I’ll
go right ahead and say that I am just not as enthusiastic about
Lanterns as I once would have been.
After
hearing about Geoff Johns’ work on the Green Lantern books for a
couple of years – and Flash before that – I dove into that stuff
to prepare for Blackest
Night
before it happened. And I absolutely loved it all. Johns’ retelling
of Hal Jordan’s origin was especially engaging for me. While I knew
Hal’s origin, I had never actually read a comic about it. As a
matter of fact, I hadn’t read much in the way of Green Lantern
comics at all.
While
there are plenty of other characters I might have preferred to Saint
Walker, I do appreciate the fact that Mattel is putting out a
representative of each of the Corps. And I certainly don’t have
anything against the leader of the Blue Lanterns. I like his whole
vibe and while I’m not sure that “Hope” is an emotion, it’s
definitely a cool concept to be powering a group of intergalactic
superheroes with magical wishing rings.
First
Glance:
Despite my unbridled hatred for the standard grey aliens, I like
Saint Walker’s design a lot. It is definitely based on the
appearance of the Greys, but varies enough that I don’t want to
scream and stab it with a machete every time I see it.
Articulation:
Saint Walker has possibly the best articulation of the DCUC-style
line so far. Everything but the old rocker ankles is here.
Head
– Ball joint
Shoulders
– Swivel/pivot
Biceps
- Swivel
Elbows
– Double Pivot
Wrists
– Swivel/pivot
Abdomen
- Pivot
Waist
– Swivel
Hips
– Swivel/pivot
Thigh
– Swivel
Knees
– Double Pivot
Ankles
- Pivot
I
thought Walker’s head tail would interfere with movement, but it
doesn’t. You can get plenty of different positions out of the head.
Also, he has one of the better head ball joints so the range of
motion is that much more.
I
love that the Horsemen gave this figure the extra wrist articulation.
Obviously every DC figure should have that, but it’s especially
nice for somebody with a ring on their finger. It allows so much more
expression with that device.
All
of the joints on my figure move very well and hold poses.
Sculpt:
Saint Walker has a generic male super-articulated body. It’s tall
and slender and the proportions work for the character.
The
head, forearms, and hands are new. The upper torso might
be new – I’m not sure. If it isn’t the only other thing it
could have been used for is a Lantern. Maybe Sinestro. Now that I
think about it, the same might go for the forearms.
Walker’s
head has a ton of detail. All of the lines are sculpted and give the
figure a lot of character. That’s one of the great/disappointing
things about every DCUC-style figure – you get a head like this
with a fantastic amount of detail that is precise and good and just
looks like such a high quality figure. But it’s on top of a generic
body with a painted-on Blue Lantern emblem.
The
forearms and chest have raised trim that looks nice but unfortunately
contrasts with the lack of trim on the rest of the uniform. The
surface that the Blue Lantern Corps emblem is painted on is raised,
but is not sculpted in the shape of the emblem. The hands are unique
to Walker. They are slender and slightly spatulate. The right hand is
an appropriate “ring-slinging” closed fist and the left is an
open, sort of floating gesture that can hold the included Lantern.
The Blue Ring on his right hand is finely detailed with the Corps
emblem and looks great.
I’m
not very impressed with the level of sculpted detail on the body.
Trim around the color variations would be nice, particularly since it
is present on other parts of the figure. I think if a poor design
decision is going to be made, it needs to be uniformly poor
throughout the figure. Don’t tease your customers with how awesome
a figure could
have been if you could have produced a finished figure. I think the
best – or worst, maybe – example of this is Metron
with his beautifully sculpted head and paint deco that attempted to
match the sculpt but just ended up looking dumb. Like somebody stuck
a DC Direct head on a Dollar Tree toy’s body. His chair was nice,
though.
Coloring:
Walker’s head and hands are pretty basic, but what are you gonna do
with an albino alien? His facial features look nice and are
accurately placed, and so is his ring.
The
upper portion of the figure’s uniform looks quite nice. The Corps
emblem is painted well and no darker colors are showing through the
white. I love the metallic blue used to highlight the sculpted trim
and how it matches the included Lantern accessory.
The
black and blue portions of the figure have a clean separation, with
no bleeding or blotching. The shade of blue is nice and the colors
are consistent across the different plastics used.
Accessories:
Saint Walker comes with his Blue Lantern. I can’t remember off the
top of my head if the Blues had different shaped Lanterns than the
Greens like Red and Orange, but I’ll give Matty the benefit of the
doubt and assume they didn’t.
The
Lantern is sized properly and a nice metallic blue that matches the
trim on Saint Walker’s uniform.
And
here I come to the disappointing fact that the Lanterns in this line
are not coming with Ring Constructs. I find it utterly unacceptable,
particularly when Mattel already has tooling for a ton of constructs.
Packaging:
It’s the standard DC Signature Collection window box. However I
feel about the figures, I do like the packaging very much. Granted.
I’d be just fine with these coming in a plastic bag, but I think
I’m in the minority there. The artwork is quite nice and there’s
a bio on the back:
Value:
Is this figure worth $25.70 ($17 + $8.70 shipping)? Fuck and no. I’m
not hating the DC Signature series, but I wish I had not subscribed.
These figures simply are not worth the price. I have nobody to blame
but myself, but what Mattel has done is hold the remainder of a line
that people were ten years deep into collecting hostage and extorted
unreasonable amounts of money to release those figures. But we all
did it willingly. Two years in a row.
Overall:
I am glad to have a DCUC Saint Walker, but this is definitely not the
best Saint Walker Mattel could have made. Between the discrepancies
in the uniform and the lack of constructs I just don’t feel like
the figure cuts it for an exclusive line aimed at adult collectors.
3
out of 5
If
you have to have a Saint Walker, try eBay. I bet there are plenty of
folks who have lost interest in the various Lantern Corps entirely.
-Phantom
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