Ornament Review: High Flylin' Friends - 2010 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Captures a classic moment from a favorite film.

Cons: N on Buzz's foot shouldn't be backward

The Bottom Line: 

Captures classic pose

Must for all Toy Story fans

Buzz and Woody fly

Flying of Falling with Style?  Either Way, You'll Love Having this Ornament on Your Tree

Some movie moments are just iconic.  For me, any mention of Toy Story automatically makes me think of Buzz and Woody's flight into the car taking Andy to his new home at the end of the movie.  And considering how much I love Pixar's films, I couldn't wait to get my hands on High-Flyin' Friends since this ornament captures that moment from the film.

If you are at all familiar with the scene, you can probably already picture the ornament.  It features only Woody the cowboy and Buzz the space ranger.  Buzz has his wings out.  While they don't actually make him fly, they do allow him to somewhat control their descent.  Think of it is falling with style, if you will.  Buzz has his hand wrapped around Woody, who is enjoying the trip with his arms fully extended.  Both of them are smiling, although Buzz's face is hiding a bit behind Woody's hat.  Woody has a giant grin on his face, however.

The details are pretty great for this ornament, even down to the pattern on Woody's shirt.  They have written Andy on both Woody and Buzz's feet.  They remember to put the N backward on Woody's foot just like in the movie.  Unfortunately, they also put it backward on Buzz's foot even though it was correct in the movie.  But that's the only flaw I can find with the ornament.

This ornament only works when displayed on a tree.  The only other option is to lay it down on either Woody's stomach or Buzz's back.  Sorry, but it just loses something when you do that.  There is a hook on Buzz's back to slip an ornament hanger through.  When hanging, the ornament is at an angle, with Buzz and Woody's heads higher than their feet.  The angle is actually perfect because it lets you see more of the details on their face.  Plus it actually looks like they are flying.  It looks so much better than it would if it were perfectly flat.

I had seen a picture of it before I got it, but when I actually took it out of the box, I was a little surprised by how small it is.  It's definitely smaller than some of the other Toy Story ornaments that Hallmark has done over the years.  It's about three inches long and one and a half inches think.  It is a nice size if you have too many ornaments and just want something small to slip into a little space.  But it still seems like the ornament could be an inch or so longer without any real problems.

As I mentioned earlier, I just love this ornament.  I love just about everything that Pixar has done, and this is one of those classic moments from their first film.  Outside of that backwards N, the geek in me is thrilled with the ornament.

Frankly, I'm surprised that Hallmark waited 15 years to capture the classic moment they did in High-Flyin' Friends.  I'm just glad to have this ornament now to enjoy for years to come.

Original Price: $14.95