Armless Stel Week is reaching its shattering conclusion with… well, a review of Armless Stel! He’s an interesting figure because he’s a mix of greatness and annoyance. I suppose that’s true for most of the line, but with Stel it’s a little more annoying knowing that they made him wrong on purpose.
Hopefully, a Star Sapphire will come into my life sooner rather than later and we’ll get her review added to DCClassics.Com. When we get to her, I’ll be sure to toss some pics of a completed Stel into her review. Until then, this one-armed review will have to do. And I promise no Fugitive jokes.
Somehow, I didn’t notice Stel for the longest time. He’s one of the original Green Lanterns, a sentient robot from the planet Grenada. He debuted in 1962’s Green Lantern #11 (the cover is shown in a pic on the next page). In that issue, he’s part of a tribunal holding a hearing about Hal Jordan’s alleged dereliction of duty. He would appear in a few more issues before ultimately being ripped apart by the mad Guardian Krona (don’t worry, he got better). He went on to make near a hundred appearances in the various Green Lantern titles over the last fifty years. When Stel reappeared Post-Rebirth, it actually took me a while to realize he was the same robot Green Lantern that I’d read Krona kill all those years ago. His look has actually varied quite a bit over the years and different artists, but I do believe I like this latest version best, even if he looks a bit too much like the Fox Sports Robot.
Stel has had a pretty big role for a minor Green Lantern in the recent comics. He’s gotten damaged and dismantled quite a bit because the writers can safely do that to a robotic character, but he was featured somewhat prominently in the Sinestro Corps War, battled the Spider Guild, Mongul, Larfleeze, & Cyborg Superman. Most recently, Stel has become the Drill Instructor for the Green Lantern Corps after Kilowog stepped down.
Stel is an entirely new sculpt. And though we’ve been told that it’s going to see reuse, it’s covered in comic-accurate details. I’m interested/excited to see exactly how the Four Horsmen can reuse it.
Those little details, the pistons, running lights, wires, rivets, etc, all really knock the sculpt out of the park. I have one minor nitpick which I’ll get to on the next page, but Stel is a great figure unto himself. Out of the nineteen Collect & Connects I have, Stel is one of my favorites and I don’t even have all the pieces yet.
When you pick him up (and presumably have different paint jobs to choose from), you might try to peek inside the bottom of the B’Dg & Dex-Starr “3pk” to see if you can see the Green Lantern symbol on his chest. On mine, the logo isn’t quite centered correctly and quite a few of the other Stel’s I’ve seen online shared that flaw. It seems like an easy fix – I should just have to peel off the softer plastic of the armor, reposition it, and glue everything back down. After the review’s done, I’ll give it a shot.
Stel features the same articulation as a basic figure with a figure extra points added in including rocker ankles, swivel calves, & ball wrists. All the joints have nice range, but the ab crunch, waist, and hips are all a little loose on my Stel. He’ll generally stay in the poses I put him in, but it can be a little annoying getting him into the poses to start with. Continue to Page 2…
Stel looks cool as hell, and I wouldn’t mind getting him myself. But I’m more than likely not buying most of the figures required to build him. Hey I have to eat too you know! As for the S.T.R.I.P.E. rumor, I agree that it would take some retooling and a new part or two, but it can be done. Great review man! Hope you find that Star Sapphire, because I feel your pain on these incomplete C&C’s. I have a few myself like Atom-Smasher, Ultra-Humanite, Darkseid, Trigon, and Validus. I just swap Validus and Ultra-Humanite heads on my original BAF Galactus, and make a weird-ass alien god. You know, to keep the other figures in line. HA!
Somewhere in the earlier days of IAT there’s a Chemo/Brimstone monstrosity from all the leftover/incomplete stuff I had at the time. 🙂
Wow, he’s huge, way out of scale. That sucks. Oh well, my set (including Star Sapphire) will be here Tuesday.
He is too big, but it is a good sculpt. I gotta find me a Star Sapphire. 😛
I guess the head is too big for MOTUC… If so there goes my plans to make a 200X Roboto out of that head…
It would’ve been perfect had he be the right size. LOL But now it is too big for a Roboto head. Good idea, though.
Way too much hyper anime detail in this sculpt . . .
That should be retired for DCUC as well.
Did you see Sodam Yat’s hair??
There’s just enough flaws to make this Stel another character, altogether, aren’t there? (now fighting urge to get another Robotman and bashing him with an extra GLC 5pk body…)
can’t decide whether to order w1 or w2 this wkd from BBTS. need to hit bank first, tho.
btw, did a body count. Stel makes Lucky #13 for the individual DCUC count.
wait, no. you don’t have GL Sinestro in that group pic. Nevermind.
One of things that I wish Mattel would have done is include a third head in the Nautkeloi/Medphyll set to make a classic Stel. It would’ve been a pretty sweet extra piece and been an incentive to buy one more GL base. Though, Stel doesn’t have bifurcated feet…
I had to go to EE to buy Sapphire, as BBTS sold out of her and w1. 🙁
by the by, Matty has most of the wave 2 figures already up for sale on May 16.
Maybe he’ll be reused for the Flash foe Girder?
http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/girder.html
I’ve heard Girder as a suggestion, but Girder always seem to be more chaotic and messy. Stel’s design is very structured and ordered. We’ll know by SDCC I imagine.
I love that group shot at the end, even with the missing arm. Who’d of thought we’d ever see this many Lanterns done so well?
It’s starting to shape up really nice. Getting more Lanterns and keeping the line diversity are conflicting wants of mine…
Perhaps Stel will be reused as some sort of battle suit or exo-type armor for a regular sized character. Lex battlesuit, etc.
That’s a cool idea. I could see it.
He’s a robot right? Just pretend the rebuilt him…only bigger.
LOL. Yeah.
@AmericanHyena I was gonna say something like that, lol. I think the bigger size makes him more badass. If ppl think he’s still too big you chould always use him as Titanium Man since the ML one is too small, lol.
If that Stel is wrong, then I hope to never see him right. Way too awesome. I guess it will take a lot of patience to hunt down all his parts on ebay.
I think he would still be a cool figure in his proper scale too though. Good luck with your piece hunt!
I was most disappointed by My Stel’s loose hip…Loose hips sink ships…Well he stands fine, but he doesn’t really want to stay in any poses and his leg falls off when you pick him up 😛 On a side note, the DC Direct Stel is closer to proper “scale” even if he looks like he doesn’t move at all…
Found the whole green lantern wave at Wal-Mart in Oldsmar, Fl. Great figures, I really don’t have a problem with Stel. He is perfect!
Got my GLC2 set in last night. Stel is amazing! The height can be bothersome, but he’s a robot, so I just assume he had an “upgrade”.
I love this Stel. My Stel also has an off-center GL logo, but luckily it’s not very noticeable. At first glance, he’s too tall. Then, you realize he’s an awesome giant robot, so who cares?
Yep, you can pry/peel the logo off the chest a bit and turn it, then glue it back down. It seems the square plug on the back was out of whack when it was molded.
I really can’t see any other character that share’s Stel’s fairly comic-accurate… aside from one of the X-men’s Sentinels. I mean they have the giant boots and everything! But that’s Marvel, heh. Looks like I have some customizing to do.
Finished stel today he is awesome I bought bothe the star sapphire and 3 pack just because I knew theose were first editions I know they’ll make more star sapphires but as waves get higher originals are scarce I like head swapping between red lanterns and green
I have access to 2 star sapphires, want 1?