Review for Mattel's Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone Magical Powers Hermione Granger Doll

Mattel produced many versions of Hermione Granger in doll form, but I always felt this was the nicest one both for the quality of how the doll was made and for the coolest accessories.  It was produced in 2001 for the first movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  It is not recommended for children under 3 years of age because of the choking hazard, and actually on the box they intended it for ages 8 and up.

The doll may look boggle-headed in the above pictures, but she really isn't that distorted.  I think it was the angle of the camera that made her look that way.  The arms can be difficult to maneuver and get into the position you want, particularly the arm that has the magnet.  Since this is a magnetic toy, there is the usual warning about keeping it away from things that are affected by magnets.  The elbows bend, and the arm can move up and down.  Put her wand in the magnet hand and push the lever in her back to make her wave it. The torso twists side to side.  The legs move up and down, and they can bend at the knee.  The foot moves up and down.

The doll has really nice hair.  As the movie series went on, Hermione's wild hair got under more control until it was actually almost limp.  However, this doll remains true to the first movie when Hermione had this big head of hair that was slightly wind-blown.  The hair is cut in layers and has highlights.  The top layer is crimped.

Hermione wears a nice, crisp Hogwarts uniform. The shirt has a sticker Gryffindor emblem. If you iron the shirt, be careful not to touch the sticker.  My mom burnt the emblem off my first doll doing this.  The shirt actually ends in a thong that goes between the doll's legs, but you don't see this unless you are being a perv and looking up her dress.  Hermione wears a red and yellow scarf, representing the Gryffindor colors. The crisp, gray skirt has pleats. She wears gray socks and has Mary Jane shoes.

She comes with five accessories: the before-mentioned wand, a stool, a cauldron, potion bottles, and Mrs. Norris in a Hogwarts trunk (remember--she didn't get Crookshanks until the third move, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). The stool is nice for the doll to sit on or putting another accessory on top of it.

You can push the flames down in the cauldron. When you place Hermione’s magnet hand over the hard to see “H” on the side of the cauldron, the flames will snap up. Sometimes the doll has to hit the “H” in a particular way for this to work, and sometimes it is hard to get the flames to stay down. Despite the neon look of the flames, they do not glow in the dark.

The potions light up when Hermione places her magnet hand over the star on the side of the platter the potions sit on.  This product has irreplaceable batteries.  My potions still worked even after twelve years in a box.  Perhaps these batteries never need changing.  However, any collector should take into account the possibility that the potions may stop lighting up.

My personal favorite, though, is Mrs. Norris in the trunk.  This is a neat trick.  You close the lid (actually, you don't really have to do this--but it ruins the "magic" if you don't) and press the lever on the side of the trunk.  If you had seen Mrs. Norris before you closed the lid and pushed the lever, the trunk lid will pop open and reveal that she is gone.  If you hadn't seen her before you closed the lid and pushed the lever, then she will appear when the lid opens.  Sometimes, though, this trick doesn't work well.  The inside part can get stuck, and you see how the trick is done.  However, it is easy to correct.

I did video reviews for this doll on Youtube.  Part 1 deals with Hermione in the box, and part 2 deals with her out of box.

Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vq5JrHxrMo

Part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YcpDM8NvWs