REVIEW – Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat

Every November and December, we see some toy releases that arrive on the market that we just KNOW are going to be a huge hit at Christmas, and before we even tried it out for ourselves, we just knew the Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat would be one of them. Likely to be a hit with Harry Potter die hards young and old, this product is a great new addition to accompany the release of the new film.

Some of my favourite scenes from the Harry Potter movies centre around the sorting hat. The excitement as all the nervous new wizards and witches arrive at Hogwarts and gather around in the great hall, waiting with anticipation for the giant sorting hat to decide upon their fate. When I was younger and I first started reading the Harry Potter books I often wondered which of the four schools I would be placed in, should I have entered the Hogwarts Great Hall and been sorted just like the rest.

To celebrate the release of the new Harry Potter movie – Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, there are lots of new Harry Potter toys and merchandise on the market, and the Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat from Kids@Play is one of the officially licensed merchandise products to support the film release.

Just like the sorting hat in the movie, this toy sorting hat (41cm in diameter) actually talks and thanks to embedded animatronics, not only does he sound just like the sorting hat in the movies, but his mouth moves along as he speaks too.  The hat is made from a soft material, with great attention to detail, including the scars and patches to show it’s age and two large ribbon ties hanging down.

The Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting hat comes fully assembled and ready to use straight out of the box, requiring 3 AAA batteries that are already included. We have been using ours a lot and the batteries are lasting well.

The Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat plays an initial introduction before giving your fate some thought, and then finally announcing which of the four houses it wants to place you in, either Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

I first got to try out the Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat at #BlogOnToys last September, and I was desperate to get Gryffindor. The Gryffindor house represents bravery, daring, courageous and known to do what is right, and I guess I have always fancied myself as a bit of a Hermione Grainger. I did not want to get Slytherin – not for any substantial reason other than the fact I hate snakes and don’t look great in the colour green! 🙂

Despite your house selection being a game of chance, I was lucky enough to get my Gryffindor wish at the first attempt! The Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat went on to win Top Licensed toy in the Blog On Toy Awards as voted for by parenting bloggers, so it is clear to see there were a few Harry Potter fans in our midst!

You can see the Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat in action on my daughter in the clip below:

Overall we had lots of fun with the Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat, and the girls found it hilarious – with Neve spending the remainder of the afternoon walking round the lounge chanting “GRRRYFFFINNNNDORRRRR!”. I love the attention to detail, the fact it looks so similar to the one in the film, and I think it’s something that Potterheads as they’re so lovingly called would absolutely love.

As a stand alone toy however, you can’t get away from the fact that it is fairly limited in terms of game play as it only produces one of four different outcomes. As such, once it has been played with a few times, it is unlikely to be pulled out to play with on a regular basis. For that reason, I would purchase this product more for an event or Harry Potter themed party than I would as a stand alone toy to play with at home.

The Sorting Hat would be absolutely ideal for parties or events where you can add a bit of fun to the day by sorting guests into their houses. If you are hosting a Harry Potter party for your children, this would be a £40 well spent, as it would take up a fair bit of time and provide some great entertainment.

One final note is that whilst the box does say it fits most head sizes, I did find it was a little on the small side (they may be assuming that most people that want to play with this will be children, when in fact, I know a lot of adult fully grown wizards who would love to give this a go). For that reason I feel it would be an improvement if the size of the hat was adjustable. The mechanism is also quite noisy, so you do hear the buzz of the mouth movement behind the voice itself. It would be great if this was a little quieter!

The Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat is available to purchase at Argos and retails at £39.99.

*This is a collaborative post. We were sent the Harry Potter Real Talking Sorting Hat free of charge in exchange for our honest review. AS always all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links*