Sunday, September 8, 2013

Outside The Finer Details, The Wicket And Teebo Ornament Set Is Impressive!


The Good: Great color details, Decent collectible value, Good balance!
The Bad: Seems expensive, Fur sculpting does not look like fur
The Basics: The 2013 Wicket and Teebo ornament two-pack is not Hallmark’s crowning achievement for Star Wars fans, but it is not bad!


For the anniversary of the Return Of The Jedi’s theatrical release, Hallmark is making most of its ornaments for the year releases from that film. In continuing the annual numbered ornaments, Hallmark chose the Ewoks as the subject of the annual main Star Wars character ornament. Despite having few truly recognizable Ewoks, Hallmark went with the most recognizable Ewok, Wicket, who befriended Princess Leia (hey, why didn’t they just do Princess Leia in her Ewok Celebration outfit for this year’s character ornament?!) and another Ewok, Teebo for a two-pack. Wicket and Teebo is a two-pack of Hallmark ornaments that is the seventeenth in the series, adding some value by the fact that there are two diminutive furballs for the ornaments.

Hallmark Keepsake has a line of collectible ornaments from major franchises, like Star Wars and Star Trek. From the Star Wars line comes the Wicket and Teebo ornament. Fans of the original Star Wars Trilogy will likely not easily recall Wicket and Teebo. Wicket and Teebo aretwo Ewoks seen in Return Of The Jedi (reviewed here!). Wicket and Teebo are the two Ewoks with their spears ready to defend their forest moon.

Basics

The Wicket and Teebo ornament recreates the two Ewoks in solid plastic. The ornament, released in 2013, are the two sentient teddy bears, spears in hand, ready to defend Endor. Wicket in ornament form is 3 1/4" tall, 2" wide and 1 1/4" deep. The Teebo ornament in the two-pack is 3 1/4" tall by 2” wide and 1 1/2" deep. Hallmark charged $17.95 for the ornament two-pack originally and it is selling well at that price, with most on-line vendors already upping above the purchase price. Given that the ornament was designed for fans, this is an ornament that appeals to collectors and Wicket and Teebo is easily recognizable to them and probably them alone.

The Hallmark Wicket and Teebo ornaments are made of a durable plastic and Wicket holding his spear in his left hand and Teebo holding his spear in a two-handed grip. The staffs both look like they could be made of wood; the grain of the wood is etched into the plastic of the spears and the spear heads look like stone in coloring and sculpt. Teebo is wearing a headdress and it is sculpted and colored to look realistic. Teebo has exceptional detailing for things like the belts on his chest and the stone knife on his waist.

The detailing that both Wicket and Teebo lack in a convincing way is the sculpted detailing to the fur. While Hallmark did some texturing to the ornaments, it does not look much like actual fur. Instead, it looks like the Ewoks are wearing bad blankets. Hallmark more than makes up for the sculpted fur issue with decent coloring details. Teebo has well-executed stripes and Wicket’s head covering is appropriately smooth and orange over his predominantly brown body.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Wicket and Teebo two-pack could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just a pair of ornaments, a low-cost (comparatively) option for those who might not want to shell out for the starship or diorama series' of Star Wars ornaments. This is Wicket and Teebo and they simply hang on the tree. Wicket and Teebo's staffs may not be removed from their hands and there are no additional weapons or accessories for the ornament.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Wicket and Teebo ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate Star Wars Christmas Tree, Wicket and Teebo is very much a luxury. Wicket and Teebo is in no way essential to the story, but fans who are likely to collect the ornaments be split on this ornament pair. The Wicket ornament has a metal hook loop embedded into the top center of the left side of the head. As a result, this is unfortunately right-heavy. Ironically, the Teebo ornament – which is wider and might seem like it has more room to be unbalanced hangs perfectly balanced!

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, they have branched out into other popular franchises like Star Wars and The Wizard Of Oz. The Wicket and Teebo ornament is somewhat limited and locally three of the Hallmark stores have already sold out of them! For all the talk of hate for Ewoks, this might end up being a decent investment piece in the long run!

Overview

Like most Star Wars ornaments, Wicket and Teebo has nothing to do with the Christmas holiday, but Star Wars fans are likely to be largely happy with the ornaments. Despite the lack of fur detailing and the imbalance for Wicket, this is another winner from Hallmark for Star Wars fans.

For other Hallmark ornaments of Star Wars characters, please check out my reviews of:
2013 Lego Yoda
2013 Boushh Limited Edition
2012 Lego Imperial Stormtrooper
2012 Sith Apprentice Darth Maul
2012 General Grievous
2012 Momaw Nadon Limited Edition
2011/2012 Lego Darth Vader
2011 Jedi Master Yoda
2011 Bossk Limited Edition ornament
2010 Lando Calrissian Limited Edition ornament
2010 Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot
2010 Boba Fett and Han Solo in Carbonite mini-ornament set
2009 Greedo Limited Edition ornament
2009 Han Solo As Stormtrooper
2008 Emperor Palpatine ornament
2005 Slave Leia ornament
2000 Darth Maul
1999 Max Rebo Band mini-ornament set
1998 Princess Leia

8/10

For other holiday ornaments, please check out the Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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