By Christopher Troy
Happy New Years Forbidden Planet Faithful! Hope you rang in 2011 with style and class, or if you’re like me, with a Four Loko and Rock Band 3 with several friends. Anyway, it’s my first post of the year, and I’m going to make sure it’s a good one!
Nothing is more satisfying when one of my favorite pop-culture characters get the plastic treatment and gets his own figure in a popular adult collector’s line. The first line of the DCUC Green Lantern Classic spinoff line is on shelves now, and it has a nice diverse roster. The six figure line-up consists of Black Lanterns Black Hand & Abin Sur, Sinestro Corp members Mongul and Low/Massh (swappable heads kind of makes it 2 figures in one. Kind of.), a Manhunter Robot, and the Torchbearer himself, Honor Guard Green Lantern Kyle Rayner (a fancy way of saying Kyle’s the man in the DCU). As a reported Rayner fan-man, it makes since that he’d be the first figure I’ve picked up from the series, and I’ll be discussing him today!
The first thing I want to point out on this figure is that the left shoulder joint on Kyle does not move, which I’m fairly certain is factory error, not a intentional part of the design. It sucks, as it’s something you really don’t expect to keep an eye out for when purchasing a figure, but Mattel dropped the ball somewhere during production. It’s not enough to deny my enjoyment of the product/give it a proper review, but it’s a bit of a let down that I can’t take advantage of the full-range of pose-ability these figures are suppose to offer.
With that out of the way, I can discuss the pros and cons of Kyle. First off, I’m happy to report that Kyle is a 100% all-new sculpt. I was initially afraid Rayner would just be a repainted Hal Jordan body with a Kyle head slapped on it, something Mattel is not afraid to do, especially when it comes to Lantern figures. But no, it’s all new as he’s taller and leaner than Hal (and Sinstero, as seen in the photo on the right). It’s also nice that is a sturdy figure that has no problem standing on his own, something I’ve had problems with when it comes to certain DCUC figures.
In terms of accessories, Kyle is pretty stacked for a DCUC. The first photo in the article showed that Kyle is packing his own unique lantern, keeping up with DC continuity. It’s solid plastic, and it’s accurate in terms of design, I wish just Kyle could grip it better and that the “made in China” emblem was maybe stamped underneath it, and not directly on the side of the Lantern itself. Shown on the left is Kyle’s other accessory, a construct Lantern Gauntlet and broadsword, which easily snaps onto Kyle’s right hand. There’s a nice amount of detailing on the gauntlet and the sword, which is nice to see, as Kyle’s one of the more creative Lanterns when it comes to his constructs. The Collect and Connect piece Kyle is packaged with is the Right Leg of Sinstero Corp member Arkillo, which is something I would like to own, but can wait for the less articulate but cheaper DC Direct version of the character to drop.
It should come as no surprise that I encourage people purchasing Kyle Rayner and the rest of the first wave of the Green Lantern Classic DCUC line. Faulty shoulder aside, it’s great figure, and you’ll need him for your own Green Lantern Corp. We carry the line for about $20 a figure, and you come swing by ASAP before Lantern-fever hits this country later this year when the Green Lantern movie premieres in theaters!
