Ornament Review: Monopoly - Family Game Night #2 - 2015 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun take on Monopoly

Cons: Back of ornament quite plain; tips forward

The Bottom Line:

Anniversary

Makes this Monopoly’s year

For board game series

Do You Need a Monopoly on this Ornament?

Last year, I was thrilled when Hallmark started the Family Game Night ornament series since I have so many fond memories of playing games.  Since 2015 happens to correspond to the 80^th anniversary of Monopoly, that game gets the honor of being our second entry in the series.

Like with the first in the series, we get a wonderful 3D ornament of a board game box.  The game box forms the back of the ornament with a corner of the game board sticking straight out at us.  Across the front, we get Rich Uncle Pennybags running across.  In front of him are a house, a hotel, and the race car game token.  And the corner of the game board sticking out at us?  Advance to Go and I’ll tell you.

While I grew up with a very different version of the box cover, I’ve seen enough copies in the stores recently to recognize it as the modern Monopoly game cover.  I certainly do recognize it as a Monopoly game cover.  It’s enough to bring up fond memories.  No, I never played this game for hours on end.  I tend to give up when it is obvious I’ve lost, but I still love it.  And I have enough variations on the game I love to play as well.  (In fact, I’ve reviewed those variations but never the original game.)

The one down side to these ornaments is the back.  In this case, it’s perfectly plain red.  It does give a place for the series marker, but it would be fun if they painted it like the back of the box or gave us something to see back there.

With the game board sticking out of the front of the box, you’ll find it actually has a nice, flat surface, so you can set this one out to display year round if you so desire.

The loop for hanging this ornament is on the top of the box.  As a result, when you slip a hook through it, you’ll find that it tips forward slightly.  You can take advantage of that if you hang it near the top of your tree since it will allow you to view the details on the ornament better.

I am so loving seeing what they do with these old childhood (and adult) favorites.  Monopoly will be a winner for a long time to come.

Enjoy games?  Be sure to check out the rest of the Family Game Night series.

Original Price: $14.95