Saturday, January 21, 2017

Just Shy Of Super, The 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman Ornament (Almost) Soars!


The Good: Generally good sculpt, Good facial sculpt, Cool base
The Bad: Left-heavy, Light on coloring detail
The Basics: Part of the triumvirate of Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice, the 2016 Superman ornament is all right, if not extraordinary.


It seems like for every major cinematic event based upon a comic book property, Hallmark is right there to generate ornaments based upon the characters or key scenes to try to creat enduring tie-ins with their ornament line. In early 2016, Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (reviewed here!) hit screens and Hallmark bet big on it. For their October ornament release, Hallmark Keepsake released a set of three ornaments based upon the three essential characters in Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The release of the 2016 Superman 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 appears to have been produced in adequate quantities to do that and leave a surplus of the ornaments at the end of the season.

The 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice is more average than extraordinary, but it is still a pretty wonderful sculpt and a good idea for a Hallmark ornament.

Basics

The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman ornament faithfully presents Superman in his blue and red film costume. This is Superman in his textured blue and red suit, faintly yellow belt and red cape. The ornament, released in 2016, is fair 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, surface details and coloring. Measuring four and a half inches tall, four inches wide and two inches deep, the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman 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 Batman ornament and accented with the Wonder Woman ornament sculpted from the same source material. The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman ornament came with an original retail price of $15.95 and there were plenty left over at the end of the season.

The Hallmark Superman ornament is made of durable plastic. Superman’s costume is colored in bold blue and surprisingly bright red. He is ripped with well-defined arm and leg muscles underneath his textured costume. The Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman ornament has the traditional Superman symbol on his chest and it is molded with a slightly raised quality. The facial sculpt for the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman looks just like Henry Cavill, which is an improvement over prior Superman ornaments based upon Henry Cavill's portrayal of Superman!

Unfortunately, the coloring of the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman ornament is just a little off. The skin tones are monotonal as opposed to having rich coloring, which is unfortunate and undermines the potential realism of this ornament. Beyond that, the red seems way to bright compared to the muted blues of the rest of Superman's costume; it looks like a weird amalgamation of Superman's comic book and Zach Snyder film costumes.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the 2016 Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman 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 Superman 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 Superman's foot and from there, the Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Superman 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 Superman ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate superhero Christmas Tree, this Superman ornament would be wonderful if it wasn't left-heavy. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top, back of Superman, between his shoulders. From there, the ornament, when affixed to a tree with a hook, swings very easily and is heavier on the left side than on the right, which makes Superman looks a bit lopsided.

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 Superman ornament was vastly overproduced and was easily found after the winter holidays. In fact, it has not held its value since the end of the Christmas season, which has made it a staple on the clearance rack at Hallmark stores and easily found in the secondary market at prices below its original release price.

Overview

Fans of Superman, Zack Snyder’s vision of Superman, Henry Cavill, and DC comics characters are likely to find the Superman ornament to be good, but not all it could be making for a less-inspired than truly great ornament release. There are, certainly, worse Superman ornaments, but this one is just a little light on coloring details and a bit overproduced to truly thrill ornament collectors who love DC Comics characters.

For other DC Universe Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2016 Supergirl DC SuperHero Girls ornament
2016 Wonder Woman Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice ornament
2016 Batmobile Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice ornament
2016 Catwoman Batman television series (Limited Edition)
2015 The Joker Batman television series (Limited Edition)
2015 Lynda Carter As Wonder Woman
2014 Bane The Dark Knight Rises (Limited Edition)
2014 1989 Batmobile
2014 Defender Of Mankind Superman
2013 Man Of Steel
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 "Beware My Power" Green Lantern ornament
2012 The Dark Knight Rises
2011 Batman Takes Flight
2011 Green Lantern
2010 Limited Edition Harley Quinn
2009 Wonder Woman ornament

5.5/10

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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