Ornament Review: Santa Certified #4 - Noah's Ark - 2016 Hallmark

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Great looking Noah’s Ark

Cons: Too many people don’t connect to it

The Bottom Line:

Fancy Noah’s Ark

An ornament that looks great

But has small market

Great Example of a Noah’s Ark Toy.  But I Don’t Connect with It.

Maybe it was me and the era or location where I grew up, but I don’t remember ever having a Noah’s Ark toy.  In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one even today.  But they must be a thing since Hallmark always releases an ornament of one every year.  In 2016, they made the Noah’s Ark ornament part of the Santa Certified series.  While it’s not a bad looking ornament, I wish it weren’t part of the series.

The ornament itself is shaped like a big boat.  No surprise there, right?  It is painted tan and brown with a red roof.  There are a pair of elephants on one side and lions on the other.  Up on the very roof we have a pair of doves and a pair of ravens.  On the bottom are three sets of wheels and out the front is a rope.

Those wheels actually do turn, and that gives us a very fun bonus.  When the middle wheels turn, the lions and elephants bob up and down like they are on a seesaw.  It is a nice bonus that makes me smile.  Those middle wheels are larger than the rest, and are painted to look like fish jumping out of the water when they turn.  Well, actually, based on the rope at the front designed for a child to pull, the fish are jumping backwards into the water when pulled.  The picture on the box shows them jumping forward into the water, so mine at least was put together backwards.

I can certainly appreciate this ornament as a piece of art.  It looks wonderful, as all the ornaments in this series do.  The details are great, and the colors, while not super bright, do look good.  But I just don’t feel connected to it.  I wouldn’t have bought it if it weren’t part of the series, and I’m not alone since this was the piece most left over after Christmas of any in the series so far.

The special touches continue on the bottom where Santa has signed it.  The series marker is fancier, too, with branches on the tree outline.  It’s still easy to see the four in the tree.  The year is painted on one side of the boat as well.

The ornament rests easily on the wheels, so you can set it out to be displayed.  As is befitting a piece that Santa has taken special care designing, this ornament also hangs straight.

Sadly, this Santa Certified piece had a much more limited audience than the rest of the series.  If you are in that market, you will love it.  If you aren’t, you definitely won’t notice it missing in your collection.

See what else Santa has paid special attention to with the rest of the Santa Certified series.

Original Price: $15.95