Harry Potter Official Pop-Up Wizard Chess Set Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Helen O
Having grown up alongside Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, the past 25 years, I was very excited to be receive the Harry Potter TM Official Pop-Up Wizard Chess Set to review.
I’ve got to admit, I’m a relative novice when it comes to playing chess, but what better way to learn how to play than by using a chess set based on the iconic wizard chess scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone?
The Pop-Up Wizard Chess Set arrived within a couple of days and I couldn’t wait to get going. The chess set arrived in a large padded envelope and enclosed in a cellophane pouch, which had kept it in pristine condition.
There was an outer cardboard sleeve, enclosing the chess board and an instruction booklet. I loved the design of the outer sleeve depicting Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Wizard Chess scene from the movie. It looked suitably dark and scary, reflecting that scene so well. The chess board itself had the Hogwarts emblem emblazoned on it, which was simple yet effective.
When I opened up the chess board, I was really impressed with how the squares popped up in the centre of the board. Cleverly engineered by David Hawcock. Although, one thing I noted was that due to the nature of the design, the squares on the top edge, were slightly raised off of the board, which was just a little niggle.
When the board is placed between the two players, on each side of the board, there was a resealable cardboard envelope containing cardboard chess pieces (black and white set), which also pop out to fit inside the chess board squares.
The set contains a full set of standard chess pieces, but also has optional character pieces for Harry, Ron and Hermione, which can be swapped out to represent the characters as they took part in the game in the movie, so it’s possible to re-enact that scene through play. This is a really nice touch, making it unique to this set and perfect for avid Harry Potter fans.
The instruction booklet was easy to follow in setting up the pieces in the correct positions. The cardboard pieces each had a logo representing their traditional chess piece. It didn’t take long to set the board up ready to play. However, due to the use of cardboard for these pieces, some of them were quite a tight fit within the squares, making it a bit more tricky to manoeuvre them, than by using standard pieces. However, on the plus side, there was no opportunity for accidentally knocking anything over, if you’re on the clumsy side!
I really liked how the instruction booklet was set out so that it gave a full page explanation of how to move each of the pieces and their permitted steps. This was really useful for a novice like me. There were also clear explanations for the different types of moves such as Castling and En Passant. Finally, the book tests you to see how much you’ve taken in from reading it, giving some scenarios to test you. We’ll gloss over how well I did on that! But I will keep on practising.
I was really impressed with how streamlined the set was, making it not only easy to store at home, but also ideal to transport if you wanted to take it in a suitcase, for example.
The RRP of the Harry Potter Pop-up Wizard Chess Set is £24.99, which I think is reasonable value. However, often I believe that chess boards are interchangeable with draughts. This set would not give the opportunity for dual use, due to its construction.
The shipping fee looks to be approximately £9, which is quite a significant extra amount added to the initial outlay.
The set would make a lovely gift for a chess-loving Harry Potter fan; it is an ideal Christmas gift. I think it would be really well received by youngsters and adults alike.
You’ll have to be patient, as the Harry Potter Pop Up Wizard Chess set isn’t released until 22nd October 2024, but there’s still plenty of time to get your hands on this lovely set before Christmas. It’s already available for pre-order though, so you can already place your order in anticipation.
Rating: 4/5
RRP: Harry Potter Official Pop-Up Wizard Chess Set RRP £24.99
Buy here: https://insighteditions.com/collections/harry-potter/products/harry-potter-the-pop-up-wizard-chess-set
Release date: 22nd October 2024