The Good: Cute, Generally decent sculpt, Well-painted
The Bad: Very bad balance
The Basics: The 2014 "White Chocolate Moose" limited edition ornament is fun, but off-balance enough to be a tough one to recommend.
This year marks the first one where I have taken a decent amount of time to review some of the non-genre themed ornaments from Hallmark, largely because I have started a collection for my wife and she’s a big fan of cute ornaments. With the October ornament releases, I was pretty psyched to see that Hallmark had released a cute ornament to enhance my wife’s collection. That ornament was the White Chocolate Moose ornament.
White Chocolate Moose is cute and a good basic ornament, but unfortunately, it leans so far forward when hung that it is virtually impossible to recommend.
Basics
The White Chocolate Moose ornament is a moose, dripping with white chocolate sauce, a strawberry on his hear between his antlers, standing on a sandwich cookie base! The moose is looking content with eyes that look somewhat droopy and mellow, like he’s in a sugar coma! The ornament, released in 2014, is a limited edition ornament that was released during Ornament Release Weekend in October and it seems to have sold out, at least at all of my local Hallmarks (take that, Bane!).
Hallmark made a decent effort to make a good ornament with the White Chocolate Moose ornament, but the ornament is very simple and poorly balanced. Measuring three and one-half inches tall, two and three-quarters inches wide (thanks to the antlers) and two inches deep, the "White Chocolate Moose" ornament is a decent-sized Hallmark ornament. This is also one of the least expensive Hallmark ornaments, especially for the limited edition ones. Originally, it retailed at $12.95, which is a reasonable price for an ornament of this size.
The Hallmark "White Chocolate Moose" ornament is made of a durable plastic, but the coloring is done entirely in monotones, which is fine. Most of the moose is a flat brown with glossy white to represent the white chocolate dripping over the moose. The painted details are rendered without flaw on this, which is wonderful; the borders of the different elements are clear, the eyes and seeds on the strawberry on the head are clearly defined. This is a very cute ornament and well-colored.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, "White Chocolate Moose" could have a sound effect, but it does not. Instead, this is a less-expensive option that is just the cute animated character.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake "White Chocolate Moose" ornament is to be hung on a Christmas tree. And the "White Chocolate Moose" ornament would be a good option for anyone who wants a family tree or who loves animals, save that the balance is rotten. The ornament has the brass hook loop embedded into the top center of the back of the moose’s head. Unfortunately, because the nose and most of the antlers are in front of the loop and the body extends perpendicular to it, it is remarkably front-heavy. The result is that White Chocolate Moose is poorly balanced. The ornament looks terrible because the Moose is standing on the cookie, which does not hang at all level as a result of the poor balance. This makes it look like the White Chocolate Moose is sledding downhill on a cookie!
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 (reviewed here!). Within a few years, every major franchise from Star Wars to A Nightmare Before Christmas to Indiana Jones started making Hallmark ornaments. "White Chocolate Moose" is a non-genre ornament that is limited edition, which leads buyers to hope it has an inherent collectible value. Honestly, it is too early to tell if that is going to pay off with this ornament. White Chocolate Moose sold out at the local Hallmarks near me and if that was the trend everywhere, I would suspect that this will appreciate in value, even if it is unlikely to be a runaway success – especially with the balance issue.
Overview
Fans of cute food, meese, Hallmark ornaments, and generic Christmas ornaments are likely to find the White Chocolate Moose ornament cute, but disappointing when hung on the tree.
For other non-genre Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2014 Mice Cream Sundae Limited Edition ornament
2014 Kissed For Kaycee Limited Edition ornament
2013 Mint Chocolate Chipmunk ornament
4.5/10
For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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