What better time to review a couple of Christmas decorations than January?
Isn't it wild that Daft Punk's been dead for three-ish years, now? Well, kinda. For a group that's officially called it quits, Daft sure keeps chugging along. They just released a drumless edition of 2013's Random Access Memories... for some reason... as well as an extended version featuring all kinds of wicked unheard demos and alternate cuts, such as the grand finale single, Infinity Repeating. The band's "over", sure, but one cant help but feel it's yet to truly end when there's still so much new content to be enjoyed - even if it happens to be... drumless? I can't complain.
Call it cool, call it sell-out behavior - all I know is, naturally, the temporarily dormant Daft Punk merch machine is back up and running, and I love me some funny French robots. Most of the new offerings are your run of the mill sweatshop classics - printed tees, a bag or two, we've seen it all before. One band's merch page is every band's merch page. However, there's at least one item that'll definitely catch any collector's eye - the Discovery helmet ornaments set.
Daft's made three varieties of these ornaments over the years, based on their various helmet designs; 2014's classic RAM set, 2016's white and gold Grammy performance set, and 2017's neon Discovery set, which was reissued for this holiday season.
Daft's Discovery getup was revolutionary for the band, introducing the silver and gold cybernetic personas we immediately associate with the band today. Though Discovery's costume designs have been phased out in favor of the more iconic, basic look introduced with the following album Human After All, the Discovery look is definitely my favorite of the bunch - and certainly the most complicated; both helmets lined with dozens of flashing neon lights, pixellated screens and psychedelic rainbows. They're seen all throughout Discovery's related media, from single covers to action figures, and totally represent the hyper-futurefunk album. I think they're put to their best use in the haunting alternative music video to Something About Us.
The ornaments come packaged in a slick black box, the Daft Punk logo in white across it's face with their seal of quality and further legal crap hidden on it's back. It's nothing flashy, but matches the usual Daft aesthetic and looks co next to the robots themselves. Collector friendly, too! Both Punks are secured by thick Styrofoam and tissue paper, and can be easily stored back inside after opening. You love to see it.
Getting on to it, these guys are, simply, sick. Each and every little detail matches the real duo, right down to Thomas' groovy smile and Guy-Man's rows on rows of LEDs. A small bump on the top of their heads loosely secures a thin decorated metal base to their strings, which are color coded to silver and gold respectively. Cool little detail. While this does mean their strings are easily removable, they don't look so hot with hollow little spouts poking out of their skulls. I'd leave them in ornament mode.
Their paint decos are clean, with no slop whatsoever. Both ornaments are mirror reflective, with a matte, but still shiny finish to their visor screens and a touch of glitter over their holly-jolly red text. Just as sleek as the real helmets.
At about four inches tall, these guys may not immediately look very big onscreen, but they're just over the size of your average ornament - not too huge, but still perfectly eye catching. They're not as heavy as I expected, being hollow, but aren't fragile at all.
At about $50 retail as of 2023, they're a bit expensive; though, in past years, they've gone up to the hundreds on eBay. I think their current price is more or less fair, only $5 more than their original 2018 price, though it's definitely still a little inflated for exclusivity's sake. For fifty bucks, it would've been nice if they were fitted with actual miniature light effects.
Nevertheless, I think they're simple, effective, and most importantly, unique - what can I say, I got a thing for weird holiday stuff. They're an eye catching addition to my Daft Punk collection and I'd love to see more takes on the concept; how about the neon red Alive 2007 helmets, or the chrome TRON: Legacy look?
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