The Magic of the Boy Who Lived

Since the last installment of the Deathly Hallows came out, I've been waiting for the release of the complete collection of the Harry Potter movies but I was disappointed when it finally came out in Amazon. I was expecting a special edition box set with all the extras and special features but what came out was simply an 8-disc set of the movies with NO extras! The packaging wasn't even special. Very disappointing indeed.

Amazon UK on the other hand had a special edition, limited number release of the complete series containing 19 discs - a blu-ray and DVD version of each movie plus 3 discs filled with special features. That's what I like! But getting it is out of the question...no idea how I'd have it shipped! Sadness again.

I've read somewhere that Warner Brothers will actually release the ultimate box set (which is waaaay better than what's currently released in the US) but not until the end of 2012! I was resigned to wait for another year until I heard that there's a version similar to the one in UK, which was just released here in Manila a couple of weeks ago. After some researching, I learned that there were only 100 pieces of it distributed to the Odyssey and Astrovision branches all throughout Manila - and most of it were already reserved. Waaah! I so wanted to get my hands on it!

I tried the Astrovision branch in Festival Mall the other day and in Greenbelt yesterday but they were out of stock already. I was in Town earlier and just for the heck of it, I checked out Odyssey though I wasn't expecting that they'd have it...but lo and behold, I was in luck! It was the last stock (only 3 were delivered to that branch) so with no second thoughts, I got it. The complete series comes in this beautiful box...

There's also a certificate authenticating that the copy I had is the 59th out of the 100 numbered editions:

Here's what's inside:

16 discs of Harry Potter magic! Each movie comes with a Special Features disc...

And there's a 48-page album (which looks the same as the one that Hagrid gave Harry at the end of the 1st film) with photos from the 8 films. This doesn't do justice to the actual album where the pictures are printed in a beautiful glossy finish...

It also comes with a bonus DVD about the making of the Deathly Hallows Part 2:

It's quite pricey at P5,500 but so worth it! A must-have for any Harry Potter fan :)