Tag Archives: Green Lantern

#0251: Kyle Rayner

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

KYLE RAYNER

GREEN LANTERN CLASSICS

KyleRayner

To the outside observer, the identity of Green Lantern can be a bit confusing. To date, there have been six humans to bear the name, not to mention the countless aliens that use the name throughout the universe! Which one of them you think of when you hear the name largely depends on when you were introduced to DC. Many DC fans learned about the character through Challenge of the Superfriends, which featured Hal Jordan (my personal favorite). People who were fans of Justice League consider John Stewart to be the definitive GL (with good reason). And people who got pulled into comics in the 90s, well they tend to be fans of a guy called Kyle Rayner. That’s the guy I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kyle was released as part of the first series of Green Lantern Classics, which was a subset of DC Universe Classics intended to tie in with 2011’s Green Lantern. The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and features 23 points of articulation. He’s based on Kyle’s post-Sinestro Corps War costume, which was the one he was wearing at the time of this figure’s release (I believe he’s still wearing it, though I don’t know for sure. I haven’t read a Green Lantern comicbook in almost two years.) Personally, I think it’s his best costume, so I don’t mind it’s inclusion here, but I can understand why some people were bummed we didn’t get Kyle’s main look from the 90s. Like DC Universe Classics, Green Lantern Classics was built on the buck system. Kyle makes use of the standard medium build body with a new head and a right hand borrowed from DCUC’s John Stewart. The head is a very nice piece, perhaps one of the finest head sculpts in the line. It very nicely captures Kyle’s look. The figure relies on paint to handle most of the costume’s details. The paint does pretty well, although there are a few fuzzy lines here and there, and a noticeable line of black plastic between the greens on the lower torso and the waist. All in all, it looks pretty good, though. Kyle includes a sword construct and a piece of the series’ C-N-C Arkillo. The construct is very impressive, and snaps easily over Kyle’s hand. It’s a great sculpt, and it’s nice to see include a fun accessory for a change.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a Green Lantern fan, I’m sure it’s no real surprise that I ended up with this figure. Even so, this is actually one of two figures from the first series of GLC I actually kept. This was another series where my brother and I split buying a series so that one of us could get the C-N-C. He wanted Arkillo, so I helped him finish the set. Not that it took too much pressuring to get me to buy Kyle. Even amongst all the versions of Hal Jordan offered, Kyle may well be my favorite DCUC-styled Green Lantern (although John does give him a run for his money). It’s a great figure, and I’m definitely glad I got one!

#0248: Nekron

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

NEKRON

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

Nekron

It’s not an uncommon thing to see Death personified as an actual character in a work of fiction. It’s actually really common to see such a character appear in comicbooks. DC Comics actually has five separate versions of death, for various different groups of people. Today, I’ll be looking at Nekron, who is sort of the Green Lantern version of death I suppose. Sadly, he’s not the version of death that rides around on cosmic skis. Lower your standards on this one, guys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nekron was the Collect-N-Connect figure for series 20 of DC Universe Classics, which was themed around Brightest Day, a storyline kicked off by Blackest Night, which featured Nekron as the main antagonist. The figure is about 9 inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. He’s based on Nekron’s look during Blackest Night, which is slightly different from his original appearance. The figure features a completely unique sculpt, courtesy of the Four Horsemen. It’s pretty good, with lots of nice tattered and decaying textures. It does a decent job of conveying the corpse that Nekron is meant to be. The paintwork is actually quite nice. There’s no issues with slop or bleed-over, and he has some nice weathering to make him look like he’s been buried in the ground for a while. The figure features no accessories. Normally this isn’t an issue with a C-N-C, given that they’re packed with other figures in a series, but Nekron was initially shown with a scythe accessory that was dropped right before the series was released. It’s kind of important to the character, so the absence is kind of glaring.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Nekron along with the rest of Series 20 from online retailer Big Bad Toy Store. My brother and I decided we wanted to split the figures in the series, and since he had no real attachment to Nekron, I got to have him. I gotta be honest, Nekron’s not one of my favorite characters either, but he’s a Green Lantern villain and I do have a rather impressive Green Lantern shelf…

#0205: Hal Jordan, Sinestro, & Abin Sur

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

HAL JORDAN, SINESTRO & ABIN SUR

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED

IMG_1737

It’s no secret that I’m a pretty big Green Lantern fan. Due to this, I own a metric ton of Green Lantern crap. Good or bad, I own it. There is, however, one Green Lantern item that I will never, ever, own. That is the Hal Jordan Green Lantern figure based on the character’s brief cameo in the Justice League Unlimited episode “Once and Future Thing.” Mattel decided to give this figure out as a gift to a number of Warner Brothers executives one year. I believe the number of figures in existence is in the low three-figures. Unsurprisingly, the figure rarely shows up on the aftermarket, and when one does, they go for prices far beyond what someone like me can reasonably pay.

So, I was bummed. I mean, Hal Jordan was one of my favorite characters of all time, and I would be unable to own him in the primary DC scale of the time. What a bummer! Then came the set I am reviewing today, offering me another chance at the character. No, it’s not the same, but it’s something, so I’ll take it.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hal Jordan, Abin Sur, and Sinestro were released as part of a San Diego Comic Con exclusive three pack, meant to sort-of promote Justice League: New Frontier. Hal and Abin are based loosely on their appearances there, and Sinestro is based on his GL look in the comics. All three feature swappable heads, to allow Hal to be displayed in either of his GL uniforms. It’s debatable as to whether it works or not.

HAL JORDAN

Hal is presented here in his Ferris Aircraft-issued test pilot gear. He stands just shy of 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. He features a brand new head and legs, along with the basic medium build torso and arms and a coat add-on previously used on Mr. Terrific. The head looks pretty accurate to what Hal looks like in New Frontier, so that works. The re-use all works appropriately as well. The paint work is okay, though there are some fuzzy lines in a few spots.  Hal has no accessories, unless you want to count Abin and Sinestro…

ABIN SUR

Abin Sur is presented here in the GL uniform he wore in his original appearance. This was a bit of a contentious point amongst fans, because it’s not the design he sported in his appearance in the Animated universe. It was done to facilitate the Hal Jordan thing, but I guess I can see the annoyance. Abin is built on the medium build body with a brand new head. The head is a bit big for the body, but overall it looks nice, and the medium body was the best of the bucks Mattel used for this line. The paint is serviceable, though it also still has a few fuzzy lines.

SINESTRO

Sinestro is shown here in his GL uniform, which he never actually sported in any of the animated material, but they wanted to do the interchangeable heads thing, so there it is. Sinestro is a complete re-use. He’s built on the same medium body as Abin, and shares a head with the previous Sinestro figure. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The paint is nice and clean, cleaner than the other two, in fact, which is something I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up off of Matty Collector following SDCC. It was mostly painless. It’s not the same as the super rare Hal, but this set isn’t too bad. It provides a perfectly fine version of Hal, and Abin and Sinestro are pretty cool too. It’s not a thrilling set, but it is cool for someone who’s a fan of Green Lantern, which is a bill I fit. Yay.

#0148: Green Lantern

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

GREEN LANTERN

DC TOTAL HEROES

 

For someone who tries not to talk about the current state of DC Comics, I sure do seem to review a lot of modern DC lines, don’t I?

I’ve talked before about DC Universe Classics and how much of a success it was, for a while.  Then, for a number of reasons, it was pulled from retail and ultimately died.  Since then, Mattel has been attempting to find a new DC line to succeed with the general public.  Total Heroes is the most recent attempt.

It’s a line of fairly stylized versions of DC’s heavy hitters, in a roughly 6 inch scale.  The line just started hitting stores recently, and being the addict I am, I had to buy the Green Lantern figure.  So, let’s see what I think of the new line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern was released as part of the second assortment of Total Heroes figures as far as I can tell.  They don’t have defined waves anymore, and I know he wasn’t amongst the very first set of figures, so I think he and Sinestro are both later releases.  He’s the Hal Jordan version of the character, and he’s sporting Hal’s New 52 look.  Of all the New 52 redesigns, I find Hal’s redesign least offensive.  Still not my favorite, but it could be worse.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and features 20 points of articulation.  Most of the articulation is pretty good, but some sort of swivel somewhere on the legs would be appreciated.  As it is, the leg articulation is a bit limited.  The sculpt is done to match the angular style of the rest of the line.  Not having any of the other figures, I’m not sure how much of the figure is reused from others, but I imagine that all of the more generic bits are.  I do really like the ring hand’s slightly angled sculpt.  It allows for some cool poses and really adds a bit of personality to the figure.  I’m iffy on the head sculpt.  It’s certainly not bad, and I really do like the face, but the hair seems off.  They’ve given Hal a very close-cropped cut, which doesn’t really fit the character, who is often depicted with a more loose hair style.  It looks okay, it’s probably just more of a personal preference thing.  The paint work is basic, but pretty good.  There’s a spot or two of misapplied paint, and mine has a black spot on his right glove, but nothing too noticeable.  GL includes one accessory: a clear green axe construct.  It looks fine, though the double blade thing is a bit weird.  I would have preferred if he had something that could clip onto his ring hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found this figure while killing time at a local Toys R Us during my brother’s chorus practice.  I decided to give the line a try.  The figure is a pretty fun figure, but I can’t really say that it’s swayed me on buying any of the other figures in the line.  I think it will continue to be a figure by figure basis with these guys.

#0135: John Stewart – Green Lantern

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

JOHN STEWART – GREEN LANTERN

DC: INFINITE HEROES

So, I’m taking a short break from all the Minimate-y goodness I’ve just gotten and looking at a few other figures in my collection.  This one’s not a new figure, nor is it one of my favorites.  But I own it, and it’s on the list of random figure choices from which I dare not deviate.

Mattel is a company I’ve mentioned a few times before on this site.  They aren’t really my favorite topic, as I have a tendency to go off on rants when I bring them up.  They just recently started up a new 3 ¾ inch scale line of figures.  This is actually their second venture into this scale.  Their first was called DC Infinite Heroes, and was widely seen as a pretty big failure on their part.  It didn’t last as long as some of their other lines, but it went a few years, and did release a fair number of figures.  I’ll be looking at one today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, it’s John Stewart.  Earth’s 3rd or 4th Green Lantern, depending on how you look at it.  Not the host of The Daily Show.  Sorry if it’s confusing.  John was released as part of a Green Lantern themed 6 pack.  The set was released relatively early on in the life of the Infinite Heroes line.  The figure stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and has 10 points of articulation.  Like most of Mattel’s DC toy lines, DCIH operated on the buck system, meaning every figure was built on one of the few stock bodies.  Unfortunately, the stock bodies for DCIH aren’t anywhere near as nice as those used for DCUC or even Justice League Unlimited.  John was built on the slightly larger male body.  This is okay, since John tends to be depicted a little bigger than Guy and Hal, but the body itself is probably one of the worst of the stocks.  The waist is super tiny, the arms are bulky and stubby, and the hands are GARGANTUAN.  The only new piece here was the head, and it doesn’t do much to improve the figure.  I’m not really sure what look they were going for, but John looks sort of like he was kicked in the crotch while eating a whole pack of Sour Patch Kids.  I’d love to say the paint helps the figure, but it just makes things worse.  For some reason, they gave John brown hair and eyebrows, which makes his whole heal look a bit…mushy.  Plus, his eyebrows kinda give off a weird Vulcan vibe.  The paint is particularly sloppy on the wrists, and for some reason his boots are an entirely different shade of green than the rest of his uniform.  John includes no accessories, which is a shame because they might have added some value to this figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t remember where I got this figure exactly.  I know at one point I had the whole set, but I think I sold most of the others off.  I don’t know why I kept him.  I think I just wanted to have John represented in this scale.  Infinite Heroes wasn’t a very good line, but there were a few figures that didn’t totally suck.  John is not one of those figures.

#0108: Martin Jordan

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

MARTIN JORDAN

GREEN LANTERN (MOVIE)

If you’ve been following the site, you’ve probably picked up that I’m a pretty big fan of all things Green Lantern.  A little while back, I reviewed the basic Hal Jordan figure from 2011’s Green Lantern movie, where I noted that pretty much my only reasoning for purchasing the figure was because it was Green Lantern related.  Well, today I’ll be looking at yet another entry from that line, which I purchased for pretty much the same reason.  It’s the titular hero and his father Martin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Green Lantern included in this set is identical to the one I reviewed previously, so I’ll just be looking at Martin this time around.  Martin was released as part of a two-pack exclusive to K-Mart at the time of the movie’s release.  The figure is based on Martins flight suit look from the movie.  He stands about 4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  The sculpt is pretty much in line with the rest of the figures from the series.  The likeness on the head sculpt is actually pretty good.  The body isn’t terrible, although it is entirely inaccurate to the flight suit Martin wore in the movie, since they just reused the test-pilot Hal Jordan body.  The paint has no slop or anything, but it’s incredibly basic, and quite drab.  Which I guess is good because it fits right in with all of Mattel’s other offerings from the movie.  He included a Ferris Air parachute, which was just kind of a cheap piece of plastic that I didn’t feel the need to hang onto for any particular reason.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the Hal Jordan figure, this figure is a decent offering…if it had been released about 10 years prior.  Mattel really phoned this line in, and it’s incredibly obvious.  Plus, we got Martin Jordan in the 4 inch line, but not Hector Hammond, Carol Ferris, or Amanda Waller?  Martin had less than 5 minutes of screen time, and it’s not like he had a particularly interesting look.  I wish I had more positive things to say, but I really can’t think of any.

#0106: Black Hand

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

BLACK HAND

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH (DC DIRECT)

I’ve mentioned before that I’m quite the Green Lantern fan.  Well, I’ll be frank, that doesn’t really extend to his villains.  Sure, I’m a fan of characters like Sinestro and the original Star Sapphire, and heck I’m even a pretty decent fan of characters like Sonar, Evil Star and Goldface.  But there are some Green Lantern villains I just plain don’t like.  Like, for instance, Hector Hammond, star villain of the 2011 Green Lantern movie.  My opinion of today’s character, Black Hand, is not as simple as the previously mentioned opinions.  No, he’s much more complex, and today’s figure just plays right into those mixed feelings.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Hand was released as part of the first wave of DC Direct’s Green Lantern: Rebirth line, done to coincide with the comic event of the same name.  Hand himself only has a minor appearance in the actual Rebirth series, and he doesn’t look like this.  The figure here is actually based on Hand’s look in the re-launch GL book shortly after Rebirth.  While this is the look that would gain notoriety in Blackest Night and the like, it’s presence here seems to be solely because it was what Hand was wearing at the time, as the character would remain relatively obscure for a few more years.  Anyway, the figure stands a little over 6 inches tall, and features 11 points of articulation.  He looks to be built on a similar under-lying structure to that of the Hal Jordan figure released in this line.  The outer details are different, with Black Hand featuring a lot more details on his costume.  In particular, he’s got lots of wrinkles all over his costume.  What, does this guy not have an iron?  On his left arm, he’s got straps and buckles, I guess to “modernize” the character’s look.  The Right hand is the titular “black hand”, and is exposed in all its veiny goodness.  This guy also has a lot of rivets, which begs the question:  is his cosume actually riveted on to him?  That might explain the figure’s surly facial expression.  Black Hand is topped off by a non-removable rubber cape.  It’s a decent sculpt, but it can make the figure a bit top heavy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I’ve done my (mostly) non-biased review of the figure itself.  Now, onto the nitty-gritty, me part:  I absolutely, without a doubt in my mind, hate the modern Black Hand, and pretty much everything he’s been involved with.  I know, that’s a strong opinion, but I just haven’t liked what he’s been involved with.  Classic Black Hand had a pretty neat design, and while he was hokey as hell, that was a lot of fun.  A decent character.  But, hokey characters can’t be hokey anymore, so we wound up with this redo of the character, where he’s got leather straps, and wrinkles, a random lines all over the place, and looks like a zombie.  And, hey, “Black Hand” makes no sense, unless you spell it out for people by giving him a BLACK HAND!  Hey, MGM, I’ve got an idea for a Goldfinger remake.  Here’s the twist:  Goldfinger loses one of his fingers, and he has to replace it with one MADE OF GOLD!

I know what you’re thinking: If you hate the design so much, why do you have the figure?  Because I got him for a dollar.  And for a dollar I guess he’s alright.

#0095: Green Lantern & Sinestro

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

GREEN LANTERN & SINESTRO

SUPER FRIENDS (DC DIRECT)

Today, I’ll be looking at another piece of my extensive Green Lantern collection, though unlike the last time, this is a set I acquired because I actually wanted it, not just because it said “Green Lantern” on the box.  This time around, it’s a 2-pack from DC Direct’s Super Friends line released a while back.  In particular, it’s Green Lantern and his nemesis Sinestro based on their appearance from the 70s TV show Challenge of the Superfriends.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as part of the 3rd wave of 2-packs from DC Direct’s Super Friends line.

GREEN LANTERN

Up first, it’s the hero of the set, Green Lantern.  Unsurprisingly, he’s based on the character’s appearance from the show.  He stands a bit over 6 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation.  The articulation can be a bit tricky, as the ball joints on the arm have a tendency to pop out, leaving poor Hal armless.  The sculpt on the figure is very smooth, and all the lines are very clean, which is appropriate for the design they were trying to capture.  In particular, the head sculpt really got the character design from the show down.  The paint is also clean and basic, but that’s no surprise, given the look they wanted.  The pupils seen through the mask can be a bit unnerving, but that’s in line with his design.  The figure included a lifesize version of his ring from the show, a display stand with the Super Friends logo, and a miniature version of the hall of justice.

SINESTRO

Next, Green Lantern’s arch-nemesis, Sinestro!  Sinestro is, of course, based on his appearance in the show.  He stands just shy of 7 inches tall and has the same 9 points of articulation as his pack mate.  Unlike GL, Sinestro doesn’t seem to be plagued by the arm issue, which makes him a bit easier to pose and such.  Sinestro’s sculpt is a bit more detailed than GL’s, since his character design was a bit more intricate.  A lot of the musculature of the sculpt is very similar, just stretched out to convey Sinestro’s tall, lean build.  Like with GL, the head sculpt is really the shinig point of this figure, giving Sinestro the perfect sinister grin.  Sinestro also includes a lifesize model of his ring from the show and a display stand with the show’s logo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Green Lantern and Sinestro were a birthday gift from some family friends who were aware of my intense Green Lantern fandom.  I greatly appreciated it, and it was actually my only figure of Sinestro for a good long while.  I still really like this set, as it’s a great representation of a popular take on the characters.  I can’t look at them without the Challenge of the Super Friends theme starting up in my head.

#0091: Hal Jordan

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

HAL JORDAN

GREEN LANTERN (MOVIE)

Having rounded up all of my Christmas gift reviews (barring any late gifts, I suppose), I’ll be moving back to my regularly scheduled programming of random figures from my vast collection.  A large subset of my collection is solely Green Lantern items, due to me being a really big fan of the character.  Being such a fan, sometimes I buy stuff solely because it’s Green Lantern.  That was the case with today’s figure, which hails from Mattel’s toy line to tie in with 2011’s Green Lantern movie.  It’s the basic version of the main character, Hal Jordan.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hal was released in the first wave of figures from Mattel’s Green Lantern line, which came out a few short weeks before the movie’s release.    He stands about 4 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.    He’s based on Hal’s fully GL’ed up look from the movie.  The sculpt is passable, though the details are a bit on the soft side. The likeness on the head is pretty good, with a decent representation of Ryan Reynolds from the movie.  The paint is fine, nothing spectacular, but there’s no slop of smudges which is nice, but details like Green Lantern’s power ring are left completely unpainted.  This gives the figure a cheap look, but it’s wasn’t a “cheap” figure to buy.  Hal includes a clear green construct.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yeah, so this figure is, well he’s not very good.  If he’d been released 10 years earlier, perhaps it’d be okay, but not for a modern day figure.  It’s cheaply made, the paint is as simplistic as possible, and he has practically no articulation, which means he’s not a very entertaining figure.  I have this figure because and only because it’s a Green Lantern action figure.

#0054: Green Lantern – Emerald Shield

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

GREEN LANTERN – EMERALD SHIELD

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH (DC DIRECT)

So, I’m a big Green Lantern fan, and as such, I have a whole lot of Green Lantern stuff.  Here’s a piece of that collection.  It’s another DC Direct review, this time from one of their many Green Lantern lines.  This line was done to correspond with Green Lantern: Rebirth, the series that brought the long dead Hal Jordan back from the dead.  I’ll be looking at one of the variants of Hal Jordan from that line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hal was released as a part of DC Direct’s Green Lantern: Rebirth line.  He was a Toyfare exclusive*.  He was a recast of the regular Green Lantern from the line.   He stands a little over 6 inches and has 13 points of articulation.  Like I said, he shares his sculpt with the basic Hal Jordan from the line, but this is the first of the two I’ll be looking at, so I’ll examine it here.  It’s a nice sculpt, with basic smooth lines.  The details of the costume are etched in.  The musculature of the body is handled pretty well, with no odd proportions.  The head is a decent approximation of Hal, looking somewhat cocky.  With the exception of his logo on his chest, GL  has no paint to speak of, because this particular figure’s gimmick is being molded in translucent green plastic to replicate when GL is all powered up.  GL includes a display stand, a piece that hooks onto the stand to allow GL to hover, and a power batter molded in translucent green.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure, along with the regular version, was a birthday gift from my parents.  It’s great because it combines my love of translucent action figures with my love of Green Lantern!  While the idea has been used several times since, this was really the first time that a GL figure was released in clear green, which made him extra cool at the time!

*ToyFare magazine was a pretty fantastic resource for collectors back in the day, providing not only news on upcoming releases, but also augmenting collectors’ collections with a few exclusive items here and there.