Ornament Review: A Gift for Dobby - 2010 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Nice detail, beloved minor character

Cons: Slight balance issue, coloring hurts the visual appeal

The Bottom Line: 

Moment makes me smile

Details are great.  But it will

Look strange on a tree

Now that Dobby is Free, You'd Better Hurry to Get Him

I said I wasn't going to get him.  I said that it was too weird a Christmas ornament.  And then the collector in me came out and I bought A Gift For Dobby, a limited edition ornament that Hallmark released in October.  I have several Harry Potter ornaments, and he'll fit right in.

In case you aren't familiar with the franchise, Dobby is a house elf who serves the Malfoy family.  Actually most house elves are treated like slaves, and Dobby is no exception.  In the final scene of both the book and movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Minor SPOILERS AHEAD if you care about the story), Harry Potter tricks Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a piece of clothing.  If that happens, the house elf is free.

The ornament captures the moment when Dobby is holding the sock, recognition of what this means on his face.  He is sculpted much like he looks in the movie, which means he's a bit on the ugly side.  He's got big ears, a long nose, and long boney fingers and toes.  His right hand is holding the book Harry hid the sock in while his left hand is holding the sock itself.  His face is so expressive, you can actually read the thoughts going through his head.  In a nice bit of detail, there are visible holes in the pages of the book.  This is something I had forgotten about the scene that I'm not going to spoil, but as soon as I saw it again, I knew what was going on.

Dobby is the only character in the ornament, and he has his feet with the toes pointing toward each other.  As a result, I wasn't expecting the ornament to be very stable, but he actually stands up quite nicely if you set him on a table or shelf.  There's a small brass hook on the top of his head you can use to hang the ornament on your tree.  When hanging, Dobby does tip forward a little bit.  It's noticeable, but it's not enough to be truly distracting.

In fact, my biggest complaint about the ornament is the coloring.  I don't know if it is my ornament or if this is a wide spread flaw, but his coloring seems to be too red.  There is a spot on his ankles where it is most pronounced, but his face seems a little too red as well.  I think I would find his face and therefore the entire ornament more appealing if it were a more muted color.

Even with the coloring issues, I'm glad I was able to get my hands on A Gift For Dobby.  This is such a big moment for a fan favorite character that I'm sure any Harry Potter fan will want to get him.

Original Price: $9.95