Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Ornament Review: Santa Certified #5 - Teddy Bear Pull Toy - 2017 Hallmark Ornament



Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Classy looking Christmas pull toy
Cons: None
The Bottom Line:
Teddy bangs the drum
In this charming pull toy that
Brings series to close





Santa Certifies One Last Great Ornament

I must admit I have found the Santa Certified series to be a bit uneven.  While I loved the first, some of the others weren’t as good as they could have been.  Others must have felt the same way because Hallmark brought the series to a conclusion with the fifth ornament in 2017.  However, it goes out on a high note.

This year, the ornament is a pull toy.  On the cart is a cute teddy bear with a Santa hat on his head.  His hands are holding drum sticks, and yes, there is a drum in front of him.  The drum is red and gold and has 2017 written on the front of it with SC painted on the top in a fancy script.  The cart is a yellow-green with red wheels.

As I said, this ornament is supposed to be a pull toy, and there is a red rope in front.  The wheels actually do turn, and there are levers connected to the bear’s arms, so when you turn the front wheels, his arms move up and down so he actually bangs the drum.  Okay, so for the ornament version, the drum doesn’t actually bang and his arms don’t move enough for him to reach the drum – we just get the motion.  However, you can imagine who the real toy would work and it’s a really fun feature.

The ornaments that worked best in this series are the ones with a timeless look, and this ornament certainly has that.  Yet it is nostalgic since it makes us think of our childhoods.  Who didn’t annoy their parents with a toy like this at some point?  The fact that it is decked out for Christmas is even better.  I’m not a fan of yellow-green, but in this case, it works since it sets the cart apart from your Christmas tree.

Since the ornaments in this series are supposed to be the toys Santa spent extra time on for the extra special girl or boy.  This one doesn’t seem to have as many of the cool details, although you can see fur designs in the molded plastic for the bear.  When you turn it over, you’ll find that Santa has signed this ornament himself, and the series marker has gotten an upgrade.

The ornament rests well on the wheels, and you could easily wheel it around to enjoy the motion if you wanted to include it in a display, although it might be on the large size.  Of course, it is designed to be hung, and you can slip a hook through the loop on the top of the bear’s head.  When you do that, you’ll find that the ornament hangs straight.  Nothing for the best for this series, right?

It is wonderful to see the Santa Certified series go out on a high note.  While we won’t get to see everything that Santa could have designed, this piece is a wonderful way to end the series.

Check out the rest of the Santa Certified series.

Original Price: $15.95

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