Harmony Kingdom Disney: Group Hug

As promised, I will be posting more pictures of Harmony Kingdom Disney figurines which I have and I will start with Group Hug from Aladdin first. This piece was released in 2002 and was only available at Disneyana Convention 2002 as Official Disneyana Mystery (In case you are wondering, Disneyana is a term for wide variety of Disney-related merchandise). The run size is 500 and the retail price was USD 250. The box measures 9" (L) x 7.5" (W) x 6.8" (H) while the figurine itself is about 6.75" (L) x 3.75" (W) x 3.75" (H). It is considered quite a large Harmony Kingdom piece and the artist behind this masterpiece is Robert King.

I am very satisfied with this as this sort of become a replacement of the impossible to get Aladdin Capodimonte -the holy grail of all Aladdin figurines out there- not only because it shares the same title "Group Hug" but also because it features all the main cast: Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu, Jafar, Iago, Sultan, Rajah, and even Magic Carpet!

The logo is on the top side of the box

Mine is number 103 out of 500

Content of the whole "package" haha..

The certificate of authenticity

 Moving on to the figurines itself.

Back view. Nice touch not to leave out Jafar's snake staff

Disney logo

Close up of Jasmine, Aladdin, Genie, and Abu

Rajah and Sultan

Jafar and Iago (No close up of Carpet as it has no face :p)

Harmony Kingdom Disney pieces are unique because they always have secret compartments within the figurines.

Open up the top part to reveal the secret compartment

Harmony Kingdom logo under the removable part

The secret is Aladdin's magic lamp!!

Wait.. you can actually open the lamp lid to reveal the scarab beetle!!

The felt underneath is coming off and has to be secured with a tape. That the only imperfection!

Honestly I was quite unsure about this figurine the first time I saw them. Some parts seem as if the color is fading off! But after comparing with other Harmony Kingdom figurines, I think it is their art style and I quite like the old and antique feeling. That's why I don't mind getting the 6-figures-as-one auction subsequently. Heh! I am all but satisfied with this although I find Jasmine and Aladdin look "squeezed" rather than "hugged" by Genie. Haha.. In addition, I wish the sculpt for the couple would be more similar to the cartoon version :( Perfect faces for the other characters though. It was ~USD 150 well spent for me and realistically I should not compare with Capodimonte which is worth perhaps 10x more or perhaps 20x more including the shipping. Well.. someday when I own my own place, I will definitely get Capodimonte version, provided that they are not sold out yet. Haha..