HAL JORDAN – BLACK LANTERN
S-WORLD MINIFIGURES
Yesterday, I spoke of the somewhat complicated nature of knowing just who Green Lantern is at any given time. Well, today, I’m adding yet another layer to that. Not only is it possible for Green Lantern to be any number of individuals, but thanks to writer Geoff Johns, it’s also possible that they may not be Green Lantern, but instead they might be a whole other color of lantern for the day. During the event Blackest Night, Nekron and Black Hand (who both have figures reviewed on this site; check them out!) created their own brand of lantern, called the Black Lantern. Essentially, they were zombies, reanimated various dead heroes. However, given the number of heroes who have died and returned through other means, they figured it would be a good idea to grab those guys too. Which is where today’s figure hails from.
Also of note, there’s another new concept for this review: bootlegs. Bootlegs are unauthorized reproductions or imitations of existing characters or toys, usually done on the cheap, and meant to nab the casual buyer who doesn’t really know any better. Today, I’ll be looking at the first of a few bootleg Legos, or Bootlegos if you will.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Black Lantern Hal Jordan, being a bootleg, has no official series he is tied to. Near as I can tell from the research I’ve done, he’s from a larger set of Green Lantern themed Bootlegos, produced under the name “S-World”. Mine was purchased on his own, so I can’t really speak to the others. The figure stands about 2 inches tall, and has 7 points of articulation. The quality of the plastic used is a little different, but for all intents and purposes, this guy was built on a standard Lego Minifigure body. His sole add-on is a hair piece, which also appears to be an almost exact replica of one of Lego’s generic male hair pieces. The rest of the figure’s details are handled via paint. The painted work is quite surprising for a bootleg. It rivals official Lego work, and is a step above the work being put out currently by some of the bigger toy companies. The details are applied exquisitely, and capture the Black Lantern design very well. The figure includes a light sabre hilt and two clear blue blasters, which I believe are meant to be some sort of makeshift lantern, and a display stand with the S-World logo on it. Interestingly, the stand is different from Lego’s own Minifigure stand, making it the only unique piece present!
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
I picked up Black Lantern Hal Jordan and two other “Bootlegos” from a dealer at Mego Meet. They were simply labeled “Lego Figures” so I didn’t know their exact origin when I bought them. They came in small sealed bags, like you would find inside the box of a real Lego product, so I wasn’t sure if they were some kind of promotional item or something. Some research later clued me in to their bootleg nature, but I must say, I’m really quite impressed with these figures. The quality is almost exactly that of real Lego product, and they’ve actually gone a lot deeper with their character choices than the real Lego stuff has. I’m curious to see if they stick around much longer, though…
sculpt, although parts of it would see re-use on later Joker figures. It’s an alright approximation of his look on the show, though it’s not quite spot on. He seems to be a bit too squat for the character, but otherwise, he looks decent. The paintwork is fairly basic, in fact he’s mostly molded in the appropriate colors, but what’s there is well applied, with little instance of slop or bleed over. The palate seems a bit off, though. The purple seems a little too pale, the yellow seems too dark, and, the biggest issue, his skin tone has an odd green tint to it. Joker was accessorized with an odd water shooting backpack with a gas mask attached. You know, like the one he had all those times on the show….
The Figure In Question 