Ornament Review: Santa's Magical Bear - Yuletide Treasures #4 - 2009 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Looks nice; great motion

Cons: Santa riding a polar bear?

The Bottom Line: 

Santa riding bear

Idea seems strange to me

But I like it's looks

Santa's Magical Bear is the Most Unique Entry in Yuletide Treasures

Sometime, when I look at something, it makes me scratch my head.  That was the case with Santa's Magical Bear, the fourth in Hallmark's Yuletide Treasures ornament series.  It's not that this is a bad ornament; in fact, it looks very nice.  But I don't get the inspiration for it at all.

This ornament features Santa riding on a polar bear as if it where a horse.  It is Santa's second appearance in the series, and he's the only person to appear more than once.  As usual, he's decked out in red with white boarders to the coat and pants.  He is wearing green gloves, which I find a little different.  His hat and coat have the gold accents that all the ornaments in the series have used.

And he is sitting on top of a polar bear.  Okay, he's actually sitting on what looks like a green carpet with a gold border and gold accents.  Around his heck, the bear is wearing a green wreath with little red berries.  And there are reigns that connect from Santa's hands to the bear's snout.

Each ornament in the Yuletide Treasures series is also a pull string toy.  In this case, the string has a star shaped snowflake that weighs it down.  When you pull the string, all four of the bear's legs move and Santa's left hand waves back and forth.

This is the first ornament in the series that can actually stand up.  Since the bear is in motion, only two of his feet are actually flat on the ground.  The other back foot is touching the ground enough to provide some stability while the fourth foot is completely up in the air.  You have to balance it exactly right, but once you do, he's fairly stable.  It would take a good bump to move him.

Right behind the white ball at the top of Santa's head is the brass loop for hanging the ornament.  The ornament leans slightly to one corner, but it's really not that noticeable unless he's just been sitting on a table.

The ornament looks nice, and I do like it.  I'm just stumped by the idea of Santa riding a bear, especially as a pull string toy.  Considering they never got to elves in this series, I would expect them to be included long before something like this.  It just strikes me as an odd idea.  Of course, I don't have that problem with Santa standing next to a polar bear, which was the case with the first Visit from Santa ornament which came out the same year.

So Santa's Magical Bear isn't my favorite in the series.  It looks nice enough, but the idea behind it seems strange to me.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Yuletide Treasures series.

Ornament Review: $16.50