It’s been more than two years now since J. K. Rowling brought her Harry
Potter series to a close, but my passion for the boy wizard and all of
his friends has not dimmed. So I was delighted when my friends Erica and
Art, who have not yet succumbed to the magic of Harry but know how
thoroughly I have, presented me with two Harry Potter postcard sets for
Christmas.
This particular set features Harry himself. It
comes in an attractive box that contains a pack of 15 postcards and a
small figurine of Harry ready to do battle. The cards are sturdy and
about six inches in length and four inches high. Each depicts a
full-color scene from one of the movies. While the sixth movie is not
represented, the first five are.
Hence, there’s Harry as an
adorable 11-year-old with his owl Hedwig on his arm; 12-year-old Harry
dueling as ridiculous teacher Gilderoy Lockhart looks on; 13-year-old
Harry soaring through the skies on Buckbeak the Hippogriff; 14-year-old
Harry contemplating the mysteries of his dragon egg; and 15-year-old
Harry gazing pensively ahead of him, burdened with too many
responsibilities. It looks to me as though there are three stills from
each of the first five movies, though some are harder to identify as
they are close-up shots rather than iconic moments in the story.
On the back of each postcard, “Harry Potter” is in the top left-hand
corner, written in the jagged font associated with the presentation of
his name in the movie titles. There are lines on the right on which to
write a person’s address, while the stamp spot has a picture of a flying
owl. Of course, since these won’t really be sent by owl post, an actual
stamp will be required, but there’s enough room that affixing the stamp
next to the faux stamp really isn’t a problem.
The Harry
figure is about two inches in height and stands on a rocky base. I would
say he’s modeled after Harry in the fifth movie; his hair is short and
neat, and he’s looking pretty grown up. He’s dressed all in black, with a
white collar and red tie barely visible. His stance is one of
readiness, and his wand is outstretched. For the tiny size of the
figure, it’s very recognizable as Harry.
Similarly, my
Dumbledore figure is about two and a half inches high, and he stands in
attack position, though he seems to have already launched an offensive,
judging by the ferocious look on his face. He’s dressed in flowing blue
robes trimmed with silver, and his white hair whips around him as though
in a breeze. He also stands on a base, but his looks like
stone-patterned tile and is less textured. Meanwhile, his postcards
follow the same basic pattern as Harry’s, though they are definitely
skewed more toward later movies, with only one featuring Richard Harris.
Everything else is Michael Gambon.
There are five other sets
in this series, and collector that I am, I’m tempted to pick up a couple
of them, particularly Hagrid, as I’ve always had a huge soft spot for
the burly half-giant gamekeeper. The rest are Hermione, Ron, Voldemort
and - rather curiously, since he’s only been in one movie so far - Dobby
the House Elf. The fact that I’ve never seen them in stores may slow my
impulses, though they’re not too hard to come by online. We’ll see. But
for now, I have 30 postcards to admire and probably send to fellow
Potter-loving friends eventually. If only I could get an owl to deliver
them for me...
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