We are back with part two in our latest round of Fwoosh First Looks (we have so much to bring you in coming days) and we are switching universes from Masters to DC. Submitted for your approval, now comes a BATTLE of WILL vs FEAR! Hal vs Thaal! Construct Craziness! Saying goodbye to shrimpy Sinestros! Hal has eyeballs! For whatever reason you most desire this Green Lantern set, there is quite a lot to dig.
I think it would be highly redundant to recount the saga of the shorty-pants Sinestro. Still noted as (probably) the first and (possibly) still the biggest trip in production of of a single character in the DCUC line, the series 3 Sinestro has hung around the neck of this line like a pink-skinned albatross. He had the look, but certainly not the height and unless you have had him posed on a flight stand in your collection for all this time, it has been pretty hard to overlook this inaccuracy. So, probably the biggest draw of this set is that Mattel has made good on a promise long in the making – we have an accurate height Sinestro!
The figure, for the most part, uses pieces from the original Sinestro figure (head and forearms to name a couple) augmented by some Deadman and a few new pieces as well. For the most part, it works really well and I think some of the things that might not be as accurate as the original figure (painted boot trim, slightly too-short forearms) will be lost in the excitement that Thaal here can finally look down his arrogant nose at Hal Jordan and [most of] the rest of the Green Lantern Corps. For me, this is by far the biggest draw of the set and I am happy with the final result. I am glad they put him into a two pack to save a slot in a regular line for a new character. Now, let’s see the GLC line go past two series and get a repaint of this figure into his Corps uniform.
While I knew I would be pretty excited for Sinestro, Hal has hit me as a bit of a surprise. I was not really all that excited for him at first, but I have actually take quite the, ahem, SHINE to him. And not just for his shiny pants. I kinda like the classic costume in the metallic paint, it certainly does pop and I know a lot of people have been wanting this deco for a long time. He won’t replace my original series 3 Hal as my default figure, but he nice and he has a lot of company in the Hal pantheon. I think we are up to five now.
He does represent a bit of another version of Hal Jordan – the Super Friends Hal. Yeah, if you are old enough to remember (or if you have a DVD player) you will recall that, even in mask, Hal’s eyes would show through and not go to solid white. At first, it is pretty startling as I don’t think I have EVER had a Hal figure with this touch, but I like, you get to see his eyes for really one of the first times in toy form. Romantic. His head is also cast in the flesh-colored plastic so it is quite a bit lighter in tone than the previous Hal squad.
As you also know, this set is accessory crazy and we get lots of constructs in both green and yellow so you can really spread them out amongst your various Corps. For Willful hard light you have a darker green version of the John Stewart machine gun, a green Gold buzz saw and a green Iron wrecking ball. For the light of those that strike fear comes yellow versions of the Gold pick axe, Hawkman’s mace, and Iron’s wrench. All in all, I really dig all of these constructs and it does not bother me one bit that they are all recycled. They have been repurposed very nicely and I hope there is a chance to get some other accessories as constructs in the future, both new and reused. Oh, and you also get a very cool half-green, half-yellow Lantern, just like the one on the cover of Green Lantern 52. That is pretty fanboy right there, and I love it.
Finally I would be remiss if I did not mention the packaging for this set as I think it is the nicest two-pack (outside of the Wonder Twins, of course) box to date. The colors pop, the constructs are shown in their glory and you get a shot of the previously mentioned GL 52 cover on the back. Everything is presented nicely in preparation of a lot of GL product to be released in the coming year and TRU has a winner on their hands with this exclusive.
Hey, I got my proper Sinestro so that is really all I needed to get a win out of this set for me. But, everything else comes together nicely so you get a lot more than just a correction out of it and I think a lot of people will have fun with the constructs. This set should start hitting your Toys R Us stores very soon.
*Thanks again to Mattel’s resident Lantern Toy Guru for getting this to us, lots more coming soon!
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