Sunday, September 26, 2010

Exceptionally Breakable, The VERY Limited Edition Enterprise Blown Glass Ornament Has Value!


The Good: Good balance, Quality artwork, Great collectible value!
The Bad: VERY expensive! Breakable.
The Basics: A pretty wonderful ornament, the lack of durability and pricey nature of the Hallmark Gold Crown Reflections U.S.S. Enterprise ornament rob it of perfection.


Christmas ornament collecting is a surprisingly big business in the collectibles market. One of the ways to insure the value of collectibles, unfortunately, is to make them exceptionally limited. One of the ways to make an already limited piece more so is to make it breakable. The truth is that the Enterprise blown glass ornament is very fragile and breaks easily, making it less-than-ideal for Christmas trees, especially around active families. That said, it is still a pretty awesome ornament.

The U.S.S. Enterprise blown glass ornament is a Hallmark ornament released in 1999 as a “bonus” ornament. It is both limited edition and very hard to find, arguably because many have broken. It is getting increasingly more difficult to find in the secondary market and when one may find it, it is usually quite expensive.

Hallmark Gold Crown Reflections has a line of collectible ornaments from major franchises, like Star Trek. For that line, the emphasis is on quality and craftsmanship and the U.S.S. Enterprise ornament lives up on those fronts very well.

Fans of the Star Trek franchise will easily recognize the U.S.S. Enterprise as it appeared in every episode of the original series, Star Trek (click here for my review of the television series!).

Basics

The U.S.S. Enterprise ornament recreates the starship from the television series in blown glass. The ornament, released in 1999, is instantly recognizable both by fans and pop culture junkies all the world over. The U.S.S. Enterprise ornament is 4” wide, 2” tall and about an inch and a half thick. The thickness comes from the fact that the warp nacelles and saucer section of the starship come out of the space backdrop of the main ornament body!

Hallmark Gold Crown Reflections blew the Enterprise in a more silver glass than the white the starship actually looked, but considering how the reboots have it more silver, this works even better now!

The Hallmark Gold Crown U.S.S. Enterprise ornament is made of fragile blown glass. The ornament features a space backdrop with the Enterprise in profile cruising along in space.

This U.S.S. Enterprise has finely-made details, like the way the warp nacelles have red tips and the detailing on the side where it says U.S.S. Enterprise is good as well.

Features

As a Hallmark ornament, the U.S.S. Enterprise ornament could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. Instead, this is attempting to sell itself to a more upscale crowd not wowed by simple sound and light functions. This works more as an art piece than a kitsch collectible and most fans who look for classy will be pleased as a result.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Gold Crown Reflections U.S.S. Enterprise ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate Star Trek Christmas Tree, this is very much a luxury, but it is still less expensive than the first Enterprise ornament! The ornament has an aluminum hook loop embedded into the top center. From that hook, the U.S.S. Enterprise ornament hangs very well. The balance is good, and the ship looks like it is flying straight when hung properly.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (click here for my review!). The Gold Crown Reflections U.S.S. Enterprise was very limited as well and because of that and the breakability has skyrocketed to several times its original issue price.

This is a great investment piece and it is likely to keep appreciating in value as more people unintentionally break theirs.

Overview

The Hallmark Gold Crown Reflection U.S.S. Enterprise blown glass ornament is great for upscale Star Trek collectors, but is a very fragile investment!

For other Hallmark ornaments reviewed by me, please check out my reviews of:
2010 Limited Edition Lando Calrissian Star Wars Ornament
2010 "Defender Of Justice" Iron Man 2 Ornament
2010 Edward And Bella Twilight Ornament

7/10

For other ornament reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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