There may already be (literally) entire shops full of Harry Potter merchandise, but it never seems to be enough to quench the desires of the franchise’s most ardent fans. You can buy everything from replicas of Dumbledore’s wand to furry Nifflers (neither of which, amazingly are euphemisms).
Should the Potterhead in your life be retro enough to still use (non-owl) post, or just fond of postcards (or should you be one of those weird adults who still enjoy books aimed at pre-teens which is in no way us whatsoever, honestly), you could do a lot worse than checking out these two books containing stills and posters from the first two films in the series (also known as the two weakest ones, but you can’t have everything).
Each set comprises 20 postcards from their respective films. While annoyingly none of them are wizard-style moving photos, those lovely people at Titan books have included four lenticular postcards in each set as a substitute. And while the most ardent, reality-detached fans may be somewhat disappointed that Harry et al aren’t properly jumping around in the pictures, the rest of us will find them perfectly adequate.
The cynical might say that a lenticular image showing a few frames of a film is redundant when you can watch the remaining 215,996 frames for free on ITV most weekends, but not us. Watch in amazement as words magically appear in Tom Riddle’s diary! See a broomstick leap into Harry’s hand! See Daniel Radcliffe switch seamlessly between his two facial expressions!
Joking aside, the sets do contain a well-selected, varied set of images from their respective films. Obviously, Harry, Hermione and the ginger one are all well represented, as are fan favourites such as Dobby and Hagrid, and the detachable postcards – all containing appropriate quotes from the novels on the rear – are presented in handsome books.
The only minor quibble in the £9 price tag. While it works out around 50p a card, which is comparable to what you generally pay for a single postcard anyway, it seems a little steep. Still, it should help J.K. Rowling purchase the few remaining acres of Scotland she doesn’t already own, and – as anyone who has visited one of the official Harry Potter shops dotted around well knows – it’s not the cheapest franchise to be a fan of.
The postcard sets are fun, if slightly pricey bits of Potter merchandise. We’d normally question whether they’d keep kids amused for long when their natural state nowadays seems to be glued to a screen, but then you could say the same thing about Harry Potter books. And they seem to be doing pretty well.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE – HARRY POTTER AND CHAMBER OF SECRETS ENCHANTED POSTCARD BOOKS (SOLD SEPARATELY / PUBLISHED: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
