The Good: Great sculpt, Decent Accessory, Great articulation, Generally good balance, Collectible value
The Bad: Slight balance issue.
The Basics: Arkillo, one of the coolest antagonists from The Sinestro Corps War is made into one of the best figures in the Blackest Night toy line!
There are few figures that I have from graphic novels that I did not like before they were given a cool plastic incarnation. In fact, the only one that comes instantly to mind is Arkillo, the subject of today’s figure review! Arkillo was such a cool-looking figure in his package that I was intrigued. I was intrigued enough that it actually became exciting to me as I learned his history as a member of the Sinestro Corps in The Sinestro Corps War (volume 1 is reviewed here and volume 2 is reviewed here!). He has more of a supporting role in Blackest Night, but regardless of where he pops up, he looks incredible and this is a pretty awesome action figure! Unlike figures like Saint Walker (reviewed here!) and Nekron (reviewed here!), I wanted Arkillo pretty much the moment I saw the figure, not after I knew his character’s story.
For those unfamiliar with him, Arkillo is the first disciple of Sinestro as Sinestro begins to form his lethal Sinestro Corps. As Sinestro’s right hand . . . creature, Arkillo works to free Sinestro in the wake of the Sinestro Corps War. Immediately before Blackest Night (reviewed here!), Arkillo gets into a struggle for control of the Corps and his tongue is torn out by the villain Mongul.
It is Arkillo, his tongue hanging around his neck, that is the subject of DC Direct’s Blackest Night action figure!
Basics
The Arkillo figure is amazingly well-detailed and one of the biggest DC Direct figures, certainly from the Blackest Night line. The sculpt and detailing of Arkillo is exceptional. The horrific creature stands 7 1/2" tall and he is both very wide and very heavy. The Arkillo figure is available only from DC Direct.
This toy is an exceptional sculpt, especially for a character that has only had two-dimensional references, Arkillo looks amazing in all three dimensions. DC Direct gave the figure a distinctive head that is like some alien hippopotamus with walrus tusks! Cast with his mouth open, as if in a bellow of rage, Arkillo has finely detailed teeth, nostrils and recessed eyes. In his mouth, there is ribbing for the roof of his mouth and the bottom of his mouth is grotesquely detailed whatwith it missing his tongue! His tongue is expertly sculpted and is handing around Arkillo’s neck from a thin cord. The figure also features amazing muscle definition under his Sinestro Corps uniform for the muscles of his chest, stomach and legs. Arkillo also features nasty looking claws with nails that appear entirely lethal. This is sculpted to be a creature one is afraid of and Arkillo works for that!
Arkillo's costume is all tightly molded to his body and lends the fearsome monster his awesome coloring. The yellows of the Sinestro Corps uniform are pearlescent and the shine offsets the black, silver (a band around his waist) and white accents (for the Corps symbol on his chest and the three dots on his wrists) wonderfully. The color is a great contrast to the gray of Arkillo’s skin and DC Direct accented that perfectly with things like the glossy black fingernails that look like they could rip someone in two! The coloring details are also awesome for the way the mouth and tongue are not simply monochromatically red. Accented with other reds and blacks, the tongue and mouth look gory and realistic. Arkillo’s teeth are also, appropriately, not monochromatic, making for a very realistic looking toy for a comic book character!
Accessories
Arkillo, powerful member of the Sinestro Corps that he is, comes with only two accessories. He has his stand and his yellow lantern. The stand is a translucent yellow and white disk with the Sinestro Corps logo. It is 3 3/4" in diameter and 1/4” tall and it has a single peg which plugs into the hole in Arkillo's right foot. He is very stable on his base, though he does best in flatfooted poses.
Arkillo also comes with a yellow lantern for recharging his yellow power ring. The yellow lantern is 2“ wide by 3“ tall (from the bottom to the top of the handle) and 2 1/8“ deep. This yellow lantern features the traditional plus-shaped rounded lantern design that looks much like a Green Lantern’s lantern save that it is cast in a semi-pearlescent yellow plastic. The center of the lantern is translucent so you can actually pass a light through it to create a yellow light beam. The handle on this lantern does not come off as easily as the handles on other lanterns do, which is nice. Arkillo can easily hold this lantern in his right hand and it looks pretty cool there.
Playability
The DC Direct figures were designed more for display than play. Arkillo cool for both. First, he has decent balance, though it is certainly better on his stand. Because he is so bulky, Arkillo is a little topheavy, even on his stand. Even so, when carefully posed, Arkillo has great balance and exceptional flexibility for play
Arkillo comes with thirteen points of articulation, which is pretty good, even by today's standards. Arkillo has joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists and head. The shoulders are proper ball and socket joints, while the elbows, ankles and knees are all hinge joints. The head is on a simple swivel joint, but the figure’s movement is not really inhibited.
Collectibility
Arkillo is part of the DC Direct Blackest Night Series 7 line which was fairly rare and usually only distributed through comic book shops. Arkillo is one of two colorful characters in the assortment, which is dominated by obscure characters. Oddly Arkillo is largely being overlooked, despite being a badass character with an awesome sculpt. The Arkillo figure is unique to this series and is of the same stature of characters like the Orange Lantern Larfleeze or the Red Lantern Atrocitus, but has been drawing prices more analogous to the vastly unpopular Blue Lantern Saint Walker or Indigo-1 Lantern, which is pretty ridiculous for a figure this cool. As a person who bets on the market, I would bet that in the coming years as more fans share the Blackest Night Saga with friends, the Arkillo figure will go from being a comic shop pegwarmer to a sought-after figure. Having taken my Arkillo out for play and display I cannot figure out why it has not skyrocketed in price yet. But, given that it is cheap now, get it while you can!
Overview
Arkillo is one of the best DC Universe figures - from any line - that I have encountered so far. The incredible detail makes him stand out from the Blackest Night line and provides a cool toy that can reasonably combat all those heroes in your DC Direct figure collection!
For other figures based on DC Universe character, please check out my reviews of:
Justice League Classic Icons Wonder Woman
Justice Cheetah
Kingdom Come Norm McKay and The Spectre
10/10
For other toy reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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