When it comes to the movie version of the boy wizard, 2001 Wizards Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone marks his trading card debut. It’s something of a curious release and far from the spectacular format that would follow starting a couple of films later when Artbox obtained the license.
Wizards of the Coast is best known for their trading card games. In fact, they’re a juggernaut on that side of the hobby thanks to Magic: The Gathering and a lengthy run with Pokemon during its early years. Of course, there was a Harry Potter trading card game as well that also debuted in 2001.
But this is a set of traditional trading cards. Sort of.
2001 Wizards Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Checklist Overview
The base set has 80 cards, focusing mainly on characters and moments from the first Harry Potter movie. It consists of 80 cards using an oversized tall boy format.
The cards might be bigger but they don’t actually deliver more. In fact, there’s plenty of wasted space on both the card fronts and backs. The central images are positioned inside a film strip design that sits diagonally across the top two-thirds of the card. This framing makes for somewhat small images overall despite the potential to go full widescreen like Topps was doing around this time with a variety of Widevision sets (most notably for Star Wars). The bottom portion doesn’t offer up much either, opting instead for title art.
Rather than recapping the movie, backs are more trivia and character descriptions. Again, there is lots of empty space. There’s no reason the same info couldn’t have been conveyed on standard sized cards.
Even the sequence of the cards is odd. Rather than going chronologically through the film, they’re arrange alphabetically based on the caption. The first half of the set is grouped together and then #41-80.
Despite being a set of trading cards, Wizards brings some gaming concepts over to the product. Although nothing in the base set is exactly rare, the first half of the set is a little less plentiful than the second. Think of #1-40 as being uncommon to #41-80’s common.
2001 Wizards Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has one level of chase cards. The first 40 cards have Holofoil parallels that land approximately 1:5 packs.
2001 Wizards Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Checklist
Set size: 81 cards
Cards per pack: 7
Packs per box: 36
Shop for 2001 Wizards Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone packs and boxes on eBay.
Base Set
81 cards.
Buy on eBay:
1 A Few More Words
2 A Few Words
3 Announcing…Lee Jordan!
4 Caught!
5 Christmas Gift
6 Classes at Hogwarts
7 Dangerous Detention
8 Detention Begins
9 Express to Hogwarts
10 Figuring Out Transfigurations
11 Filch Leads the Way
12 Flitwick, Charms Professor
13 Gringotts Goblin
14 Hagrid of Hogwarts
15 Hagrid’s Errand
16 Hagrid’s Hut
17 Harry and Hedwig
18 Harry Enters Gringotts
19 Harry in the Forest
20 Harry of Gryffindor House
21 Head Table
22 Hermione in the Forest
23 Hermione’s Sorted
24 Heroic Ron
25 In the Library
26 Into the Dark Forest
27 Introducing…Hagrid!
28 Letters From No One
29 Oops!
30 Plots and Pain?
31 Portrait of the Fat Lady
32 Quiet Moment
33 Restricted Section
34 Ron’s Sorted
35 Safest Place in the World
36 Through the Barrier!
37 Transfigurations
38 Up!
39 What Was That?
40 Wingardium Leviosa!
41 At the Zoo
42 Bags and Baggage
43 Bank Clerk
44 Beginning Flying
45 Cupboard Under the Stairs
46 Down for the Count
47 Draco Investigates
48 Dudley’s New Clothes
49 Fang the Boarhound
50 Flee!
51 Flying Instructor
52 Gryffindor Quidditch Team
53 Hagrid and Fang
54 Hagrid and Friends
55 Hagrid as Host
56 Hagrid’s Heart
57 Harry and a Quaffle
58 Harry Makes a Friend
59 Harry Takes Flight
60 Harry, Ron and Hermione
61 Help Arrives
62 Hermione the Scholar
63 Hogwarts Challenges
64 Inside the Leaky Cauldron
65 Keeping the Accounts
66 Letter for Harry
67 Malfoy and Flying
68 Manners Lesson
69 Meeting ‘The Boy Who Lived’
70 Mother and Son
71 Mysterious Potions Master
72 On the Same Side
73 Professor Minerva McGonagall
74 Quirrell, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
75 Remembrall Trouble
76 Seamus’s Flying Lesson
77 Serious Considerations
78 Showing Off
79 To the Skies!
80 Watching Harry’s Flight
Checklist
Holofoil
40 cards.
1:5 packs.
1 A Few More Words
2 A Few Words
3 Announcing…Lee Jordan!
4 Caught!
5 Christmas Gift
6 Classes at Hogwarts
7 Dangerous Detention
8 Detention Begins
9 Express to Hogwarts
10 Figuring Out Transfigurations
11 Filch Leads the Way
12 Flitwick, Charms Professor
13 Gringotts Goblin
14 Hagrid of Hogwarts
15 Hagrid’s Errand
16 Hagrid’s Hut
17 Harry and Hedwig
18 Harry Enters Gringotts
19 Harry in the Forest
20 Harry of Gryffindor House
21 Head Table
22 Hermione in the Forest
23 Hermione’s Sorted
24 Heroic Ron
25 In the Library
26 Into the Dark Forest
27 Introducing…Hagrid!
28 Letters From No One
29 Oops!
30 Plots and Pain?
31 Portrait of the Fat Lady
32 Quiet Moment
33 Restricted Section
34 Ron’s Sorted
35 Safest Place in the World
36 Through the Barrier!
37 Transfigurations
38 Up!
39 What Was That?
40 Windgardium Leviosa!
