Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Good sculpt; Charlie Brown's smile
Cons: Appears too big; Issues with hanging
The Bottom Line:
The batter is up
Charlie gets ready to throw
Will this one strike out?
Come On, Charlie Brown, Throw a Strike!
In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really a sports
guy. I hardly watch sports on TV, and
the only one I play is ultimate Frisbee.
Still, I can't complain about Charlie's Favorite Pastime, the eleventh
entry in Hallmark's Happiness is Peanuts All Year Round series. Charlie Brown loves baseball - it is a
constant in the strip over the years.
It's a natural addition to the series.
As you might imagine, the ornament features Charlie Brown
getting ready to throw out a pitch. He's
standing back on his right leg with his left up in the air. His gloved left hand is sticking out in front
of him while the ball is back in his right hand ready to fly. He's standing on a brown oval. While that oval is smooth, it is obviously
designed to represent Charlie's pitcher's mound. Charlie Brown is wearing his usual yellow
shirt with a black zig zag and a red hat; he's got the biggest smile on his
face.
If you bought the Happiness Is… stand that was sold
separately but designed to display the series, the background for this month
features the previous mentioned pitcher's mound front and center, a grassy
field behind that. Lucy is on the left
hand side with her mouth wide open, obviously yelling something to him. Snoopy is on the right hand side, and he's
obviously asleep.
It's actually the background that provides one of the
problems for this ornament for me. Lucy
and Snoopy are so small in it, that it makes Charlie Brown look so big in
comparison. It's almost like this is the
largest ornament in the series, which I just know is an optical illusion. I'm sure the idea was to make them seem like
they are standing in the background, but it doesn't quite work. This isn't the first time other characters
have been in the background, but they have worked while this one doesn't.
The other issue I have with the ornament involves hanging it
at all. Yep, the hook isn't turned
right, so if you do hang Charlie Brown on the stand, he faces either completely
to the left or completely to the right.
One way, his glove blocks Snoopy; the other you can't see the ball in
his hand. Despite a slight tip forward
when he's hanging, Charlie Brown does look essentially straight when you hang
him.
Fortunately, there's that nice brown base. I will be setting Charlie out on the nice
base of the stand when it comes time to display this ornament. I can turn him ever so slightly to see the
details and the background and know he's solid and not going anywhere unless
the stand gets a major jolt.
This is the eleventh in the year long series, so there is an
11 in a Christmas tree on the base of the ornament.
Charlie Brown has never convinced me that baseball is a good
sport, but I will still enjoy Charlie's Favorite Pastime every June. It's hard to resist something that makes
Charlie Brown look so happy.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Happiness is Peanuts All Year Long series.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Happiness is Peanuts All Year Long series.
Original Price: $12.95
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