Yo everyone, your ol' pal the Scarecroodle here with a relatively modest look at Green Lantern Classics Arkillo, the Collect&Connect from wave 1. That's right, I'm keeping this casual and not going too in-depth.



If you aren't familiar with the character, he's a famous opera singer:



He also happens to be the Sinestro Corps drill sergeant, basically like an evil clone of the Green Lantern Corps's Kilowog. In fact, he shares a lot of parts with the DCUC Kilowog figure (wave 11's CNC). But because I don't have Kilowog let's just compare him with Brimstone from the Public Enemies wave.



While I dislike recycling (screw you, Captain Planet!), it's doubly lame in the case of collect & connects given that they can represent an investment of sorts since you're buying a wave rather than a figure for them. As such, CNCs deserve almost entirely unique sculpts. At the same time it's oddly defensible given that Arkillo is an almost direct parallel to Kilowog (again, not pictured. That's Brimstone there).

While about 80% of this figure has been used at least four times (leading to fans' humorous mash-ups of the names and CNC pieces), there are always some very visible differences. In this case we have a new set of hands, the traditional Sinestro Corps belt (once again as a separate piece), and a new head. Also, I feel obliged to point out that this depiction includes his tongue (which was ripped out at one point, afterwards worn on a necklace) and all his fingers (one of which was previously chopped off for a while); basically Mattel has kept the character G-rated.

A little height comparison:



Included in the shot are DCUC6 Superman (standard height for the line) and Riki Saotome (who I use as a generic height comparison). I might've botched the stance leading to a difference in the shoulders. Brimstone's t-jointed hips don't close as evenly, which I think was a specific design flaw.



One of the major downsides to the Sinestro Corps outfit is that how far down the yellow triangle extends. Basically any time you rotate his waist you're guaranteed to not have that logo centered. A similar problem can be seen with the ab crunch but it's less noticeable. Speaking of, the ab crunch on mine is likely broken (specifically an interior piece that locks the crunch into place).



The other downside to Sinestro Corps members is the tendency for companies to not bother painting that joint in the shoulders. It's just yellow plastic, meaning it matches on the top fairly well but stands out horrendously on the armpits.

However, now that we've got most of the *shared* issues out of the way it's finally time to criticize the man-monster himself. Quietly, of course, since we don't want to get out heads bitten off (a habit shared by theater types). And the first problem? His head. Although the wide open-mouthed roar may be a favorite pose in the comics (presumably), it translates awkwardly to the figure in that it really limits the posing options. You have to either put his chin exceptionally low or use his ab crunch to have him hulk forward just to get his eyes visible. At the same time it opens up the possibility for many excellent yelling at the sky poses... Hey Arkillo, what did the sky ever do to you?!



At any rate, he's a figure you can pose on lower shelves thanks to those looking up poses. Really helps you admire his smiling face.



Honestly, though, those crouching, hulking poses are still a lot cooler. The knee bend is more for display than stability.



And his open claws enable grappling poses.




I don't recommend actually doing that. It tends to wear down a figure's joints fairly quickly. Because Superman has single-jointed knees and no foot pivot it's not that hard to balance a figure over twice his size and thrice his weight, though.




...okay, I may have gotten carried away.



The open hand also allows him to hold the 1/4 scale lantern replicas. Given how tiny the normal power battery would probably look on this guy it kinda makes for a cool substitute.




Trust me, that looks better in person =p



This one made me giggle... He really doesn't photograph well from some angles with that headsculpt.



If you like it then you shoulda put a Sinestro Corps ring on it, if you like it then you shoulda put a Sinestro Corps ring on it...

Honestly, if I was going to go all out with this I'd have photographed the ring. Unlike a lot of ring-bearers the detail is actually kinda crappy, like DC Direct quality instead of Mattel DCU quality. It's also missing the black paintwash seen on the cardback.



Specs:

Height: 9.25" (8.5" when posed as pictured)
Shoulderspan: 4.5"~
Articulation
~Head (rod with a physical ball, allowing full rotation as well as forward/back motion)
~Shoulders (ball-joints)
~Biceps (peg, rotation)
~Elbows (single-pin, hinged)
~Wrists (peg, rotation)
~Waist (peg, rotation)
~Hips (concealed "t-joint", forward/back/outward movement)
~Knees (single-pin, hinged)
~Ankles (Single-pin + "ankle rockers", forward/back + pivot)

Summation:
While Arkillo is a decent-looking figure, I can't help but dislike the fact he shares a mold that hasn't even been improved. Yes, it's mostly functional and works well for the upper body but the legs still lack rotation at either the thigh or boot (something included even with most normal DCUCs and a few CNCs like Bane have had articulation at both of those points). I'm also not fond of the head choice, since it limits posing. This could have been fixed with a mouth/jaw joint or, even easier, an alternate head. The actual detail on the head is pretty solid, though. The wrinkles and ridges add a lot of character and his nose looks kinda crazy. The roar itself doesn't strike me as being terribly angry or fearsome, instead looking only mildly intimidating.

The torso piece conveys Arkillo's muscle mass well but I almost wish he had beefier arms (but also a different type of joint for the elbow for added movement). The hands could do with a bit more detail although the sculpt itself is fairly solid. It vaguely reminds me of what they used for Trigon. The paint is relatively nice all around but I half-wish they had somehow kept the yellow portion above the belt so you wouldn't see a visible split when you turn his waist. Despite these minor issues with presentation, Arkillo still looks good and offers a fair variety of display options. Plus this is still probably the best figure available for the character at this moment.