Why don't Harry Potter figures succeed?
 

At one time, the Harry Potter [now Wizarding World] was probably one of a handful of the most popular franchises on Earth. I definitely think the rise of the MCU has knocked a few different properties down a few rungs, but Harry Potter had and still has a wide fanbase.

Despite that, the figure offerings I can immediately recall are the Mattel stuff for the early films, NECA figurines, SH Figuarts offerings, McFarlane, Star Ace, the current Wizarding World dolls by Spin Master, and what seems to be the holy grail in the Popco line exclusive to the UK.

Most of these lines, especially the recent ones in McFarlane and SH Figuarts, seem to peter out very early. How does an accessorized 1/12 line for such a popular franchise still not exist, and especially when the new Fantastic Beasts films continue to build off of the IP?

I'm not sure there's any particular reason, but my guess is even though there's some overlap the main audience for Potter isn't the type that is into buying action figures.

Harry Potter Lego is super popular... like more popular than Lego Marvel or DC I think. I think the majority of HP fans are actually female though... similar to Twilight when Twilight was big... so that's why they didn't make a bunch of action figures for either HP or Twilight.

Like Indiana Jones, not toyetic enough to sustain a long running toy line.

I don't like Harry Potter, it started to get popular when i was at high school. I was too grown up for it.

I am into Fantastic Beasts though... lol It is probably because of the main characters being adults. Newt Scamander is a nice character, i like him. I have Mafex Newt and Grindelward (Johnny Depp version) figures. Mafex didn't do any other characters from the films and i am not sure if i would go any deeper with Fantastic Beasts figures anyway.

Somewhat off topic, but I worked at Blockbuster when the Sorcerer's Stone was released on DVD. I remember a Mom asking me for a recommendation for her 6 and 8 year old kids. I proudly said that she is in luck the new Harry Potter film just came out! She looked at me disgusted and said my children will not watch a movie based on the devil and witchcraft. I smiled and said well unfortunately I do not think I can help with any other recommendations.

I still remember this interaction like it was yesterday!

Back on topic, perhaps the parents of the kids that wanted the original toys didn't want to support the devil?

My guess is that the toys probably don't have much articulation (apart from the Figuarts), or the character designs are rather bland

The McFarlane line is pretty underwhelming, and let's face it, doesn't have the durability for this age demographic. The Figuarts is better, but also not quite there. Not to mention, that they're absurdly expensive for the age demographic.

I bet Harry Potter lego is wildly popular, because it's relatively affordable, is suitable for the age demographic and is durable for play.

A decent 1/12 line that scales to stuff like Marvel Legends and comes with several spell effects would be great.

Becuase nobody wants a line of generic, boring looking people that is meant to be the center of attention. Like with Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, Harry Potter figures are better just being background bystanders you can use as victims, criminals, security, etc, in toy photos of super heroes and the like, which also means they aren't worth full price for.

Even before the modern day unpleasantness with the franchise, I would've been way more into toy prop replicas than actual figures of the characters. As a kid, a toy wand or Nimbus was way more appealing than a figure of Harry himself.