Ornament Review: Toymaker Santa #13 - Jack-in-the-Box - 2012 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Santa's having fun with yet another childhood staple

Cons: Santa's legs are always at an odd angle

The Bottom Line: 

Aside from the legs

Santa, Jack-in-the-box make

A perfect combo

Fortunately, the Picture Didn't Capture This Ornament at All

When Hallmark releases their Dreambook every spring, I pour over it, deciding which ornaments are must owns and seeing what the latest additions to my favorite series are.  Of course, when the ornaments are released, I find some surprises, those I either loved more or less than their pictures.  One of those in 2012 was the thirteenth entry in the Toymaker Santa series.  Fortunately, this was a pleasant surprise.

Santa is testing yet another toy for some lucky girl or boy.  This time around, it's a jack-in-the-box.  He's got one hand on the crank and is holding the box with the other one.  The box itself is a shiny, metallic red, and "jack" has just popped up.  He's yellow and looks a tiny bit like a clown.  He's definitely a toy aimed at little kids.

Santa is dressed pretty much as usual for this series, which means he's wearing a green shirt and red pants with a tan work apron over it and a hammer hanging at his side.  He's smiling so much his eyes are almost closed.

One of the things I didn't like about the ornament initially was the pose.  The jack-in-the-box is next to Santa's face, and he's leaning way back.  It almost looks like Santa was so scared that he's jerked back.  His arched back is a bit awkward looking in a picture.

This pose also means that Santa doesn't stand on his feet at all.  He's so far off balance that he just falls over if you try.

However, when he's hanging, he actually looks pretty good.  He legs and feet are positioned such that you know he isn't really standing, yet the ornament looks like it's hanging straight.  It's weird, but it works.  Santa doesn't look like he's leaning back so far, in fact he looks like he's standing fairly straight.  His legs still look a little odd, but he still looks better than he does if you try to stand him on them.

Frankly, I think my issue with the pictures of this ornament was that they tried to take it so that Santa looked like he was standing.  That just doesn't work at all.  But when you hang it, Santa actually looks good.

Being a series ornament, you'll find a 13 inside a Christmas tree hidden on it somewhere.  It's not on his feet, and it's fairly well disguised, and those are the only clues I'm giving you.

Leaving the legs aside, I like the ornament.  The shiny paint on the jack-in-the-box is a very nice touch, and I like the detail they manage to put on Jack himself even though he's so small.  It's a great addition to the ornament series.

So the odd angle of Santa's legs proves to be the only sticking point for Toymaker Santa #13.  I don't know why they aren't straight, but it really isn't that noticeable when you hang him.  And since that's the point of Christmas ornaments, it works out just fine.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Toymaker Santa series.

Original Price: $14.95