Green Lantern 4" Movie GL Hal Jordan
 

When I first saw pics of this series online, I was disappointed. I had high hopes that this would be Mattel's unveiling of a worthy adversary to Hasbro's 3.75" movie lines. That was not to be (even with XMO:W and Thor's failings). Now that I own one of the figures, my feelings haven't changed regarding GL. I find myself wanting to defend Thor and its silly Giant Sword gimmicks over this piece of meh.

Articulation is crap, as you all know, but the sculpt is pretty good overall. My one gripe with the sculpt is that his wrists are insanely small and thin. From one side they look fine, but from the other they look like they'll snap if the slightest pressure is placed on it.

After fiddling with it, it seems like they started off good: neck swivel, waist swivel and universal joints for the shoulders. Then apparently their budget ran out of money, because the only other joints are the Kids Meal hips with 90 degrees forward motion. No back movement or side-to-side, no knees, no ankles.

Since the rest of the budget went to the gimmick(s), it should be pretty cool, right? I like the look of his Giant Fist Construct gimmick; it's massive and nicely detailed. I would have liked a wrist-swivel here, or some other form of articulation, but I can understand why there isn't any.

It works the same way most IM2 accessories work (plug onto the arm) but the Construct is so heavy, his arm can't support the weight of the extra plastic for very long. So you literally have to hold his hand while using the Construct.

Now if we compare Thor's gimmicks verses Green Lantern's, I'd say Thor wins for functionality and play value (even if he can't hold them, they still do something besides sitting there). But GL gets the nod for actually being based on the source material. Seriously, Thor never used a sword in the film. In fact, same goes for Loki and Odin.

But even with those ridiculous gimmicks, Thor figures still sported what I would consider standard articulation (minus bicep swivel). So again my question to Mattel is if Hasbro can do this, why can't you?

Bottom line is only get him if you're really into Green Lantern or Ryan Reynolds. If you want a movie GL that's also a good toy, stick with the Movie Masters version or make your own.

Yeah, this line of figures is a HUGE disappointment. I don't understand how Mattel can actually take a step back, especially considering they sounded like they were trying to make a good 3.75 inch line. Mattel is a joke. I have no idea where their priorities are. The 6 inch stuff is good, if, as everyone says, you can find it. Everything else though? I mean, why are they wasting money on crap like the faux-Mego line. Those things pegwarm every TRU I've ever been to.

The Thor line was week, but it wasn't, like you said, a line full of Happy Meal toys. And that's just what the GL 3.75 line is, Happy Meal toys at a premium price. Which leads me to ask, will there be a GL toy line at Mcdonalds or BK? Let's come back to this thread when there is and compare the inevitable GL figure from those toys with this one.