Ornament Review: Stanley T. Starr - Snowtop Lodge Companion Piece - 2008 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Different, glowing compliment to the series

Cons: Starrs outshine any cons

The Bottom Line:

This snowman lights up

Fun compliment to series

Worth it if you’ve missed

Let Stanley T. Starr Shine on Your Tree

When you become a Hallmark collector, you quickly learn that not only do they have the official series pieces, but there are also unofficial series compliments.  Some of those pieces can be as good if not better than the official series pieces.  I think that’s the case with Stanley T. Starr, an unofficial series compliment to the Snowtop Lodge series.

This piece was originally released to the Keepsake Ornament Club, so he is a little rarer.  At first glance, he might not seem so special.  After all, this is a snowman, like all the entries in the series.  Stanley has a blue-gray scarf and light green stocking in one hand.  Like the others he has a scene on him.  This time, it is of a snowy village under a clear night sky.  Stanley is the least colorful of the series to date; all the colors are very muted and the scene on him is mostly just raised with very little gray shading.  Of course, he does have another part of the scene on his hat.  If you look up there, you’ll see Santa and his reindeer taking off.

Honestly, I like the muted look of this piece.  I’m not saying I would want every ornament in the series to look like this, but there is something elegant about the minimalist look.

However, what really makes the ornament stand out from the official series is the fact that it lights up.  You can stick it on any light bulb on your Christmas tree, and you’ll see light shining through the stars.  In fact, the bottom of the ornament glows, too, which really makes the snowy village scene stand out.  This just makes him all the more fun.  I stuck him on a white light this year because I have so little imagination for something like that, but you really can put him on any colored light you want.  I tried this as I was undecorating the tree, and I found that I liked blue as well.  Try it on various colors and see what you think.

Like the others in the series, you’ll find that Stanley does have a nice, flat bottom, so you can set him out as part of the rest of the series.  Of course, you won’t be able to get him to light up if you do that.  Since he is not an official part of the series, you won’t find a series marker on him anywhere.

I hung my copy of this ornament on my tree this year.  He hangs straight, although light bulbs and tree branches can interfere with that.

It’s easy to miss these series compliments if you aren’t paying close attention.  If that happened to you, go track down a copy of Stanley T. Starr today.  You’ll be very thankful you did.

Don't miss out on the rest of the Snowtop Lodge series.

Original Price: $20.00