Friday, July 13, 2012

Momaw Nadon Might Be An Obscure Ornament Choice, But Hallmark Made Him Well!


The Good: Great balance, Amazing detailing
The Bad: Dubious collectible value.
The Basics: The 2012 Limited Edition Momaw Nadon ornament is very cool, but does not seem like it will hold its own as an investment the way many of the other limited Star Wars ornaments have.


Happy Hallmark Preview Weekend Opening Day! It’s that exciting time of year again and as Hallmark ornament fans flock to stores, we’re happy to start our annual coverage of the new ornaments! For the rest of the month, we expect at least one ornament a day to be reviewed! Enjoy! We are kicking off the 2012 coverage with one of the limited edition ornaments, the Star Wars Momaw Nadon limited edition ornament!

Momaw Nadon is a limited edition, exclusive Hallmark ornament, and it is not one of the usual ornaments considered # in a series. Instead, this is outside the regular numbering and one expects that at every major venue for Hallmark ornaments, it will sell out this weekend.

Hallmark Keepsake has a line of collectible ornaments from major franchises, like Star Wars and Star Trek. From the Star Wars line comes the Momaw Nadon limited edition ornament. Fans of the original Star Wars Trilogy will likely recall Momaw Nadon, by look if not by name. Momaw Nadon was the “hammerhead” alien seen very briefly in the Mos Eisley Cantina drinking in A New Hope (reviewed here!).

The Momaw Nadon limited edition ornament is the amphibious alien standing with his drinking glass!

Basics

The Momaw Nadon ornament recreates the amphibious alcoholic in solid plastic. The ornament, released in 2012, is the obscure alien smuggler or monk in his short robes with a drinking glass in his right hand. He is posed to look stable or very slowly moving through a crowd. Momaw Nadon in ornament form is 4 1/2" tall and 2" wide and deep. Hallmark charged $14.95 for the ornament originally and, though it is too early to tell at this point, I suspect that it will sell-out at that price but take quite a while to appreciate in the secondary market. This ornament was designed for fans, but Momaw Nadon is a bit more obscure and – unlike bounty hunters who have dominated other exclusive ornaments produced by Hallmark – Cantina aliens do not have the same type following.

The Hallmark Momaw Nadon ornament is made of a durable plastic and has him holding a drinking glass in his right hand. The glass is opaque with blue highlights to mimic the fluid inside and that is a little disappointing; Hallmark could have cast the glass in translucent plastics for realism.

The glass may be the only unfortunate detail of Momaw Nadon! He is detailed exceptionally well in the body, in the accessory and on the costume. Momaw Nadon looks like he did in the movie, even in his face. His skin has more depth and shading than most Hallmark ornaments and gills on the side of his neck are extraordinarily rendered. The skin tones of Momaw Nadon are slightly green and it contrasts the alien's costume wonderfully. Also incredible is the fringe on the bottom of Momaw Nadon’s cloak and leggings; he looks like he is wearing clothes that have been worn and weathered. Similarly, the knuckles on Momaw Nadon stand out for the way they look like they are flexing around the glass! Even the hood that covers the back of Momaw Nadon’s neck hump looks realistically colored and molded. Momaw Nadon’s eyes are precisely colored, making him look like a viable creature and not an elaborate puppet from a movie. Hallmark took a lot of care in decorating the Momaw Nadon ornament, including the coloring detail on the belt and ropes around the character’s waist.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, Momaw Nadon 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 starship or diorama series' of Star Wars ornaments. This is Momaw Nadon and he simply hangs on the tree. Momaw Nadon's drinking glass may not be removed from his hand and there are no additional weapons or accessories for the ornament.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Momaw Nadon ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. Even for those creating the ultimate Star Wars Christmas Tree, Momaw Nadon is for of an obscure novelty than an essential piece. Momaw Nadon is in no way indispensible to the story, but fans who are likely to collect the ornaments will like how much care went into this ornament. The ornament has a brass hook loop embedded into the top center of the character's neck stalk. From that hook, the Momaw Nadon ornament hangs perfectly balanced. It is impressive and the ornament sways when rocked, but otherwise sits stable in the right position! The Hallmark ornament engineers could not have possibly picked a more stable position for the hook!

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 one!). Since then, they have branched out into other popular franchises like Star Wars and The Wizard Of Oz. The Momaw Nadon ornament is very limited and is robustly selling in the secondary market, which makes perfect sense as this is the first weekend the ornament is available. At this point in the Star Wars ornament collections, the primary characters have all been done and the popular secondary characters are being explored. Momaw Nadon was short-produced, though the exact numbers have not been released, but of all the limited edition Star Wars ornaments Hallmark has produced, Momaw Nadon seems like one whose release might meet the demand.

Buying early is always a good idea with the Star Wars limited edition ornaments, but for the first time in years, I think there is a reasonable chance that there might be Momaw Nadon ornaments on the shelves when they start getting discounted on December 26.

Overview

I am a big fan of Star Wars ornaments and Momaw Nadon is exceptionally well-detailed (drinking glass aside) and well-balanced, but it is such an obscure subject for an ornament that I don’t sense the consumer enthusiasm that has, historically, made Star Wars ornaments a strong investment. Hallmark has often compensated by making weaker ornaments (like the New York Comic-Con ornaments that tend to simply be recolored droids) exceptionally rare to drive up the price in the secondary market. Momaw Nadon is limited, but not that limited, so for anyone other than the diehard fans, it is a slightly tougher sell than it ought to be.

For other limited edition Hallmark ornaments of Star Wars characters, please check out my reviews of:
2011 Bossk Limited Edition ornament
2010 Lando Calrissian Limited Edition ornament
2009 Greedo Limited Edition ornament

This is an ornament I am proudly selling in my online store. Click here to see my current inventory of them!

8.5/10

For other holiday ornament reviews, please check out the index page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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