My family collected the Christmas ball ornaments over the years. This was when each year, they had a specific theme...Angels, Snowmen, joy to the world, etc etc. All through the 90's and early 00's they had a specific theme with matching ball ornaments and other merchandise such as sweatshirts. These ball ornaments were purchased and not given away as any sort of prize, but we purchased one every year as they were dated. My mom was actually sad when they did away with the themes and ornaments; guess they ran out of ideas.