Ornament Review: Luke Skywalker - Star Wars #1 - 1997 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Mostly well balanced; started a fun ornament series

Cons: Lacking details; lightsaber seems delicate

The Bottom Line: 

The Star Wars series

Of ornaments does not get

Off to the best start

This Ornament Series Started a Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Hallmark got the license to produce Star Wars ornaments in 1996, and they produced one that year.  The next year, they started a trend of producing several a year, including one in an official series depicting characters from the original trilogy.  Not surprisingly, the series started with Luke Skywalker.

What is a surprise is that this is Luke in a costume from Empire Strikes Back.  They have yet to do Luke from the original film.  Anyway, he's wearing tan clothes and brown boots.  You can see where pockets would be on his clothes.  In his right hand, he's holding his lightsaber, and it's pointing back over his left shoulder.

Sadly, the series doesn't get off to the best start because of the lack of detail.  Yes, you can see wrinkles in his clothes, but overall the effect is very plain.  This isn't one of his better known costumes either; I had to go hunting to figure out for sure which movie he was supposed to be from.

Worse yet is his face.  They've got his hair right, but otherwise, he only bears a passing resemblance to actor Mark Hamill.  If it weren't for the lightsaber, I wouldn't know for sure who he is.

For the most part, the ornament is fairly sturdy.  The one thing that bothers me is the blue lightsaber.  It's made from what feels like hollow plastic, and if you aren't careful, it could catch on something.  The way it sticks up by itself, it seems like it would be very easy to accidently break it off.

Considering how Luke is standing with bent knees, I was surprised to see how easily he stands on his own.  He rocks some if bumped, but if you leave him alone, he'll stand no problem.

Unfortunately, he's not quite as well balanced for hanging on your Christmas tree.  There's a small brass ring sticking out of the back of Luke just below his neck.  When you put a hanger through it, Luke leans forward.  It's noticeable, but if you put him near the top of your tree, it won't be much of a problem since Luke would be on eye level.

Being a series ornament, there is a 1 in a Christmas tree symbol on his back left thigh.  They also put 1997, the year of first release, on the back of his belt.  They are easy to spot if you are looking for them, but not so obvious that they take away from the ornament.

Fortunately, Hallmark's Star Wars ornament series did get better as it went along since 1997's Luke Skywalker wasn't the best way to get started with ornaments of the characters.

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

Original Price: $13.95