The Good: Good facial sculpt, Decent coloring accents, Good balance, Cool base
The Bad: Light on coloring detail
The Basics: A surprisingly decent Batman ornament, the 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament is pretty cool, if not perfect.
Hallmark bet big in 2016 on Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (reviewed here!), which was unsurprising considering that the other big DC Cinematic Universe film in 2016, Suicide Squad, was a bit more of a risk on most fronts (though it would have been hard for the company to go wrong with a limited edition Harley Quinn ornament!). So, Hallmark pretty reasonably released three Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice character ornaments in 2016, plus one vehicle and a convention exclusive character ornament. The release of the 2016 Batman Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice ornament was timed to play off the anticipated popularity of the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the film and it seems to have been the most popular of the triumvirate, despite the Wonder Woman ornament being more original.
The 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice is a decent sculpt and works well with the two accompanying Hallmark ornaments . . . even if there are already a ton of Batman ornaments on the market.
Basics
The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman ornament faithfully presents Batman in his fairly traditional black and gray film costume. This is Batman in his smooth gray and black suit, with a solid black cape flowing up and to the left of the character (when he is facing the viewer). The ornament, released in 2016, is good for an ornament based upon the costume used in Zack Snyder’s Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice film. With such a decent three-dimensional model, Hallmark was able to create an ornament that features a decent facial sculpt, good muscling for the character and surface details for things like the gloves and belt. Measuring four and a half inches tall and wide and two inches deep, the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament is one of six DC super hero-based ornaments released by Hallmark in stores in 2016 and it was intended to be paired with the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman ornament and accented with the Wonder Woman ornament sculpted from the same source material. The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament came with an original retail price of $15.95 and there were surprisingly few left over at the end of the season.
The Hallmark Batman ornament is made of durable plastic. Batman’s costume is colored in very muted gray and black, with fairly monotonal coloring for most of the costume. This version of Bruce Wayne is incredibly ripped with well-defined arm and thigh muscles visible underneath his smooth costume. The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament has the traditional Batman symbol on his chest and it is painted on in just the right spot with no distortion. The facial sculpt for the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman looks just like Ben Affleck . . . as much as it can. This version of Batman has Affleck's strong jawline, but lacks the coloring detail for the stubble Bruce Wayne had through most of the film while in his Batman costume.
The very basic coloring of the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament is accented by cool gold paint bits on the gloves and boots, which is very cool. The skin tones are monotonal as opposed to having rich coloring, which undermines the realism some, especially in the lack of stubble on the face. Fortunately, most of the character's skin is obscured by the cowl, negating this issue.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament could have a sound chip or a light-up function. He has neither, but honestly it would have been a hard sell to make a gimmick for this ornament.
The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament does include a stand, which is a typical for most ornaments. The stand is a 3" wide, 2" deep, 1/4" tall silver-gray stand that is designed to appear like the Superman/Batman symbol . . . save that it is only half of the symbol. The ornament includes a little stand that plugs into the back of Batman's foot and from there, the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament stands perfectly stable. The thing is, the stand looks fairly ridiculous without its other half and if it is even a little warped, it throws off the balance for both the Superman and Batman ornaments. After exploring seven pairs of these ornaments, I found all but one were thick enough to have no issues with warping (some earlier Marvel ornaments had thinner bases, which did warp!).
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. For those creating the ultimate superhero Christmas Tree, this Batman ornament is not a bad choice. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top, back of Batman's cowl. From there, the ornament looks well-balanced and hangs nicely level.
Collectibility
Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have made ornament replicas of almost all major franchises like DC comics, The Wizard Of Oz and Harry Potter. The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman ornament was slightly overproduced, but sold out at most places before the end of the season. As a result, the Batman ornament from the triumvirate seems to have held its value (which cannot be said of the other two in the collection). Given how many Batman Hallmark ornaments are available, though, it is hard to imagine that this one would appreciate any time soon on the secondary market.
Overview
Fans of Batman, Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Batman, Ben Affleck, and DC comics characters are likely to find the newest Batman ornament to be worth picking up, though time will tell if Affleck's version of the character is truly essential.
For other Batman-themed Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2016 Batmobile Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice ornament
2016 Catwoman Batman television series (Limited Edition)
2015 The Joker Batman television series (Limited Edition)
2014 Bane The Dark Knight Rises (Limited Edition)
2014 1989 Batmobile
2013 The Joker The Dark Knight Rises
2013 Descending Upon Gotham City Batman ornament
2012 The Bat The Dark Knight Rises Limited Edition Ornament
2012 Catwoman ornament
2012 The Dark Knight Rises
2011 Batman Takes Flight
2010 Limited Edition Harley Quinn
6/10
For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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