Spider-Man 2008 Hallmark Ornament
© Robert Trate / Josh Gordon
Toy Maniac: Maniac Holiday Ornaments
By: Robert T. TrateDate: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Each and every year the big chain retailers and department stores start getting ready for the holidays the day after Labor Day. There is however, one retailer who strikes before the summer is even over on its holiday marketing and gift giving. That retailer is Hallmark. Each year (since 1973) they release their Hallmark Keepsakes with little or no buzz. They really don’t need one. Their Keepsake Ornaments have gathered a following of collectors since their creation. It wasn’t until 1991 when Hallmark introduced the USS Enterprise into their collection when fan boys started to take notice. Since then Hallmark has had a long tradition of bringing the likes of Star Trek, Star Wars, Spider-Man, Batman, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean to the Christmas tree. This year Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Jonny Quest and Wall-E (available in October) will join the collection.
Collecting the Hallmark Ornaments bordered on obsession at times for me and two years ago I knew I had to cut back on collecting them. It was, quiet frankly, impossible to get them all. They are expensive and some of them are just plain ugly. Most if not all of the space ships from Star Wars and Star Trek are superb. Whether they have had lights or sound effects (some times both) they have always made a great addition to the tree. Their character likenesses on the other hand have been a different story. Captain Picard (1995) probably is the worst (see gallery) and the Stormtrooper (2000) is one of the best in the Hallmark Collection.
Most of the time the ornaments coincide with what is “in” in pop culture, hence the Joker ornament this year. Thankfully it looks nothing like Heath Ledger. A Mach 5 will join the Hallmark Ornaments as well as Iron Man and finally Indiana Jones (right out of Raiders of the Lost Ark). Believe it or not The Simpsons have finally gotten the first Hallmark Ornament with Bart and Lisa watching TV. The delay was probably due to a licensing issue because The Simpsons have been “in” for almost twenty years.
This year, what just misses the boat for this Maniac is the USS Reliant from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. It does light up but it has none of James Horner’s brilliant score nor any dialogue from Ricardo Montalban. It is a great design but even a few fire burns from the battle with the Enterprise would have just added so much more. My personal favorite is Space Ghost (available in October). Posed and ready to fire, this isn’t the guy from the talk show. It is the hero from the old Hanna-Barbera show. For some reason I think a Cartoon Network Brak probably would have sold a thousand times better though. Hanna-Barbera also has a Jonny Quest figure this year but the sculpt mimics a McFarlane figure that came out back in 2006. Zero points for originality on that one Hallmark.
Whether you are die hard fan or the occasional collector, these ornaments are a great reminder for when there were toys under the tree on Christmas Day. To give as a gift or to yourself they are the perfect reminder that the holidays are for the kid in us all.
Click on the photo below to check out the full Gallery of photos.
NEXT up for NECA
NECA has been busy with two of their biggest properties. Gears of War and their AVP: Requiem figures are moving into their second and fourth series. Both sets of figures have incredible details but do you really need to have two separate Theron Guards? One with a mask and one without seem pretty greedy. The Predators put most of McFarlane toys to shame but their pose is always the same. I am starting to see what many of the Maniacs were complaining about when I covered NECA’s new releases back at the International Toy Fair in February. They haven’t wowed me since their original Alien figure.
Video game update
The Quantum of Solace game will be hitting stores just about the same time as the movie. The cast will be lending their voices to the game but, surprisingly enough; actors from Casino Royale will be featured as well. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre will appear and of course Daniel Craig and Judi Dench will be playing their iconic roles. The game’s engine is based on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and will available for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, the Wii, NDS and the PC. Check out the site for more details.
Countdown to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
So there are 21 days left until Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is released and I have begun to notice that it is a lot like Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It does have the action figures, comic book, novel and video game tie-ins. What is different though is that there hasn’t been a drought of Star Wars. Back in 1996 we were craving something new from Star Wars. Lucas was planning on releasing the Special Editions and the action figures had finally returned but this multimedia/ movie free franchise hadn’t been attempted before. Now we have the The Clone Wars TV show set to air and two different eras are being explored. Is this too much Star Wars? Is the bad taste of episodes one, two and three still lingering? With the multimedia blitz that is The Force Unleashed about to hit I for one am going enjoy this unexplored era of Star Wars. Check out the The Force Unleashed demo on Star Wars.com.
Video Games:
PS3, PS2 and PSP
Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice by Atlus (PLAYSTATION 3)
DT Carnage by Agetec (PlayStation2)
Falling Stars by Agetec (PlayStation2)
Ferrari Challenge by Activision Inc. (PLAYSTATION 3)
Ferrari Challenge by Activision Inc. (PlayStation2)
N+ by Atari Inc. (Sony PSP)
Pilot Academy for PlayStation Portable by SVG (Sony PSP)
Shining Dragon for PlayStation 2 by SVG (PlayStation2)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 by Electronic Arts (PLAYSTATION 3)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 by Electronic Arts (PlayStation2)
Vampire Rain: Altered Species by Ignition Entertainment Ltd (PLAYSTATION 3)
Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS
Digimon World Championship by Namco (Nintendo DS)
Ferrari Challenge by Activision Inc. (Nintendo Wii)
Ferrari Challenge by Activision Inc. (Nintendo DS)
Ford Racing Off Road by Crave Entertainment (Nintendo Wii)
Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery by Majesco Sales Inc. (Nintendo Wii)
From The Abyss by Aksys (Nintendo DS)
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness by Natsume, Inc. (Nintendo DS)
Mario Super Sluggers by Nintendo (Nintendo Wii)
MLB Power Pros 2008 by 2K Games (Nintendo DS)
N+ by Atari Inc. (Nintendo DS)
Pajama Sam in Don't Fear the Dark by Majesco Sales Inc. (Nintendo Wii)
PictoImage by Sega Of America, Inc. (Nintendo DS)
The Sims 2: Apartment Pets by Electronic Arts (Nintendo DS)
Spy Fox in Dry Cereal by Majesco Sales Inc. (Nintendo Wii)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play by Electronic Arts (Nintendo Wii)
Xbox 360
Tales of Vesperia by Namco (Xbox 360)
Tales of Vesperia Premium Edition by Namco (Xbox 360)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 by Electronic Arts (Xbox 360)
PC
7 Wonders 2 jc by Mumbo Jumbo (Windows 2000 / 98 / Me / XP)
Codename Panzers - Commanders Edition jc by CDV (Windows 2000 / Me / XP)
Flatout: Ultimate Carnage by Empire Games (Windows Vista / XP)
Galactic Civilizations II jc by Stardock (Windows XP)
GTR Evolution by Viva Media (Windows Vista / XP)
Outcry by Dreamcatcher Interactive (Windows 2000 / Me / XP)
Prison Tycoon 4: SuperMax by Valusoft (Windows Vista / XP)
Safecracker jc by Dreamcatcher Interactive (Windows 2000 / 98 / Me / XP)
Sid Meier's Pirates! by Feral Interactive (Mac OS X, Mac OS X Intel)
The Sims 2: Apartment Life by Electronic Arts (Windows Vista / XP)
The Sims 2: Apartment Life Limited Collection by Electronic Arts (Windows Vista / XP)
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A Hallmark Store competitor, Carlton Cards (the retailer for American Greetings), had the rights to sellthe annual Simpsons holiday ornaments for quite a number of years. I'm guessing that the contract came up and Groening's people got a better deal with Hallmark. The older Carlton Card Simpsons ornaments are of comparable quality to the Hallmark ornaments, and are well worth seeking out for Simpsons fans. Carlton Cards generally doesn't get the A-list licenses for ornaments like Hallmark, but they have picked up a number of fanboy favorites including Godzilla, King Kong, Transformers, and a lot of oddball comic/cartoon characters.