The Good: Neat concept, Well-rendered, Good balance, Decent blending of plastic and pipecleaners
The Bad: A little more expensive than it ought to be.
The Basics: The 2017 "O Play-Doh Tree" ornament is a clever idea that is well-executed for those who have fond childhood memories of Play-Doh.
As one who reviews a lot of Hallmark ornaments, I try not to beat into the ground the cost licensing fees play on the ornaments. The truth is, if an ornament is good enough, the cost of the ornament will not seem oppressive, even if the cost to create the ornament is a little higher because of the fees Hallmark has to pay to license the property. Star Wars and Star Trek fans tend to pay for the honor of having ornaments made for their beloved franchises, for example. Every once in a rare while there is a good ornament that just seems a touch more expensive than it ought to be for its size relative to other Hallmark ornaments and the 2017 O Play-Doh Tree ornament is definitely one such ornament. The cost to license the Play-Doh name and symbols from Hasbro drives the 2017 O Play-Doh Tree ornament up to $15.95, which is disproportionately higher than similar ornaments like the annual Seasons Treatings ornament.
The 2017 O Play-Doh Tree ornament is an adorable ornament that looks exactly like what it is supposed to, which is a little Christmas tree made up of Play-Doh cans and bound together with a pipe cleaner. The ornament is accented by gifts and a star on top that are sculpted with a texture that is intended to look like they are made of Play-Doh!
Basics
The O Play-Doh Tree ornament is an ornament that features eleven little Play-Doh canisters stacked to look like a tree, with four Play-Doh presents beneath it to support the lower layer of the "tree." The canisters are the iconic yellow cylinders each with a red Play-Doh sticker on it and a different-colored cap on the containers. The ornament, released in 2017, is a standard-release ornament that came out during Ornament Release Weekend and seems to be selling out at many Hallmark Gold Crown stores.
Hallmark made a very cool mimic of a tree with Play-Doh and bound it together with a simple green sparkly pipe cleaner that looks like garland. The components of the ornament look entirely accurate to the subject. The top of the Play-Doh containers is accented by a five-pointed traditional star. The result is a concept that looks amazing and well-executed for its concept. Measuring four and one-half inches tall, two and three-eighth inches wide and five-eighths inches thick, the "O Play-Doh Tree" ornament is a medium-sized Hallmark ornament that is deceptively light. Unfortunately, this is also one of the proportionally more expensive Hallmark ornaments. It originally retailed at $15.95, which is a lot for an ornament that does not have a light or sound feature.
The Hallmark "O Play-Doh Tree" ornament is made of solid plastic for all of the canisters and the "Play-Doh" star and gifts. The ornament is colored brightly and solidly in monotones. There is no need for subtle depth and shading on this one and Hallmark gets it right by sticking to the realism of the bright, uniform colors! The neatest sculpted aspect is on the presents and the star that realistically make the components of the ornament look like Play-Doh.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, "O Play-Doh Tree" could have a light effect, but it does not. That makes as the garland having lights would only had made the ornament more expensive. This is just the ornament, pipe cleaner wrapped, on its own without any special features or other accents.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake "O Play-Doh Tree" ornament is to be hung on a Christmas tree. And the "O Play-Doh Tree" ornament is a good option for anyone who likes children's toys and the nostalgia of playing with Play-Doh. The ornament has the brass hook loop embedded into the center of the Play-Doh star on top of the ornament. From that point, the O Play-Doh Tree is very well-balanced, allowing the ornament to hang looking perfectly level, which is appropriate to the Christmas tree theme.
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!). Within a few years, every major franchise from Star Wars to A Nightmare Before Christmas to Indiana Jones started making Hallmark ornaments. "O Play-Doh Tree" is a non-genre ornament that is not part of an annual series. Given how fast it has sold out at many of my local Hallmarks, despite my believing its initial price is high, it has real investment potential as the target audience seems unphased by the cost! This might actually be a good ornament investment in the long term and definitely one that should be a good investment if found after the season for half-price . . . assuming Hallmark does not re-release it in future years.
Overview
Fans of cute ornaments, children's artwork, Hallmark ornaments, and generic Christmas ornaments are likely to find the O Play-Doh Tree ornament to be well worth adding to one's collection!
For other non-genre Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2017 Holiday Celebration Barbie ornament
2017 Sweet Snowman
2016 Green Thumb Snoopy ornament
9/10
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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