Monday, September 11, 2023

Ornament Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 2023 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Great recreation of the sixth book cover
Cons: Their faces look a little off.
The Bottom Line:
The sixth book cover
More Harry Potter magic
Now as ornament


The Sixth Harry Potter Book Cover is Certainly Memorable

We are now up to the sixth ornament in the Harry Potter books ornament series.  That means, the ornament is based on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  And it means, fans will be green with envy if they don’t get it.

Yeah, I’m only partially sorry about that pun.  For those not familiar with the books, this cover was mostly green with a little purple thrown in as well.  That’s because it reflects the light coming from the pensieve that Harry and Professor Dumbledore are standing in front of.  And that is that you ask?  It’s a devise for holding memories so you can view them and look for patterns.  You can also use it to share those memories with others, which is what Dumbledore does in the story multiple times, giving Harry the backstory he needs to understand how to completely destroy Voldemort once and for all.

And that is the picture on the cover of the book, therefore it’s what we have on the ornament.  We can see Dumbledore and Harry looking into the pensieve.  Harry is holding a wand.  Dumbledore has his hand over the pensieve.

What makes these ornaments fun is that they covers are partially 3D.  In this case, both of the characters and the pensieve are partially coming out of the cover of the ornament.  Dumbledore’s hand is really sticking out.  While I would have liked these ornaments even if they were just the covers, I found I liked this aspect even more.

Unfortunately, both of the characters look a little odd in this ornament.  Harry looks only slightly odd, but Dumbledore really looks off.  I think it is trying to capture how the characters should look with the light shining on them.  Overall, this is a minor complaint, but I wish they looked better.

These aren’t faithful recreations of the Harry Potter book covers.  Most noticeably, J. K. Rowling’s name is missing.  But since that part of the cover is now 3D, it would make it hard to include it.  It’s a nice tribute to the cover in another medium, however.  In a fun touch, the back of the book’s cover is on the back of the ornament.

The key thing for me is that this ornament makes me smile thinking of the books.  And wishing I had time to read them again.  If only.

Being a recreation of a book, the ornament does stand on its own.  I wouldn’t want it out where it would be hit or bumped easily, however.

The ornament does tip forward ever so slightly, but it is only noticeable if you are looking for it, and by the time you get tree branches around it, you won’t really notice.

Speaking of trees, this ornament might blend in a little with a green tree.  (I haven’t put this one on my tree yet since it just came out two months ago.)  However, this isn’t the ornament’s fault.  They had to stick with the colors of the book jacket.

I mentioned at the start that this is part of a series.  Actually, it’s an unofficial series, which means that Hallmark doesn’t include their series marker on it.  But at this point, I will be very shocked if we don’t get the final book next year.

Fans of Harry Potter have been enjoying these book ornaments.  I know I have.  As such, I expect that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be another popular ornament this year.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.