The Good: Good balance, General sculpt
The Bad: Terrible paint job, Lame coloring, Expensive for the quality
The Basics: The 2017 Thor from Thor: Ragnarok Hallmark ornament is one of the unfortunate failures of the 2017 ornament line, despite generally having good sculpted aspects.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is well-represented in the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. Or, more accurately, certain characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe seem to get made into Hallmark Keepsake ornaments over and over and over again. So, while consumers continue to wait for a Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Black Widow or Black Panther ornament, they get multiples of other major characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This year, Hallmark has released yet another Thor ornament, this time from Thor: Ragnarok. It is, sadly, an uninspired execution of the character, though the broad strokes are all right.
The 2017 Thor is a common, late-release, mass-produced Hallmark ornament that is one of two Thor: Ragnarok ornaments and one of several Marvel comics ornaments produced by Hallmark this year. For those unfamiliar with it, in Thor: Ragnarok (reviewed here!), Thor finds himself for a time on a distant world where he is forced to fight in a gladiatorial contest. It is Thor, with his helmet on, in an action pose, which is the subject of the Thor Thor: Ragnorak ornament.
Basics
The Thor ornament recreates the God Of Thunder in solid plastic, predictably without his hammer. The ornament, released in 2017, is an poor recreation of the heroic character as he appears in the cinematic rendition of Thor from Thor: Ragnarok. In addition to having very few attributes that are directly analogous to Chris Hemsworth, the 2017 Thor Ragnarok ornament appears to be incredibly sloppy on the painted details, making it a very tough sell for fans or collectors.
Thor is the helmeted warrior of Asgard, with a sword raised, leaping forward in an action pose. Thor is armored, though his arms are exposed and the sculpted detailing arguably reaches its peak with the ornament's biceps. Hallmark did comparatively fine veining for the helmet wings, but in general the 2017 Thor ornament is light on sculpted details that make it distinct or interesting. The Hallmark 2017 Thor ornament is made of a durable plastic and has him in an action pose. This Thor: Ragnarok ornament measures out at 5" tall, 3 1/2" wide and 2" deep.
The coloring for the Thor ornament is done in monotones. In other words, Thor’s skin is all one color, as is his outfit. Between the lack of realism to the sculpt and to the coloring, the Thor from Thor: Ragnarok ornament is underwhelming and indistinct. The paint job, which includes the war paint the character was adorned with, seems to be ill-applied. I checked five different copies and the faces on each looked terrible with the beard, skin tones and war paint each being applied differently and with very little success. The costume for this Thor is similarly colored in monotones, which make it look much less like the cinematic rendition of Thor.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, Thor could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just an ornament, a low-cost (comparatively) option for those who might not want to shell out for the more expensive Marvel ornaments. This Thor simply hangs on a tree.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Thor ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate Marvel Universe Christmas Tree, Thor is essential, but not this version. The ornament has a brass hook loop embedded in the top center of his helmet. From that hook, the Thor ornament hangs surprisingly level. Despite the other issues with this ornament, balance is not one of this ornament's problems!
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 (click here for my review of that!). Since then, Hallmark has gotten into every major franchise from Disney to Twilight to the Marvel Comics universe. This Thor ornament was not at all limited. I would not bet, given the lack of inherent quality and how the other Marvel ornaments have met demand without leaving a lot of people wanting, and how little it looks like the cinematic version of Thor, that this will not be an incredible investment piece.
Overview
The 2017 Thor: Ragnarok Thor ornament is vague on most of its sculpted details, sloppy on its paint job and indistinct in its coloring details. That makes for a poor ornament not truly worth picking up.
For other Marvel Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2017 Spider-Man: A New Kind Of Hero Spider-Man: Homecoming ornament
2016 Team Captain America ornament
2011 Thor ornament
2010 Defender Of Justice Iron Man 2 ornament
2.5/10
For other ornament reviews, please check out my Ornament Review Index Page!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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