It starts in your hand
No motor, no spring, no battery. Hold the base and shake hard, straight up and down, about 2.5 in top to bottom, five times a second.
Your hand is the motor
The pull makes the elf weightless
Your hand drops the tree faster than gravity can follow. The elf rests on nothing for a moment: its hook lifts off the thorn and it floats up the pole.
Gravity puts it back, higher up
The pole leans 20°, so returning weight presses the elf against the thorns. Its hook lands on the next thorn up. A ledge holds it there, not grip.
Thorn after thorn
Keep shaking. The elf takes the pole 13 thorns high and gets to the top in a second or two.
Stop when the star lands
The elf sits on thorn 13 with the star just above the tip, and stays there on a shelf. Shake on past this and it can fall back.
Turn it over to go again
Upside down, the elf drops off its thorn. Swing the top back up to about 50° above level with the thorns facing the floor, and it slides home.
Up close
4.4 in tall, about the height of a coffee mug, and 1.1 oz. It sits on a shelf between meals and fits in one hand when someone wants another go.
Why it only goes up
The pole carries 18 thorns, each slanted so its top is a small ledge. A hook on the elf's sleeve sits on one ledge at a time. Step through one shake.
Weight presses the elf toward the pole, and the hook rests on a thorn. It can't slide down, so a still tree or a carried one leaves the elf where it is.
The tree drops away faster than the elf falls. With no weight pressing it in, the elf drifts off the pole by the slack in its sleeve, and the hook clears the thorn tips on its way up.
Weight comes back and the lean pushes the elf in again. The hook drops onto the next thorn up and stays there, ready for the next shake.
One gift, two jobs
On the day
Unwrap it and pass it around the table. Then the real question: how few shakes can you do it in?
All season
Leave the star up and it's a small tree on a table, shelf or desk until the decorations come down.
Top the Tree
A little Christmas tree that puts its own star on, if you shake it.
Two things in the box
- 1
- Tree in four colors, with its thorned pole
- 1
- Elf in a red hat, holding the gold star on a striped staff
- Size
- 1.9 × 3.9 × 4.4 in
- Height, star up
- 4.8 in
- Weight
- 1.1 oz
- Material
- PLA
- Colors
- Green, white, red and gold
- Power
- Your hand, and no batteries
- Thorns
- 18 on the pole, the star lands at 13
Good to know
Does it need batteries?
No. There's no battery, motor, magnet or spring in it. The shake from your hand is all the power it uses.
How do I get the elf to climb?
Hold the base with the tree upright and shake hard, straight up and down: your hand travels about 2.5 in, five shakes a second. If the elf stalls or falls, shake harder and straighter.
How do I send the elf back down?
Turn the tree upside down so the elf drops off its thorn. Then swing the top back up to about 50° above level with the thorns facing the floor, and the elf slides back to the foot.
Will the elf move when it's on a shelf or being carried?
No. Sitting still or carried, the elf stays where it is, at the foot of the pole or on its thorn at the top. Only a hard shake moves it, and shaking on after the star lands can send it back down.
What is it made of?
PLA plastic, in green, white, red and gold.