Lighted Reindeer and Sleigh Yard Display, 41 in Reindeer, 8 Lighting Modes

Description

Two pieces that make one scene

This is a reindeer and a sleigh supplied together, each built as a flat frame wrapped in glitter mesh and traced with warm yellow light. The supplier gives the reindeer as 21.7 in wide and 40.6 in tall, and the sleigh as 32.7 in long and 23.6 in high. Set out as intended, with the reindeer standing ahead of the sleigh, the pair occupies about five feet of lawn and stands a little over three feet at the antlers. That is large enough to anchor a front garden on its own without crowding a small one.

How it reads after dark

There are 50 LEDs on a 17 ft strand running through both pieces, in a warm yellow. Because the frames are covered in a reflective mesh, the light spreads across the whole surface instead of showing as a line of points, so the reindeer reads as a solid glowing shape rather than an outline. The sleigh is finished in red and the reindeer in gold, with a bow on each. In daylight the colour is what you see; after dark it is the silhouette, and the antlers are the part that identifies the piece from a distance. Site it where the antlers are not lost against a hedge or a fence.

Eight modes, and why that matters less than it sounds

The controller offers combination, in wave, sequential, slo glo, chasing and flash, slow fade, twinkle and flash, and steady on. In practice most people set a display like this to steady on and leave it. The flashing modes read as busy next to a house that already has string lights, and steady on is what makes the piece look like a sculpture rather than a novelty. The modes are there if you want them for a party evening.

Power: battery, not mains

This runs on three AA batteries, which are not included. That is the single most important thing to know before you buy. It means no cord run, no outdoor outlet and no extension across a path, which is genuinely useful for a bed in the middle of a lawn or a spot far from the house. It also means you are changing batteries through the season and the piece will not run dusk to dawn for six weeks on one set. If you want a display you can put on a timer and forget, a mains-powered motif is the better choice.

Assembly, staking and wind

The frames go together with the supplied screws and nuts and a screwdriver is included. Four triangular stake plates in 304 stainless steel pin the pieces to the ground, and the supplier’s own instructions suggest fixing the reindeer’s legs with two support wires as well. Do that. A tall, flat, light frame is what wind pushes over most easily, and the reindeer is the vulnerable piece; the sleigh is low and looks after itself.

Storage

It ships flat in a carton about 17 by 13 by 2 in at roughly 3.6 lb, so the frames come apart and lie down again for storage. Keep the screws and the battery box together with the frames, because the small parts are what go missing between seasons.

Honest notes

CJ does not publish an ingress protection rating for this piece, so treat it as a seasonal outdoor item to bring in at the end of the season. Handling is 1 to 3 business days plus 5 to 9 in transit, so order by Monday December 7 for Christmas.