Tag Archives: Green Lantern

#3690: Green Lantern

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREEN LANTERN

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“John Stewart is a former U.S. Marine who uses his military training and discipline to protect Earth, and the rest of Space Sector 2814, as a member of the intergalactic peacekeeping force known as the Green Lantern Corps. As Green Lantern, John wields a power ring, which creates a protective shield around him, allows him to fly, and generates hard-light energy constructs in the form of anything he imagines. Fueled by willpower, Green Lantern’s power ring is one of the mightiest weapons in the universe!”

Introduced as the second back-up Lantern of Sector 2184 (which makes him the back-up back-up, I guess), John Stewart’s introduction under Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams provided DC with their first African American super hero. John subsequently took over as the primary Lantern from Hal Jordan on and off, and was notably chosen as the central Lantern for the Justice League animated show, which elevated his status tremendously, placing him more or less on the same level as Hal Jordan.  He’s had quite a number of figures over the years, but his first *would* have been a Super Powers figure, had Kenner gotten a fourth year out of the line.  Instead, he had to wait for McFarlane to revive the line…to mixed results.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern was released in Series 2 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.   He’s from that early era of the line where it was still just a Walmart-exclusive.  It’s also the era of the line where the figures are all using modern designs, hence John using his post-return, animation-inspired costume.  It’s not the design that Kenner was going to use (as they were more than likely just going to do a straight repaint on Hal), and it’s not a look that quite vibes with the rest of the line.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  As with all of the early line figures, he’s scaled about 1/2 an inch too tall, and is just generally too round and puffy to fully fit in with the Kenner figures.  The sculpt’s a bit on the soft side, and the shaping of the face is…I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but it’s off, that’s for sure.  In general, I find he looks not like a Kenner Super Powers figure, but rather like a Toy Biz DC Super Heroes figure.  Even the right hand is held vertically, rather than horizontally, much like the TB Hal.  This is further continued with the coloring, as the green in particular is a very close match to the TB GL.  Otherwise, the paint work is fine.  Fuzzy on the edges, but generally fine.  John is packed with his power battery, which he can hold in his left hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I saw this figure a number of times, and couldn’t bring myself to buy it.  It upset me, because it’s a John Stewart Green Lantern for Super Powers, which is something I very definitely wanted.  Why finally buy it?  Well, a loose one landed in front of me, right in the midst of me buying all of the more recent figures.  And, I mean, it’s one of the lost Kenner figures, in a continuation of the line.  What’s not to love?  Well, honestly, everything about the execution.  I mean, he just manages to get every possible detail wrong, and is quite possibly the most demonstrative of the core problems of the line’s beginnings.  It’s gotten a lot better since then, but if anything, it makes me more frustrated that this is the John we got, rather than a figure that’s more thematically appropriate with the rest of the line.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3677: Kilowog

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

KILOWOG

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“A brilliant geneticist on his home world Bolovax Vik, Kilowog served as Green Lantern of Sector 674. Following the destruction of his planet during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kilowog trained new Green Lantern recruits, teaching essential tools to survive the most dangerous job in the universe.”

Kenner’s sole Green Lantern entry for their Super Powers line was Hal Jordan, who was still the main GL at the time. There were plans at early stages to include a greater GL focus in the line, and the list of unproduced figures they’d planned even included a John Stewart. It’s hard to say if they’d have ever gotten to a character like Killowog, who wasn’t even introduced in the comics until the line’s final year in 1986. Nevertheless, he’s become one of the quintessential Green Lanterns over the years, and there’s no denying he’s got a cool visual, so he found his way into McFarlane’s continuation of Kenner’s line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kilowog was released in Series 7 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.  He’s the second of the new character additions, the other being Blue Beetle.  He’s also the line’s third GL, and he pairs off with the Sinestro Corps Sinestro figure from the same assortment.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His sizing is a lot larger than the rest of the line, putting him pretty much on the same mark as the vintage Darkseid figure.  It’s appropriate for the character, of course, and it’s nice to see, in contrast to how McFarlane scaling can sometimes go, that the line’s general trend smaller doesn’t affect a character who *should* be larger.  His sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s likely to remain fairly unique.  I think it’s honestly one of the line’s strongest (though I feel like I keep saying that for each new figure I get).  It’s a great match for his classic appearance, and fits in really well with the pre-existing Kenner aesthetic, especially the vintage Hal.  I appreciate the larger build, while still having a balanced set of proportions, and I really like the extra heft he’s got.  Kilowog’s paint work is okay.  It’s not his strongest mark.  The edges are a little sloppy in some spots, especially on his ring.  I’m also a bit bummed that the green’s off from the vintage GL, but I understand something like that can be kind of tricky.  It’s at least not a bad shade.  Kilowog is without any accessories, but given his larger size, that’s an understandable cut-back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Before I was even sure I was going to actually jump in on this line, Kilowog was one I was waffling on, because I sure do like a good Kilowog figure, and even before they addressed the scaling issues, I figured he’d fit in okay with the older stuff.  I figured I’d snag him if I saw him in person, but then I didn’t, and I got impatient, so I wound up ordering him from GameStop.  Yes, I ordered a McFarlane DC product from GameStop.  I don’t really know what the world’s coming to, honestly.  Kilowog’s pretty darn great, and another figure that really feels like an authentic continuation of the vintage line.

#3636: Parallax

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PARALLAX

TOTAL JUSTICE (KENNER)

Fun FiQ Fact #0115: According to Wikipedia, a parallax is “the difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight,” which is honestly not a terrible name to attach to a former hero driven to extremism.

Growing up, thanks to my dad’s old comics and re-runs of Challenge of the Super Friends, I became rather attached to Hal Jordan, despite his having been replaced by Kyle Rayner in the role before I started reading comics.  Options for Hal figures were, admittedly, a little limited in the ’90s, with the only option in 5-inch scale being not a Green Lantern figure, but Parallax, Hal’s villainous turn from the comics.  Of course, in my collection, he was never *really* villainous.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Parallax was released in Series 3 of Kenner’s Total Justice, which wound up being the line’s last series.  Each set got one “villain”, which was Parallax…I guess.  Like I said, never so much to my eyes.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Total Justice‘s sculpts were always very heavy on the pre-posing, and Hal’s no exception.  This one’s definitely one of the better ones; Hal’s flair for the dramatic during this era translates well into the sculpt, and he’s got a pose that reads as dynamic, without being too absurd. The sculpted elements of the costume are a pretty good match for the source material (certainly a closer match than McFarlane’s attempt from two decades later), and there’s a nice sharpness to them. The head’s my favorite part of the whole thing, capturing Hal’s likeness, while also getting the crazed expression he was so wont to have during this period of time. The last set of Total Justice got a lot of its paint budget slashed, resulting in a lot of unpainted elements. For his part, Parallax was pretty fortunate, getting all of the base details he was supposed to, and really only missing out on a few metallic details. The end result still looks totally fine, and you’d be unlikely to guess what was cut if you didn’t know it was supposed to be there. Another notable change-up for the last round was making the accessories into things that made a little more sense for the characters. Rather than “fractal armor”, Parallax gets a missile launcher and a shield, both molded in clear green.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I had a few Total Justice figures when they came out, but Series 3 was pretty rare at the time. I wanted a Parallax, of course, since he was the only option for Hal, but it took a bit for me to find one. I wound up getting him just a few years after his release, at a toy show my dad took me to, I think for my birthday. He’s a solid figure, even now, and remains my favorite of the Total Justice line-up.

#3612: Green Lantern – The Silver Age

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREEN LANTERN — THE SILVER AGE

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Fun FiQ Fact #0091: Hal Jordan’s original appearance was patterned on actor Paul Newman.  Does that mean that Hal should have his own line of salad dressings?

What?  DC Multiverse?  Haven’t I kicked the McFarlane habit?  Well, as it turns out, no.  I keep trying.  I keep getting very close, but then there just keeps being *one* more figure that pulls me right back in.  In this case, I’m falling back into my earlier love of Green Lantern, especially when there’s even a semi-decent figure on hand.  In particular, I’ve got quite a love for a good, solid classic Hal Jordan.  McFarlane’s done two Hal Jordans, neither of which are *terrible*, but it mostly got by on “McFarlane” standards, and neither of which were classic versions.  So, how about a third?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern — The Silver Age is part of the “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse, which also sports a classic Aquaman and a less classic Batman.  The figures are all officially under the “DC Direct” banner, but they’re effectively indistinguishable from the ones without the banner, so…there it is, I guess?  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  For the most part, GL is re-using the standard male build base body introduced in the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold set.  It’s a solid super hero body, with reasonable proportions, a not atrocious articulation scheme, and minimal detailing to throw off a clean look.  He’s still got the ridge at the top of his boots, but it at least flows with his costume design, and it’s a far cry from the excessive extra detailing that prior GLs have gotten on their suits.  He gets a new head, which is…I don’t know how to say this: it’s really good.  Like, just genuinely a really strong sculpt.  No “for a McFarlane figure” caveat or anything.  It aims to be a Silver Age Hal Jordon, and that’s where it lands, pretty cleanly.  His hair’s got that right flippy quality, the expression has that right level of cockiness, and the mask is crisp and sharp in its detailing.  He’s got a new right hand sculpt as well, which is in a fist and sporting his ring, you know, as it should be.  GL’s paint work is minimal, but what’s there is pretty sharply handled.  I also feel that the shade of green is a more appropriately Green Lantern-y shade, though that’s most certainly a personal thing.  GL is packed with three different left hands (in fist, flat, and gripping), as well as the power battery and two hand effects pieces from Parallax (why he’s got an effect for his left hand is beyond me, but I won’t complain about getting something extra), and a display stand with “McFarlane Toys Digital” on it.  He’s also got a collector’s card and a card with the information for whatever digital totally-not-an-NFT-with-a-different-name thing McFarlane packed with all three of these figures.  I have no idea what the thing is, because I’ve got no interest in downloading the app or setting up an account.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

One of my favorite Hal Jordan figures growing up was the DC Direct Silver Age Hal.  He’s older now, but I still really like him, and I hold pretty much every other Hal up to that figure.  McFarlane has done a few Hals, and they’ve all been fine but not quite right.  This one?  He’s like an update to that DCD figure I loved so much.  He’s that, but with more modern toy making sensibilities.  I can’t believe I like a McFarlane figure this much, but I really, really do.  Shout out to Max for helping me out with snagging this one, by the way!

#3467: World’s Greatest DC Comics Super Heroes Collection II

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

BATMAN, THE FLASH, GREEN ARROW, HOLOGRAM SUPERMAN, & HOLOGRAM GREEN LANTERN

JLA (KENNER)

“The mightiest heroes in the universe join forces to combat the world’s most diabolical villains – and their own evil counterparts!”

Hey, remember that JLA set I looked at yesterday, where I referenced that there was a second, complimentary set a few times?  Well, absolute shock and awe, if you can believe it, I’m gonna look at that second set today.  Whaaaaaaaaaaat?  This set also gets the extra significance of being the review that marks ten years here on the site, and it’s a more significant one, to boot.  So, let’s check this thing out.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Hologram Superman, and Hologram Green Lantern were released as “The World’s Greatest DC Comics Super Heroes Collection II” boxed set, the other half of the kick-off for Kenner’s JLA line.  As noted yesterday, both sets were Previews-exclusives, with the three standard JLA members per set also being available in the first single-carded assortment of the line.

BATMAN

“With a brilliantly deductive mind, expert scientific knowledge, and a master of martial arts, Batman watches over Gotham City from its gargoyles and parapets. He’s the city’s last hope against evil.”

With Superman headlining the first set, you gotta have Batman for the second, I guess.  I mean, his name wasn’t above the title of the whole line this time, so I guess he at least needed to have this concession.  He wasn’t going through the weird changes like Big Blue, so he’s just, you know, Batman.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation, plus those wonky sliding wings.  He’s using the Total Justice mold again, and it’s definitely its own thing.  There are a lot of oddities to this one, with the strangest thing definitely being those wings.  Like, why the wings?  It was weird with TJ, but at least there was the armor up gimmick, but with this release, it’s just random wings.  Just one of those weird quirks.  For his Total Justice release, Batman was blue and grey, with yellow accents.  For JLA, it switched two black and grey, with gold accents.  Through all three uses of the mold, the sculpted line for his trunks gets ignored, since DC was still in a “no trunks” mode in the mid-’90s.  Batman was packed with a display stand in black, as well as a backer with JLA #9 on it.  He’s on the cover, so that works alright.

THE FLASH

“A public super hero for almost his entire life. He can reach speeds approaching that of light itself and explode solid objects by vibrating through them.”

Like Kyle as Green Lantern, Wally West as the Flash had gotten his first action figure treatment during Total Justice, and then he got a quick follow-up to that here.  Again, not one that’s incredibly different, but it was at least some coverage.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He re-uses the Total Justice mold, of course, which I looked at when it was Reverse Flash.  As far as the TJ molds go, it’s not too crazy.  The pre-posing is more of a running pose, which works pretty well.  He gets a few additional details that aren’t usually on his comics costume; the flared gloves and all the straps on the boots being the main ones.  It all works pretty well, though.  His paint work is a noted change-up from the TJ figure’s classic red and yellow coloring; instead, he’s a deeper red with gold accenting.  It’s not quite as striking, but at the same time, it really sells him as being Wally’s ’90s incarnation, in contrast to Barry’s usual coloring.  Flash is packed with a red display stand and a backer with JLA #8 on it.  He’s not really the main focus of the cover, but at least he’s on it.

GREEN ARROW

“As the only son of the original Green Lantern, Connor Hawke is a martial arts expert who fires his arrows with almost superhuman accuracy.”

Like Huntress, Connor Hawke’s Green Arrow was a later addition to the JLA line-up.  He was likewise one of the figures in the final assortment of Total Justice, and works as Huntress’s counterpart in this set, since he doesn’t get a Hologram equivalent.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  I looked at this guy’s sculpt before when I reviewed his Total Justice release.  It’s preposed to the point of essentially being a statue, but it also remains perhaps the best sculpt that either of these lines produced.  For JLA, he got a much improved color scheme for the most part, as well as getting a bunch of details that had been left out of the first release’s paint work.  The only downside is that, matching the shift in the comics, his skin tone is very light, not really matching Connor’s proper ethnicity.  Of course, it’s not really Kenner’s fault; they were just following the unfortunate shift in depiction in the source material.  Green Arrow was packed with his bow and arrow (in brown, in contrast to the original green), a green display stand, and a backer card of JLA #10….which is the issue of “Rock of Ages” that features the Hologram JLA….and not Connor.  He *is* prominently featured on the cover of #8, so, maybe that would have made more sense?

HOLOGRAM SUPERMAN & HOLOGRAM GREEN LANTERN

“Embroiled in their greatest battle ever, the legendary JLA confronts its own holographic counterparts in a fight to save Star City from mass destruction. Identically matched in power and ability to the originals, the evil holograms were engineered by the infamous Injustice Gang – a group of such sinister masterminds as The Joker, Lex Luthor, Circe, Mirror Master, Dr. Light and Ocean Master.”

As noted yesterday, these sets each got two unique Hologram JLA members (and they even did two more in the Collection IV boxed set), mirroring the standard versions in the corresponding set.  This time around, we got Superman and Green Lantern.  Both figures stand just shy of 5 inches tall and they have 5 points of articulation.  I looked at both of the molds for these figures in yesterday’s set, and they kind of are what the are.  The Superman set-up is still a real mix and match and Green Lantern is very, very intense.  Of course, it wouldn’t really make much sense for them to be different, since the match-up is kind of the whole gimmick and all.  They both get funky change-up color schemes, and I honestly think I prefer the looks on these two to the other ones.  In particular, the changed up logo on Superman is a lot of fun, and I just dig the indigo set-up on GL so much.  The figures both come with dark purple display stands and backer cards, with JLA #11 going to Superman and JLA #12 for Green Lantern.  Neither of them actually features in either issue, of course, but both issues *are* at least from the “Rock of Ages” storyline, and their corresponding counterpart is prominently featured on them, so they’re far from the worst choices.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve discussed this set a little bit before on the site, back when I looked at the TJ version of Green Arrow, but I’ll go a bit further into detail now, I suppose.  In 1998, when this set came out, I was five years old.  At the time, I would spend a lot of time at my grandparents’ house.  In particular, it was a frequent tradition that my Grandmother would come and pick me up from school on Friday afternoons, and we would go get lunch at the local mall, followed by a little bit of shopping.  My main interest was usually the KB Toys, but right across from it was the comic chain Another Universe, which was usually a good secondary.  Another Universe had both of these sets, and I really, really wanted Green Arrow, whose single carded release was still very hard to find at the time.  My Grandmother could have just asked me to be patient and wait for the single, but instead, she bought me the whole set.  They got a lot of play time when I was a kid, especially that Green Arrow.  I lost a lot of the parts, as well as the two Hologram Leaguers over the years, but I still have very pleasant memories of the whole set and the story behind them.  My Grandmother died at the end of August this year, and now all I have left are those, and other, memories of our time together.  So, when I had the chance to get a replacement of the set, and carry those memories forward, I kind of couldn’t pass it up.

#3466: World’s Greatest DC Comics Super Heroes Collection I

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

SUPERMAN BLUE, GREEN LANTERN, THE HUNTRESS, HOLOGRAM BATMAN, & HOLOGRAM FLASH

JLA (KENNER)

“The mightiest heroes in the universe join forces to combat the world’s most diabolical villains – and their own evil counterparts!”

In 1996, looking to expand their DC line beyond just Batman, and after the success of the more comics-based Legends of Batman, Kenner launched Total Justice.  Okay, to be more specific, they launched “Batman: Total Justice” because they still weren’t totally sold on non-Batman success.  The line did alright, but only lasted three assortments, two of them abbreviated ones at that.  Two years later, they revisited the concept, in light of the success of the relaunched JLA comic, and dubbed it, rather predictably, JLA.  The whole thing was kicked off by two boxed sets, which repurposed old TJ molds to put the characters back out before delving into new ones.  The sets re-released six JLA members, coupled with four of their holographic duplicates from “Rock of Ages.”  And hey, why don’t I look at the first of those today?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Superman Blue, Green Lantern, Huntress, Hologram Batman, and Hologram Flash were released as “The World’s Greatest DC Comics Super Heroes Collection I” boxed set, which, along with Collection II, kicked off Kenner’s JLA line.  Both sets were Previews-exclusives, though the three JLA members per set were also available in the first single-carded assortment of the line.

SUPERMAN BLUE

“As one half of Clark Kent’s alter ego, Superman Blue is slow to anger, patient, courteous and serious in nature. He shares the powers and strategic thinking of Superman Red, but their different attitudes tend to get in each other’s way.”

While Man of Steel and Total Justice had hit firmly during Superman’s mullet phase, JLA hit right as he was spending a year with a brand-new power set, and a brand-new design to correspond.  So, rather than a classic Superman (who, to be fair, we got later down the line), our main Superman at launch was Superman Blue, who got his first of three figures in short succession right here.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He is, unsurprisingly, the exact same construction as the Superman Red from the single-card releases, meaning he’s the Total Justice Superman sans cape, with the head of the Man of Steel line’s Hunter Prey Superman.  It’s not a perfect set-up.  In fact, it’s not a great set-up, since he still keeps all of the sculpted details for the standard Superman costume, as well as the totally different head gear set-up of the Hunter Prey design.  They straight up just paint over it all and really hope you don’t notice.  And, honestly, it’s fine.  It’s not great, but it’s fine.  The colors actually look really solid; like Red, Blue is bright and vibrant, and really pops off the shelf.  I can definitely dig that.  Superman Blue gets a blue JLA display stand, and a cardstock cover of JLA #15, which does at the very least actually feature him.

GREEN LANTERN

“One of the youngest members of the JLA team, Kyle Rayner inherited a ring, which is considered to be the most powerful weapon in the universe. The ring is capable of generating solid light in the form of anything Kyle imagines”

Since Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern of the ’90s, he had gotten his first figure during Total Justice.  JLA gave him a rather quick follow-up second, albeit one that’s not incredibly different from the first.  Whatever the case, the figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Kyle’s sculpt is one that has a lot of trouble standing, due to the severe pre-posing present.  Those legs are just jutting out there.  It’s kinda crazy, really.  The best word I can think of to describe it is “intense.”  Like, he’s very angry, and very into it, and he’s not planning to stop any time soon.  Kyle was generally depicted as rather on the jovial side, but that’s not the case with this guy, who’s got a pretty angry look about him.  Presumably, he just found his girlfriend in the refrigerator.  Shame.  It’s a sculpt that I don’t think anyone can quantify as “good,” but it sure does do…something.  Look, it’s very memorable.  In terms of color scheme, Kyle’s original Total Justice figure was pretty subdued on his colors, with the greens a little on the darker side, the black more of a dark blue, and the white a sort of pearlescent shade.  For JLA, which tended to aim darker, they actually punched it up a bit.  The white and black are much starker, and the green is just a tad lighter.  During Total Justice, GL got some of the line’s crazy Fractal Armor, but in his case it was done up in translucent green plastic, so it looks like a construct, which seems less silly.  For JLA, he got a green stand and a backer with JLA #14 on it.  He’s one of the three Leaguers on the cover, so it works well enough.

HUNTRESS

“In a quest for vengeance against the death of her family, Helena Bertinelli, a Gotham City high school teacher, became The Huntress. With her arsenal of weapons, she preys upon Gotham City criminals.”

Huntress was a later addition to the JLA in the comics, and also had been a late addition to Total Justice, hitting during the ill-distributed final wave of the line.  As such, she’s one of two odd-ball characters included in these sets, without a Hologram duplicate in the alternate.  She’s seen here in her mid-90s attire, which she quite fortunately kept through both Total Justice and JLA’s runs.  I’ll admit, it doesn’t quite hit the same for me as the later Jim Lee redesign, but I guess it’s not a terrible design.  The figure stands a little under 5 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation…technically.  Of course, the hair costs the neck almost all of its movement, and the hips are at an odd angle.  Like, not quite v-hip, but not straight t-hip.  So, it’s really just the arms that do anything.  That all said, her sculpt’s honestly one of the better ones from the line.  Her pose isn’t anything too crazy, she’s surprisingly stable on her feet, and her face lacks the weird intensity of most of the others.  Her cape is also pretty basic, with enough flow to prevent it from looking too stiff, but not anything that looks *too* crazy.  Huntress’s Total Justice color scheme went for the comic style shading, giving her a purple and blue outfit.  For the JLA release, that was translated to purple and black, which definitely looks a little bit sharper.  Her TJ figure got a crossbow and fractal armor (which are both missing from my figure), while the JLA figure got the crossbow, a purple display stand, and a backer with JLA #13 on it…which is interesting, because, in addition to the cover being just a close-up of Martian Manhunter’s face, Huntress is also just not in the issue.  So, you know, there it is?

HOLOGRAM BATMAN & HOLOGRAM FLASH

“Embroiled in their greatest battle ever, the legendary JLA confronts its own holographic counterparts in a fight to save Star City from mass destruction. Identically matched in power and ability to the originals, the evil holograms were engineered by the infamous Injustice Gang – a group of such sinister masterminds as The Joker, Lex Luthor, Circe, Mirror Master, Dr. Light and Ocean Master.”

Exclusive to these sets were the Hologram JLA, based on the purple-hued JLA avatars that the Injustice Gang used during the first issue of the “Rock of Ages” storyline.  They were a pretty straight forward gimmicky re-paint using the existing TJ molds of the JLA members.  This set got Batman and Flash, whose standards were included in the other set.  Both figures are just shy of 5 inches tall.  Flash has the standard 5 points of articulation, while Batman also gets the sliding glider wings of the TJ mold.  I’ve looked at both of these molds previously here and here.  They’re very much products of their time.  To sell them as the holograms that they are, both figures are molded in translucent plastic, with a big emphasis on purple hues, which honestly is a pretty fun and unique look.  They come with JLA logo stands, both in a dark purple, as well as their own backer cards.  Batman gets #16 and Flash gets #17, neither of which features these two, either on the cover or in their contents.  Also, #16 has Huntress, so, like, maybe that one should have gone to her?  I don’t know, I’m just spit-balling here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t get this set when it was new.  I had gotten the Total Justice Green Lantern as a Christmas gift from my aunt, and my cousin Rusty had traded me the Huntress for something else, and I didn’t really care for Superman Blue at the time, nor did I have any attachment to the Hologram JLA.  Over the years, I’ve grown to have more appreciation for this line overall, and I really wanted those Holo guys above all, but I haven’t seen the sets in person since.  But, a couple of weeks ago, Cosmic Comix got this one and the second one in, and I was feeling particularly nostalgic.

#3418: Hyperion & Doctor Spectrum

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

HYPERION & DOCTOR SPECTRUM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Hyperion convinces Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron Supreme to use their vast superpowers to solve Other-Earth’s problems by remaking it into a utopia by any means necessary”

I’ve spoken a few times before about the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s in-house stand-in for the Justice League.  They’ve managed to have a surprisingly enduring popularity over the years, but admittedly, not a ton of merchandising, since they exist just outside the mainstream.  We’ve gotten a few Hyperions, and a few Nighthawks, but it’s rare we get past those two.  Hasbro’s decided to give a proper line-up an actual go, it would seem, and are kicking things off, unsurprisingly, with another Hyperion, but also resident Green Lantern stand-in Doctor Spectrum!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, the first of a set based on the Squadron.  Later sets indicate that this line-up is meant to be based on the “Squadron Supreme of America” version of the team from Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’s Avengers run, but in the case of these two particular figures, that means they also double as classic versions of the characters.  This set hit right around the same time as yesterday’s Franklin and Valeria pack, right at the end of June/beginning of July.

HYPERION

Hyperion has had one Legend before, way back in the Hit Monkey Series.  While that’s *technically* within the modern Legends classification, he was a weak figure even when he was new, and the base body that he introduced to the line is more or less retired, so a new version’s certainly not un-called for.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s largely working with a fairly basic articulation set-up, but he does get a ball-jointed mid-torso set-up, which is quite nice for posing and aesthetics.  Hyperion is built from absolutely no parts from the Hyperion mold, if you can believe it.  He’s got the arms and legs of two different Hercules figures, plus a new head, torso, and cape.  The head, handle by sculptor Paul Harding, is based on Hyperion’s earliest appearances, when he was still sporting the short hair and the domino mask.  I appreciate how it’s got just a touch of a Superman vibe, without being just straight up Superman.  He’s still his own character.  The color work on this figure is very bright and eye catching. There’s a slight mismatch on the exact shades of red, which seems to happen a lot, but otherwise things work out okay.  His actual paint is all pretty clean, and I like how the hair gets the darker accenting to help bring out the sculpted details.  Hyperion is packed with an extra pair of gripping hands.  Not really sure why, but I guess he might want to hold some stuff occasionally?

DOCTOR SPECTRUM

Doctor Spectrum’s only prior figure is a Minimate, which wasn’t a super plentiful one at that.  Despite being one of the team’s higher profile members, he’s just never gotten the spotlight.  But hey, here he is now.  Yay!  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Spectrum is based on the supposedly retired Bucky Cap base body, which just sort of keeps showing back up.  It’s like a Baby Boomer that just won’t stay home, or something.  This time around, it’s got a new set of arms, with pinless construction on the elbows.  They don’t quite sit flesh with the body, which is a touch awkward.  Why they didn’t just use the newly developed Vulcan body is anybody’s guess.  I assume there’s some sort of logic behind it, and I’m not gonna try to figure it out.  He also re-uses the Blizzard head, which honestly is pretty hard to go wrong with.  It’s a basic full face mask.  Not like there’s a lot of different ways to do that, right?  Doctor Spectrum’s distinctive color scheme is largely handled via molded colors, but there’s a fair bit of actual painting on the torso.  Some of the edges are a touch sloppy, but they’re not awful.  The only thing I’m really not big on is way the blue continues around the shoulders; it just doesn’t look right when posing.  The Doc is packed with two sets of hands, one open gesture, the other gripping, two effects pieces, and his Power Prism.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Squadron Supreme are a fun concept, and it feels like all we ever get are Hyperion figures.  Well, and Nighthawk too, I suppose, but his are usually his Defenders costume, so it doesn’t really count.  I have a particular affinity for Doctor Spectrum, what with him being the GL equivalent and all, so I’ve long wanted some proper toy version of him.  This one’s admittedly a little phoned in.  But, at the same time, it’s not a *bad* figure, and certainly preferable to no Doctor Spectrum at all.  Hyperion, despite being yet another Hyperion, is actually a pretty cool figure, so I can get behind that, I guess.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3380: Kyle Rayner

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

KYLE RAYNER

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

When Green Lantern first appeared in the DC Animated Universe in Superman: The Animated Series, the producers opted to use the then-current holder of the title, Kyle Rayner, as their introductory Lantern.  Kyle gained a good portion of Hal Jordan’s origin, being the first Earth Lantern, having gotten the ring directly from Abin Sur, but he still retained Kyle’s personality and background as an artist.  When *a* Green Lantern reappeared in Justice League, it was not Kyle, but rather John Stewart, who was chosen not only to add a little more diversity to the titular team, but also to give the show a slightly less defined Lantern to work with for some of the show’s character arcs.  Rayner still existed within the narrative however, and was granted a couple of additional cameos, as well as a small speaking role in Justice League Unlimited‘s “The Return.”  It was this appearance that finally got animated Kyle some action figure treatment.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kyle Rayner was initially released in 2006 during the second iteration of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line, under the orange packaging style, in a pack that also included fellow GLs Katma Tui and Arkkis Chummuck.  He was then re-released as a single the following year, and once more in a convention-exclusive pack with Evil Star and Goldface.  As noted in the intro, Kyle is based on his design from “The Return,” which was itself an adaptation of Kyle’s Jim Lee-designed costume update from the early ’00s.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s based on the medium-sized male base body.  Rather fittingly, it started as a GL body, and it remains so here.  Kyle’s original build was a bit smaller, but by the time of “The Return,” he’d bulked up a bit, so it makes sense.  Kyle got a new head sculpt for this release, and it’s honestly a pretty good one.  We don’t see a ton of Kyle in the show, but this matches up pretty nicely with what we do see, while still being rather unique.  It’s sharp, clean, and pretty on point for the character.  Kyle’s paint work does most of the heavy lifting, as with most of these figures.  It does it well; his outfit’s detailing is pretty spot on.  The green’s a little prone to chipping, but not as bad as some figures from the line.  The head paint is alright, though a bit washed out; the brown for the hair feels a little light, as does the skin tone.  But, it still works well enough overall.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

“In Brightest Day” is far and away my favorite entry in the DCAU.  I was such a huge GL fan as a kid, and I excited recorded the episode on VHS when it aired back in the day.  The lack of a GL in the tie-in line always bummed me out.  When Kyle was replaced with John in JL, I obviously adjusted, and I was happy to get plenty of cool figures for John.  That said, I still hoped for Kyle.  Admittedly, this wasn’t the look I initially had in mind, and to this day, I still would love to get a STAS version of the character, but I do still really love this guy, too.  He honestly holds up pretty well.

#3266: Green Lantern

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREEN LANTERN

WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES (MEGO)

I’m just about done with this year’s batch of post-Christmas reviews, but I’m wrapping up with a look at something that’s not quite as much a holiday fixture for me as Super Powers, but is still pretty high up there: Mego.  2022 marked the 50th anniversary of Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes toyline launching.  At its start, WGSH was exclusively dedicated to DC Comics, something that is true of the modern WGSH line, thanks to Mego picking back up the license for 8-inch figures in 2020.  In celebration of the 50th, Mego is returning the line to its roots, with packaging based on the original boxed look for the line.  While the line-up is mostly recreations of figures from the original line, it also features two additional figures, Green Lantern and Flash, the two most glaring omissions from the original run, in fancy throwback packaging and all.  I’ve got the GL, of course, and I’m taking a look at him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern is part of Wave 16 of the post-relaunch Mego line, under the World’s Greatest Super Heroes 50th Anniversary banner.  He’s one of the eight retro throwback figures in the set, and one of the two that’s not a re-issue of a vintage Mego counterpart.  This GL is the Hal Jordan version, specifically sporting his classic ’70s appearance, making him through and through the correct look for a proper vintage Mego release, which is pretty cool.  The figure stands just shy of 8 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Hal is built on the brand-new Type-S Mego base body, which takes the vintage Type 2 body aesthetic, and reworks it to remove the band construction, as well as improve the general articulation set-up for the body.  It removes the issues of long-term viability of the band construction, creates a generally more solid feeling base body, and also gives him better posability…for the most part.  The only thing I’m not super crazy about is the knees, which are a bit more restricted on this body than earlier Mego base bodies.  Hal gets a unique head sculpt and hands as well.  They’re quite impressive pieces; the head sculpt in particular is really a star piece.  He’s the spitting image of the quintessential ’70s Hal, which is exactly what I want on this sort of figure.  The paint work on GL is on the head and both hands.  The head’s pretty clean, apart from just a touch of missing paint near the nose of the mask.  The hands are fully painted, with white for the gloves and everything, which gives them a slightly glossier finish, helping them match closer to the costume.  GL’s costume is made up of a jumpsuit and a pair of standard boots.  The jumpsuit is made up of separate cloth pieces stitched together, rather than just being silkscreened, which gives it a little more pop.  GL is packed with his power battery, which, unlike the 14 inch figure, he can actually hold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Friday’s Mister Miracle, GL was a Christmas gift to me from my parents.  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted a proper Mego GL.  I made my own custom back in the day, which tided me over, and then I had the Mattel one, and even the Figures Toy Company one.  Of course, none of those were official Mego.  There was also the 14 inch version, but he was, you know, really tall and all.  It’s been a road of small steps and improvements, but this one is really, really nice, and he’s a proper, official Mego GL.  Only took us 50 years, but, hey, here we are.  Feels like it was worth it.  Genuinely couldn’t be happier with him.

#3240: Green Lantern John Stewart

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREEN LANTERN JOHN STEWART

DC ICONS (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Before they went out of business and then got reinvented as little more than a glorified way for McFarlane to put out more of the same figures, DC Direct/Collectibles went through quite a few attempts at creating a central, singularly styled line of figures.  There were a few extended lines based on specific works, such as Justice, which took advantage of the large cast of the book to do a sizable swath of the DCU in one style.  Their first deliberate aim at a consistently styled, full universe-spanning line was History of the DC Universe, which honestly was kind of doomed before it began, because it arrived only half-formed and never really tried to improve that.  After rebranding as DC Collectibles, the company launched with a New 52 line, again with the same basic idea, but given the lukewarm reception to the New 52 and its designs, the line again had short legs.  After that failed, they tried again, with DC Icons.  Icons had a sort of rocky start, but it managed recover pretty quickly, and actually was shaping up to be a really strong line…until DCC decided they didn’t have faith in it anymore, and decided to reboot once again with DC Essentials, a line doomed before it even began.  Though short-lived, Icons did at least have a solid run of figures.  I reviewed a bunch of them back when the line was still relatively new, but today I’m looking at one more.  It’s John Stewart Green Lantern!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern John Stewart was part of the fourth series of DC Icons.  He was figure 15 in the line, placing him just before the previously reviewed Firestorm, also from the same assortment.  Each of the figures in this line was specifically patterned on a certain comics appearance.  In John’s case, he’s based on Green Lantern: Mosaic, a GL-spin-off series from the early ’90s.  The series was a showcase for John in particular, and laid a lot of ground work for the modern interpretations of the character, so it’s a pretty distinctive choice for him.  It was also nice to see them go for something a little bit older.  It does have the sort of odd side effect of not putting John in the outfit he’s been sporting since the early 2000s, which would match a good number of other figures in the line, but we’d seen that look a couple of time recently at this point, so the change-up was seemingly a show of good faith that they might possibly do more than one John.  How foolish we all were.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall (since this is after they’d started to address the early scale issues of the line) and he has 33 points of articulation.  He got the improved articulation set-up that came with the fourth series forward, which included the addition of drop hips, which makes for a much better posing situation.  John’s sculpt was completely unique.  It’s a pretty nice offering.  He’s got a larger build than Hal did, which feels appropriate for the character.  The head’s not my favorite take on John (that’s still the DCUC version, which just really slaps), but it’s certainly better than a lot of other recent takes.  It at least gets away from the “generic black guy” issue that I had with the McFarlane and Mezco figures.  It’s honestly not a bad translation of how he looked in Mosaic specifically, which is really the point.  The figure’s paint work is pretty decent; he matches up with Hal alright, keeping that satin metallic finish for the green, as well as the high gloss finish on the white.  Application’s pretty clean for the most part.  The eyebrows are a little bit misaligned, and there’s a spot of green missing on one of his shoulders, but otherwise things look pretty decent.  John gets a solid selection of accessories, including two different forearm/hand combos for both gloved and ungloved looks, since he alternated in Mosaic.  The gloved look gets an extra right hand, with a hole in place of the ring, allowing for use of the three construct attachments.  It’s a shame there’s not another one for the ungloved hands, but I understand the line being drawn somewhere.  He also includes a power battery, for all those recharging purposes.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I slept on a lot of Icons, unfortunately, and John was one of those that I really slept on.  Thankfully, I got another chance with him, since one got traded into All Time a couple of years ago.  I already wanted one, so he was an easy sell for me.  While the Mosaic design isn’t top of my list for John’s look, I can appreciate the variety, and I think it did turn out pretty well.  And, at least he actually got a figure in the line, which is more than can be said for a lot of DC’s prominent heroes.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.