Ornament Review: The Pensieve - 2010 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Wonderful detail will thrill Harry Potter fans

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Perfectly captures

Harry searching memories

His fans will love it

The Pensieve is a Memorable Harry Potter Ornament

If you aren't a traditionalist, you can have a lot of fun collecting ornaments that fit your various hobbies and interests.  It winds up giving you a very eclectic tree, but it also shows off your personality.  For example, on what traditional tree would you find a Harry Potter ornament?  Yet The Pensieve is perfect for Harry Potter fans.

This ornament depicts a key plot element from the series, most noticeably the sixth story, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Much of the story involved Harry and his professor/mentor Dumbledore using a pensieve to visit memories to learn how to defeat Voldemort.  The ornament shows Harry and Dumbledore standing at a table with the pensieve on it.  Harry is about to dump another memory into the swirling dish.  And you can see there is something in the pensieve since it's got a rippled plastic covering meant to represent the memories in it.  The effect is actually quite convincing.

The sculpts are wonderful, and both take their cues from the movies.  Harry is looking down, but if you tip the ornament, you'll see he looks pretty similar to Daniel Radcliffe.  However, the captured Michael Gambon as Dumbledore perfectly.  The character looks just like he does in the movie, down to the long beard that goes most of the way down his chest.  Speaking of both of the figures, Dumbledore is dressed in a grayish robe, while Harry is wearing a blue sweater and pants with a burgundy tie underneath.  I'm searching my memory to see if he actually wore anything like that in the movie (it's been too long since I've seen it I guess), but when I look at the ornament, I don't immediately think he looks wrong.  In fact, I hadn't thought about the fact that he's not wearing robes until I was writing this review.

Another detail I like is that the pensieve is actually not resting on the table.  Instead, just a corner is attached to two books on the table.  You have to look closely to notice, but when you do, it's a great detail.  That probably makes it a little more fragile, but I'm okay with that.

The two figures and the table all hit the ground at the same level, so this ornament sits perfectly flat when you set it down.  Dumbledore has a small brass hook in the front of his hat, and if you hang the ornament from that point, you'll find it hangs perfectly level as well.

The attention to detail on this ornament really is great.  I love the ripples of the memories and how great the characters look.  If you want some Harry Potter on your Christmas tree, definitely pick up The Pensieve.

Original Price: $18.95