The Good: Good sculpt, Decent balance, Good sound effect
The Bad: Overproduced, Cheesy light effect, Somewhat animated look
The Basics: The 2012 Hallmark Keepsake “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament is an unfortunate blend of classy and oversimplified.
Green Lantern is a very popular comic book franchise and over the last year, I have come to understand why. I am still at a loss to explain why the film version of Green Lantern did not do nearly as well as some of the other films based upon comic books. I am one of the (few) fans of the cinematic Green Lantern and so I was actually excited to see how Hallmark would make a new ornament based on thie film for 2012. That ornament is the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament and it is a really split piece.
For those unfamiliar with the film Green Lantern (reviewed here!), it is the origin story of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Green Lantern is chosen by a willpower-based ring to become the heroic member of the Green Lantern Corps. Recharging the power ring involves holding the power lantern and saying the Green Lantern Oath.
It is that moment, as Jordan raises the lantern and recites the Oath that is the subject of the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament.
Basics
The “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament faithfully presents the Ryan Reynold version of Hal Jordan, the iconic DC super hero in his green and black outfit. The facial sculpt is clearly intended to be Ryan Reynolds and in the broad strokes, it certainly looks like him in the role of Hal Jordan. The ornament features Hal Jordan in his green and black outfit with green gloves and the green power ring.
The ornament, released in 2012, is small and inconsistent. The sculpt looks amazing. The hair is even sculpted to look spiky and the build is a heroic, muscular build. But then, the coloring is terribly simplistic. Measuring four inches tall and two one quarter inches wide and deep, the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament is one of only three DC super hero-based ornaments released by Hallmark for 2012. “Beware My Power” Green Lantern came with an original retail price of $19.95 and given its lack of detailing and the cheesy light effect, it seems terribly overpriced.
The Hallmark “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament is made of durable plastic. Green Lantern's costume is colored in matte green and deep black. He is ripped, including detailing on the stomach area. “Beware My Power” Green Lantern has the white circle with the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern symbol on his chest. He is wearing his mask and his green gloves have real contrast to the black of the pants, sleeves, and green of his boots. But what is an irksome coloring issue is that Green Lantern is not sparkling, like the costume in the film was. . . but the power lantern is. “Beware My Power” has Green Lantern standing on a stand that is the Green Lantern symbol, identical to the symbol on the character’s chest.
As for the rest of “Beware My Power” Green Lantern, he looks like an animated character. His coloring for the skin tones are monotonal and bland. His eyes are oddly detailed with flesh tones and black dots. Hallmark does not have properly colored lips, either.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern has both a sound chip and a light-up function. The light function is one of the very lamest ones of any of the Hallmark ornaments. When the button on the base is pressed, a very simple LED lights up on the top of the base and while it is bright, it is a single source that is underwhelming and barely lights up his arm between the Lantern and Hal Jordan’s body.
At the same time that the light effect is going off, the ornament plays a sound clip from Green Lantern. Ryan Reynolds’ voice goes through the entire Green Lantern Oath and it plays through the top of the base. The base is, essentially, a speaker. The sound is loud enough to be easily heard and it comes with the batteries needed to operate the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate super hero Christmas Tree, the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament is not as good as last year’s Green Lantern ornament. The ornament has the standard brass hook loop embedded into the top of Green Lantern's head. As a result, the ornament, when affixed to a tree with a hook, hangs well balanced from that loop. The loop is fairly obvious, but does not distract from the overall look of the ornament. Hung in this fashion, he looks like he is standing heroically, recharging his ring.
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 “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament was not an exceptional commercial draw its first two weeks and given how unimpressive the light effect and face coloring are, I suspect this will be available even after Christmas. I would not be surprised, given how overpriced it seems, for them to be one of the last genre ornament on the clearance rack after the season passes. In other words, this is not an ideal investment piece!
Overview
Fans of Green Lantern and DC comics characters are likely to be disappointed when they see the “Beware My Power” Green Lantern ornament in real life. Despite the sculpt and sound effect it is, quite simply, not worth picking up.
For other DC Universe superhero Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2012 The Dark Knight Rises
2011 Batman Takes Flight
2011 Green Lantern
2010 Limited Edition Harley Quinn
2009 Wonder Woman ornament
3.5/10
For other ornament reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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