Back in February we provided readers with a look at the special assortment of Keepsake Ornaments that Hallmark would be releasing in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Star Wars. The official site has more information on this line of ornaments referred to as Star Wars Storytellers as well as an interview with Hallmark’s Kurt Gaulke who was the product developer behind this exciting new ornament line.
Introducing Star Wars Storytellers, a new line of seven Star Wars Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments, revealed exclusively here on StarWars.com. Launching with three ornaments in 2017 — Death Star and Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter on July 15, followed by X-Wing Starfighter on October 7, with two to come in both 2018 and 2019 — they’re a beautiful mix of design and tech ingenuity. Each ornament lights up and plays sound on its own, but put two or more together and they actually tell the story of Star Wars: A New Hope. Pressing a button on the ornaments sends out a signal syncing nearby pieces; this triggers a performance, including coordinated light and sound. The more ornaments you have, the more dynamic the performance. In total, all seven ornaments can perform five major moments from the movie, and there are an incredible 127 possible story combinations. To borrow a phrase from Darth Vader, it’s most impressive. (It’s also completely charming and really fun.) Attendees at Star Wars Celebration Orlando are in luck: they can see the first wave of Star Wars Storytellers ornaments at PopMinded Hallmark’s booth, #2928.
While taking a break from mentally preparing to make space on our tree for these ornaments, StarWars.com caught up with Star Wars Storytellers product developer Kurt Gaulke to talk about making the most accurate ship sculpts in Hallmark’s history, the greatest hurdle with the line’s innovations, and which moment during development resulted in smiles across the entire team.
