Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (White's Guide to Collecting Figures - July 1997)

I've posted about ornaments on the blog more than I ever thought I would. However, Hallmark does make detailed ornaments based on numerous fandoms and other subjects, from comic books and toys to sports and Coca-Cola so I think they're worth taking a look at. Previous ornament posts include Star Wars original trilogy and prequel trilogy, Star Trek, and then a few ornaments appear in Superman and Batman articles. For this post I've scanned a 4-page article titled "It's Christmas in July" from the July 1997 issue of White's Guide to Collecting Figures which obviously covered more than just action figures. Below that I'll highlight some of Hallmark's 2023  Keepsake ornaments as they're still going strong and they've got some very nice video game selections this year. 

Although the magazine is about collecting and I do mention the value of things from time to time, the article rightly states, "It doesn't matter if they go up in value or not because they will bring you pleasure every year when you put them on your Christmas tree." That being said, it does often pay to wait as the cost can drop below the MSRP when the store discounts the unsold stock or they show up on the secondary market a few years down the road. I've found when selling some of my 25-year-old ornaments that they commonly go for less than what was originally paid, especially the athletes. There are too many 2023 ornaments that are based on Star Wars, video games, toys, Disney, Star Trek, and other things that relate to the blog to list here so check out this link if you want to see more: Hallmark Keepsake. Hallmark is even selling a Star Wars tree skirt that lights up (it's $119.99!). 

Nothing says Christmas like Han being frozen in carbonite! Of course, most of these licensed ornaments have very little to nothing to do with Christmas but that's okay and you really don't need to use them as ornaments. Many also look great sitting on a shelf and being displayed year round. My personal favorites are these light-and-sound Sega and Nintendo game consoles. Unfortunately, they are only sold online and three of them are currently out of stock so these might actually end up being difficult to get.