Ornament Review: Literary Ace - Spotlight on Snoopy #5 - 2002 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Give a holiday twist of a favorite part of the Peanuts strips

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

Snoopy's typing hard

His story about Christmas

Is for you to share

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night When I Got This Snoopy Ornament

Any time Peanuts spent a week or two focusing on Snoopy's writing career, I always loved it.  Whether it was the bad advice he followed (changing suddenly to gradually to read "Gradually, a shot rang out.") or the awful rejection letters he got ("Please note, we have included two rejection letters, one for this story and one for the next you will send us."), these were sure to bring me laughs.

If the Spotlight on Snoopy series hadn't included a reference to these classic moments at some point, I would have been upset.  Fortunately, they took care of things with the fifth year's ornament, Literary Ace.

This is actually the biggest ornament to date.  Snoopy is slightly bigger than he has been.  Plus, he's sitting down instead of standing up.  He's sitting in front of his typewriter working on his latest masterpiece.  And he is dressed for the season.  He's wearing a green scarf and a purple jacket (okay, so I don't quite get the jacket part).  But the biggest festive feature is his Santa hat.

Woodstock is present as always, this time sitting on Snoopy's foot so he was critic as needed.  He's got green ear muffs and a red scarf.

The thing that really makes this ornament stand out is the amazing detail.  While the typewriter doesn't really work (obviously), you can see three rows of "key."  They aren't labeled, but still, this is a nice touch.

There is paper in the typewriter.  Okay, it feels more like weak cardboard, but it is a nice touch as well.  So far, all Snoopy has managed to type is 2002, the year the ornament first came out.

Because of the increased size, this ornament is slightly heavier than the others.  Being made out of mostly plastic, it's still not enough to move a branch too far, but it is noticeable.

Between the typewriter and Snoopy sitting, this one has a large base.  If you set it down, trust me, it isn't going anyway.  The ring for hanging it is just at the top of Snoopy's head, and he hangs perfectly straight.

And the bigger base allows them to make the copyright on the bottom readable.  You can also see the 5 (representing the number in the series) is clearly in a Christmas tree and not a triangle.

This is definitely the biggest box we've seen so far.  Instead of bubble wrap, we get a small plastic bag and more plastic to try to keep the ornament, specifically the paper, from getting bent.  Mine has a little bend to it, but it is still in basically good shape after seven years.

As much as I love most of the ornaments in the Spotlight on Snoopy series, Literary Ace is one of my clear favorites.  If you like Snoopy, you really should try to track it down.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Spotlight on Snoopy series.

Original Price: $9.95