It finally happened … the Geek Tree is at capacity. A few years ago, I bought myself some time by getting a 9-foot-tall narrow tree (replacing the earlier 6-foot-tall version). The new tree bought me some time, but alas unless we get a bigger house (so I can get a bigger tree) I’ll need to start picking which ornaments go on the tree each year.
This year’s additions to the tree cross genres:
- The “Mirror Universe” Star Trek ornaments
- Harry Potter’s Albus Dumbledore and Hermione Granger ornaments
- The “swamped X-Wing” from Star Wars, Episode IV: The Empire Strikes Back
The Star Trek and Harry Potter ornaments are “Storyteller” ornaments, which means they can be connected using Hallmark’s proprietary network cable. Each set, like the Star Wars ones before them, recreate a scene from the series – the more ornaments you have, the more of the scene you get. The cable also provides them with power, which provides these Hallmark ornaments with much-needed illumination. The battery powered science fiction and fantasy ornaments were ok, but genre ornaments tend to be much cooler looking when they have a steady stream of power.
I picked up the latest ornaments for 50% off at Hallmark’s post-Christmas sale. I was on the fence about the Star Trek ornaments, but a year without a new Star Trek ornament would be weird (and 2020 was weird enough).
So … where does this leave the Geek Tree? The time has come for a themed tree. Given the abundance of Star Trek series on the air or in the pipe, a Geek Tree that boldly goes where no Geek Tree has gone before seems like the logical choice. I’m thinking the tree would feature only Star Trek ornaments, complemented by a few handmade additions (some Star Trek origami seems like a no-brainer) and perhaps a new themed lighting set (there must be Star Trek light strings out there). I’m not sure what I’ll do for a tree topper; Hallmark’s own Enterprise tree topper (Amazon) is big and expensive, both of which are marks against it. As a narrow-style Christmas tree, the Geek Tree isn’t going to be very stable with a big, heavy tree topper and the $179.95 price tag is way more than I typically spend on an ornament (and it never goes on sale).
Of course, after Star Trek, the next logical theme is Star Wars, since I easily have as many Star Wars ornaments as I do Star Trek ones. After that … we’ll see. Maybe a hodgepodge tree that pulls from every genre (but leaves the Star Trek and Star Wars ornaments unpacked)? Or a fantasy one drawing from The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Harry Potter? Or maybe superheroes, mashing up the DC and Marvel universes? The options aren’t quite endless … but they are sufficient to keep themed geek trees going for quite a few years.
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The new “Mirror Universe” Captain Kirk ornament. Credit: Ken Newquist.