DC Direct Series 5 Green Lantern Sinestro

Apologies for the packaging photo! I ordered Sinestro online and this is how he arrived, his card all over the place.

So continuing with a look at my budding Green Lantern collection, next up is Sinestro! Sinestro comes with a base

This base is really nice! I love that it's done in a green translucent plastic and includes the GL symbol.

And Sinestro also comes with a shiny metallic green power battery. There's a translucent piece of plastic through the middle of the battery which brings some light through, this is a really nice touch which makes the battery an excellent accessory.

Sinestro himself looks fantastic. But the lack of articulation is a real pain. I think that's a fair compromise for such a nice looking figure though, and let's be honest, these figures are aimed at the more adult collector.

A quick run down of the articulation then. Sinestro's head looks down, not up, and left and right. The shoulders are on a ball and hinge, there's a bicep swivel, a single jointed elbow and wrist swivel. The hips kick forward a little and there's a single joint at the knee. That's it. No waist or ab articulation, no ankle pivot, limited hip movement. It's a shame, but like I mentioned, Sinestro looks amazing.

Sinestro's suit is a vibrant metallic green and mat black with gorgeously sculpted musculature and line work.

The face is sculpted perfectly. Sinestro looks extremely satisfied with himself which is a strong look for the character. He has his signature larger head and pointy ears. His moustache is neatly painted and he has sharp metallic green eyes.

I love Sinestro as a character and this figure is such a fantastic representation of him as a Green Lantern. Now to find him in his Yellow Lantern suit...

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DC Universe Classics Green Lantern 75 Years of Super Power

I'm amazed it's taken me this long to pick up a Green Lantern figure. GL is one of my favourite DC characters so picking up one.. or two... or five GL figures was a no brainer. So what better way to start than with the Greatest Green Lantern of them all, Hal Jordan.

Hal comes with a couple of accessories so let's look at those. Firstly, you get a badge just as a little "collectors piece".

A base which is welcome, but is a little meh.

And of course, no Lantern would be complete without their power battery.

The battery is a nice sculpt but I really wish it was a darker green, like that of the suit.

There's a lot to like about this figure. Let's start with the paintwork.

The paint, for me, is most excellent on his hair. The hair has great light and dark brown paint on it giving it some nice realism. The mask is nicely painted and the whited out eyes really pop. The shading around Hal's muscles is good for bringing out the sculpted detail there.

And let's not forget the Lantern symbol. This seems to be a decal but it's very well applied.

The articulation is pretty top notch on Hal.

The head swivels and looks up and down, the shoulders are on a ball and hinge joint, there's a bicep swivel, single jointed elbow and wrist rotation. There's also an ab crunch and waist swivel.

The hips kick out all the forward, quite far back and all the way out to the side. This does mean he has a pretty unpleasing crotch area... There's hip swivel, single jointed knee and an ankle joint.

I'm a big fan of this figure, but he doesn't really work with my new DC Direct Sinestro...

I like the height difference, but it's the differences in the suits that I'm no sold on. By the way, Sinestro review is coming very soon!

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Batman Arkham Knight Scarecrow

I spotted this Scarecrow figure in Forbidden Planet, passed on it, but eventually caved and returned to pick him up. This is from DC Collectibles and is sculpted by Gentle Giant. The others in this first wave are Batman, Harley Quinn, Arkham Knight (who is released later this year) and, if you live in the USA you're lucky enough to also be able to pick up Red Hood from GameStop.

I loved Arkham Asylum (apart from the final Joker battle. It was fine, but a bit weird). I really didn't enjoy Arkham City, for me the open world took a lot away from what made Asylum so good.

Funny story about City: I traded in City as I, foolishly, bought it brand new. The guy at the store said (without a hint of humour or sarcasm) "didn't you love this game?! Swinging through city made you feel just like Spider-Man!" I just looked at him for a few long seconds and said "I bought it to feel like Batman though". He stared at me and said nothing. I don't think he fully understood what had just happened.

I didn't even buy Origins. But Knight is looking pretty good, and if these figures are anything to go by, I have higher hopes.

In packaging I loved the look of this figure. I loved the detailing, the sculpt work, and the overall look of Scarecrow - I was ready to be disappointed when he was out the box.

The only problem I initially had with this figure was the fact that I couldn't get this guy to stand! But after a while I got him to stand on his own wch, for me, made this figure even better.

Scarecrow comes with a brilliantly creepy mask which, I'm going to assume, is what his goons will wear in game. Pure speculation on my part though.

Articulation on Scarecrow is really pretty good. Firstly (and this is great!) Scarecrow's hood is attached to his head so it doesn't really hinder the neck movement which includes side to side and a little bit of tilt. The shoulders move up a little, my Scarecrow can't get his arms to 90 degrees, there's a bicep swivel, elbow bend and his hands turn 360 degrees.

Scarecrow has waist rotation, his hips move out, there's a thigh cut that rotates, single jointed knees and the feet move up and down at the ankles.

So there's not bucket loads of articulation but there's a good amount and the sculpted details and paint work really make this guy worth your money.

From the front, Scarecrow has fingerless gloves on both hands, and his right hand has his fear toxin injecting needles on the back. The detailing in the wrist piece is excellent too and painted with a nice metallic dirty grey. He's also wearing a knee brace - either he loves Stone Cold Steve Austin or he had a bad time being left alone with Killer Croc.

You can also see all of his extra vials of fear toxin (or blood?) on his chest and shoulders with pipes leading all around his torso, along with stitches, belts, buckles and pouches. And a personal favourite of mine: his boots are untied and the tongue of his right boot is hanging down.

From behind there's not quite as much going on, but it's still very cool. There are oxygen tanks which feed a pipe under his left shoulder and go straight into his mask. The tanks are nicely detailed and pained with very neat silvers and greys, you can see all the stitches in his hood and down his coat and you can see the split in his coat too.

Lastly, I just want to pint out how absolutely great Scarecrow's mask is. It's creepy, brilliantly sculpted and painted, and conveys a lot of character.

I would highly recommend this figure if you're into the games or you just collect figures from the Bat books. Here in the UK you should be able to get him sub £20 and I really do think he's worth every penny. He's creepy and sinister looking and I'm really happy to have him added to my Bat collection.

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DC Collectibles Justice League New 52 Superman

I really like the majority of the DC New 52 costume re-designs and I'm glad I like Superman - he's one of my favourite DC superheroes. So picking up a New 52 Superman from DC Collectibles was a no brainer really, since I've got into more of the DC Collectible stuff - more on that soon...

Out of the box, this is a really nice figure. The real let down is articulation.

The articulation starts out quite well. His head rocks side to side, turns and looks up (a little) and down. The shoulder is on a ball joint but the range of motion here is obstructed because Supes is so buff! He has a bicep swivel, and his elbow bends. Because of the design of his suit, there's no wrist or hand movement at all. Or waist or torso articulation. Superman's legs move forward and back and his knees bend. That's your lot unfortunately.

I guess what Superman lacks in articulation he makes up for in looks.

The face sculpt is really nice, giving him a young optimistic look. I love that DC Collectibles have painted his eyes (nice and neatly too)a nice bright blue. Superman's hair is a nice sculpt too, painted in a nice rich black - no Superman S curl though! Honestly though, I don't miss that. I really like the sculpted lines through his suit making it look like almost like an armour.

The suit is a really nice blue with the iconic red and yellow S shield on his chest. The shield is a good big size too and neatly painted. No red briefs this time on Superman, his undies are on the inside. His belt is red though so that breaks up the blue of his suit until his red boots.

Superman's cape is a soft rubbery plastic that drapes nicely over his shoulders. He has a nice black S shield on his cape too. I really like the design of this cape and think it's translated really well to toy form. The wrinkles are all sculpted really nicely and it looks like it's I motion which is great.

As much as the posing is limited with Superman, he's still a very cool looking figure and I'm really glad to add him to my collection!

So that was my 100th blog post! I have a lot more to come so stay tuned!!

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DC Total Heroes Bizarro

A good friend of mine kindly bought me my first Total Heroes figure for my Christmas in the form of Bizarro. I was aware of this line but never thought of really looking into it, but seriously this is an excellent figure and I'm very glad to add it to my collection.

The other figures available in this wave, that you can see on the back of the packaging, are Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Mr Freeze, and Detective Batman. There's also a write up on Bizarro on the back of the box.

You know the weirdest thing about the packaging though? The fact that there's air holes in the side.

Why does my toy need to breathe?! Weird.

Out of the box though, and this is a great looking toy!

I really like the sculpt on this guy, especially his head - I love the flat top! It's a really Frankenstein's Monster look it's got going on and it really works for this character.

The sculpt overall is really neat, with his big square face, sculpted muscles and big hands. There are some nice sculpted details throughout the suit too, including his belt and lines over the suit and his boots. There are also wrinkles/scars sculpted into his hands and face which is a nice touch.

The paint apps are very clean, especially at his neck and the colours look great. Bizarro has a nice dark blue suit with purple accents and dark yellows and of course his jet black hair. These all contrast brilliantly against his bright white skin tone and his burning red eyes. And that inverse Superman shield is so cool!

I particularly like the fact that Bizarro has been given a cloth cape. I think that works really well with this figure and it sits very nicely over his back.

Bizarro's articulation is ok, but if this was specifically for a kid then it's plenty: His head... well that doesn't really move at all to be honest. But he does have ball and hinge joints in his shoulders, a bend at the elbow and his wrists swivel. No waist swivel or ab crunch, his legs move forward a little, not back, and they can go right out at his side. His ankles move up and down but no swivel or pivot.

If I can find the Total Heroes Superman at a good price I'd certainly be interested in picking him up to pit against Bizarro here, but if you're a fan of DC toys then these are a fun new selection of toys for sure.

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