Cover Image: Harry Potter - The Unofficial Guide to the Collectibles of Our Favorite Wizard

Harry Potter - The Unofficial Guide to the Collectibles of Our Favorite Wizard

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Member Reviews

I may be biased but I love all things Harry Potter (as long as it's not a critique)! This is very reminiscent and nostalgic for me. I've loved HP since I was 7 years old. This is another gem!

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I love Harry Potter so a book about finding collectibles to add to my growing Harry Potter collection is a win for me. IIt is a couple things in this book that I do want to add to my collection.

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As a massive Harry Potter fan, I requested this book as soon as I saw it. I love seeing Harry Potter merchandise and memorabilia, so I loved reading about different items (and their prices at auction).

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Thanks to NetGalley and F+W Media for the opportunity to read and review The Unofficial Guide to the Collectibles of Our Favorite Wizard: Harry Potter by Eric Bradley. Tips on where to find all things Potter and tidbits on some of the interesting examples of valuable Potter collectibles are spotlighted in this unofficial collector’s guide. Wonderful quotes are scattered throughout the book. Such as, “No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever. So whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”
-J. K. Rowling. Interesting compilation of artifacts and their worth to the collectors of our favorite wizarding world. 5 stars!

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As a confirmed Potterhead I found this very interesting but sadly I didn't discover that I had anything worth lots of money! Fascinating though and may well have given me (too many) ideas for future purchases.

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great blast from the past and picked a few new facts for trivia quizzes on my all time favorite series.

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The book about pottermania, and an absolute craziness concerning the fandom of Harry Potter!

"Harry Potter - The Unofficial Guide to the Collectibles of Our Favourite Wizard" is definitely a "must have" for everyone who loves collecting the items related to the Harry Potter and the world created by J.K. Rowling. Also for everyone who wants to know more facts about the series and the films.
The most surprising thing for me is not even the enormous amount of sold books, but the stories of fans, whose life has changed because of Harry Potter. I enjoyed reading the not so known facts about the series, the films or the author and of course seeing the stunning posters and items from the films! So if you are part of the fandom, you will truly enjoy reading this book!

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Harry Potter fans will enjoy reading this book of collectibles. It can be read straight through or by item. Only the very top HP fans will know about all these items that have been sold. It gives clues on what to look for in your own collection and what might be up for sale some time in the future. Not everything in the book is top price, some items are only a few hundred dollars and are still considered highly sought items.

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Being a huge Harry Potter fan I just had to request this book from #netgalley
I found it interesting at how much people would pay for original signed copies of the Harry Potter books. The photographs were great in the book and needed to break some of the text up. It was a little too wordy going too much into specifics, this made the book a little dry in places so I skimmed over these parts. If you are an obsessed Harry Potter fan though, you will love this book.

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I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so of course I requested this on Netgalley. I love trivia and collectables. This book was interesting for the most part, and a little dry in others, taking about numbers and monetary value in a way that made me a little bored. The photographs are really nice, but I had to skim through several sections because they were a little dry and mostly made me jealous rather than entertained. But if you like this sort of thing, its a good read. If you're only a casual fan, than it probably isn't for you.

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an interesting allotment of collectibles from the Harry Potter world

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This book is a must-have for Harry Potter fans.

It not only lists all the different kinds of collectibles, but it gives some history of the publication. There were only 500 copies of the first edition printed. They didn't expect it to sell as well as it did, but it made J. K. Rowling the first author to earn $1 Billion from her work.

Since I'm such a bibliophile, the section on the books fascinated me the most. The first editions are worth so much money! A first edition from the first printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone could go for more than $40,000. And it's worth even more if it's signed. Considering this book is only 20 years old, that's an incredible amount!

This book will make you want to dig in your basement for all your old Harry Potter merchandise to see what it's worth! I highly recommend this book for fans of Harry Potter.

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I really loved this book. As a huge HP fan, this book really made want to read the books again. It's creative yet informative. It's a good collectors edition for fans and I would buy this for a birthday gift! Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this!

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I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan, though I don't have too much in the way of collectibles and memorabilia from it, so I was curious to see what would be featured in this book. Of course, the first chapter features on what started it all - the books! The photos of signed copies and all the different versions was really cool to look at. Then it of course moves on to the movie posters. Although I think my favorite chapter was the one on the movie props - Did you know that the Ford Anglia that Harry and Ron "borrowed" is now owned by Rupert Grint's father? There is a chapter devoted to gorgeous art based on the books and films as well. This was a lot of fun to check out and I don't think I have anything featured in the book (except the books) but it was still fun to see what some of these items have sold for and what is out there!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

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This brings back wonderful memories of the time I spent with my young children reading the Harry Potter books. I purchased the first one when my youngest son was in second grade because his classmates were reading the books. Completely enchanted by that one, I went back and bought every edition they had in the bookstore. I read every one to my son. For years I preordered the books and we read every single one together. (My younger son read them at a later time.)

This book brought back all those happy memories. We actually do own a few first editions; however, they have been so well loved they definitely are not in collectable condition. It was fascinating to see the covers of the first editions from the U.K. and how much they are selling for. I enjoyed taking a stroll through the years of Potter memorabilia. The author did a nice job bringing everything together in this book, and it certainly seems like something any Harry Potter would enjoy having.

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This was a pretty interesting collection of Harry Potter Collectibles, and it definitely made me feel nostalgic. It's crazy to think how much money some of these items have sold for - for example, rare first-edition copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - but it just goes to show how influential Harry Potter has been in our culture. I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane, now I think I might go re-read all the books, followed by a movie marathon!

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You know all of that Harry Potter memorabilia you desperately need but will never have enough Galleons for? For those of us who barely have two Knuts to rub together, this is the book to drool over while you’re feeling sorry for yourself for not having generous millionaire family members. In it you’ll find the wish list of your dreams, some of which would set you back more than what you paid for your car and others, your house. If anyone’s feeling generous, I wouldn’t reject your offer of gifting me one of J.K.’s hand-written and illustrated copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Eric Bradley’s book takes you on a journey through such treasures as first edition signed books, movie posters, movie props, Harry Pottery (including the chair J.K. sat in while she wrote the first two books and original artwork), Harry Potter merchandise, limited edition collectibles, fandom (including a themed wedding and tattoos), and Potter-inspired collectibles.

You’ll read details and see photos of items that have sold at auction as well as those which have not been made available for sale and are used in exhibitions. For most of us this book will be as close as we get to most of these coveted items. I particularly enjoyed reading about other fans and what this series means to them.

Disclaimer: Tissues for cleaning up your drool are sold separately.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley, Krause Publications and F+W Media for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback.

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The funny thing about this book is that the author obviously knows his audience. This is a book about the type of money fans of Harry Potter are willing to spend to continue their love for this amazing world.

To sum up: Yo dawg, I heard you like collectibles. So I made a collectible about collectibles.

All of that being said, I am a Harry Potter fan, and I was absolutely fascinated by this book. I wish the ARC had loaded the pictures properly, I was stuck trying to imagine what the artifacts looked like, or googling to see them for myself.

For those of us who love fandom and love collecting aspects of fandom, this is the perfect book. And it's also a reminder that no fan should ever have more money than sense, because dear god, some of the prices in here. Thank god I'm poor, y'all.

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I had no idea how much Harry Potter was out there! This book gave me a good look.

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Harry Potter and the Unofficial Guide to Collectibles of our Favorite Wizard
by Eric Bradley
Krause Publications

For anyone who is Harry Potter fan, and who isn’t, this book is the ultimate guide for assessing your collection. After finally being published by Bloomsbury, the series was initially turned down by 8 other publishers. Harry Potter is now much-celebrated book, movie, and collectible franchise.

This unofficial guide covers books, movie posters, movie props, pottery, merchandise, limited edition collectibles, fandom, and Potter inspired collectibles. It details all and will give you information on what is and is not valuable.

For instance, the first edition print of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone from 1997 in like new condition fetched $43,750 in an auction in 2013. If you are lucky enough to have one of these editions you’ll find the number sequence “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” on the copyright page and “Copyright © Text Joanne Rowling 1997”. Given that most of the first edition books went to libraries, it is rare to find one in near perfect condition. This explains why the price is over $40,000 for a copy in such good condition.

Some books are prized for the errors that are made in them. First editions are commonly littered with errors and these rare mistakes become prized in later auctions. The errors that you would find in one of these rare books are spelled out in detail helping you to prove the authenticity of your collectible.

One of the rarest Harry Potter books is one that was created, handwritten and even illustrated by Rowling herself. This is a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard which she created in 2007 for Barry Cunningham the British publisher who famously was the one man who would take a chance on the Harry Potter books. This rarity achieved $467,000 in a 2016 London auction.

More Than Just Books

Beyond books are movie posters many which will only fetch between $150 and $300. Some original poster art is rarer and gets between $40,000 – $60,000. But of course, these are not prints.

In all this is an excellent book for any fan of the Harry Potter series. Those who have chosen to collect various memorabilia will prize it especially. It is well laid out and provides excellent detail about look for and how to prove your collectible’s authenticity.

This review is in response to a complimentary copy of the book sent to me by the publishers in hopes of an honest review.

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