The Good: Collectible, Well-balanced, Good casting of the character, Decent coloring detail.
The Bad: No special features
The Basics: Well-balanced and playful, the Hallmark limited edition Harley Quinn ornament is a dream for fans of Batman or Gotham City Sirens!
With Hallmark's 2011 ornament season beginning last weekend with their Sneak Preview Weekend, I have a lot to be excited about and a whole boatload of forthcoming ornament reviews to write. It's an exciting time of year for me. But before I delve into the new crop, I have one old bit from last year to evaluate. While on vacation with my wife to Michigan last month, I stopped into a local Hallmark store and uncovered a small cache of the Limited Edition Harley Quinn ornaments! This was an ornament that sold out exceptionally quickly and that I had missed reviewing during the 2010 season. So, faced with the chance to review some, I picked them up and now am excited to pass judgment on them.
The Harley Quinn is a limited edition, exclusive Hallmark ornament, and it is not one of the usual mass produced ornaments from the series. Because of its limited nature, the best place to find it is on-line; trying to find it in stores is an almost impossible task given that they sold out at virtually every location that they were shipped to last year.
Hallmark Keepsake has a line of collectible ornaments from major franchises, like Star Trek, Star Wars and DC Comics. To date, I had only reviewed one of the DC Comics ornaments, the 2009 Wonder Woman ornament my wife got for me (that's here!). From the DC Comics line comes the Harley Quinn limited edition ornament. Fans of the Batman corner of the DC Universe will easily recall the Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn is the maniacal psychiatrist who became obsessed with the Joker and sprung him from Arkham Asylum. She currently is one of the three Gotham City Sirens in the monthly comic book with Catwoman and Poison Ivy!
Basics
The Harley Quinn ornament recreates the demented villainess in solid plastic. The ornament, released in 2010, is an amazing recreation of the female character who has never been in one of the Batman movies. She is completely obscured by facepaint and her tight bodysuit. Harley Quinn is posed with her oversized mallet and a playful pose. The ornament, like the character, is dominated by red, black and white, though the ornament is so detailed that it has the bright blue eyes of the young lady
Hallmark insisted on $14.95 for the ornament originally and it sold out at most venues at that price. For an ornament without any sound chip or light function, this still seems a little high for me. The Hallmark Harley Quinn ornament is made of a durable plastic and has her with one hand on her hip and a playful smile on her lips. Set on a desk, she actually stands up!
Harley Quinn is detailed exceptionally in the body and on the costume. The Harley Quinn looks like she does in the comics, down to the lipstick being both black and red on her smiling lips. The ruffles on Harley Quinn's wrists have a classic look to them and the mallet even contains a strap that is hanging down making this look like it obeys the physics of the real world. Hallmark took a lot of care in decorating the Harley Quinn ornament and they succeeded.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, Harley Quinn could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just an ornament, a low-cost (comparatively) option for those who might not want to shell out for the more expensive ornaments. This Harley Quinn simply hangs.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Harley Quinn ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate DC Universe Christmas Tree, Harley Quinn is very much a luxury; Harley Quinn was not an essential character, but she is also drastically undermerchandised to the fans. In fact, DC Universe villains have been underrepresented, which might be why this one sold as well as it did! The ornament has a brass hook loop embedded into the top center of her back, right between her shoulderblades. From that hook, the Harley Quinn ornament hangs perfectly balanced. It is impressive and the ornament sways when rocked, but otherwise sits stable in the right position!
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 of that!). Since then, Hallmark has gotten into every major franchise from Disney to The Simpsons to the DC Comics universe. The Harley Quinn ornament is very limited and has already increased in price in the secondary market. Harley Quinn was exceptionally short-produced, though the exact numbers have not been released, but it's pretty hard to meet the demand of all Batman fans.
This is a great investment piece and it is already appreciating, so one suspects that even buying it now would be a good investment.
Overview
Harley Quinn is an exceptional ornament for an obscure character, but despite everything going for it, it is hard to justify (to me) such a high price for an ornament that does not do anything but hang there perfectly. Fortunately, fans have been snatching these up, so odds are I am in the minority opinion on the overall value of them!
For other limited edition Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2010 A Gift For Dobby Harry Potter ornament
2010 Lando Calrissian Star Wars ornament
2009 Ilia Probe Star Trek: The Motion Picture ornament
2009 Greedo Star Wars ornament
This is an ornament I proudly sell in my online store! Check out my current inventory of it by clicking here!
9/10
For other ornament and toy reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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