Daddy Mojo reviews: Green Lantern toys

As a dad and comic book guy I’m psyched to see Green Lantern in theaters.  When I was a kid the thing that hooked me to Green Lantern was the fact that, despite being a super hero, he was only as super as his imagination.  If GL can physically handle it and can think about it, the ring can create it, as long as he’s not defending something yellow.

Would the Green Lantern toys measure up to entertain today’s kids?  We received the Green Lantern Colossal Cannon and an Abin Sur action figure and put it up against the standards of a pack of young boys.

The GL Colossal Cannon

The GL Colossal Cannon is a green gun that comes with 10 green plastic, disc shaped objects.  The design of the gun is very inventive because your hand goes into the large opening where your hand finds a grip and trigger to fire the discs.  When you squeeze the trigger and the discs fire it makes a shooting sound and the cannon rotates and lights up.  The GL Colossal Cannon can shoot the discs in rapid succession, which makes for great target practice.

“It’s fun and simple to use” one nine year old boy said.  His younger brother; aged 4 complained for a moment that the toy wasn’t being shared and after a little parental oversight, our young lanterns were off running around the yard shooting trees and mailboxes.  All of the kids were able to re-load the cannon with ease and the toy was immensely appropriate for boys 4 and up.

Fun with the GL Colossal Cannon continued until we had to go in for dinner.  “Can you leave this out here for us to play”, a young boy said.  I said no and that we had to take it inside.  In truth, I didn’t mind if they played with it, I was just concerned that they would lose some of the discs that go into the toy.  “I like this toy, can we come over tomorrow and play?”, he later asked.    So now I’m like the Pied Piper for young boys in my neighborhood, as long as I have the GL Colossal Cannon.

The Abin Sur action figure

“Who is this”, one of the boys asked me.  ‘Oh, he’s Abin Sur, he’s the Green Lantern that crash lands on Earth that gives his ring to Hal before dying.  Oh, and he get’s brought back to life later in Blackest Night’, I said.  Unfortunately I said that to a blank space because the boy had run across the yard with Abin in his hand.  “I like this purple alien”, he said as he picked him up off the ground, while his other friend was trying to shoot him with the Colossal Cannon.

What I liked about the Abin Sur action figure is that he can stand up-even with his mace on his hand.  The action figure is also very detail oriented.  His pupils are visible, his arms rotate 360⁰, head rotates around and he very lifelike.

The Bottom Line

The GL Colossal Cannon is a great toy that will keep kids, especially boys, aged 4-9 entertained.    The only downside I can see to this toy is that if any of the plastic discs, get lost (we lost 1 in a three hour period…I blame the kids) you have to be extra careful about not losing them.  The Abin Sur action figure is well built, detailed and great for kids who enjoy playing with action figures.  My group was in an active mood and took Abin for a run around the cul-de-sac, in between rounds of shooting him.  Young boys that like action figures will enjoy the mace attachment, how unusual he looks and his dexterity.

Daddy Mojo wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Mattel and received Green Lantern toys to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.