Today is the debut of "The Buzz" at Killer B Hive, where the focus will be (weekly?) news and previews for all things nerdy. For this installment I'm previewing the upcoming GL 5pk. I subscribe to ToyFare magazine and received the latest issue a few days ago, although I wasn't able to look through it until last night...
In the July issue (#155), probably already on newstands, there is a preview of the upcoming DC Universe Classics Green Lantern 5-pack, a Walmart exclusive. You may remember seeing photos of 2 of the 5 figures, Guy Gardner and Tomar Tu, back in February when they were on display at the New York Toy Fair. I'm not familiar with the legalities of posting ToyFare's photos on my own blog (it's not like I'm making money on it or anything, anyway), but to avoid any unnecessary litigation, I won't.
I will comment on what I saw and what I'm sure you'll be able find on the internets shortly. First off, I love Green Lantern. I'm a huge fan of Geoff John's current run and very eager to have a large GL display on my shelf. When I received my wave 11 order (on Christmas Eve, no less!), I couldn't wait to open it up and put Kilowog together. So I'm not lying when I tell you I was very excited for this new 5-pack. The complete line-up is the aforementioned Guy & Tomar, plus John Stewart in his Mosaic duds, GL Sinestro and Hal with his gray hair.
Guy Gardner looks great with cocky smirk and bowl cut. He has a brand new torso to recreate his trademark "Fist of the Guardians" Honor Lantern look. It also seems he gets new forearms with his glove straps sculpted on. Possibly the same for his boots (the pic is cutoff at the boots).
Tomar-Tu looks like a complete reuse of Hal from wave 3 right down to the uniform, which is appropriate for the character. The only new part is his head because it looks like he still has a thumb and four fingers on his hands like Hal. I'm pretty sure he should only have 3 fingers like Romat-Ru from the "Color of Fear" two-pack.
Hal Jordan is identical to his wave 3 and previous World's Greatest Super Heroes/All-Star releases, save his graying hair at the temples. Not a bad release if you grew up reading DC Comics in the '80s & '90s like I did. I'm sure many collectors will welcome him with open arms.
John Stewart is reissued in his "Mosaic" attire. I wasn't a fan of that series, or the costume. However, I can tell you that the paint app here just isn't correct. The logo on his chest is way too big and the green stripe coming down his abdomen ends up being too wide. I'm more interested in having John in his standard GL uniform, which is good because I know exactly where I can get one...
Sinestro as a Green Lantern from back in the day when he was a good guy. This was probably the one I was most looking forward to and Mattel managed to crap on my hopes for a cool figure. Of course, he starts with W3 Hal, and that would have been fine, but instead of getting a brand new head sculpt they used the old Sinestro head from his previous release. That sucks. He needed to have a sculpted mask and a head that is proportionate to his body. Well, maybe not proportionate, but at least bigger instead of smaller. Actually, he would benefit from a slimmer body and since they made a great one for Deadman, I don't see why they couldn't use it here. At least he won't be shorter than everyone else...
Psstt
