e are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." With this letter, 11-year-old Harry Potter discovers that he is not the child of degenerate parents killed in a car crash, but in fact a wizard whose brave and valiant parents died saving his life against a dark wizard who, for many years, had plagued the wizarding world with his evil.
Children this year have been deluged with hype surrounding J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, and there is a reason for this hype. The books are good! Written to be accessible to children from age 5 to 500, the books develop enchanting characters, build a detailed world and make a hero out of a small boy who at times doesn't feel much like a hero at all. But one thing is sure—worldwide, every kid wants to discover that he or she is not just an ordinary child, but someone special. Every kid wants to be Harry Potter.
Now kids can try their hand at playing the part of Harry, his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and the mean Professor Snape, as they play in Mattel's new playset, Hogwarts School. This "miniature" playset is reminiscent of the Polly Pocket playsets from previous years, but much more elaborate. Closed, it is the exterior of Hogwarts, a large and ancient castle. Flip a lever, and the school springs open, and to life, to reveal 11 rooms of play, including two that are hinged into the base.
There are plenty of play features here, with doors and passageways to fit the tiny figures, and which can charge a child's mind to imagine things way beyond the playset's physical settings. Several of the rooms feature audio effects as levers are pushed and buttons pressed.
Three smaller playsets—Hagrid's Hut, the Forbidden Corridor and the Hogwarts Express (sold separately)—can connect to four points on the base for even more play features, and are driven by the main motor in the base to bring them to life as well.
A playset fit for a wizard
The first challenge with this playset is in the unpacking. Be careful, as delicate parts are intertwined with very stiff wire, which must be removed with extreme care. Children will not be able to do this alone. Wire cutters and much patience are required.
Once the batteries are in, and the main switch at the back turned on, the castle can be activated. If closed, the castle flips open, with the exception of two more rooms at the base, which, unfortunately, require some strong tool to get open. There are extra doors at the back, and a storage cupboard, which includes three more tables, and a suit of armor.
A motor rotates a magnet which carries Harry around and around the "Great Hall." One table's surface flips over to reveal various colors of food. But the table only ever rotates about 3/4 of the way, forcing the child to finish the job. Meanwhile, the sorting hat happily flops around, as doors open and close to make way for Harry. And for some inexplicable reason, only Harry will fit on this rotating track. Ron and Hermione must stand patiently by, watching Harry have all the fun.
In the library, pushing a desk causes a forbidden book to scream. In the Griffindor Common Room, a rotating panel can make Harry become invisible. Well, Harry stands on one side of the panel, and an "invisible" Harry figure on the other, and—flip—the illusion is complete.
Push a lever in the hall, and Hedwig, Harry's owl, flies in hooting. Push the bathroom lever, and a large club can knock the Troll off its feet. Push a broom in Charms Class, and a feather rises off a table. Push another lever, and the Owlery pops up, revealing another hidden corridor.
This set has many limitations. Only Harry can fit on the magnetic track, the feather moves almost microscopically, and some rooms require great strength and fortitude just to open, but even if this set weren't electronic, the small figures, the abundance of play areas, hidden slides, the telescope at the top of the tower, the drawbridge, the interconnecting additional playsets, would certainly keep a child's mind active in imaginative play for a very long time.
