Various retailers and manufacturers over the years have attempted to exploit the "wizards chess" sequence in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with chess-set tie-ins of their own. Right on cue, as we await the conclusion of the Potter franchise next month, comes this commercial for the latest -- and at $249.95, the most expensive -- such set. It looks cool! And I feel old.
Actually, it looks like the kind of thing that would be cool to the kids playing in the commercial; the accompanying press release promises a light-up chessboard and "2 Magic Wands that actually guide your Rooks on the board -- as if by magic!" Except those kids weren't even born when Sorcerer's Stone's source material was published in 1997, and oh my God what young person would see Emma Watson's 2001-era thicket of hair and not sprint wailing and thrashing to the comfort of their smart phone, where a dirty message from a Congressman no doubt awaits their jaded perusal? What young person even knows how to play chess?
Also: If you are old enough to ask, "When did Time-Life move from selling nine-disc collections like Granola and Plane Crashes: Pop Hits of the '70s to Harry Potter chess sets?", then you are too old for a Harry Potter chess set. I am just saying.
Anyway, operators are standing by. Remember them?