Ornament Review: Luke Skywalker and Yoda - Star Wars #10 - 2006 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good looking sculpt of Luke being coached by Yoda

Cons: Obvious seams

The Bottom Line: 

Watch Luke Skywalker

Run through a jungle planet

With Yoda coaching

"Run, Yes!  A Jedi's Strength Flows From the Force!"

During Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker goes off by himself for a while to be trained in the ways of the Force by the old master Yoda.  For some reason I have never quite understood, part of that training involved Luke running with Yoda on his back.  I may not get what exercise has to do with the Force, but Luke Skywalker and Yoda make a good ornament for Hallmark's official Star Wars series.

This ornament features Luke in mid stride as he is running around the planet Dagobah.  He's wearing a grayish green shirt and pants and brown boots.  He's also got a backpack on, and in there is the small green alien Yoda.  He's resting in hands on Luke's shoulders, and you can almost hear him giving encouragement as Luke runs.

The sculpt looks fairly good.  Yoda looks just like he does in the movies, although Luke's a bit off.  He looks a bit more generic, although I do see traces of Mark Hamill in him.  He's missing the scars the character had during the movie from an attack early on, but that's pretty forgivable since it really wouldn't look good on an ornament.

My only real problem with it is that it is obviously several smaller parts put together.  Usually, if that's the case, the seams are pretty well hidden.  Here, every one of them is obvious.  I can tell you for a fact that Yoda and the backpack were a separate piece, as were Luke's arms and legs.  The obvious seems are a bit of a detraction from an otherwise good ornament.

Because we've caught Luke in mid stride, this ornament won't stand on its own.  That means the only way to display it is to hang it from the hook located on Yoda's right shoulder.  Since the hook is so far back, I'm not surprised to say that it hangs forward slightly, but it still works.  While it makes it harder to see Luke's face, it almost looks like he is leaning forward while running.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it were balanced this way on purpose.

Since this ornament is part of a series, Hallmark put a 10 in a Christmas tree on one of Luke's shoes.  But you kind of have to trust that's what it is since it's so small.  The same with the copyright information on his other foot.  It's not surprising since his feet are so small.

Like Chewbacca a few ornaments in the series ago, this is Yoda's first appearance and he's sharing it with Luke.  Again, Hallmark must not have planned on this series running so long because they released a solo Yoda figure about the time the series was starting.  But Yoda is getting a solo ornament in the official series in 2011.

If it weren't for the obvious seams, I would really like Luke Skywalker and Yoda.  Even with that noticeable flaw, it's still a good ornament.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Star Wars ornament series

Original Price: $15.00