иконописПравославни икони

I continue to revist some of my older projects.  This time, my Bellatrix skull necklace gets a redo.  I’d always wanted to do it in metal, and I’d purchased a couple of metal bird skull necklaces (where they cast a real bird skull) but they didn’t look right.   The WBshop even offered one for a short time, but it looked NOTHING like the necklace.  When a friend mailed me a higher-res photo of Bellatrix, I knew I had to revisit my sculpt.

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally finished re-making McGonagall’s pebble brooch.  Read more here.

After months of delays, finally my Harry Potter Artefact box arrived.  I’d been looking forward to it, and tore open the usual white Noble Collection box with zeal.  The box itself didn’t disappoint.  At 11” x 8 ¼” x  1 ¾”, the its made of sturdy cardboard covered in coated paper.  Normally, I’m very put off by things that show the actors, but the design of this box is fantastic (I really, really, really want the owl post and feather duty stamps).   The inside of the box is printed with the Marauder’s map imagery.  The graphics and color scheme are crisp and bold.  It’s very evocative of the world of Harry Potter.  The box is by far my favorite part of the whole collection.  

After pulling the little yellow ribbon that held the box closed, I realized I should have just stopped there.  The inside of the box is spartan.  I caught myself thinking “is that all there is?”  The Dumbledore’s Army list and wanted poster were tied up with brown ribbon, the rest of the items were stacked underneath.

The lenticular photo was the first thing to catch my eye.   It’s very nicely done, weighty with a nice marbled texture printed on the back.  Although there is a copyright on the front of the photo, the lenticular process obscures it.  It’s definitely ready to be framed, but with the marbled back, it would also look great on its own.

I then went for the Hogwarts Acceptance Letter.  That’s when the trouble began.  The envelope and letter are both printed on a nice weighty paper with a marbled texture, and is lighter in color than the letter included with the Harry Potter Film Wizardry book.  I noticed a WBE copyright on the back of the envelope, but it wasn’t terribly obnoxious, and it is on the back.  However, upon opening the letter, I realized that McGonagall must be a stickler for rules as she made sure to trademark Harry, Dumbledore, and her own name in the letter.  The Film Wizardry letter has no such trademarks.

Worried, I moved on to the Dumbledore’s Army signature list.   The paper feels like generic laser printer paper, and I almost tore the list trying to unroll it.   Thank goodness I’ll never unroll it again.  There were so many trademarks on the sheet that there could’ve been trademarks for the trademarks.  After looking at this piece, I was done.   I couldn’t un-see all the copyrights and trademarks.  I put it back in the box and continued on.

Lily’s letter to Sirius is on printer-like paper with a marbled texture.  I won’t divulge the contents, but it is a sweet note from new mom Lily to Uncle Sirius.   She does mention Dumbledore, but never fear, Lily remembered that his name is trademarked.

The Quidditch World Cup ticket is printed on glossy card stock; the ticket feels like you’d expect a crazy wizard sporting event ticket to look.  However, I wish the WBE copyright was on the front.  It would’ve made it less noticeable.

The Hogwarts Express Luggage tag is made of metal, which was a big surprise.  It’s nicely done.  The WBE copyright is on the back, and very noticeable on the white background.

The Sirius Black Wanted poster is also nicely sized, but is printed on that same chea, light paper stock.  Thankfully, the WBE copyright is not terribly noticeable since the poster is black and white. 

Overall, the Artefact box is an excellent idea and the replicas were clearly chosen with fans in mind.  However, the box is completely ruined by poor materials and the overwhelming use of the trademark symbol and copyright text.   As someone who owns much of Noble Collection’s Potter replicas, I’m very disappointed in the quality of this piece.