Tag Archives: harry potter

CGE Releases a New Statement Regarding Codenames: Back to Hogwarts

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Codenames: Back to Hogwarts

In July, CGE announced Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, a new edition/skin of the popular Codenames game. There was a swift condemnation of the game and CGE’s decision citing Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling‘s use of her “Harry Potter wealth” to fund anti-transgender organizations, and she’d likely profit from the game’s licensing. The company then released a rather poor response to the controversy, only fanning the flames further.

On the eve of Gen Con, CGE has released a new statement showing some reflection and understanding as to the reaction to their release announcement.

CGE in their statement acknowledges that by supporting Harry Potter, they are indeed causing harm to the transgender community who Rowling has targeted. A reasonable solution can indeed be difficult in this situation as contracts have been signed and it’s unknown what that entails. Not releasing it would be the obvious solution, though they would face backlash from the regressive community and those who don’t look beyond their own interests. They could also donate all profits towards worthy causes that benefit the transgender community making its sale a fundraiser for the community that is maligned by the individual who would profit from it.

You can read the full statement below:

We’re grateful to everyone who engaged with us over the past few days and took the time to share their perspectives.

At CGE, our aim was never to cause harm, and we acknowledge that, with our recent Codenames announcement, we have. We are working hard within our constraints to find the best way forward and we will update you as soon as we can.

We understand that what we have done ahs caused distress, and are working towards a concrete solution with several members of the affected communities.

Please bear with us as we figure this out.

The Hunger Games’ Three Finger Salute Becomes a Symbol of Defiance in Thailand

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It’s always interesting to see what pop culture symbolism is adopted when it comes to politics. The Joker mask was recently adopted in protests in Hong Kong last year. The iconic silent three-finger gesture from The Hunger Games is being used during ongoing anti-government demonstrations in Thailand. It’s become a symbol of defiance within the nation. The protestors are demanding reform of the Thai monarchy and an end to corruption. They have entered into the ninth month of protests against the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

This isn’t the first time the gesture has been used in the nation and not the only pop culture references regularly being spotted.

The three fingers first caught on in 2014 after a military coup overthrew the Thai government. There was an attempt to ban the gesture in response which failed. In 2019 a general election was held based on a controversial military-drafted constitution.

The symbol was so popular, the opposition party, Future Forward, adopted it. That party won 80 seats in the parliament in 2019 making it the third-largest party. The party was dissolved earlier this year when one of its leaders was ruled to have illegally donated money to the cause after calling it a loan.

Protestors have also dressed up as references to Harry Potter and Japanese anime like Hamtaro and Naruto.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn has taken on comparisons to the Harry Potter villain Voldemort, “He Who Must Not Be Named”, because it is illegal to insult, defame, or threaten the king.

The three fingers has symbolism as the protestors have three demands:

  1. The Dissolution of parliament
  2. End the intimidation of the people
  3. Draft a new constitution

From Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games, the salute is a way to say goodbye, as a sign of respect and admiration, and becomes an act of defiance and solidarity against tyranny as the story progresses. It has historical significance and was used during the French Revolution to symbolize the trinity of freedom, fraternity, and equality.

The salute has also been used in the before mentioned pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last year. Those protests along with the Thai protests and, Taiwan protests have been led by youth and been dubbed the “Milk Tea Alliance.” Other popular adopted pop-culture symbolism is the Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta which has been used during Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring protests as well as being used by hacktivist group Anonymous.

Pop! Harry Potter – Patronus Wave 1 is Available Now

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Weave a spell and enter the magical world of Harry Potter with the Pop! Harry Potter – Patronus figures. Get Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, or Harry Potter‘s now from Funko!

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Gen Con 2019: Funko Reveals the Pop! Funkoverse Strategy Games

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Face off in the Ultimate Pop! Battle in Funko’s new light strategy games that combine your favorite characters and go head-to-head in exciting game scenarios in the most memorable locations of your favorite licenses!

Funkoverse DC 100 Strategy Game

In DC 100, move through 4 exciting game scenarios in memorable locations such as – Gotham City™ Streets or The Joker’s Carnival Chaos with The Joker™, Harley Quinn™, Batgirl™, and Batman™.

Funkoverse DC 101 Strategy Game

In DC 101 combine additional characters in 4 additional game scenarios in memorable locations like Arkham Asylum or Catwoman’s Penthouse with Catwoman™ and Robin™. Play as a stand-alone or mix with other DC Funkoverse games!

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Funkoverse Harry Potter 100 Strategy Game

In Harry Potter 100 move through 4 exciting game scenarios and move through locations such as Diagon Alley or Room of Requirement with Lord Voldemort™, Bellatrix Lestrange™, Hermione Granger™, and Harry Potter™.

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Funkoverse Harry Potter 101 Strategy Game

In Harry Potter 101, move through 4 exciting game scenarios in memorable locations like Forbidden Forest and the Potions Classroom with Draco Malfoy™ and Ron Weasley™. Play as a stand-alone or mix with other Harry Potter Funkoverse games!

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Funkoverse The Golden Girls 100 Strategy Game

In The Golden Girls 100, move through 4 exciting game scenarios in memorable locations like The Golden Girls’ Home or the Florida Boardwalk with Rose Nylund and Blanche Devereaux.

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Funkoverse Rick and Morty 100 Strategy Game

In Rick and Morty 100, move through 4 exciting game scenarios in memorable locations like The Smith House or Blips and Chitz with Morty Smith and Rick Sanchez.

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Funko has Advent Calendars for You to Celebrate the Holidays

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Celebrate the Wizarding World and the winter season with a 24-piece advent calendar. Spend the holidays with your favorite witches, wizards and magical creatures.

Spend the holidays with your favorite Super Heroes as a 24-piece Marvel-themed advent calendar! From Avengers to Guardians, villains to anti-heroes, this calendar is a heroic celebration of the holidays.

Do you prefer to throw yourself into the battle with guns blazing or camp out in the bushes and wait for your enemies to eliminate each other? Are you the first or last player off the Battle Bus? Whatever your battle strategy happens to be, there’s one thing 250 million players can agree on: Fortnite is awesome and this Fortnite-themed 24-piece advent calendar will bring holiday cheer to any household.

Missed last year’s Harry Potter Advent Calendar? Don’t worry, it’s also available to order!

Countdown to Christmas with a line of Harry Potter-themed pocket Pop! featuring the Wizarding World’s favorite witches, wizards, beasts, ghosts and house elves.

Super-Articulate: What Will the Wizarding World Bring?

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These things we know. We know that McFarlane Toys has the Harry Potter/Wizarding World license. We know that four figures (Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Voldemort from HP&TDH2) and one Hippogriff are up for pre-order. We know that McFarlane will likely bring their long history of A-game sculpting to the line. Here’s what we don’t know: why has no one else ever made a successful long-term go of a Harry Potter action figure line?

Early in the life of the films, Mattel picked up the license for the line. And they, well, they Matteled, didn’t they? Those early figures (shown on the shelves in the pictures) lack inspired sculpting; consider that these figures were coming out against Toy Biz’s Lord of the Rings line, among others, and you’ll see that they effort just wasn’t there. Factor in early gaffes like the famously backward-armed Dumbledore, unequal pack-outs of Fred and George, and other weirdness, and one might remember those early message boards being rife with complaints. A second group came out for the second film, but the scale was off and they kind of stiffed at retail.

NECA picked it up later with some good sculpts (like this Harry and Sirius), but they didn’t make an overly large amount. In 2007, PopCo picked up the European license and did some decent figures. Mattel even recently came back to make some “action figure dolls” of the leads, McGonagall and Dumbledore. However, the fact remains that there’s never been a truly comprehensive line at U.S. retail.

Mattel Harry Potter Figures

McFarlane has a crack at changing that. Aside from their general quality, they have wide-ranging distribution. The first four figures also have clever accessories; Harry, Hermione, and Ron each come with their patronus, and Voldemort is packed with Nagini. I also like the idea that McFarlane is starting with The Deathly Hollows Part II. For one thing, it’s the last film in the series, and the one that is the freshest in our minds, overall; for another, these versions of the cast have simply never been done before. It’s also a film that includes a huge variety of characters (the Weasleys, the Order, the Malfoys, most of the professors, Neville, Cho, Hagrid, etc.), so you could conceivably go about knocking out a big portion of the cast just from that film before reaching back into other stories and characters.

It’s important to note that the license in for the Wizarding World, so it also includes Fantastic Beasts. Buckbeak the Hippogriff looks great, so I’m already looking forward to what they do with other magical creatures. I think it would be smart for McFarlane to do an assortment of the main four humans (Newt, Tina, Queenie, and Jacob) at some point in the near future to plant a flag for the franchise, given that the third film now won’t be released until 2021.

What do you think, muggles? Are you interested in the new line? What would you like to see? Have you placed pre-orders? Talk to us. Thanks for reading.

Super-Articulate: Toy Fair 2019 Overview

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Let’s get this straight right now. There’s NO WAY we can hit everything. There’s just too much. I’m going to zoom in on our regular areas, Marvel Legends and DC Multiverse, with a couple of side trips.

Funko Pop: Holy crap, just go look at the pictures. There’s WAY too much to digest there. Rest assured that they’re on fire. Catch our full Funko coverage.

McFarlane DC and Harry Potter/Wizarding World: Nothing to show yet, per the terms of the deal, but The Todd Himself seems very excited in his various interviews and personal postings. His comments seem to indicate that their DC license can pull from comics, animation, film, and video games; I’m really excited to see what they come up with, but for now we’ll have to wait.

DC ¡Lucha Explosiva!: DC Collectibles just hit this one out of the park. The Lucha Libre-inspired line is an unexpected visual joy. Even if you’re familiar with the luchadore wrestling tradition, you might not know that there’s an extensive history of heroic masked wrestlers in Mexican film, notably El Santo, Mil Máscaras, and Blue Demon. This assortment celebrates that, and its mere appearance has delighted collectors. I expect it to be a big hit, and I expect more to follow.

DC ¡Lucha Explosiva!

DC Multiverse: Not gonna lie. This was a let-down. I’m glad to see the Red Robin and Poison Ivy figures, which look great, but I feel like Mattel are squandering their chance to go out big with this line. While it’s always been hobbled by poor distribution, they had picked up a lot in the last couple of years. The ’89 Batman and new Joker are well-done, but ultimately another Batman and Joker.

Shazam
Photographer David C Stylist Audra Bennett

Imaginext DC Super Heroes: The 80th anniversary Batman figures, including the boxed set and individual carded figures, look super-fun. Including a Detective #27 figure, the Batmobile-armor version from Alex Ross’s Justice, a Sinestro Corps Batman, the “Rainbow” Batman, a GL Bats, an Azrael Bat, and the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, these kind of hilariously wonderful. The kids will love them, but adult collectors that don’t normally pick these up might be tempted to grab some, too.

Power Rangers Lightning Collection: Police, I’d like report a murder, because Hasbro KILLED THESE. I’m not a Rangers fan, but damn, these are awesome.

Marvel Legends: Where to even begin? Last week, I wrote a piece about the top 10 figures I wanted to see. And Hasbro gave us NONE OF THEM. And yet, I am extremely impressed and excited by the massive amount of reveals at the show. The Alex Ross Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America are outstanding. The fact that we’re getting Peggy Carter, Ghost, Luis, the Grandmaster, and Korg is insane. The four revealed Retro X-Men (Madripoor Wolverine, Silver Samurai, X-Factor Cyclops, and “Outback” Dazzler) are simply great. Boom Boom is perfect, and long overdue. The problem with Marvel Legends is the best possible problem; even as they make new, great stuff (or new, continually improving stuff), you still find yourself wanting the characters that haven’t been reached yet. The funny thing is that we didn’t even get the full 2019 picture; the other two Retro figures and the rest of the X-Force assortment haven’t been seen, and neither have the Endgame film figures. For me, Hasbro’s line was the clear winner.

What did you guys think? Let’s talk.

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