Harry Potter Writing Set

Primark is the UK retailer best known for its highly affordable clothing range; but it also has highly affordable and ever-changing range of Harry Potter merchandise that encompasses clothing, bags, seasonal gifts, stationery and the list goes on and on. 

So, when I found myself in one of their stores, I made my way to the Harry Potter display and started to browse. What is nice about the Primark range is that the prices are, for the most part, pocket money prices and this letter writing set is no different at £4.50GBP; and as I have reviewed a fair few Harry Potter notebooks I decided to try out the writing set and picked one up.

The first thing to say is that this is a generic writing set produced by under licence by Paladone Products Ltd and is available from a number of retailers. It comes in a strong card envelope which protects the contents very well and makes it ideal if you want to post it to someone. The packaging is well finished and both front and rear has images showing you what you get in the writing set.

What you get for your pennies is this:

• 10 Hogwarts envelopes.
• 10 Hogwarts seals (sticky labels).
• 20 sheets of A5 Hogwarts notepaper.

I have to be honest and say that I didn’t expect a lot for my money, after all £4.50GBP is not a lot to spend on a licenced product from a franchise as well-known as this. However, my expectations were confounded when I opened the pack and found what turned out to be a nice writing set.

The envelopes are good quality and should withstand the rigours of travel through the postal system and if laid on top of one of the sheets of paper they are approximately ¾ of the size. 

They are made from parchment stock, the front is blank for addressing and stamps and the outer side of the flap is printed with the Hogwarts coat of arms whilst the inner side has a gold foil design which I thought was a nice touch as it elevates the envelope above the everyday. 

The envelope has no gum to seal it so you are expected to use the seals; if you are posting the envelope by any other method than Owl Post you may want to consider a small piece of tape/dab of glue as the seals are not that strong.

On to the seals. You get a sheet of ten sticky label type seals, however, the adhesive used on them seems to be similar to that found on Post-it notes; which on the one hand is nice as it does not damage the envelope when you open it but on the other hand it does not stay closed, hence my suggestion of glue or tape if you are posting.

Finally, the paper. There are twenty sheets of A5 paper which are front printed only with a parchment background and the Hogwarts coat of arms as a watermark. The paper is reasonably fountain pen friendly, there is a small amount of show through but not enough to cause any concern as it is very unlikely that the reverse side of the paper would be used. Whilst I haven’t tested it, so at your own risk, I can’t see any reason why this paper would not be suitable for printing your own Hogwarts acceptance letters, custom party invitations et cetera.

So is the set worth your pennies, in short, yes. 

It makes a great gift for anyone who is a fan of Harry Potter and if you’re in the UK and passing a Primark store it is always worth looking in to see what is new in their range. All I would say is if you see something you like buy it when you see it as the range changes rapidly and it seems, in some cases, that when it’s gone it’s gone.

One last thing.

If you want it, it’s my giveaway for January and I’ll throw in a Harry Potter diary as well. The first person to either email me or reply to this post will get it. Postage to anywhere in the world will be at my convenience but I will let you know when it’s in the post.

Disclaimer: The writing set was purchased with my own funds at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.