Ornament Review: Fire Station - Kringleville #3 - 2012 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun change as you slide the lever.

Cons: Outside of the building very plain

The Bottom Line: 

A plain building hides

Fun when you slide the lever

Nice light effect, too

When There's a Fire, Call Santa

Hallmark now has three series out that involve various buildings in a town.  Kringleville is lots of fun and certainly aimed at kids.  This one is creating the town that Santa lives in, and he seems to be involved in just about everything.  For example, for the third in the series, he's stationed at the Kringleville Fire Station.

The building itself is fairly square and sits on a white plastic base.  It's four sides are all brick with a white roof that is obviously covered in snow.  When the garage door is down, there's a wreath on the door.

Honestly, there isn't much to recommend the ornament just by itself.  In fact, if these were just buildings, I probably wouldn't be at all interested.  But there is a lever over on the side that allows you to change the scene some.

When the lever is in the back position, the garage door is down and Santa and a Dalmatian can be seen in the window over looking the front of the station.  Slide the lever forward, and the door opens and Santa disappears from the window.  Instead, he and the dog are now in the fire engine that slides out a bit.  The license plate on the truck is 2012, the year the ornament came out.

But wait, there's more.  You can slip any miniature sized Christmas tree light into the hole at the back top of the ornament for a little light effect.  No, the windows on the side don't light up, but Santa lights up in the window and a little light floats down to the car.  Flip the lever, and the light is now spotlighting Santa and the engine as they leave the garage.

It's these added elements that make the ornament and series so fun.  I'm not a little kid, but I get a kick out of seeing the scene in the ornament change as I flip the lever.  If it were just the building, I could pass since there isn't much detail to it overall, but I smile as I play with the ornament.

The base of the ornament provides a great flat surface, so these can be displayed on any thing you want to set them on.  The base also has the 3 in a Christmas tree, making this as the third building in Kringleville.

I've been hanging these on my tree, and there's a brass ring on top of the fire station that allows you to do just that.  The ornament hangs straight all by itself, although hooking the light into the top can change that if you aren't careful.

While the ornament itself isn't much to look at, the lever adds a huge dose of fun to the Kringleville Fire Station.  This is one for kids of all ages.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Kringleville series.

Original Price: $17.95