Ornament Review: Toymaker Santa #17 - Train Table - 2016 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Fun ornament of Santa working on a train

Cons: We already have Santa and two other trains in this series

The Bottom Line:

Santa and a train

Third pairing in this series

Needs variety

Santa Returns to the Train Well a Third Time

I love Hallmark’s series ornaments because they showcase creativity by introducing variations on a familiar theme.  Unfortunately, I’m beginning to tire of the Toymaker Santa series for a lack of creativity.  While I did buy the 2016 entry, I was tempted to skip it for that reason.

There is nothing wrong with the ornament itself.  Santa is kneeling by a table train track.  There is a black train car on the track, and he is holding a red engine in his left hand.  Instead of his trademark hat, he’s wearing a red engineer hat.  Like much of the rest of this series, he’s wearing a green shirt and red pants under a tan work apron, and he’s got a hammer hanging from his side.

If this were the first time that Toymaker Santa had worked on a train, I’d be thrilled with the ornament.  But this is the third time we’ve seen Santa with a train.  Oh, they’ve all been different.  In 2000, the train was big enough for him to ride on.  In 2006, it was an electric train that, while not electric, did go around the track.  So they’ve all been different and fun, but with all the toys out there to choose from, how come we are getting trains again?

This is the seventeenth in the series, and the series marker is on the ornament.  Well, we have to trust that it is there.  It is hiding behind Santa’s right knee on the train table.  I can see the distinctive Christmas tree shape, but I can’t tell if the 17 is written in there or not.

With Santa kneeling and the train table itself, this ornament has a sturdy base, so you can easily set it out to be displayed.  If you want to hang the ornament, you’ll find that he tips slightly to the right.  Honestly, you have to be looking for it to notice it, and with tree branches around him, you’ll never notice.

I really do hope that Santa starts working on a greater variety of toys in the near future.  If he doesn’t, I may start skipping entries in this series.  If you don’t have the earlier trains, by all means track down the 2016 entry in the series.  But if you do, you might want to skip this one.

Here are the rest of the Toymaker Santa ornaments.

Original Price: $15.95