Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Ornament version of one of my favorite parts of the
Harry Potter series
Cons: The wings
The Bottom Line:
Harry Potter sports
Now hovering on your tree
Not perfect but fun
Can You Catch the Golden Snitch to Put on Your Christmas Tree?
One of the reasons I think the Harry Potter franchise has
caught on is because of the many whimsical and just plan fun elements that
author J. K. Rowling put in the universe.
Of those, my favorite is Quidditch, the sport wizards play. It reminds me of a cross between basketball
and soccer in three dimensions. The Golden Snitch is the ball that ends the game and Harry spends his time playing
the game seeking it. And it's also now a
limited edition ornament from Hallmark.
The Golden Snitch is a small golden ball with feathery
wings. When released, it flies around on
it's own.
And the ornament is really that simple. (Well, almost, but we'll get to that in a few
minutes.) The main part of the ornament
is a round gold ball. There is a pattern
on the ball that is raised from the ball, giving it some texture. The paint around the raised part is slightly
darker, giving the color some variety and helping the pattern stand out even
more. The ball itself looks very nice
even if it is larger than the "real" life size of a walnut.
It's the wings I have the biggest problem with. They're made out of plastic and sort of looks
like wings. If you look too closely at
them, however, they start to look like a grill.
They are gray, and each slat is pretty much straight. They also seem a bit too big to me. They stick out a good two or three inches
from the ball, making this ornament much larger than it needs to be.
My other problem with the wings is the space between them or
lack there of. In the pictures for this
ornament, the wings go straight back from the ball. My ornament, however, has them bent together
with their tips touching. When I took
this ornament out of the box, I found it really wrapped in tissue paper. Part of me wonders if that means they got
smushed that way and I could pry them apart a little. However, since they are just plastic attached
to the ball, I don't want to try for fear of snapping them off.
As much as I enjoy the Harry Potter universe, I haven't read
the books or seen the movies enough to have all the details down. When I bought it, I noticed an inscription on
it: "I open at the close." Imagine
my surprise when that popped up in the final Harry Potter movie later that day.
That prompted me to do a little research
and remember that this isn't just any ordinary snitch but was the first Golden
Snitch that Harry over caught. It plays
an important part in the final part of the saga. That actually makes it more special to me.
Even though this is a ball, it actually stays in place when
you set it down. Why is that? The wings stabilize things. It would actually look fairly good if you set
it out year round to be enjoyed.
It looks even better while hanging, however. The little brass ring is located on the top
of the golden ball. While it hangs
level, any little movement really makes it look like it is alive and hovering
before it takes off again.
This ornament was a limited edition release as part of
Hallmark's ornament premier in July of 2011.
It came out the same weekend the final movie opened in theaters. I don't know if that had anything to do with
its popularity or not, but it was gone almost immediately. I barely got one, and most places seemed to
be sold out by the end of the day of release, making this as hard to find one
for Harry Potter fans as the real one is to capture in a game for Harry. And that's why I don't know more about how
far apart the wings are supposed to be on this ornament. I feel lucky to have one at all. It was impossible to look at more than one to
compare them.
Original Price: $12.95
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