Retail: $30.00 2021 Secondary Market: $395.95 Size: 6” L x 2 1/2” W x 1 1/2” H Code: QMP4099 Quantity: 3,450
#6 on our list is a repaint of the 2016 50th anniversary Hallmark store ornament. The Keepsake available in stores was an all gold version of the early Enterprise while the Event Edition, which was released the same year, was a screen accurate painted version. Both ornaments played Kirk’s opening monologue and the Star Trek theme song.
Lynn Norton commented about his work on the the ornament in a 2015:
“This is the one that I really went out of my way to make as accurate as possible. I based it on the original shooting model with its larger bridge dome, larger deflector dish and nacelle features as a tribute to the series’ 50th anniversary. Assuming it’s able to maintain all of its details in final production, it’s more accurate than anything I’ve done before.”
The decision seems odd for Hallmark to make the gold Enterprise the more widely available ornament and the painted version available as the Event Exclusive. It seems both versions would have benefited in the other’s release plan. The recognizable repaint available to the mass market would have been a safe and possibly more successful way to go and the limited gold version would have still been sought after by collectors.
Above: 2016 Enterprise Event Exclusive painted Star Trek pilot ornament. Below: 11’ Enterprise model pictured on December 29, 1964.
Star Trek is one of those rare television shows that had two pilots. The original 11’ Enterprise model that was made for Star Trek’s pilot, The Cage filmed in late 1964, would be altered between pilots and again before the series aired. Most notably, lights were added to the model for the filming of Star Trek’s second pilot Where No Man Has Gone Before filmed in July of 1965. The easiest way to discern the differences between the first and second pilot ship designs is the vent grating at the back of the warp nacelles.
Top: First pilot (The Cage) Enterprise with plain rear nacelles. Middle: Second pilot (Where No Man Has Gone Before) Enterprise with vent grating. Bottom: The Star Trek series Enterprise with space matrix restoration coils.
Nacelles with vent grating on Hallmark’s 2016 repaint ornament.
As you can see, the Event Exclusive Enterprise’s vent grating is present placing the ship firmly as a Where No Man Has Gone Before ornament. Once the series began filming its official run in May of 1966 the Enterprise would again be altered dropping the needles on the front of the nacelles and adding the space matrix restoration coils* on the rear.
FIRST PILOT The endcaps in “The Cage” has the vertical vents shown on the side. –culttvman.comSECOND PILOT The warp engine endcaps for the second pilot has rows of holes. There are 6 rows. the top row has two and the rest alternate between seven and eight with a gap between rows 4 and 5. –culttvman.comTOS SERIES Space matrix restoration coils. –cygnus-x1.net
*I’m not really a nerd but more of a researcher** **Okay, running a Hallmark Star Trek Ornament website constitutes me as a nerd. I get it!
The next time we DROP in on the Top 10 it will be at #5.
U.S.S. Enterprise – Featuring dialogue and music directly from the original “Star Trek” TV Series, this Keepsake Ornament depicts the iconic starship as originally built and painted for special-effects filming. This is a repaint of a 2016 Keepsake Ornament celebrating Star Trek’s 50th anniversary. Limited quantity of 3,450.
Sold in limited quantities at:
Comic-Con International, to be held July 21-24 in San Diego, CA
Star Trek: Mission New York, scheduled Sept. 2-4 in New York, NY
New York Comic Con, set for Oct. 6-9 in New York, NY
Lynn Norton…“This is the one that I really went out of my way to make as accurate as possible. I based it on the original shooting model with its larger bridge dome, larger deflector dish and nacelle features as a tribute to the series’ 50th anniversary. Assuming it’s able to maintain all of its details in final production, it’s more accurate than anything I’ve done before.
“One thing to note in the progression of all of Hallmark’s Star Trek ornaments. People will ask why ornaments are so much better looking now than in the past. Some of that is owed to advancements in technology. Some of that comes from the learning curve for me, and some is the learning curve for the manufacturer and mold makers. Twenty-five years ago when we started making the Enterprise, to that point we had been making cute, fuzzy bunnies and such. Now, we’re known for the work that we do on all designs. Because of my technical background and my background as an engraver, I was pushing the limits of what I understood the limits of the manufacturing process to be. And we keep getting better every year.” – See more at: http://www.startrek.com/article/hallmark-sculptor-lynn-norton-on-the-storied-history-of-trek-keepsake-ornaments?ecid=PCID-2617611&pa=affcj#sthash.91Bd8ESX.dpuf
Hallmark Star Trek Ornaments 