{"id":12204,"date":"2011-04-05T03:53:24","date_gmt":"2011-04-05T08:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12204"},"modified":"2011-04-05T03:56:54","modified_gmt":"2011-04-05T08:56:54","slug":"dcclassics-com-review-nautkeloi-medphyll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12204","title":{"rendered":"DCClassics.Com Review:
Nautkeloi & Medphyll"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Our 2nd entry in Armless Stel Week<\/strong> is a look at Nautkeloi \/ Medphyll<\/strong>. There’s just one figure in this review, but it includes alternate heads to be either of the two featured Green Lanterns. It’s cool that these two guys have found their way into the line, but I can’t help feeling bored by this lineup.<\/p>\n

In the first wave of Green Lantern Classics, Mattel introduced alternate heads into the DC Classics line. In that wave, a Yellow Lantern was featured that included alternate head and hands to recreate the characters Low or Maash. It was pretty cool – I bought two to have one of each. Mattel embraced that concept even more in the second wave, making combo figures of two Green Lanterns and two Red Lanterns.<\/p>\n

As I said in the teaser, the figure includes heads to be either Medphyll or Nautkeloi. Both are classic Green Lanterns, each appearing very early in Hal’s book and both were created by the legendary team of John Broome & Gil Kane.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Nautkeloi is probably the more obscure of two, but it’s hard to say because his appearance is likely the more memorable. His differentiating characteristic is his fish head in a bowl. I think most Green Lantern fans are aware of him, but they might not know just how little we know about him. The character is right around fifty years old, but has only appeared a handful of times and usually as a background character at that. We know he’s from the ocean world of Aeros and… that’s about it. We don’t even know what sector he’s from. Maybe Johns, Bedard, or Tomasi should get on that? Despite his uninspiring appearance list, Nautkeloi’s head was included in DC Direct 1\/6th scale line which makes this his second figure (and a third movie-based version is on the way).<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Medphyll, on the other hand, might be less identifiable, but has more appearances and story under his belt. He’s a sentient plant hailing from the planet J586. He’s got a few serious battles under his belt including a tussle with the “Anti-Green Lantern Corps” (where’re those figures?!), subduing and befriending Swamp Thing, joining the Darkstars after the Corps was dismantled, and ultimately getting killed by Jack Knight… wait, that last part doesn’t seem to have happened anymore. As they say, he “got better”. Like Nautkeloi, Medphyll is again appearing as a background character in the Green Lantern title.<\/p>\n

Once again, we’re talking about a figure that’s mostly just a new head. We’ve got the Hal body and deco from neck to ankles, but the figure does feature new bifurcated feet. This is great for Medphyll because he does have bifurcated feet, but not so much for Nautkeloi since he doesn’t<\/em>. I’m not going to make a mountain out of a molehill, but it does annoy me a bit.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the figure is again the head. I’m not as fond of the Medphyll head. It looks okay. I’ve never been exactly sure what Medphyll is – sometimes he’s a plant and other times he’s a vegetable. Is his face made of wood with leaves for hair? Or his face like a potato with asparagus hair? I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone does, but the Four Horsemen had to make a decision to render him in 3D. It looks like they leaned more towards plant and gave him a tree head. It works.<\/p>\n

I ended up really liking the Nautkeloi head though. It’s actually three pieces – the collar, the helmet, and the head. The helmet has more of a modern look to it, but I don’t know if the Four Horsemen based it on any artist’s interpretation in particular. Similarly, the head looks modern, but I’m not sure if it comes from specific source material. He does look a little silly with his “bass mouth”, but I like it. I can look at the pieces individually, but it’s really the whole ensemble that works for me. The figure just looks much sharper as Nautkeloi than it does as Medphyll. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With the Green Lanterns and their standard issue uniforms, it’s really going to come down to how well they’re painted. The paint on the body turned out mostly well, but Mattel switched to molding the shoulders in black and painting them green. As a result, there\u2019s some chipping on the top of the shoulder joint. Previous GL shoulders were done oppositely – molded green with black painted on the underside – and I would rather Mattel do it that way. The ring is painted with a metallic paint and looks really sharp. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

On the heads, Nautkeloi turned out better with sharp lines all around while Medphyll had some nice paint on his “hair”, but the lines on his mask weren’t as sharp as the rest of the figure.<\/p>\n

Articulation is what we’ve come to expect. Ball-joints at the head and shoulders, swivels at the bicep, wrists, and waist, hinges at knees, elbows, and ankles, the Mattel hips, and the ab-crunch. Medphyll has decent range on his neck articulation, but Nautkeloi is understandably locked in his helmet with limited movement.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Overall, I still can’t quite wrap my head around why Mattel does these combo figures. For MOC collectors, they package the figures both ways (which is pretty cool), but if you want to display both you just end up with extra pieces when you buy two. It seems like it would save Mattel money to just make them separate figures. <\/p>\n

With Nautkeloi & Medphyll, they’re not as cool as the Yellow & Red Lantern combo figures since they feature swappable heads only. They don’t need different hands, but, as you can see, I had some fun swapping these guys around into different characters. I know<\/em> I\u2019m making comic inaccurate \u201cmonstrosities\u201d, but it\u2019s probably the most fun I’ve had with this wave and it\u2019d be cooler if I could swap out the hands too. <\/p>\n

Anyway, Medphyll & Nautkeloi are two relevant characters that are needed for anyone who wants a serious Green Lantern shelf, but there’s nothing really hot about these two. Still, I’m enjoying my Nautkeloi figure and when\/if I finally run across a second case of GLC2, I’m not opposed to grabbing an extra to display Medphyll with my Corps. I’m just not in a rush to do so. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For more DC reviews, check out our
\n DC Universe Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our second entry in Armless Stel Week is a look at the combo figure Nautkeloi \/ Medphyll. There’s just one figure in this review, but it includes alternate heads to be either of the two featured Green Lanterns. It’s cool that these two guys have found their way into the line, but I can’t help feeling bored by this lineup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":12210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,34,10],"tags":[665,40,521,20,961,962,963],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/medTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-3aQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9730,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9730","url_meta":{"origin":12204,"position":0},"title":"Mattel Non-NYCC Coverage: MOTU & DC Classics Updates","date":"October 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though Mattel couldn't make it NYCC this weekend, that didn't stop them from making a splash in the headlines. Amidst the great pictures being beamed back of DC Direct's Batman, Inc line and MU Cable (complete with Baby Jean!) came a slew of pics and updated info on Mattel's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13068,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=13068","url_meta":{"origin":12204,"position":1},"title":"DCClassics.Com Review: Hal Jordan (White & Black Lanterns)","date":"June 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I found this review particularly difficult to write. Some figures you love right away, some figures make you love them, some figures just fill out the shelf a bit (or came with a critical C&C piece), and some figures you buy only because you maintain a DC Universe Classics Checklist.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12239,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12239","url_meta":{"origin":12204,"position":2},"title":"DCClassics.Com Review: Green Lantern Stel (C&C)","date":"April 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11110,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11110","url_meta":{"origin":12204,"position":3},"title":"DCClassics.Com Black Hand & Abin Sur Review","date":"January 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We're still making our way through Green Lantern Classics reviews and today we're looking at the two Black Lanterns from the first wave: Black Hand & Abin Sur. Well, it's not really a figure of Abin Sur, but I have to call him that in the title so folks can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10621,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10621","url_meta":{"origin":12204,"position":4},"title":"DCClassics.Com: Green Lantern Kyle Rayner Review","date":"December 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"For a line based on Green Lanterns, it's kinda funny that the first wave included only one. And an interesting one at that, with five Hals, 2 Johns, and 1 Guy already in the line, it was Kyle Rayner's turn. The modern costume wouldn't have been my first choice, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10549,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10549","url_meta":{"origin":12204,"position":5},"title":"DCClassics.Com: Low, Maash, & Arkillo Review","date":"December 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The so-called Green Lantern Classics (it doesn't actually say that on the packaging) is the newest subline of DC Universe Classics. The first wave is chock full of modern takes on characters from the GL mythos including the three Yellow Lanterns in today's review: Low, Maash, & the Collect 'N\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12204"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12214,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204\/revisions\/12214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}