Harry Potter: The Exhibition Review

Hello! I just came back from the Harry Potter exhibition. I haven't eaten my lunch so I'm eating now as I type.
I'm a big fan of Harry Potter so naturally I'd go for this exhibition. Unfortunately photography isn't allowed so I couldn't take any photos in the galleries (>o<)
But I did take photos of the exhibitions outside of the galleries.

The knight chess piece which Ron rode in Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone

Movie posters of all the eight Harry Potter films

Mr Weasley's flying Ford Anglia hanging precariously from the ceiling

My friend and I got a shock of our lives when we stepped into the exhibition's gift shop. Everything there was expensive, including the Chocolate Frogs and the Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. They each cost SG$6 (US$4.90/ ¥380) and the packaging was small (=, = ;) Then there were the Quidditch Through The Ages, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard books, and each cost SG$32 (US$26/ ¥2027). My friend told me that she'd seen the books sold at Kinokuniya for a mere SG$19. T-shirts were sold at SG$50, hoodies at SG$75, scarfs at SG$30 and ties at SG$27. Replicas of the wands and Hedwig stuffed plush toys were sold at SG$75 each while other items were sold at a range between SG$12 to SG$400. What a scam. Nice try getting money from people lol. I was planning to buy a shirt for my little cousin but couldn't because of the overly-priced items. My friend had been wanting to get herself a Time Turner or a Snitch but again, they were over-priced. In the end I bought the hoodie, a pair of chopsticks crafted in the form of Hermione's wand (SG$25) and a Hedwig keychain (SG$12) which I gave to my grandmother. In total it cost me SG$112. On 3 items only. My friend daren't buy anything lol.

I understand that photography wasn't allowed in order to preserve the authenticity of the props, sets and costumes, but the merchandise? The items were all wonderfully crafted but we couldn't understand why they must be so expensive. I'd rather use the money to expand my Japan/anime/manga fandom.

All in all, the exhibition was quite alright. Though I'd prefer it to be a little more interactive. We were greeted with a stationary hologram of Harry Potter's logo at the entrance of the galleries, and afterwards a mini sorting was held with three volunteers, one of which was my friend (all the three wanted to be sorted into Gryffindor so in the end the Sorting Hat said the same thing over and over again - to be honest, if I had volunteered myself, I would've chosen to go for Slytherin :P) The exhibits were merely the sets, props and costumes used throughout the 8 movies. It was indeed interesting to see them up close and relieve the magical moments of the movies as well as the books. But as I've mentioned before, it would be so much better if they were interactive. Then the SG$20 ticket would be worth the visit. Being a huge Harry Potter fan, I was slightly disappointed. I'm thinking of paying a visit to the Harry Potter theme park in Florida's Universal Studios. I want to try the Butterbeer!

This post is entirely about my review on the Harry Potter exhibition. Will get back to anime in the next post!