Ornament Review: Lite-Brite - 2018 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Captures the Lite-Brite toy

Cons: Wish it lit up better

The Bottom Line:

80's nostalgia

Recreated for your tree

Bit dim but still fun

Let this Nostalgic Ornament Lite Up Your Tree

As you may have figured out, I don't have a theme for my Christmas tree.  Instead, I buy whatever appeals to me, which is deadly for the budget (and leads to way more ornaments than I have space for).  One thing that does appeal to me are the nostalgia ornaments, so when I saw that Hallmark was releasing a Lite-Brite ornament this year, I had to get it.

If you don't remember the Lite-Brite, it was essentially box with a lightbulb inside it and a grid on the front.  You'd cover the grid with a piece of black paper and then punch colored pegs into the paper, creating a scene.  When the light was turned on, the pegs would light up.  I know I had one as a kid, although I don't think I played with it as much as I think I did.  Anyway, I loved it when I did, so getting this ornament was a no brainer.

The ornament perfectly captures the original Lite-Brite toy, only shrunk to the appropriate size to fit on your tree.  The front is painted black although it does have indentations to recreate the feel of the grid.  It does have miniature pegs sticking out, and those pegs are in a snowman design.  He's got a hat and he's holding a shovel with an evergreen tree in the background.

Of course, this wouldn't be a Lite-Brite ornament if it didn't light up.  There is a hole in the back so you can attach it to your light string.  Unfortunately, the results aren't quite as bright as I had hoped.  The lightbulb has to be really firmly inside the ornament to get the full glow.  If it does that, it looks impressive, otherwise the result is lackluster.  Meanwhile, the pegs aren’t quite a colorful as they should be, making the ornament look more black and white than colorful like the Lite-Brite was.

Like the original toy, the bottom is flat, so you can set it out to be displayed if you want to.  However, the hole for the light string is on the bottom, so you can’t have it attached to lights unless you hang it.  When you go to hang the ornament on your tree, you'll find that it hangs straight, although the light cord could easily make it tip some.

I do wish the ornament lit up better, but I am still enjoying having a Lite-Brite again in ornament form.

Original Price: $17.99