{"id":17576,"date":"2012-03-18T02:18:12","date_gmt":"2012-03-18T07:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17576"},"modified":"2012-03-18T02:26:54","modified_gmt":"2012-03-18T07:26:54","slug":"dc-direct-red-lantern-guy-gardner-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17576","title":{"rendered":"DC Direct Red Lantern
Guy Gardner Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>For this Weekend Spotlight, I\u2019m looking at another 2011 figure that didn\u2019t get their spot in the regular rotation: Red Lantern Guy Gardner from DC Direct. A year ago, many of us would\u2019ve been happy to see a slew of Green Lantern figures. Well, what a difference a year makes, huh?<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, Green Lantern was one of my favorite franchises at DC. I loved reading about Alan & Hal in the JLA\/JSA team-ups. I enjoyed John Stewart & Guy Gardner. I loved the menagerie of aliens. After a couple years, Kyle Rayner became one of my all-time favorite characters. I loved Green Lantern. Not everything was great though, the generational fan debate between Hal & Kyle sucked some of the fun out of the franchise. That and the fact that I couldn’t get Kyle AND<\/em> that menagerie of aliens was never cool. <\/p>\n

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When DC made the call to reinvest in GL and bring back Hal – I was somewhat skeptical, but I bought it. For the most part, it was pretty good. I never quite enjoyed how Geoff Johns writes Hal with such hero worship, ensuring that he’s the coolest, kickass, center of the universe, but I happily picked up all the GL titles (though I may have favored Corps<\/em> a bit more than the main book). I read all of Sinestro War<\/em>, I spent a small fortune on all<\/strong> of Blackest Night<\/em>. <\/p>\n

And then the figures started pouring in to match! Hal Jordan in every minor costume variation courtesy of Toy Guru (but not some of the major ones sadly, I want my Parallax…)! A Green Lantern 5pk! An entire GL sub-line! A whole wave of themed Rainbow Lanterns in the main line! DC Direct went right along too with three Green Lantern Waves and 8 Blackest Night waves in a little under three years. <\/p>\n

I bought up everything from Mattel for DCClassics.Com<\/a>. I picked up DC Direct figures to match in whenever they tossed out a cool non-buck-shaped alien (or something cool like Guy here). Things were really rolling there for awhile, but then… somewhere in there, “Green Lantern Fatigue” set in.<\/p>\n

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The Relaunch in the comics doesn’t help even the slightest, but I’m kinda over Green Lantern. I didn’t go see the movie (I still haven’t seen the movie). I’m down to reading the comics in two or three-month batches instead of monthly. And I kinda didn’t even open the last handful of DC Direct figures I’d bought in 2011 until just a week or two ago. <\/p>\n

It’s a long way to fall for me, because once upon a time I would’ve loved to build the Green Lantern Corps on my shelves. It’s partially the comics, but it’s also the toy companies. Whatever the reality of the marketplace is aside, it’s just not the same armybuilding your Corps with non-Lantern characters in one-off costumes, made-up characters, out-of-scale or inaccurate repaints, etc. I say I’m ready for a break from buying GL merchandise (and we’ve more or less gotten just that since the movie bombed), but I guess I’m not – I’m just ready for Green Man, Hannu, Chaselon, Voz, Cary Ren, Ganthet, Charlie Vicker, Raker Quarigat, Boodikka, or Galius Zed… I’ll stop. Basically, bring on the diverse cast that makes the franchise cool. <\/p>\n

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That said, this review (and my purchase of the figure) indicates there is still a market for those one-off costumes that I’d so like to decry. So, I cannot tell a lie, I did enjoy the idea of Guy Gardner as a Red Lantern. Yes, it’s barely more than creatively bankrupt comic soap opera. And yes, it lost its appeal quickly when Johns revisited the well and made him a Red Lantern again just months later. I don’t even remember how many times he’s not been cured of his red affliction at this point, but that first time it happened, that initial story with Guy being a masterful sonuvabitch and Kyle intent on saving him? That I enjoyed. And for that, at least, I wanted this figure. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Like the best DC Direct figures, the overall sculpt on the figure is great. Excellent work by Paul Harding<\/A> (who also did the modern Guy head in the GL wave that followed this one). The head sculpt here is fantastic and the costume detail is translated well into 3D despite some of the artwork for the Red Lantern Guy being a little stylized if I recall. The t-crotch articulation and the super-tight fabric lines are a bit unsightly, but that’s more of a common theme with DC figures than a specific complaint about this sculpt (and if you check out that Paul Harding link, the original sculpted piece looks better in that area, I think the metallic paint is throwing things off a bit). <\/p>\n

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The paint work is the one spot where DC Direct tends to outshine Mattel when it comes to the Lanterns. I’m going to be a bit hypocritical here because I don’t want Mattel to use metallics, but I do enjoy it so when DC Direct does. Guy’s red areas are painted silver and then covered with a red clearcoat to get a great metallic effect. The paintwork was also pretty sharp throughout the figure, following the sculpted detail lines and even getting that one dab of green in just the right spot. There is a little slop in the hair, or rather on the ears. I’m not sure if the blood on the mouth is a paint app or a tampo, but it also looks fantastic and serves as a finishing touch on the figure. <\/p>\n

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And then there’s the one area where DC Direct doesn’t shine: articulation. The arms are almost nice with the single hinge and bicep\/wrist swivels, but it turned out that the shoulder was also a simple swivel so the whole arm doesn’t do much (to make matters worse the left bicep on my guy is completely stuck and after I broke my Man-Of-Bats twice, I’m too shy to try and fix it). With the arms being limited, the head being only a swivel, and the leg articulation (limited t-crotch hips, single hinge knee) being mostly useless – the figure doesn’t really move too much. If I had the bicep issue resolved he could at least hold his chainsaw convincingly, but dramatic poses beyond that (then again, what chainsaw pose isn’t dramatic?) are out of the question. <\/p>\n

For accessories, Guy included that aforementioned chainsaw and the par for the course Red Lantern stand. I love the chainsaw, but the clear plastic feels very brittle and it’s an odd fit for his hands. The handle on mine has already got a few stress marks despite my trying to gently get it in the figures hands. I fear it won’t take too much to break it. <\/p>\n

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Overall, if you’re a DC Direct buyer, then this figure is par for the course. Great sculpt, clean paints, but questionable articulation. The inclusion of the chainsaw is fantastic, but I wish the plastic were a little more user-friendly. If you want a toy to play with, this Guy probably isn’t for you, but if you want something to look cool on your shelves, he’s your man. If you’re like me, you’re surely sick of buying Green Lantern figures (and wondering where are the Flash Rogues, Wonder Woman characters, Morrison JLA, Villains, Space Characters…), but I still can’t seem to turn down one if it’s cool or if I liked the story. If Guy here had a working bicep, I’d be completely happy with him despite my GL fatigue. <\/p>\n

It’s a little bittersweet to also realize that this could be one of the last DC Direct figures I’ll be buying anytime soon. While DC Comics has been slowly eroding my willingness to buy their comics, DC Direct just up and left my money on the table. The slim 2012 offerings are of little to no interest to me, so after I get reviews up for Natu & Warth (& Munk once I finally get around to snagging a loose one, stupid 4pk), it might be a long drought before any more DCD is featured here at IAT.<\/p>\n

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For more DC Direct Reviews, check out our Review Index<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

For this Weekend Spotlight, I\u2019m looking at another 2011 figure that didn\u2019t get their spot in the regular rotation: Red Lantern Guy Gardner from DC Direct. A year ago, many of us would\u2019ve been happy to see a slew of Green Lantern figures. Well, what a difference a year makes, huh?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"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":[111,40,715,1435],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-4zu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10621,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10621","url_meta":{"origin":17576,"position":0},"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":2741,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2741","url_meta":{"origin":17576,"position":1},"title":"ToyFare 150: Blackest Night is the DC Direct line that won’t die","date":"December 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"ToyFare #150 went on sale yesterday (12\/9) and among it's pages we saw the world premiere of MOTUC Evil Lyn, some future Wal-Mart exclusives DC 2pks (via ActionFigurePics.Com), and an article on the future of the DC Direct Blackest Night line (be sure to check out the magazine for pictures\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":17576,"position":2},"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":2150,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2150","url_meta":{"origin":17576,"position":3},"title":"ItsAllTrueReview: Atrocitus & Saint Walker","date":"October 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the difficult realities of the toy world is lead time. If a toy company sees a property that has potential, they can't really strike when the iron is hot. The production process is simply too complicated and drawn out between conception and retail. By the time the product\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9476,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9476","url_meta":{"origin":17576,"position":4},"title":"ItsAllTrue Review: DC Direct White Lantern Sinestro","date":"September 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"After the SDCC Rainbow Hal horror stories, I'd resolved that I wasn't going to own this particular exclusive. I was okay with that because I only marginally wanted it. But early this month, I was pointed towards Graphitti Designs' website, where it was in stock. You know the rest -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9555,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9555","url_meta":{"origin":17576,"position":5},"title":"DCClassics.Com: Green Lantern’s Light 5pk Review","date":"September 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My long search for the GL 5pk is finally over. After striking out at Wal-Marts in Oklahoma, Ohio, Arkansas, and Florida, (I promise I wasn't really looking as hard as that sounds) the rascally thing finally arrived at a Wal-Mart not twelve miles from my house. Toy collecting can be\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\/17576"}],"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=17576"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17585,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17576\/revisions\/17585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}