan
I just mentioned to my wife yesterday, we need to start building the Great Hall for Harry and company to stand around. She loves jigsaw puzzles, but we never built a 3 dimensional one before.
Alan, you do have the hogwarts castle right? If so, How does that measure up with diagonal alley? I just know that the two set hogwarts castle is a must have for the hogwarts express! I’m wondering if I should pick up diagon alley..
Mark, it’s not too different than a regular puzzle - it’s just several smaller puzzles that you put together. Pretty fun if you ask me.
No, Ballz2, I do not have the Hogwarts Castle puzzles. What I know about them is limited to the posts I've seen on this topic and from looking at them on online shopping sites. I may be wrong, but my impression is that they make up into fairly large footprint structures, but the actual "scale" is rather small.
That said, I am sure they are adaptable to a layout, but, again, the area I have now and anticipate having later to dedicate to HP is limited, and I think Diagon Alley is the best fit with the most "play value" on my pike along with the Burrow if it is not too large.
From what I saw on the earlier posts, I am sure someone can set us both straight here.
My wife and I (mostly my wife) have also put together a 3D puzzle, ironically a Bavarian Castle that came out years ago. These Webbit Puzzles might be a little different because of the "extra" pieces Referred to in the instructions, but I am sure the process is about the same.
If D Alley goes together well, I likely will glue it to foam core or cardstock to make it more "permanent." The Bavarian Castle was displayed on a shelf at home for awhile then pulled apart and put back in the box.
Come to think of it, maybe I should try to find that old puzzle and take another look at it.
Cheers!
Alan
Just scored the 20 pack. It was at Target by the DVD's just as others have found. Various other Metalfigs also.
Very interested by the uncoming wave 2 singles preview on the back even if there's only a couple figures that aren't already available. I'll snap a pic and put it up this week if no one beats me too it.
As I haven't seen an of the Wave 2 singles in stores yet, I think I've finally managed to acquire all the currently available figures!
EILIF, congratulations!! I know, I never would have thought they would have put that group of items there. Maybe it makes total sense to people who normally buy those items, but it didn't make sense to this 61-year old train guy! LOL
Mark B-
I get the impression that has to do with role playing games and things like that. Back in the day it was Dungeons & Dragons. Military figures reenacting battles, etc. Think it's more of a literature type item in this case than a toy. Not something a young child would really play with. If it was it would be plastic. I could be totally off the mark but that's my opinion.
I think that is a good point Train Nut! Both our sons-in-law like figurines of video game characters, super heroes, etc. The only things I remember like that were the green plastic army men we positioned in the dirt along with plain metal vehicles.
Yep. The entire green army in a plastic bag for a buck or two! 😁
Thanks Mark!
As for the location at Taget I'm not sure why. Walmart puts their Nano Metalfigs of all types right in the middle of the action figures area and they seem to be selling very well. Target does have a smaller toy section than Walmart so maybe it's just thier way of testing the waters while saving toy shelf space for toys they know sell well? At Target's around here the DVD/collectible section is just across the main aisle from the toy area.
Regarding kids today, they certainly like their big action figures and don't play with plain green army men as much, but there's alot of smaller scale toys that sell well also. My son has lots of hot-wheels and a fair number of star wars micro machines. Of course he likes toy army men too but that's probably my doing.
Slightly off-topic, but for those who like fantasy or sci-fi and army men there is considerable hope. They are certainly not as popular as 40 years ago, but much like when I was a kid in the 80's, they are around and there are actually a number of options these days that we didn't have (or were very hard to find). Currently there are buckets of army men for around $10 in Fantasy, Mythological creatures, pirates, Sci-fi style army men, aliens, zombies and others. I picked up a Piates vs skelletons exa at the resale shop yesterday.
I recently reviewed an army man bucket that has a distinctly Starship Troopers (movie version) or ALIEN look. The review is aimed at wargamers and mostly focuses on the terrain pieces, but you folks might find it interesting.
They're shorter (40mm to the eye) than some other toy soldiers and so might look good alongside O-scale stuff if your layout is in need of defense against an alien invasion.
If anyone was looking at the hungarian horntail dragon to add to the castle, its currently on sale for about 18 bucks at barnes and noble with code SHOPALLDAY for cyber monday.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com...52?ean=0849241003391
I had to buy another item worth 4-5 bucks to get free shipping.. otherwise shipping was 4 bucks.
Here’s the horntail. It’s pretty light so the puzzle castle can hold it no problem and scale wise it totally fits. It’s also comes with a little hill scene with a golden egg that.. without the castle can sort of fit the train in a different area.
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So no sooner that I buy the horntail dragon for ~18 bucks (down from 30, which I thought was a good deal) that it goes on sale at gamestop.. for $6.50!!!! They have another dragon, the basilisk, and such on sale for the same price as well. Very Good opportunity to get it. I'll return the barnes and noble one and keep this one
Finally got my review of the 20 pack posted. Full review here:
https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...k-and-next-releases/
Great deal and very convenient. I'm most pleased about these 4 figures, which are of Ginny, Neville, Moody and Hagrid that are currently not available outside this set.
The back of the box also even has some pictures that clearly deliniate which figures are availble singly now and which will be part of wave 2.
Just a quick update if folks are still interested. It appears that wave 2 single packs have made their appearance at Walmart. From wave 2 I found the new Snape figure , Draco Malfoy (in regular school robes) which leaves the blue/green Robed Dumbleore year 3 as possibly the only figure I'm missing.
Also of note, the third and final figure of the three listed on the back of the "Fantastic Beasts" metalfigs "Jacob Kowalski" (portly gentleman with a briefcase) is finally available and I purchased one of those also. Though not in the same era as the other HP figures, I think the 3 Fantastic Beasts charachters (Newt, Tina and Jacob) are nice figs to fill out any HP scene.
Thanks Eilif, I’ll keep an eye out. I also stumbled upon this pop up map book of Hogwarts that will be coming out this October. Might help with your gaming but the scale is probably too small for the trains. It’s rumored to be the same size as the game of thrones pop up book which is pretty big and cool though.
http://www.bestpopupbooks.com/...-potter-pop-up-book/
msrp is 70 however Barnes and nobles usually has a 30% -40% off making it 40ish.
Hello Friends,
I went to my local Target store yesterday, where I had previously found the HP and other Nano Metalfigs behind the DVDs in electronics. Unfortunately, the store is remodeling and relocating its displays, and no Nanos were to be found anywhere near the DVDs. I also checked in toys in case they were moved over there, but that was not the case either.
I found a manager who knew what I was talking about, and he seemed surprised that they were not still in the DVD section. He checked his computer and found that Nano Metalfigs were now shown as "close-out," which in Target speak means: "We are no longer carrying these."
So I don't know whether the new figures ever made it into any Target store. Nuts!
I guess I will need to drive across town to one of our local Wal-Mart stores to see if they still have any of the newer figures there.
Cheers!
Alan
The target next to me still has them.. and on sale as well. They didn’t have the wave 2 set though...
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Happy to help folks.
The pop-up book looks cool, but the price is a bit much for me. I like to stick relatively close to scale so if I do end up gaming HP it will all be with stuff between 1/56 the standard 28mm wargaming scale and 1/43 the actual scale of the HP figures and the size of many die-cast cars. Luckily I've got alot of terrain in that size. I was thinking about it recently and I bet my collection of Dickensian Christmas houses that have been rehabbed into old fantasy buildings might work especially well. If any of you folks want a fast and affordable option for european-looking buildings for your HP layouts, you might find the blog posts I did about them useful.
First batch and some how-to. https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...t-and-cheap-fantasy/
Second batch and a bit more how-to. https://www.chicagoskirmishwar...ieval-village-grows/
Maybe a smidge on the small side, but close enough and I did a second batch so I've got a whole town of these. I went with a rather dark and dreary look, but with a lighter color varnish and brighter shades of flock, you could probably do a similar project that looked rural and quaint but not so dirty.
As for finding wave 2 in stores...
If you want the 2nd wave now I think you have to head to WalMart. I've not seen anything official, but there appears to be a deal whereby WalMart gets these lines a couple months before anyone else. It was the case for the first wave of HP products, the Gryffindor tower playset and though I didn't pay too much attention, seems to be the same for the other nano metal figs lines as well.
You never can tell about Target stocking stuff. Alot of times it seems like they "stop" carrying a line and even clearance it, only to pick it up again when a new release comes out or the next retail season comes around. I figure it's even odds whether they continue carrying the line when second wave becomes more widely available or drop it entirely.
A few days ago Walmart didn't have any Harry Potter figures but Target had the 5 figure packs on clearance at 50% discount.
Eilif, The Dickens Village buildings convey the mood and style that the Potter story/movies tries to portray. We have a lot of Dickens Village buildings for our Christmas layout that would fit the bill. I bought the big package of figures that was available last year after I bought a few singles. I got it at Target. I have the Great Hall puzzle and a base ready for it, but we never got to building it.
Casco, good to know Target has them at 50%. I'm not looking for more, but I'm sure other folks are! 
Mark Boyce posted:Eilif, The Dickens Village buildings convey the mood and style that the Potter story/movies tries to portray. We have a lot of Dickens Village buildings for our Christmas layout that would fit the bill.
You know, I never even thought about that. Which, of course, now threatens to broaden my interests into yet another Department 56 village series. 
Looks like amazon reduced the price to $45 and posted actual pictures of the book folded out. Could probably cover the ground with "snow" but given its from a book and that it's paper it probably won't work out... the scale will probably be too small. My wife is buying it from me though - prime day deal brought it down to 40. Guess I'll find out.
Not completely out of reach for some of us - I mean we spent about that much on the train and its very very impressive so I'll put this here.
https://www.cnet.com/news/lego...le-is-truly-magical/
Department 56 has a new line of Harry Potter buildings that will be delivered in November.
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Oh my! Thank you for the tip Action Jaxon!! Mrs. B. will like it, but not the price. I think it is a great idea for Dept 56 to offer it, and the MSRP is appropriate. I do not think we have bought any Dept 56 buildings new, so we won't be buying, but I will keep an eye out for lower pricing!!!
Holy moly! Nice find! The scale for Hogwarts Castle will probably be way too small but the other stuff will totally work! If we are lucky, this stuff will be seasonal and we can pounce on them at Lowes, sears, or something for 60-70% off.
Ballz2 posted:Holy moly! Nice find! The scale for Hogwarts Castle will probably be way too small but the other stuff will totally work! If we are lucky, this stuff will be seasonal and we can pounce on them at Lowes, sears, or something for 60-70% off.
Uh, no. That’s not the way Department 56 works. You won’t find this at those places.
Happens every year (around january) for the seasonal stuff at regular dept stores. Last year I got lucky and got the Peanuts elementary school at 80% off. A year prior to that, the Charlie Brown house.
Here’s some proof:
Large retailers only have access to certain licensed products intended for mass-market sales. The Peanuts line is one example.
The high-end items are made in very small quantities and are sold only by authorized dealers, who, as I understand, are restricted from heavily discounting them on clearances until the item is retired.
You won’t be finding the Hogwarts buildings on clearance this year.
Now, I did get lucky with a seasonal shop in a mall that clearances all of its products so it can close up by Dec. 31. I bought the spendy St. Paul Basilica building for half price more than a decade ago. The shop may have flown under Department 56’s radar because of its seasonal nature. Not sure if Department 56 ever caught on. I noticed the shop only stocks licensed items now.
Department 56 is owned by Enesco, the makers of Precious Moments statues, which also tries to protect its price structure on behalf of dealers.
