I’ve always really enjoyed visiting Universal Studios as far back as I can remember. In previous posts I’ve mentioned how much I loved their classic attractions like Kongfrontation, Disaster and of course the infamous Jaws ride. Unfortunately they have all been replaced with some great new rides and one not so great (ahem…Fast and the Furious Super Charged). I was certainly not happy when they decided to remove Jaws, and that wound still stings a bit from time to time, but when they replaced it with Diagon Alley and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over in Islands of Adventure, theme parks would never be the same again. The design and theming is amazing, being able to use a wand to cast spells, the food and Butterbeer are great, and of course the merchandise is fantastic. It took some time but we did eventually get some Harry Potter themed pressed pennies not too long ago.

But there was something I was surprised they had not released and that was a themed booklet to keep your pressed pennies safe. Universal over the years has not had many options when it comes to these penny booklets or albums. Most are just the Universal logo and nothing else. Thankfully that has all changed with the release of a brand new collectible coin album designed around Hogwarts.

There are three Harry Potter penny machines, one in City Walk and then one each in the parks Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. On a recent visit I checked on all three machines and they each had a display on top filled with these new coin albums.

The cost is $12 which I will admit is quite a bitch cheaper than the nearby Disney versions. If you are an annual passholder your discount will apply to this item.

Embedded in the front cover of the album is a special pressed penny not available in any of the machines around property. The coin says Wizarding World and what appears to be an open book with the pages fanned out.

There are four pages with a total of 44 small plastic sleeves that you can insert your recently pressed pennies. It’s a perfect place for all 24 of the Harry Potter themed pennies, but of course you can store whatever other special pennies you have in here as well. Or maybe, we can expect more Harry Potter designs in the future?

On the last page page I noticed some larger sized plastic sleeves and thought maybe they were for the newer collectible medallions we have been finding at the parks. Once I got home I tested one out and sure enough they fit perfectly.

These new Hogwarts collectible coin albums seem to be pretty popular and I saw quite a few people picking them up. I don’t think these are a limited quality item and would assume these will be available for quite awhile. Hopefully we do see some more Potter pennies at some point in the future, and Universal please somehow figure out how to let me use my wand to activate the machine, or add it to an in-park game with a secret penny design like they used to have in Epcot with the Agent P game.

Now that I have my new album and full set of pennies I think it’s time to cool off with a Butterbeer.
Keep on Pressing

---