Review: Fan Collection Green Lantern John Stewart and Sinestro

So when I was out shopping for holiday presents for Erin last year, I stopped, as is normal, in the toy dept of Jack's World.  In case you've missed the context in prior reviews, Jack's 99-cent store is a Manhattan low-cost fixture, with three locations serving up tons of random cheap stuff.  The main location on 33rd street has an upstairs spin-off called Jack's World.  There, things are more than 99 cents, but you can still find all sorts of slightly-nicer random cheap stuff.

So when I was there, I saw a few JLU figures.  I immediately snapped up the Sinestro, and then the Green Lantern, as it occurred to me that we didn't have a JL (as opposed to JLU) John Stewart that I hadn't transformed.

Erin was pleased with the gift, but not enough to review them yet.  So here we are.

Appearance and Construction:

Green Lantern: 8/10
Sinestro: 8/10

These two are pretty decent for the 4” JLU line.  Both have clear, if minimal, sculpting and crisp paint ops. There's a tiny bit of slop on Sinestro, but it's really hardly noticeable.

Sinestro is in his modern comic look, as head of the Yellow Lantern Corps.  The symbol is perfectly clear on his chest and armband.  The mold line across his shoulders is pretty obvious in the yellow, though.

Stewart is in his JL look.  His symbol is sculpted, which is a nice touch, and his eyes are clear and well done.    His ring is also sculpted, while Sinestro's is not.  That seems like an odd oversight on Mattel's part.  I'm sure they want him to hold his accessory (see below), but they could have switched the fist and open hand and given him a ring/fist like GL's.

Overall they're both really good, but not perfect.

Packaging and Accessories:

Green Lantern: --
Sinestro: --

Both have the current JLU packaging, which looks fine and gives you a good look at the paint ops, which can vary a lot from figure to figure.

Each of these space cops comes with one accessory.  Sinestro's is a Yellow Lantern, which is a great idea, although the piece itself feels a bit cheap.

GL's is a mace-shaped energy projection that snaps onto his fist.  It looks pretty decent, even though it doesn't look like anything he actually used on the show.  I can't really complain about that, though, because Sinestro hardly even got to be on the show, and certainly not in this costume.

One accessory each is enough to save you from a deduction with figures this small, but not enough for a bonus point.  Not unless the accessory is amazing.

Play and Display:

Green Lantern:---
Sinestro: ---

Like too many JLU figures, these boys are top heavy and are prone to tipping.  A base rectifies this, but Mattel wants you to pay extra to buy those separately.  That's not okay, but I don't know that it's obnoxious enough for a demerit.  We usually just lean them up against things or give the figures things to hold onto.

Both have the super-simple articulation that's standard for this line: cuts at neck, shoulders and hips. 

Both interact with their accessory the way they are designed to.

Price Tag and Final Analysis:

Green Lantern: 8/10
Sinestro: 8/10

I keep finding random selections of JLU figures in the oddest places.  I'm really not sure what Mattel is doing with their distribution.  That means, however, that we have a bunch that I've snapped up recently that I'll touch on here soon.  Hey, there was also a sale on Barbies recently, so it's one or the other in this column.

These two ran me $2.99 each at the aforementioned discount store.  I think that's about the perfect price for this size, but am willing to go up to 5 for a figure I really want.  Unfortunately, they're usually going for more than that, when the distribution is working properly. 

But keep your eyes open, because even though the show's been off the air for years, new figures in this scale are still floating around.

You must know what I'm going to plug here by now, right?  Surprise!  Today I'm sending you to some friends of the Bin.
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Go, my minions!