Monday, July 15, 2013

Ornament Review: Amazing No. 53 - 2004 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Great ornament of a live action Disney character
Cons: None for me or other fans of Herbie
The Bottom Line
The Little Car looks
Hanging on my Christmas tree
Resting for next race




Herbie.  The Little Car.  Ocho.  Now in Convenient Ornament Size.

The first movie I remember seeing in the theaters is the original The Love Bug on one of its rereleases.  And I fell in love with it.  That’s why, before I was regularly collecting Hallmark Ornaments, I picked up 2004’s Amazing No. 53.

This ornament is nothing but Herbie, the Volkswagen Bug that is the real star of that film and the others in the franchise.  Yes, that’s right, I’m basically hanging an ornament sized car on my tree.  He's white like in the films, but they've got the red, white and blue racing strip on him and the number 53 painted on several times.  They’ve even got the fabric sun roof on top.

One thing that is interesting about this ornament is that it isn’t made from plastic like so many other Hallmark ornaments are.  Instead, it is made from die-cast metal.  That makes it a bit heavier than most, but it’s still on the light side.

And the wheels on the car go round and round.  Seriously.  The ornament is just the car, so the wheels are the part that touches the ground if you set it down, and you could play with it just like a toy car if you wanted to.  Nothing else on the car moves.  I don’t recommend playing with the car, but you could.

I recommend hanging it on your Christmas tree, naturally.  The loop is located on Herbie’s retractable roof, and the ornament hangs straight.  I’m not surprised it’s balanced since the loop is in the center of the ornament.  If it needed to be somewhere else to be balanced, they could move it no problem since there’s plenty of room up there.

Herbie’s fans must be numerous.  This ornament proved popular enough when it was released in 2004 that Hallmark released a miniature version of it in 2005.  They even used the same name.  Personally, I find their miniatures too small most of the time, so I’m glad I have the full sized original.

And I’m glad I have the ornament at all.  I always smile when I pull out Amazing No. 53.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go watch those movies again.

Original Price: $14.95

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