Updated 5/18/11: I added pics and reviews for Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Hannu and Stel.

In just over a month, the much-anticipated Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds will hit theaters across the nation. Of course it wouldn’t be the same if a toy company didn’t throw the figures out on the shelves more than a month before the movie is released, so right on cue Mattel has begun the shipping of the Green Lantern movie toy lines. These haven’t hit a lot of places yet, but I was able to score a good number of figures at a local Walmart store. Compared to many other 3 3/4″ action figure lines, these are relatively reasonably priced. The basic figure line rang up at $6.97 a pop, the Guardians of the Universe 2-packs at $12.97 each, and the Final Showdown box set at $19.97 for a large creature and an “action” figure (you’ll see what I mean later). Price aside, you’re getting a lot less with these figures than you are from your Marvel Universe, Star Wars or G.I.Joe. They’re pretty much an extension of the Infinite Heroes line, featuring minimal articulation and decent but unspectacular detail. Not to say there aren’t a few good figures in the bunch, but overall I see this line being easy clearance fodder a few months down the road. All that said, I have not see the 6″ Movie Masters line, so I’ll reserve judgment on that series until I do.

A few general statements about these before I carry on. Most figures come with a really cool construct that attaches to their left hand. While I haven’t tried them out myself, I understand they work well with the DC/Green Lantern Classics as well. As neat as they look and as well as they snap on to the figures’ hands, you can forget about standing your figure up without them resting on the construct. They’re far too heavy to be posed in any position other than resting on the surface, which doesn’t help the figures’ limited posability one bit. Each single carded figure comes with a pack-in gimmick, a child-sized role-play Green Lantern Power Ring. For adult collectors, these are easy drops in the “extras” bin, but for kids I imagine it adds a little value to the purchase. So, without further ado, read on for the details on these figures.

Abin Sur

Abin Sur stands 3 3/4″ tall, comes with a construct mace and has eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips). Great detail in the outfit and face, but there is one prevalent issue that I’m not seeing in other figures – his shoulders are separated a little too much from his torso, creating small gaps and emphasizing the roundness of the shoulders.

Green Man

Green Man is one of the larger figures in the series, measuring 4″ tall, but where is exceeds in size he lacks in articulation. He really only has four useful points of movement – swivel shoulders and T-joint hips. His torso has a point of movement, but the range is minimal and doesn’t do much to help posing. His plasma gun construct has a little trouble fitting securely into his right hand. The figure has good color and paint, though, with the exception of a somewhat sloppy Corps logo.

Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)

This one is the basic, true-to-form Green Lantern Hal. The sculpt is the standard Hal Jordan buck at 3 3/4″, with eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips) and a fist construct. He has somewhat of the shoulder issue found in Abin Sur, but not quite as noticeable.

Hal Jordan (Max Charge)

One of several Hal Jordan figures to be, this one is cast in a translucent green plastic. It creates a pretty cool effect in proper lighting but detracts from the detail of the sculpts. The sculpt is the standard Hal Jordan buck at 3 3/4″, with eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips) and a bow and arrow construct.

Hal Jordan (Solar Saw)

“My god….it’s full of stars!” Another figure with the standard Hal Jordan buck at 3 3/4″, with eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips) and a saw construct. This is probably the gaudiest figure in the series, cast in a semi-translucent plastic, painted mostly black but with silver and green specks throughout.

Hal Jordan (Test Pilot)

The most plain figure of the line so far, this figure features Hal Jordan in his flight suit. He has a over-the-shoulders flight pack with helmet, which fits on nicely and serves well as an add-on accessory. The face sculpt is actually a pretty decebt likeness of Ryan Reynolds (at least as far as 3 3/4″ figures go), but the detail in the flight suit is almost nonexistent. In the end, it all results in a pretty boring figure. Hal has eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips) and measures 3 3/4″ tall.

Hannu

Looking at the back of the packages before I actually found Hannu, I thought he might end up being a pretty cool figure. In the end, I was a bit disappointed. Mattel could have added a little more detail and made this a pretty sweet figure, but as it stands it’s not much more exciting than the rock it emulates. Hannu comes with the same adapter construct found with Kilowog that allows another construct attachment to be added to it for further effect. Hannu only has four points of articulation – swivel shoulders and T-joint hips – but stands a whopping 5″ tall. His head is a separate piece, and while there’s *some* movement allowed it’s not enough for me to consider it a point of articulation. I think it was supposed to be, but the formation around his head more or less limits it.

Isamot Kol

Isamot Kol, the lizard lantern, is probably my favorite figure from the line so far. While it’s a good looking character and has great detail, I do have an issue with the paint scheme. A little accenting of his claws and the ridges on his head would have done wonders for the figure, but he still turned out pretty vibrant and attractive. He features six points of articulation – swivel neck, shoulders, hips and tail – and measures 3 1/2″ tall (but 5″ long). It can be a struggle to get the feet and left hand just right to get him to stand, but once you do he stands upright and doesn’t have much of an issue with falling over. His head is cast in a slightly pliable material that allows you to clamp his jaw shut, but it’s not done in such a way that it will stay shut or open. It’s also cast in two pieces, and the obvious seem running horizontally across the sides of his head are kind of tacky. Isamot comes with a “beast trap” construct accessory that is just as long as he is and can open and close at the hinges.

Kilowog

Kilowog, as expected, is the true beast of the lot. He measures a good 5″ tall and features the standard eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips). In addition to being massive, Kilowog’s body features a high amount of detail, particularly in his face sculpt. The paint scheme is enhanced with a slightly dark wash, which is particularly effective on his face. Kilowog’s construct is actually an adapter that fits the human-sized figures’ constructs, giving Kilowog flexibility to be displayed with any of these accessories.

Sinestro

Sinestro stands 3 3/4″ tall, comes with a construct blade and a hand-held blade, and has eight points of articulation (swivel neck, hinge/swivel shoulders, swivel waist, T-joint hips). Sinestro is another figure with good detail in the outfit, and the only true flaw that I can find with him is a slight lean that causes some issues with him standing up straight, even without his construct.

Stel

I actually had no idea until I found Stel today that this wasn’t the movie-accurate version of the character, but instead a concept design. Now that I’ve seen the true Stel on the back of the package, I stand even more disappointed than I was before! Stel is supposed to be a hulking, thick character, but this concept design looks more insect-like and less intimidating. Miraculously, he stands really well on his own despite being top heavy with such thin legs. He only has four points of articulation, in the hips and shoulders, stands 5 1/4″ tall, and he comes with a blade construct accessory.

Guardians of the Universe 2-packs

Exclusive to Walmart stores is a series of six 2-packs under the Guardians of the Universe title. Each 2-pack features one of the Oa Guardians along with a Green Lantern character. Three sets have been released so far – Hal Jordan with Baris, Sinestro with Sayo and Kilowog with Ranakar. Each set also comes with a Lantern Battery accessory. The Green Lantern figures are all direct reissues of single pack figures, so if you’re really wanting the Guardians I’d hold off on buying the singles of Hal, Sinestro and Kilowog (unless you’re dying the have the constructs, which these sets do not have). The Guardians all have the same body sculpt but different heads. As simple as these figures are, I really dig the way they display. The bodies are hollow and made of pliable plastic, but the bottoms are sculpted in such a way that the Guardian has no trouble standing, and it creates a cool floating effect without the need for a stand. The head of each guardian is cast in a translucent plastic, the back of which reveals the translucent effect.

Hal Jordan & Baris (#1/6)

Final Showdown (Hal Jordan Vs. Parallax)

Ooooohhhhh, this had such a chance to be a cool set! I mean…it’s Parallax for crying out loud! While this one might fall a little short in my eyes, we still have the Movie Masters Collect & Connect figure on the horizon, so I’m holding out for that. From a collector’s standpoint I’m not overly impressed with this Parallax, but it’s really not that bad, and I can assure you that if I was a kid playing with these toys, I’d probably be pretty giddy. In addition the large Parallax figure, the Final Showdown comes with a Hal Jordan figure that ends up being a pretty cheap pack-in. Hal features a mere three points of articulation – swivel shoulders and a swivel neck. His blade construct is permanently attached to his right hand, and in addition to not being removable it’s done in a neon green rather than the translucent green found in the normal figures’ constructs. Parallax is pretty hefty, measuring 9″ tall and roughly 18″ long from the back of his tail to the far reaches of his tentacles. There is some minor assembly required – his right frontal cover, both right tentacle pieces and his end left tentacle piece. The end tentacle pieces snap relatively easily onto the inner pieces and I haven’t seen any notion that they might break off or become loose-fitting, and the toy seems to be pretty sturdy in its construction. Parallax has two action features, which I frown upon in action figures but see as a must-have for accessories such as this. His bottom side is equipped with a pair of well-obscured wheels, and rolling the creature along a flat surface allows him to swing the tentacles up and down (and trust me, it’s pretty fun to torment the cats with this). The coolest feature is an inner claw that rests in his chest cavity. A squeeze of the tail, and the claw shoots out, grabbing the figure and concealing him within his chest. Another squeeze of the tail, and a spring action will shoot the figure back out with surprising force. It may not be the coolest display piece for collectors, but it’s actually a really good toy, and at $19.97 it’s not horribly priced.