The US Postal Service is celebrating Harry Potter with a collection of Forever stamps to be released on November 19th. They have updated their website with more details (seen below.) As of right now there are no photos of the stamps, but as soon as there are we will be sure to share them!
Distribution: Item 471100, Harry Potter, $9.20 (Forever® priced at 46 cents) First-Class Mail PSA Booklet of 20 Stamps
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark
Customers have 90 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™, at The Postal Store® website at http://usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
Harry Potter Stamp
Postmaster
PO Box 620045
Orlando, FL 32862-0045
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by February 19, 2014.
How to Order First-Day Covers
The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog, online at http://usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:
U.S. Postal Service
Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014
It’s never too early to start preparing for the holidays and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London has got you all set for the Potter fans in your life! This morning we have been sent a press release from Warner Bros about your ability to purchase personalized scroll tickets for the holidays.
MAKE THIS CHRISTMAS MAGICAL WITH A PERSONALISED SCROLL TICKET AND WAND
The ultimate gift for fans of the Harry Potter film series
This festive season, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is offering the ultimate Christmas present for Harry Potter fans.
Available from October, this unique gift includes one of five character wands and a personalised scroll granting the lucky recipient entry to the Studio Tour, where they can step on to authentic sets, discover the magic behind spellbinding special effects and explore the behind-the-scenes secrets of the Harry Potter film series.
The Christmas gift includes a choice of the wand of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore or Lord Voldemort. The collectable film prop replicas are based on those used by the cast in the most successful film series of all time and are delivered in an exclusive Studio Tour presentation box.
Prices are set at £60 per adult and £52.50 per child (including delivery). An option to upgrade to the complete ticket package will also be available for an additional £10 per person. This includes a Studio Tour Souvenir Guidebook and a multi-lingual Digital Guide (narrated in English by Tom Felton who portrayed Slytherin student Draco Malfoy). The Digital Guide is available in eight languages and reveals even more closely-guarded behind-the-scene secrets. To purchase the ultimate Christmas gift for Harry Potter fans, please visit www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/wand or call 08450 840 900.
Australian company Black Milk Clothing has created a Harry Potter collection in collaboration with Warner Bros. The collection includes leggings, swimsuits and dresses all with Harry Potter images and themes. The collectionis made up of 30 pieces ranging from $60 AUD to $100 AUD and is now available on Black Milk Clothing’s website!
Warner Bros. Consumer Products Australia and New Zealand and Black Milk Clothing are creating fashion magic for female Harry Potter fans around the world with the online launch of a collection inspired by the films, releasing today.
Featuring the Australian fashion powerhouse?s signature body-hugging leggings, swimsuits and dresses, the collection showcases iconic moments from the Harry Potter films, including Maurauder?s Map leggings, a Deathly Hallows swimsuit, Wanted Bellatrix dress and Gryffindor House Shooter Tops, to name a few.
The inspiration for the range comes straight from the Black Milk Clothing social media community, one of the largest across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for a fashion brand in Australia.
Black Milk Clothing marketing manager, Cameron Parker, said he?s never seen such a reaction in anticipation for a collection.
“The Harry Potter collection is one of our most exciting yet. All of our releases always resonate with a particular group of people, and Harry Potter is such a fan-favourite that crosses generations,” Mr Parker said.
“The coolest thing about the Harry Potter collection is that the garments are designed with fashion and wearability in mind, yet they?re a bit subtle – almost like a secret handshake between fans.”
Echoing Parker?s sentiments is Warner Bros. Consumer Products Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, Preston Kevin Lewis, who agrees the range will delight Harry Potter fans and fashionistas alike.
“Black Milk Clothing has firmly cemented itself as a leader in Australian fashion design with its very unique style so we?re thrilled to continue our ongoing partnership, this time showcasing one of the most beloved brands in the Warner Bros. family,” Mr Lewis said.
“The Harry Potter range is a strong example of the power of this iconic film series – and if the fan excitement in the lead up to this launch is anything to go by, this collection is set to be one of the strongest yet.”
Reelz Channel emailed us to let us know about a fun new TV series that will be premiering on August 28th! It is called FanAddicts! and is hosted by TV’s Adam West, it’s about some of the most passionate movie memorabilia collectors around.
One episode features the Guinness World Record holder for Harry Potter memorabilia, Steve. In the episode you get to view his amazing collection from trading cards to autographed posters to costume pieces, including some extremely rare toys that are going to blow your mind. That episode is the premiere episode at 10pm on August 28th.
Fans of this site will recall that I have quite a collection of my own, which can be seen in the gallery here and here (my most recent pieces and some “confidential” items are not shown. You can also see the pieces in the Harry Potter Collectors Handbook.
Steve” spent 14 years filling his life and his parents basement with Harry Potter collectibles to escape a troubled adolescence. He even donned a Hogwart’s uniform and an English accent in an attempt to “be” Harry Potter. He now holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Harry Potter movie memorabilia. But can he say goodbye to some of his most prized possessions to raise the money he needs to move to Los Angeles and achieve his dreams?
Scholastic has revealed today that it will be releasing 15th Anniversary Editions of all seven Harry Potter books. The books all have new cover art by artist Kazu Kibuishi who said that this experience was “more than a little surreal.” According to the release, each of the seven new covers will depict a distinctive and memorable moment from the respective book. The collection, which will also be released in September as a boxed set, will offer new readers just reaching the age to begin the series a glimpse of J.K. Rowling’s magical world and the epic story they are about to enter. Today they have released the cover for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which may be seen in the gallery!
They have also announced that in November they will be releasing a Hogwarts Library book set which includes Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. As always, sales of the Hogwarts Library will support two charities selected by the author, J.K. Rowling: Lumos, a charity founded by J.K. Rowling which works to end the institutionalization of children, and Comic Relief, a UK-based charity that strives to create a just world free from poverty.
Kazu also stated:
“The Harry Potter covers by Mary GrandPré are so fantastic and iconic,” said Kibuishi. “When I was asked to submit samples, I initially hesitated because I didn’t want to see them reinterpreted! However, I felt that if I were to handle the project, I could bring something to it that many other designers and illustrators probably couldn’t, and that was that I was also a writer of my own series of middle grade fiction. As an author myself, I tried to answer the question, ‘If I were the author of the books – and they were like my own children – how would I want them to be seen years from now?’ When illustrating the covers, I tried to think of classic perennial paperback editions of famous novels and how those illustrations tend to feel. In a way, the project became a tribute to both Harry Potter and the literary classics.”
Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade Publishing, said: “The brilliant artist Kazu Kibuishi offers his unique vision of the world of Harry Potter, making each cover an incredible adventure that will transport new readers just discovering Harry Potter for the first time directly into the rich world of J.K. Rowling’s imagination.”
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the USA, like me! Today we have a wonderful review of the newly released Wonderbook: Book of Spellsfor Playstation 3 by our very own Patrick. The game was released last week in the UK and the US. Fans in the US may order the game at Target and fans in the UK can purchase it at Amazon.
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It should be said that I am not very good at console games and from what I saw at that the Wonderbook: Book of Spells launch party, the kids there took to it like kelpies to water, so I knew it was going to be a bit of challenge, but a challenge I was more than up for!
The technology behind the game blew my mind even before I started the game, the fact that a book blue in reality could be transformed into a spell book, that was visible onscreen and with myself in the frame was so cool. The wireless control, that onscreen was a wand, fitted perfectly into my hand, and once I had the hang of was easy to use!
The game is truly wonderful in the fact that it is clear to see the involvement that JK Rowling had in the creation. Not only are her spell’s used, but quite of few of them featured stories and fables like those seen in Tale of Beedle the Bard that tell the tales of the spell’s creation. Through a clever use of graphics and a small puppet theatre that pops straight from the pages of the book, the stories unfold require a few helpful swishes of the gamers wand to select missing words, and to cause special effects to happen on stage!
The layout of the game is very simple and perhaps a tad repetitive. A spell is introduced by the Hogwarts Professor who acts as the guide; some words on its uses, occasionally a pop up story. Then the incantation is learnt, where the gamer must speak it loudly and clearly enough for the PlayStation Move camera to pick up the sound. Next the wand gesture is shown; first the gamer follows a guide line, but then must repeat it from memory. Most often the next page will feature a situation in which the spell must be used practically; like using ‘Lumos’ to find lost items in a dark and dirty library, or summoning scattered cheese pieces with ‘Accio’ or for the grand finale fending off Dementors with ‘Expecto Patronum’. It was these parts that impressed me.
Unfolding from pages of the book, the gamer is transported to a practise space, be that a classroom, the greenhouses, a library. All the while a section of the screen remains with the Move camera’s view of yourself, so as to allow you to see yourself performing the magic in real time! Once a task is completed house points are awarded, and a video of your spell casting is visible. However I did find myself wishing for more varied situations, Niflers and Gnomes in the greenhouse can be a little tiresome after a while.
It must be said that this game is designed for a mush young age-group than myself, which I am very happy about as it’s given a new generation of fans to experience the magic of JK Rowling’s world in the closest way possible. But I also believe this could be the cause of some of my frustrations with the game. In the heat of the moment in a chapter test when trying to perform a spell as quick as possible, the game would not read my fast movements, or activate my spells, saying the gestures were incorrect. I think it just proves that younger ones have more patience and take a little more time, whereas I, believing myself to be quite the skilled wizard, would try to react as I would if the situation was real. A small annoyance, but one occurred more than once, to my dismay.
Overall the Wonderbook: Book of Spells, is a great game. It’s enjoyable on many levels; the chance to learn the spells we have only ever read or seen on screen, the carrying on of our time at Hogwarts, and to allow a new generation to fall in love too. It was the little things that I liked the most, such as my saved game appearing on the menu screen like a moving Chocolate Frog card, and the interactions with the book; blowing off dust and wiping away leaves or the way one can link the game to their Pottermore account. From this game alone it’s easy to see how the PlayStation Move system could continue to develop more games like this for the Harry Potter universe, (cross fingers a duelling one for adults) but for the time being Book of Spells is the closest we can be to attending Hogwarts, and for reason alone, it’s pretty great.
Huge thanks to Charlie Vance for giving us the chance to review the game, and his patience with my way too busy life!
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