Hallmark has recently made two exciting additions to their Harry Potter Storytellers collection, as part of its wider Keepsakes Ornament Premiere.
The range was originally released last year and featured Harry, Hermione Grainger, Ron Weasley and a range of buildings including Hogwarts. They proved to be a success and the company have now added two more beloved characters to the range.
The Harry Potter books and subsequent films have created a huge hunger for the merchandise. Even though the wizard, played by Daniel Radcliffe, got his last outing back in 2011, the recent Fantastic Beasts spin-off films starring Eddie Redmayne have snared a new generation of fans, as well as engaging some parents who grew up reading the books.
That has led to Albus Dumbledore and the giant Hagrid being added to the range, two of the popular characters who were not pupils at Hogwarts. Hagrid, played by Robbie Coltrane, is a beloved character who often helps Harry and his friends out of tight spots. He is depicted with his trusty pink umbrella and coat of many pockets, and when connected to Hallmark’s Keepsake Power Cord, he lights up and performs a scene from the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Giants, such as Hagrid, are often found in literature based on fantasy lands. Roald Dahl’s BFG is one obvious example, whilst the popular HBO series Game of Thrones also featured giants as part of the plot. The images of strength and power are obvious, but the presence of mythical creatures such as giants help to furnish the wonderful worlds created not only by J K Rowling but also writers before her.
Albus Dumbledore is another famous character to be given his own ornament, which is modeled on Richard Harris, who portrayed the character in the Sorcerer’s Stone. The Dumbledore character is one that threads the new films to the old and helps to build up the concept of the wider wizarding universe outside of the Hogwarts setting. The books and films rely heavily on witches and wizards, adding veracity and color to the world J K Rowling bases her stories in.
Indeed, wizards are often used to portray magical worlds, and they have a heavy influence in games and media. Lord of the Rings featured Gandalf, a character often likened to Dumbledore, and both have appeared in console game versions of the films. Away from those games, the wizard imagery has also been used to good effect in games such as Skyrim on the PlayStation, a role-playing game which relies on magic as one of its fundamental concepts. White Wizard on Foxy Bingo is also very much inspired by the popular character of Dumbledore, played by Michael Gambon in the later films, whilst innumerable other games use the wizard to bring a splash of magic to the gameplay. Indeed, Gandalf and Dumbledore could quite easily have appeared in the College of Winterhold in Bethesda’s Skyrim. That makes the Dumbledore ornament particularly appealing, as even the long white beard has Christmas connotations, which fit nicely with the functionality when connected to the Keepsake Power Cord.
Whilst ornaments are wonderful to have on their own, the two new additions help build into a decoration that will delight fans of the series, both old and new. They are set to retail at $30 each, and will not be available until later in the year.
