The Good: Good sculpt, Decent balance
The Bad: Overproduced, Minor detailing omissions.
The Basics: For 2011, Hallmark Keepsake attempted to ride the Green Lantern gravy train with a new ornament that is pretty decent, if very basic.
Despite it being my "Daredevil Year," I seem to be finding quite a bit of Green Lantern merchandise to review. For sure, this has a lot to do with the fact that Green Lantern (reviewed here!) hit theaters earlier this year and just made it onto DVD and Blu-Ray last weekend. It has been a pretty Green Lantern intensive weekend for me and this became the perfect time for me to review the 2011 Green Lantern Hallmark ornament. This follows on the heels of my review of the 2009 Wonder Woman ornament (here!) that continued the major DC Universe characters in Hallmark ornament form.
For an ornament seeming to seek to capitalize on the film success, Hallmark and DC created an ornament that is evocative of the comic persona of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, not Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern.
Basics
The Green Lantern ornament faithfully presents the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern, the iconic DC super hero in his green and black outfit. Because there have been so few changes in the costume of Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, there is no distinctive era for this version of the costume, though it has the green and black outfit with white gloves and, of course, the green power ring. The packaging states that this sculpt was based on Hal Jordan as he appeared in the animated DVD film Green Lantern: First Flight and it seems consistent with the artwork I have seen from that production.
The ornament, released in 2011, is very good in terms of the amount of surface details and coloring. Measuring four and five-eighths inches long, two and one half inches high and one and three-eighths of an inch deep, the Green Lantern ornament is one of the few DC super hero-based ornaments released by Hallmark. Green Lantern came with an original retail price of $14.95 and it did not sell out at its full price at any venue I have found. This is one of the most common genre ornaments from Hallmark.
The Hallmark Green Lantern ornament is made of durable plastic. Green Lantern's costume is colored in bright green and deep black. He is ripped, including detailing on the stomach area. Green Lantern has the white circle with the Green Lantern symbol on his chest. He is wearing his mask and his white gloves have real contrast to the black of the pants and green of his boots.
As for the rest of Green Lantern, he looks like an animated character. His face is sculpted with sharp angles. The hair is brown and includes a spitcurl that looks more like Clark Kent's than anything like Hal Jordan usually has. He is molded in a jumping or flying pose with his right hand out and his left hand back behind him. His eyes are white and while I can live with the fact that the skin tones on the face are monotonal, I feel Hallmark could have gotten the lips properly colored. As it is, that minimal detail is noticeable, especially considering how well-detailed the sculpt is for the muscles and strain apparent in the character's legs.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Green Lantern could have a sound chip or, I suppose, a light-up function. He has neither. I thought it would have been neat for the ring to light up, but Hallmark did not go that way.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Green Lantern ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate super hero Christmas Tree, the Green Lantern ornament is an essential piece. The ornament has the standard brass hook loop embedded into the top of Green Lantern's back, between his shoulder blades. As a result, the ornament, when affixed to a tree with a hook, hangs well balanced from that loop. The loop is as unobtrusive as possible and does not distract from the overall look of the ornament. Hung in this fashion, he looks like he is flying in an ascending arc and it is a very cool action pose.
Collectibility
Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have made ornament replicas of almost all major franchises like DC comics, The Wizard Of Oz and Harry Potter. The Green Lantern ornament was not an exceptional commercial draw; fans bought it, but so far the general public did not seem willing to invest in it. The result was that it was overproduced and when dealers and collectors gobble them up, they will be readily available on the secondary market, at about the same price - or less! - as it was originally issued at. In other words, this is not an ideal investment piece!
Overview
Fans of Green Lantern and DC comics characters are likely to be happy to have a Green Lantern ornament and this one fits the bill. It might not be the most lifelike ornament Hallmark has ever done, but considering the source material, it is more than adequate for genre fans, even if it is no way evocative of Christmas.
For other superhero Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2010 Limited Edition Harley Quinn
2011 Thor
2010 Defender Of Justice Iron Man ornament
7/10
For other ornament reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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