Item Name: "The Transporter Chamber" Keepsake Ornament
Manufacturer: Hallmark
Hallmark released this piece as part of their 2006 keepsake assortment. Here's the back of the box if you'd like to give it a read-
The Rundown: With the holiday season now upon us, I feel like I really need to get cracking on the ornament spotlights. It looks like I've only done 10 so far... which doesn't give you guys nearly enough options for tree-trimming possibilities. So today we going to warp around the sun, taking a trip back to 2006 for a look at the "Transporter Chamber" ornament available that year. It's pretty keen...
This ornament recreates the famous transporter chamber we all know and love from the original series. Captured in a moment just before beaming are the intrepid away team consisting of Kirk, Spock, and Scotty. Not really sure why Hallmark went with Scotty instead of the more obvious choice of McCoy, but I'm guessing it was because they wanted to feature all three shirt colors.
At only 4 inches tall from the bottom of the base to the top of the transporter, there isn't a lot of room for detail on the three figures (which come in at a little over 2 inches each). The likenesses are almost non-existent, but there's enough here that you can tell who's who. The artist did do a fine job of capturing the body language on Kirk and Spock though; There's no mistaking that confident pose that Kirk would always strike just before beaming out...
Behind the three figures is the back wall of the transporter chamber. The wall features a nice reflective surface and some etched-in detailing that does a great job of replicating the "rainbowy" look of the series. It's tough to capture how nice this looks on camera, but the whole effect is really well done.
The transporter's base only features three of the pads, but this is an understandable tweak, as trying to make this totally screen accurate would have made it too large and cumbersome. At the center of the base is the button which activated the light and sound features... which ROCK! Check it out:
The lights are nice and bright, the sound is clear, and the duration of the effect is just right. And since this thing runs on 3 AAA batteries, you don't have to worry about trying to plug this into a string of tree lights. You can either use it as a regular display piece on your desk, or....
...hang it on the tree and clip a light into the provided hole in the back! The possibilities are endless! Well... I guess they aren't really endless. There's really just a couple. But they are at least good possibilities!
The "Transporter Chamber" is easily one of my favorite Hallmark ornaments. I really have no complaints at all about this one. If you're thinking of getting into the Hallmark ornaments, the transporter is a great one to start with. It originally retailed at $28, but now goes for just a smidge over that at around $30-$40. That may seem like a lot, but when compared to the current crop of $30 ornaments, this one really stands out in the pack.
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