Monday, December 22, 2014

Overly Simplistic For The Price, The 2014 Toy Story Bank On Hamm Ornament Underwhelms!


The Good: Generally good sculpt, Sound clip
The Bad: Very simplistic coloring/sculpt, Poor balance, Overpriced
The Basics: Somehow separated from the regular Disney ornaments, the Pixar Toy Story Bank On Hamm ornament is a simplistic ornament based on an utterly simple source, which is more likely to disappoint ornament fans than Disney aficionados.


As Christmas is about to hit, I’m hitting a neat milestone in my ornament reviews! With my review of the 2014 Bank On Hamm ornament from Toy Story, I have reviewed more ornaments from this year’s ornament releases than in any prior years! The Toy Story ornament is, oddly, separated in the Hallmark stores and catalogs from the rest of the Disney ornaments this year. The Bank On Hamm ornament is an ornament featuring the piggy bank character from the Toy Story franchise.

Hallmark created an ornament that is recognizable as Hamm from the Toy Story franchise. For those not familiar with the Toy Story films, one of the characters that has been in the entire franchise is a talking Piggy Bank named Hamm. Voiced by John Ratzenbeerger, the pig Hamm was similar to his Cheers character, acting as a know-it-all in the toy world. The piggy bank character on his own is the subject of the 2014 Bank On Hamm ornament!

Basics

Bank On Hamm ornament faithfully presents the simple, walking and talking piggy bank with no real flourishes or accents atypical to the basic character. The sculpt is simple, but recognizable for anyone who has seen Toy Story. The ornament, released in 2014, is one of the larger ornaments Hallmark released this year. Measuring three and a half inches long by two inches tall by two inches wide, the Bank On Hamm ornament came with an original retail price of $17.95 and I have not found it sold out at any Hallmark stores I have yet been to, which says something given that the ornament was part of the original July preview ornament push.

The Hallmark Bank On Hamm ornament is made of durable plastic. The piggy bank is colored in simplistic pink with black accents. The thing sculpt might be accurate, but it is very simple and not at all exciting. The coloring of the subject of Bank On Hamm ornament is perfect, if basic. This bright pink pig is accented only on the hooves, eyes, nostrils and ears. The fat-backed cartoonish pig has the appropriate slot on the top, so it looks like a piggy bank. It can actually hold a few pieces of change, if one actually wants to use it as one!

Unfortunately, the Bank On Hamm ornament has noticeable seams. While the one at the neck is appropriate for the character, the ones on the base are somewhat troubling and inaccurate, giving the ornament an assembled look.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Bank On Hamm has a sound chip, but not a light-up function. The Bank On Hamm ornament comes with batteries and with the push of a button on the ornament, the ornament plays one of five sound clips from Toy Story. John Ratzenberger’s voice is played loudly from the speaker on the bottom of the ornament. The sound clip is pretty neat.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Bank On Hamm ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. For those creating the ultimate Disney Christmas Tree, the Bank On Hamm ornament should have been an indispensible ornament. Unfortunately, its simplicity and balance cause it to fall a little short. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top of the ornament, right in front of the coin slot. From there, the ornament, when affixed to a tree with a hook, swings very easily and is noticeably back-heavy. Because of fidelity to the ornament’s subject, the Bank On Hamm ornament has to place the ornament hook loop too far forward to give the ornament good balance. The majority of the ornament is behind the hook loop – between that and the location of the equipment to activate the sound clip, the ornament is noticeably heavy in the back.

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. Bank On Hamm ornament is one of several from Toy Story, albeit the only one for this year, and it is one of several Disney film-themed ornaments on the market this year. Sadly, this does not seem to be lighting the world on fire. It is, instead, a very cold seller, at least locally. I suspect that this will be easy to find after the holidays and when it is discounted, I doubt the price will rebound after the holidays.

Overview

Fans of John Ratzenberger, Disney, Pixar and Toy Story are likely to find the Bank On Hamm ornament unimpressive and overpriced. While not many Hallmark ornaments suffer from that, the Toy Story one this year, alas, does.

For other Disney-themed Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2014 Queen Elsa Frozen Limited Edition
2014 Jack's Peculiar Pet The Nightmare Before Christmas ornament
2014 The Daring Princess The Princess And The Frog ornament
2014 Rapunzel's Long Locks Tangled ornament
2014 The Little Mermaid 25th Anniversary ornament
2014 "This Is Halloween" The Nightmare Before Christmas ornament
2014 All Eyes On Belle Beauty And The Beast ornament
2014 Olaf Frozen ornament
2013 Under The Sea The Little Mermaid
2013 The Nightmare Before Christmas Jack’s Sleigh O’Scares
2013 Tiana's Party Dress The Princess And The Frog ornament
2013 Beautiful Belle Beauty And The Beast
2013 Fierce With A Frying Pan Tangled ornament
2013 Ariel's Big Dream The Little Mermaid ornament
2013 Merida The Archer Brave ornament
2012 The Circle Of Life The Lion King ornament
2012 Jack Sneaks A Peek The Nightmare Before Christmas ornament
2012 Monsters, Inc. ornament
2012 Merida Brave ornament
2012 It's All About The Hair Tangled ornament
2011 Rapunzel Tangled ornament
2011 CLU’s Light Cycle from Tron: Legacy ornament
2011 Up ornament
2011 A Snowy Surprise The Nightmare Before Christmas ornament
2011 Captain Jack Sparrow Pirates Of The Caribbean ornament
2010 Tron: Legacy Light Cycle ornament
2009 Welcome To Christmastown The Nightmare Before Christmas ornament

3.5/10

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.
| | |

No comments:

Post a Comment