Can't Get Enough of Them Green Lanterns!

A trip to the local toy flea market yielded a pretty rare find today:

That right, it's the 2009 SDCC Exclusive Justice League Unlimited Green Lanterns Origins 3-Pack! (Minus the packaging)

I'd been rather surprised to find these 3 guys loose and going for only S$25 (US$ 17.80) despite the lack of the packaging. I thought they might have been in poor condition, which they aren't. So I put it down to shipping cost--somehow this seller got his hands on a loose batch of the trio, probably super cheap straight from the factory in China, and saved a bunch on having to pack the thingy nicely in order not to get it damaged in transit. And he decided to pass on the savings. Or he could've robbed some poor kid at the San Diego Comic Con. But I'm optimistic, so I'll go with the former.

Now I wouldn't have minded getting the Lantern shaped, re-sealable packaging, but those that I have MISB seen here in Singapore have been priced in the region of S$60 (US$ 43). So I figure if I can pay less than half price for this cool set minus the package, why not? :)

The first thing that struck me about these figures is the wonderful paint job and sculpts of the heads.

Never mind that they don't stand too well unless balanced just right, and forget the forgettable articulation, these guys were made to look pretty and as animated accurate as possible. And they do, as far as Sinestro goes, because he's the only one to appear in the Justice League Animated series. Hal does too, but only for a very short instant and with his mask on. But they style of the sculpts fit very well and the eyes are painted magnificently.

I really love the 2 alien heads. All of them are of course interchangeable with each other. Abin Sur's matte pink looks like it could be real rubbery skin, while Sinestro's red tone is just right. Gotta love the painted 'stache too. And his jaw and ears are done spot on. I don't have a problem with Hal, except that he doesn't have a mask on and his neck lacks a bit of green that's needed when you swap head so you can turn Hal into Green Lantern. Yeah, so he does look a little off when "in costume."

Oh and there's one other problem with Hal: his right leg is shorter than his left. Thankfully, he's got larger feet than the other two due to his flight boots, so he doesn't have a hug problem balancing

Let's rate 'em!

Aesthetics: 9.5/10

I have to say, they are all well executed. Despite Sinestro's and Abin Sur's body being the same generic smaller male JLU body (Supes and Batman are larger) painted only slightly differently at the shoulders, lots of work was put into the heads. On Hal, his head is sorta generic, but the work was put into his rubber jacket, new arms and legs. And average looking as it may be, Hal's head is still painted well.

Poseability: N/A - I won't rate them here cuz I think JL and JLU figures were not meant to be posed, really. A broken Superman and Wonder Woman are kinda big hints that these guys were not meant to have supermodel poseability. They were meant to look great and maybe stick an arm or a leg out once in a while.

Fun: 9/10 - It's awesome that these 3 came together. You can now re-enact the whole Hal as Green Lantern origin story. And it's great that the heads are interchangeable. They should do this with more figures, especially those with secret identities. Unmasked Batman/Batman Beyond would be cool, as would Lex Luthor in a suit/prison duds/power armour. Also, this GL set is extra fun as I'm now catching up on my GL literature thanks to my cousin Byron, who's got a real knack for finding the good reading material. Thanks for passing it on. ;)

Value: 8.5/10 - For the US$20 it's going for MISB at Mattycollector.com I'd say it's just about worth it. If you live outside of the US though, shipping will be expensive. So buy more to save on shipping. :P

Overall 9/10 - A solid set which will increase in fun value if they make more Lanterns, especially with more interchangeable heads. Why they've already got a Kilowog, and with John Stewart, you can already have a mini-Green Lantern Corps get together. ;)