Ornament Review: Packing Up the Toys - Once Upon a Christmas #5 - 2015 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great look and sound

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Toys are in his bag

Santa is ready to fly

Happiness on tree

Santa’s Getting Close to His Midnight Flight as He Packs up the Toys

As you may have noticed I have a slight Hallmark ornament series addiction.  (It’s a subset of my Hallmark ornament addiction.)  But it wasn’t the Once Upon a Christmas series that got me to start buying Hallmark’s magic cord ornaments.  Still, I’m enjoying watching Santa get closer and closer to his Christmas Eve mission with this series, and this year, he’s Packing Up the Toys.

The ornament features Santa in his red coat and hat and his bag of toys.  It’s full to the brim with the presents he’s going to leave for the good little boys and girls.  We can see a teddy bear, a train, a football, a horn, and a drum sticking out of the top of the bag.  And someone is getting a pony for Christmas since there is a small toy pony with a stuffed bear by Santa’s left foot waiting to go in the bag.

Since this is a magic cord ornament, we get light and sound when the ornament is plugged into a magic cord (sold separately).  Most of the light comes from the circular base (red and green), but there is a light (blue) in the drum as well.  The lights flash slowly whenever the ornament is plugged in, and they flash in time with music when any of the ornaments are controlling the show.

When you press the button on this one to start the sound aspect, you get to hear Santa talking about how many toys he has this year, which is great because of all the good boys and girls that means he gets to visit.  I still don’t know who is voicing Santa, but he is wonderful.  It’s a rich, deep voice just like I picture he would have.  After about 15 seconds, he stops talking, but the music continues to play for another 45 seconds so you get a full minute show.  The song this year is “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and the instruments present a wonderful upbeat version of the song.

As I already mentioned, all of this resides on a circular base.  That allows you to put it out on any flat surface.  In fact, it would be fun to have this series on display somewhere like a mantel sometime.  You’ll also find the series marker, in this case a 5 in a Christmas tree, on the bottom.

Or, like me, you can hang the ornament on your tree.  You’ll find the loop on the top of Santa’s hat, and when you slip a hook through it, you’ll find that the ornament hangs straight.

This series has always been detailed, and that continues here.  There’s a design on the bag, you can tell Santa is standing on a wooden floor, and there’s a design around the base as well.

Magic really does describe Packing Up the Toys.  This is a fun ornament that will bring a smile to your face when you hang it on your Christmas tree.

Original Price: $29.95

Enjoy all of Santa's preparations for the big day with the rest of the Once Upon a Christmas series.