Over the years I have received some fun ornaments from Mrs. Tizmanian that have fueled my passion for comic books, scifi, and other fun stuff such as Batman on the Batcycle, Superman flying over Daily Planet, and a little lunch box replica that came with the thermos such as Super Friends featuring Batgirl, The Flash, and Green Arrow.

Hallmark Keepsake ornaments are designed to be collectible and are sold as limited edition items.  Sometimes you can find them on sale late in the Christmas shopping season but once they are sold out at your local Hallmark store or online retailer, they can be hard to find (unless you go to ebay or to a direct seller elsewhere).

What’s fun for us TakeFiveADay folks is that Hallmark has produced a nice version of Luigi and Guido for as ornaments for 2008!  Here is the packaging:

Front of Box

Reverse of box

The sculpts are to scale and while not 100% canon in their representation (notice the flag differences, the visor on Ornament Luigi, and the lift bar/tool difference on Guido), they are both sculpted and mfg quite well.  Take a look:

Luigi’s visor reads “Lightning McQueen” which my nasty little 4.1 megafuzzy camera doofed up (it’s never the operator right?).  I am really hating my autofocus digital camera these days….

Designed to be ornaments, these are not diecast (they are plastic) probably due to the fact that a tree of diecasts would make your Christmas tree look like the Charlie Brown’s.  A tree full of haulers?  Only if you construct your tree out of steel.

Here is one pic of Luigi and Guido by themselves and one pic where you can view them side by side next to the ‘real deal’:

The wheels don’t spin unfortunately but overall these are very well done.  The designer was Kristina Kline-Gaughran and the sculptor was Don Palmiter.  A web search reveals that these two talented folks have been producing designs and sculpts for a lot of ornaments for Hallmark over the years.

In case you missed getting yours, TakeFiveADay is going to provide you with your chance to get your own set of Disney Pixar Cars Luigi and Guido to adorn your Christmas tree next year. (I was lucky enough to grab the last of the stock at my local Hallmark store!)  I was only able to grab 10 boxes, so these are served up on a first come, first served basis with a limit of one box per person.

I’ll keep the price the same at retail US$15 for each boxed set + your actual shipping costs (no markup).  So, for the first 10 readers that want one (each box includes one Guido and one Luigi for the set), drop me an email at tizmanian(at)takefiveaday(dot)com and we’ll arrange the payment stuff (via paypal preferably).  International inquiries are welcomed but be advised that your shipping costs will probably hike up there a bit.

Happy New Year from TakeFiveADay!

UPDATE:  Apparently Hallmark has made a diecast ornament but it is of a 1970 Chevelle SS.  The tires spin as well so now that we know they went this far for a muscle car, why not for those that show retailers the purchasing muscle?!  Here is a pic:

1970 Chevelle Hallmark diecast ornament