When talking to a Harry Potter fan, the topic of Hogwarts houses is sure to come up. All Hogwarts students are sorted into the houses of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw upon there arrival at the Wizarding School. One of the fun features of Loot Crate’s Wizarding World Crate is the ability to register yourself to a particular house. If you have any trouble with that, I would suggest going to J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore, where you can be officially sorted by answering questions.
When signing up for the Wizarding World crate, I did find it curious that they asked for my house. But now, I see why. March 2107’s crate is all about celebrating house pride and some of the items are specific to whichever house you were sorted into. As you will see, I was sorted into Hufflepuff. Those who know me will not be shocked by this in the slightest.
The image of Hogwarts’ Sorting hat greets you upon opening the crate. It is joined by the icons for the various houses – griffin for Gryffindor, snake for Slytherin, badger for Hufflepuff, and raven for Ravenclaw.
As always, the item list is contained within a scroll that is closed with Wizarding World “seal.” The same pattern of the house mascots from the box can also be found on the backside of the scroll. The asterisks by the item names denote crate exclusives and funny enough, every piece in this shipment can only be found from the Wizarding World crate.
Each shipment thus far has included a pin and it makes perfect sense that this month’s would be the Sorting Hat. I will say this pin is substantially smaller than the previous ones and much lighter as well. All the same, I think the Sorting Hat might be my favorite of the pins so far.
The Hogwarts Express Lanyard is a fun accessory that I can see getting use at Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter perhaps but not much else. One side of the lanyard bears the image of the Hogwarts Express train along the familiar phrases of “Platform 9 3/4” and “The Hogwarts Express.” The other side is a tad less interesting, with a repeating pattern of the Hogwarts’ school crest. The crest is also seen on the lanyard’s dangling medallion. It was neat that the lanyard had a fake train ticket but the paper it was printed on is super-flimsy.
Next up is the Hogwarts Raglan. I have already worn this shirt and can attest to its comfiness. The Hogwarts’ crest is screen-printed on the front. It smelled a bit like paint when I took it out of the package but the odor soon dissipated.
Now we move on to the two house-specific items. As I mentioned earlier, I was sorted into Hufflepuff so these items will have the Hufflepuff house crest along with the house colors of black and yellow (a tad garish but nobody asked me).
First up is the duffle bag. It isn’t big enough for travel but would make a perfect gym bag. It has two layers of fabric and feels sturdy enough to handle daily use. The crest is a patch that feels like faux leather. It is not embroidered.
The final item, the beanie, is the one item that I feel really suffers from the Hufflepuff house color combo. I looks like I am wearing a taxi cab on my head. The quality of the hat is fine. The fabric thick and stretchy enough to keep most head shapes warm in cold weather. Unlike the duffle, the hat’s crest is a thick embroidered one.
I think I liked the idea of this crate’s theme more than the items in it. They weren’t bad by any means and I already have made use of the raglan. However, I can’t shake the feeling that this could have been better. I am not sure what I was expecting but I don’t think this was it.
If this unboxing has you interested in subscribing, you can get some money off of your first crate either by following this link or entering “Geekscape” into the promo code area upon checkout.
[This unboxing was based on a sample provided by Loot Crate. All opinions are my own.]