The Good: Affordable, Amazing sculpt, Good balance, Great coloring and use of stickers
The Bad: None!, No sound or light effects
The Basics: The 2016 Grimlock ornament is one of Hallmark Keepsake's sleeper hits of the season, making a Transformers ornament indispensable?!
Every year, I review a ton of genre-themed Hallmark ornaments and I tend to try to find at least one that is outside my specific area of interest. When I was growing up, I was a big fan of Masters Of The Universe, while my brother and step-brother were into G.I. Joe and Transformers, respectively. I was never truly into Transformers as my childhood had me fascinated with the blend of fantasy and science fiction that Masters Of The Universe was preoccupied with, as opposed to cars (despite the fact that they changed into robots). So, this year, I picked up the Transformers Hallmark ornament, Grimlock, without any expectations that it might be anything special.
But it was.
In fact, the Grimlock ornament is one that I inspected from all angles top try desperately to find a flaw, but I could not.
The Grimlock ornament is a common-release, mass-produced Hallmark ornament that is the one Transformers ornament produced for the 2016 season and Hallmark and sculptor Jake Angell go everything absolutely right with it!
Basics
The Grimlock ornament recreates the dinosaur robot in solid plastic, with surprisingly solid sticker accents. The ornament, released in 2016, is an amazing recreation of the armored robot as it appeared in the animated television series Transformers and, more accurately, in its toy form. The Grimlock ornament features the robot with its little Tyrannosaurus Rex mouth open with all of the right panels molded and colored onto the ornament. The Grimlock ornament bore an original price of $15.95, which seemed to be a fair price for the 4" long, 3" tall and 2 1/4" wide Hallmark ornament.
Grimlock is the transformed dinosaur robot in its Tyrannosaurus Rex form (did it turn into a robot from the dinosaur?!). The sculpted detailing on the ornament is incredible and includes ribbing and plating that give the character an appropriately robotic look. Angell made the ornament look like it could turn from the dinosaur into a flat-out robot with the detailing on the seams. The little robot Tyrannosaurus Rex arms look adorable and with the robot's mouth open, Grimlock looks the appropriate mix of cute and ferocious.
The coloring for the Grimlock ornament is amazing. This ornament looks exactly like the action figure. Despite monotones that Grimlock is cast in, the ornament looks just like the toy and the Hallmark ornament even includes the stickers making the accents look just like the original toy. Grimlock looks amazing in sculpt and coloring!
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Grimlock could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just an ornament, a low-cost option for those who love Transformers. This Grimlock ornament simply hangs on a tree. Given how few Transformers ornaments there are, there is no reasonable expectation that Grimlock would have had a sound or light effect.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Grimlock ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate nostalgic toy Christmas Tree, Grimlock is made so well as to be surprisingly essential! The ornament has a steel hook loop embedded in the top center of the character's back, between the dinosaur's shoulders. From that hook, the Grimlock ornament hangs perfectly well-balanced. Grimlock is posed in a fairly neutral pose, but it looks perfectly right, even on the balance front.
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!). Since then, Hallmark has gotten into every major franchise from Disney to Twilight to the Marvel Comics universe. Carlton Cards used to make Transformers ornaments, but Hallmark now has the license and they seem to be prioritizing quality over quantity. Grimlock seems like it would be a great investment for the quality, especially if Hallmark Keepsake keeps up the Transformers line at such a high level of quality!
Overview
The Grimlock ornament is the surprise success genre ornament of the 2016 season and it is one well worth picking up for anyone who loves Transformers, robot dinosaurs, vintage toys or just flat-out awesome-looking ornaments!
For other 2016 genre Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
Death Trooper Rogue One ornament
U.S.S. Enterprise Star Trek 50th Anniversary ornament
Batmobile Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice ornament
10/10
For other ornament reviews, please check out my Ornament Review Index Page!
© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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