Hello guys! Well, it's the last day of the year, and wow I feel like I blinked and somehow ended up at December 31st! :D Is anyone else feeling the same? Christmas went by so quickly! And as much as I love the festive period, I am still really glad that we will soon be seeing the back of 2018; I know I've mentioned it quite a few times but this year has been such a hard one! I just want to move forward into a new year, with an optimistic mindset and a determination to try my best to make 2019 a good year, or at least as much as is in my control! Before I end up going off on a reflectionary tangent (hahaha, I totally think I just made up that word XD but it sounded right), I want to share with you all the fantastic advent calendar that I bought this year!
I was really excited when Pop in a Box announced the arrival of an advent calendar made for toy/figure lovers! For years, I'd seen so many awesome calendars online, designed for adults and filled with things other than chocolate. There's advent calendars available that are packed with all sorts of goodies, from makeup to washi tape! They all looked fantastic but none of them appealed to my personal interests much. That was until Funko created this amazing Pocket Pop calendar!! Most of you by now will have heard of Pop! Vinyl figures, well, Pocket Pops are a series of miniature versions of those. As you can see above this calendar includes 24 days worth of these fantastic little characters, and just like a traditional advent calendar, there's one waiting behind every door :) Before I reveal which Pocket Pop I got for each day of December, I wanted to talk to you guys about how brilliant the packaging and overall presentation of the Funko Harry Potter Pocket Pop calendar was!
So much attention to detail has gone into the design of this advent calendar. It is so aesthetically pleasing, and every single part of it looks fabulous. The calendar itself came within a sleeve, and the colours on the back of this sleeve are gorgeous! I've actually been using it as a background for my toy photography throughout the month :) I really love all of the gold, silver and white, dotted with shiny snowflakes, it's like a little piece of how magical the Wizarding World must be at Christmas Time!
How gorgeous is the Hogwarts castle scene printed across the calendar!? All of the shades of purple are so pretty! I really like the pop-up style of this calendar too; it came with two cardboard cut-outs to set up a scene for your figures, one being Hagrid's Hut and one the Whomping Willow tree. That is such a cute idea! I also love that these cut-outs are snow-covered to add to the wintery theme. The Funko calendar looked so cool set up next to my Christmas tree.
The calendar was expensive, but it was actually excellent value for money because you get 24 different figures and it is a lovely calendar! It was £49.99 to buy from the Pop in a Box website, however because I'm a subscriber, I got a discount (and also free shipping) and only paid around £44. I am so happy that I bought it because I had a lot of fun opening it, and now I have lots of pretty little Harry Potter figures to add to my toy collection. I'm hoping that Funko release another Pocket Pop calendar next year, and fingers crossed it's filled with characters from a franchise that I am a fan of. Oh, and I pre-ordered it in late October/early November which I'm glad about because it sold out quickly closer to Christmas.
The rest of this post is going to be very picture heavy as there's a lot of figures to show you! I have photographed them in the order that I received them :) Apologies to those of you that are not fans of pic heavy posts, but I wanted to showcase the figures as is deserved!
I got so many wonderful figures; each and every one of them has an awesome design and they are so photogenic too! I was very happy to get so many of my favourite characters, especially Professor Lupin and little Hedwig, because I wasn't sure if they would make it into the calendar! Even though there's a few things that I didn't like about the calendar, the pros outweigh the cons and it made me happy each morning when I woke up to see who I'd gotten that day. I am a big fan of Harry Potter so you can imagine how excited I got :D What do you think about the selection of figures above?
These five are my most favourite that I received inside my Funko Pocket Pop advent calendar. Severus Snape is my favourite character from the entire Harry Potter series so I couldn't not love his figure! Another of my favourite characters is Remus Lupin and this is one of the reasons why Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite of the books and movies. The magical creatures have always been something that I adore about J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World and Thestrals are one of my favourites; I thought it was epic that they added one into the advent calendar, because I didn't even consider that they would. It was a great surprise!
How could I not choose this figure of Hermione as one of my favourites!? This version of her from the beginning of the story reminds me of myself, and I think it captures book Hermione a lot better than the movies, even though it is obviously designed after those. I love the pile of books in her arms, it's such a lovely detail. Finally Hedwig has made it into my top 5 because awwww, she's so tiny and adorable! I love owls and she just looks so sweet!
So what did I not like about the Funko Harry Potter advent calendar?
Well, mostly it was the design of some of the figures. It look me a long time to take this photo, and some of the others in this post, and this is due to the fact that so many of the figures refuse to stay upright. They continuously fall over, because their legs are either too narrow to withstand the weight of the upper body/head, or because they've not been designed properly.
For example, almost every single person I've seen with the calendar has found that their Moaning Myrtle Pocket Pop won't stand up! You can see in my close up photo showing her and two other figures, that one of her feet is raised and this is what causes the problem. As well as Myrtle, the Dobby figure has a very heavy head compared to the rest of his body, and so I mostly have to lay him flat on the display. My George Weasley figure also has a problem standing up and this is why Fred & George are leaning against the cardboard at the back of my photo above. Whenever I walked across my bedroom floor, some of the figures fall over :D It can get very annoying to have to keep propping them back up. As well as this, some of the figures have small paintjob errors but this is common enough with the standard Pop! Vinyl figures, so I kind of expected that!
Another issue that I had with this calendar isn't really too much of a reflection on the design itself but maybe more due to personal preference. Although a few people have told me that they agree with the fact that I am a little unhappy that we got multiple versions of the same character. If Funko hadn't have included these extras, then they could have added others in their place. Like I know it's all about Harry Potter, the protagonist of the franchise, but did we really need three versions of him? I would have liked to get a Voldemort figure at least! I know that some of the exclusive versions in the US got Voldemort, usually instead of Professor Lupin. I'm happy I got Lupin, but I'm not too keen on Hermione's Prisoner of Azkaban figure, so I would have liked a different figure. What do you think?
All in all, despite the few things I would change about the figures.. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention! The figure of Nearly Headless Nick has a completely attached, almost fully upright head, whereas my figure of Snape has a lob-sided one! It's just typical that the character I wanted most of all isn't perfect, ugh! It would have been really cool if Funko would have been able to make Sir Nicholas' head moveable in some way. But anyhow, back to my conclusion! :D So issues aside, I really did love my Harry Potter Pocket Pop calendar and I would still recommend it to anymore who loves the franchise themselves, as well as to anybody who just likes cute figures :) I know that a few places had some of these calendars on sale after Christmas, so you might be able to find one if you're still interested and you could totally put it away for next December. I am super happy to have lots of Harry Potter characters to use for my toy photography throughout 2019. I can't wait to see what Funko release next Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed reading this post and having a nosey at what I got inside my advent calendar :) Happy New Year guys! May next year be filled with happiness for you all!
I was really excited when Pop in a Box announced the arrival of an advent calendar made for toy/figure lovers! For years, I'd seen so many awesome calendars online, designed for adults and filled with things other than chocolate. There's advent calendars available that are packed with all sorts of goodies, from makeup to washi tape! They all looked fantastic but none of them appealed to my personal interests much. That was until Funko created this amazing Pocket Pop calendar!! Most of you by now will have heard of Pop! Vinyl figures, well, Pocket Pops are a series of miniature versions of those. As you can see above this calendar includes 24 days worth of these fantastic little characters, and just like a traditional advent calendar, there's one waiting behind every door :) Before I reveal which Pocket Pop I got for each day of December, I wanted to talk to you guys about how brilliant the packaging and overall presentation of the Funko Harry Potter Pocket Pop calendar was!
So much attention to detail has gone into the design of this advent calendar. It is so aesthetically pleasing, and every single part of it looks fabulous. The calendar itself came within a sleeve, and the colours on the back of this sleeve are gorgeous! I've actually been using it as a background for my toy photography throughout the month :) I really love all of the gold, silver and white, dotted with shiny snowflakes, it's like a little piece of how magical the Wizarding World must be at Christmas Time!
How gorgeous is the Hogwarts castle scene printed across the calendar!? All of the shades of purple are so pretty! I really like the pop-up style of this calendar too; it came with two cardboard cut-outs to set up a scene for your figures, one being Hagrid's Hut and one the Whomping Willow tree. That is such a cute idea! I also love that these cut-outs are snow-covered to add to the wintery theme. The Funko calendar looked so cool set up next to my Christmas tree.
The calendar was expensive, but it was actually excellent value for money because you get 24 different figures and it is a lovely calendar! It was £49.99 to buy from the Pop in a Box website, however because I'm a subscriber, I got a discount (and also free shipping) and only paid around £44. I am so happy that I bought it because I had a lot of fun opening it, and now I have lots of pretty little Harry Potter figures to add to my toy collection. I'm hoping that Funko release another Pocket Pop calendar next year, and fingers crossed it's filled with characters from a franchise that I am a fan of. Oh, and I pre-ordered it in late October/early November which I'm glad about because it sold out quickly closer to Christmas.
The rest of this post is going to be very picture heavy as there's a lot of figures to show you! I have photographed them in the order that I received them :) Apologies to those of you that are not fans of pic heavy posts, but I wanted to showcase the figures as is deserved!
I got so many wonderful figures; each and every one of them has an awesome design and they are so photogenic too! I was very happy to get so many of my favourite characters, especially Professor Lupin and little Hedwig, because I wasn't sure if they would make it into the calendar! Even though there's a few things that I didn't like about the calendar, the pros outweigh the cons and it made me happy each morning when I woke up to see who I'd gotten that day. I am a big fan of Harry Potter so you can imagine how excited I got :D What do you think about the selection of figures above?
These five are my most favourite that I received inside my Funko Pocket Pop advent calendar. Severus Snape is my favourite character from the entire Harry Potter series so I couldn't not love his figure! Another of my favourite characters is Remus Lupin and this is one of the reasons why Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite of the books and movies. The magical creatures have always been something that I adore about J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World and Thestrals are one of my favourites; I thought it was epic that they added one into the advent calendar, because I didn't even consider that they would. It was a great surprise!
How could I not choose this figure of Hermione as one of my favourites!? This version of her from the beginning of the story reminds me of myself, and I think it captures book Hermione a lot better than the movies, even though it is obviously designed after those. I love the pile of books in her arms, it's such a lovely detail. Finally Hedwig has made it into my top 5 because awwww, she's so tiny and adorable! I love owls and she just looks so sweet!
So what did I not like about the Funko Harry Potter advent calendar?
Well, mostly it was the design of some of the figures. It look me a long time to take this photo, and some of the others in this post, and this is due to the fact that so many of the figures refuse to stay upright. They continuously fall over, because their legs are either too narrow to withstand the weight of the upper body/head, or because they've not been designed properly.
For example, almost every single person I've seen with the calendar has found that their Moaning Myrtle Pocket Pop won't stand up! You can see in my close up photo showing her and two other figures, that one of her feet is raised and this is what causes the problem. As well as Myrtle, the Dobby figure has a very heavy head compared to the rest of his body, and so I mostly have to lay him flat on the display. My George Weasley figure also has a problem standing up and this is why Fred & George are leaning against the cardboard at the back of my photo above. Whenever I walked across my bedroom floor, some of the figures fall over :D It can get very annoying to have to keep propping them back up. As well as this, some of the figures have small paintjob errors but this is common enough with the standard Pop! Vinyl figures, so I kind of expected that!
Another issue that I had with this calendar isn't really too much of a reflection on the design itself but maybe more due to personal preference. Although a few people have told me that they agree with the fact that I am a little unhappy that we got multiple versions of the same character. If Funko hadn't have included these extras, then they could have added others in their place. Like I know it's all about Harry Potter, the protagonist of the franchise, but did we really need three versions of him? I would have liked to get a Voldemort figure at least! I know that some of the exclusive versions in the US got Voldemort, usually instead of Professor Lupin. I'm happy I got Lupin, but I'm not too keen on Hermione's Prisoner of Azkaban figure, so I would have liked a different figure. What do you think?
All in all, despite the few things I would change about the figures.. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention! The figure of Nearly Headless Nick has a completely attached, almost fully upright head, whereas my figure of Snape has a lob-sided one! It's just typical that the character I wanted most of all isn't perfect, ugh! It would have been really cool if Funko would have been able to make Sir Nicholas' head moveable in some way. But anyhow, back to my conclusion! :D So issues aside, I really did love my Harry Potter Pocket Pop calendar and I would still recommend it to anymore who loves the franchise themselves, as well as to anybody who just likes cute figures :) I know that a few places had some of these calendars on sale after Christmas, so you might be able to find one if you're still interested and you could totally put it away for next December. I am super happy to have lots of Harry Potter characters to use for my toy photography throughout 2019. I can't wait to see what Funko release next Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed reading this post and having a nosey at what I got inside my advent calendar :) Happy New Year guys! May next year be filled with happiness for you all!
Thankyou for reading!
♥
Are you a fan of Harry Potter?
If so, I'd love to know your favourite character/movie/book!
Which is your favourite of the Pocket Pops that I featured in today's post?
Oh wow, this looks like such a fun advent calendar! I didn't know Funko made any. The mini Harry Potter characters are very cute.
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