GREEN LANTERN

MINI HYBRID METAL FIGURATION

It hasn’t really come up a whole lot lately, but I am (or at least I was for a good long while) a pretty big Green Lantern fan.  Seeing as I’m also a pretty big action figure fan, this entails owning a whole lot of  Green Lantern figures, of all sorts of shapes and sizes.  This means occasionally branching out and discovering new lines that I don’t really collect, all for the sake of getting something GL-related.  Such is the case with Hybrid Metal Figuration, a line of super-deformed action figures based on various geeky properties.  The figures are made of a mix of metal and plastic pieces, and make use of magnets and light-up features.  Gimmicky?  Very much so, but GL looked cool, so I picked him up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern is figure #05 in the Mini Hybrid Metal Figuration line from Hero Cross.  MHMF figures are all based on full-sized Hybrid Metal Figuration figures, but at about 2/3rds the scale and a fraction of the price.  The first five figures in the Mini line are all Justice League-themed.  This figure is about 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation.  There are also a few mock joints (at the waist and the ankles) which are pretty much just there to keep him aesthetically as his larger counterpart.  Sculpturally, GL’s pretty cool, provided you’re alright with him looking more like Mickey Mouse than usual.  He’s pretty simple when it comes to detail, but that’s a very conscious choice, and there’s definitely a certain sleekness to him.  There’s also an abundance of cuteness to him.  Look at this little guy, he’s so adoreable—uhhh, I mean manly.  He’s very manly.  That’s the right descriptor, right?  Seriously, he’s a quite cutesy take on GL, but at the same time, he still seems to capture the essence of the character, which is more than can be said for some Hal Jordan figures.  as far as construction goes, the main body of the figure is metal, but the rest of him appears to just be the usual PVC.  The torso is a little hard on his joints, especially on the biceps and thighs.  The figure has a tendency to pop apart at those cut joints.  He goes right back together, of course, but it’s worth noting.  Also, the looseness of those joints means that the magnets in the figure’s feet aren’t as effective as you might hope.  He’ll stick to a horizontal surface just fine (provided he’s atop it.  No hanging upside down for him), but you can’t really stick him to the side of a fridge or something, lest he disconnects from his legs.  The figure also has a light-up feature in his eyes.  You need to remove his hair (which is a totally separate piece), and remove the back half of his head to turn it on.  It’s an interesting feature, I guess.  I’m not really sure why his eyes light up, but they’re cool.  GL’s paintwork is pretty decent.  Everything’s pretty clean (there’s some slight slop at the edge of the green, but it’s pretty minor), and I really dig the metallic green.  GL includes hands in fist and relaxed positions.  There’s also a gripping left hand, which on the larger GL was meant to hold his power battery, but since this guy doesn’t have that, is ultimately a little pointless.  Nice of the them to include it anyway, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Why do I have this guy?  Well, I had actually thought about buying the larger figure when it was announced, but it’s $80 price tag was enough to discourage me.  I ended up finding this guy in a Barnes & Noble.  Given that he was $15 and I had a gift card from a friend, I figured he was worth the purchase.  I’m not 100% sure who these are being marketed to, and some of the features included seem a bit off the wall, but he’s ultimately a pretty fun figure, very definitely worth the purchase!