Chocolate Frog Cards (was: UK vs US Harry Potter)

[Wendy St John]

No: HPFGUIDX 77467

Mandy wrote:

"Is any one else out there tired of the differences in the UK and US 
editions, merchandising, movies etc. etc. etc??
Can't we all write or email Scholastic and Warner Bros., and tell 
them to stop changing the details?  I have heard JKR has to approve 
all the changes when it comes to the books but it sure makes our life 
more complicated when it comes to analyzing every single detail.
Now I hear the Chocolate Frog Cards are different!  I know the Every 
Flavor Beans are different. What next?"

Now me (Wendy):

LOL, Mandy!

I agree that all the detail changes are a big pain, but what the heck else
would we have to talk about for the next however many months until Book 6.
;-) 

I'm the one who mentioned the Chocolate Frog cards, though, so I thought
I'd clarify exactly what the changes are (it's probably not as bad as you
think). 

The chocolate frog cards released in the U.S. are more like the ones
described in the books. These cards were put out by Wizards of the Coast
(who also put out the Trading Card Game, which is a lot of  fun, btw). Each
card features a famous witch or wizard, including a "moving" picture on the
front (I don't think it's a hologram, but rather one of those pictures that
has two or three different scenes that make it look as though the person is
"moving" when you tilt the card back and forth. Stupid description, I know,
but I don't know what the name is for that sort of "animation"). On the
back is a brief biography of the witch or wizard, and apparently all this
text was edited or at least reviewed and approved by JKR. So now we have a
bit more information on some of the characters in the Potterverse. Instead
of typing them all out here, I'll just thank Lexicon Steve for already
doing that work, and refer you to the following link where descriptions can
be found:

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/card_wizards.html

The UK chocolate frog cards are totally different, but not in such a way as
to "conflict" with the US ones as far as canon is concerned. The cards in
the UK portray scenes or characters from the Harry Potter books. For
example, there are cards for Quidditch, the Great Hall, Fluffy, Harry,
Hermione, Norbert, the Sorting Hat, etc. They are illustrated in a similar
manner to much of the licensed merchandise, with the "cartoony" drawings of
the characters. They also feature the same sort of "moving" pictures as the
US cards. There really isn't any "information" on these cards that could
add to our understanding of canon,  so they don't conflict with the
American ones. They are a totally different sort of thing altogether.

Here's a link to pictures/descriptions of all the cards. This site refers
to them as the "Australian" cards, but they are the same as the ones I
bought in the UK, so they were obviously released in places other than
Britain.

http://harrypottertrading.itgo.com/frog_list.htm)

And yes, the Bertie Botts Beans are different. They don't have nearly as
many disgusting flavours in the UK as can be found in the American version.
I think there are only two nasties in the UK (tomato - which actually isn't
bad; and it's either onion or horseradish, don't remember which). I may be
forgetting some. And instead of saying "Harry Potter" (or whatever the good
beans say), the nasty ones have an exclamation point as a warning. The U.S.
has at least dirt, booger, vomit, sardine, and grass. Also from memory, and
I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some of these. In any case, there are lots
more icky ones in the US version. The sardine flavour ones are really
disgusting. I've never gotten a vomit flavoured one in any of the boxes
I've bought, so I don't know about that one. In any case, I've never really
liked either of the two sets of beans - even the "normal" flavoured ones
are pretty icky as far as jelly beans are concerned, IMO. :-) The Harry
Potter candy that I think is fantastic are the Fizzing Whizbees. They are
yummy, and I used to buy them at my local Tesco (chain supermarket) in
Scotland. Now, I can't find them anywhere in the U.S. and it's a shame,
because they're really good.

Cheers! 

Wendy St John
hebrideanblack at earthlink.net