McFarlane DC Multiverse Armored Green Lantern & Guy Gardner review

Last time we took a look at a few Green Lantern reviews, one was of the 2018 Justice League comic relaunch that focused on John Stewart in a modern costume that fits in well with the Snyder Cut figures, especially to add some green without a movie Martian Manhunter. Later on, we got a classic Green Lantern in the form of John Stewart, who was a McFarlane Digital figure that I thankfully got loose from a seller instead of paying twice the amount of retail at a FYE store when I spotted one. Now, we have two ring bearers to focus on, with one being another version of Hal as well as Guy Gardner joining him in the collection. There was apparently a version of him in the new Supermid movie, but he may as well feel like a Gunn/MCU quipperhero template. Anyways, review time!

Here we have Guy Gardner in hand. This Corps member has his distinct jacket design to give him an extra bit of identity than what we usually see from Hal or Jon's costumes. I think the name also helps with that, even if it kind of does the alliteration thing most Marvel and some DC characters do. The limbs appear to be new for his costume, and the torso is certainly made for him, the jacket, however, does bulk him up a bit, and it makes me wonder if he would have benefitted from having it be a new torso sculpt or not. On one hand, the way it's a separate piece at least keeps the logo from breaking up. On the other hand, he looks more like he has a life vest on.

The head sculpt also leaves me torn with its execution; I get he has a bit of a fade under his haircut, but the lack of a proper fade paint app or texture to simulate it makes the orange below the hair look as it if was made of Play-Doh. I also wish he had some shading to the hair since it looks like he painted it with actual orange paint like that one dude from TCAP who worked for Nickelodeon. His articulation is the same as all the other McFarlane figures, but the jacket does keep his arms from going all the way down somewhat.

He comes with his own lantern with a nice paint app in the center to make it appear as it were glowing, though neither accessory holding hand could grip it tightly, making it swing around loosely. He also has a left fist and a pointing right hand. All right hands at least have the ring detail sculpted and painted. The alternate faces include a smirking face that looks a bit average in its effort (almost like he's a bit peeved), and there is an open mouth face that makes him look like he is doing the soyjak happy face. His hair can be swapped to give him the bowl cut, which doesn't really hide the low effort fade on his hair.

Here is a creepy look at his head without a face nor hair. I think the gaping hole and the tongue molded on the head is already creepy enough. I wish the tongue was part of the open mouth face so there could be an extra peg for the faceplates to stay on better. His sole variant is a Red Lantern version of himself, corrupted with glowing eyes and blood running down his mouth. Honestly, the open mouth faceplate works better here than when he was a Green Lantern. 

As for Armored Green Lantern, this was a look he had in The Return of Superman story arc, which was something he briefly dawned in battle even after his leg was broken. While Eradicator and Steel were battling Cyborg Superman, Hal Jordan uses this upgraded design to stay in the fight. While the thighs, midriff, and upper arms appear to be reused, everything else is new. While most armor add ons for Green Lantern characters usually have them in translucent plastic, Hal Jordan's got his in opaque for the glow in the dark gimmick some other figures have utilized, which makes sense for a superhero like him. There is some comic shading applied on the thighs and midriff, which is likely an attempt to add some deco on this otherwise two-tone green toy beyond the face and logo. The armor appears to be slimmer on this figure than with what few images I could find. Seriously, unless it's the overly memed comic panels, you're less likely to find any images of the comic stories in better detail than you would every time the new Supermid movie gets 1¢ extra than the last second to boost up box office hype.

His head sculpt works fine for a helmeted Hal Jordan, and the face is thankfully not squished unnaturally to make the helmet proportions look good. His articulation is the same as always, though the joints move around with less of that soft ratchet click that McFarlane figures normally have. His sole accessory beyond the stand and collector cars is the hammer of Steel, an armored superhero inspired by Superman from the 90s. Be warned that the handle is as flexible as most Hasbro Marvel Legends, a contrast to the more rigid materials used in McFarlane figures.

Here they are with Silver Age Hal Jordan for an idea regarding how well they"s all look in a display. I always liked how the Green Lantern uniform isn't always the same between characters, seen here with Hal and Guy, but the logos don't really match. At least with armored Hal, it's meant to be three dimensional. Regardless, I have mild recommendations for both figures unless you can still get them on clearance. I mean I paid $30 for both, which is two for the price of a single Collector Edition. Go me.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for both)