Ornament Review: Darth Vader's Tie Fighter - Star Wars Storytellers - 2017 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Good sculpt, interaction with others

Cons: Wish more lit up.

The Bottom Line:

Darth Vader’s fighter

Adds to the Star Wars magic

In Power Cord show

Darth Vader Continues the Storyteller Dark Side

Hallmark released three of their planned seven Star Wars Storyteller ornaments this year, two in July and one in October.  And both of the July releases were villain ships.  Not that I’m complaining since both were well done, as Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter shows.

If you are familiar with Star Wars, you don’t need any further description of the ornament.  For those who aren’t, this ship is essentially a half circle with almost parentheses wings on the sides.  Despite the colors in the pictures, the ornament is a uniform gray with darker gray panels on it, which also fights with how things actually look in the films.

And here comes the controversy with this ornament.  I know one Star Wars fan who wouldn’t buy the ornament because it looked dirty to them.  Now, I will freely admit there are smudges on it, but I think they are supposed to look like dirt.  And if you actually pay attention to the Star Wars movies, you’ll see that things are slightly dirty.  So, I maintain that this is a feature, not a bug.  But keep that in mind before you buy it.

I mentioned that this ornament works with Hallmark’s new Power Cord, which is sold separately.  You don’t have to buy this cord, although since these ornaments are priced higher than most, it makes sense to use it with this cord.  The plug for the cord is on the bottom of the cockpit.  When you plug it in, you’ll find that the window in the front of the cockpit lights up.  Press the button on the top of the cockpit, and you’ll hear some of Darth Vader’s lines from climatic battle.  All by itself, we get about forty seconds of the scene.

However, the magic of these ornaments comes when you buy more of them.  No, I don’t mean more of this particular ornament, but more of the Star Wars Storyteller ornaments.  If you have all three, you’ll hear multiple scenes from Star Wars, a show that lasts about four and a half minutes.  That includes lines from each ship that you won’t hear without the others.  Yes, it’s a gimmick to get you to buy all the ornaments, but it’s a cool one, and I like it.

The one thing I wish is that more of this ornament lights up.  Each ornament lights when it is their turn, but on this ornament, we just get a little bit of the window in the front that lights up.  It’s rather disappointing on the light effects.

You could set this ornament out since it rests on its wings.  The power cord can slip under the gap they create.  However, this is a Christmas ornament, so it is meant to be hung.  You’ll find the loop near the front of the cockpit.  It actually doesn’t look centered, but it does allow the ornament to hang straight.

This new ornament line is expensive, but I love it.  The way the ornaments interact is so cool.  You’ll definitely want to add Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter to your set.

Original Price: $39.95