I’m not quite sure why, but I love the Green Arrow. Maybe it was my childhood affection for all things Robin Hood, maybe it’s something else, but regardless, I just do. So when I saw this puppy at Toy Fair this year, I knew it had to be mine. Diamond was kind enough to send one out for review, so let’s dive in.
Excellent sculpt
The costume is very classic-looking, though the absence of a feathered hat allows the statue to keep one foot in the present. I love the squatted pose, the goatee, the domino mask, the enormous quiver—I pretty much love everything. The leathery texture on his clothes looks excellent, and even the base looks super-convincing. It’s just phenomenal.
If I wanted to whine about one thing, just for the sake of being nitpicky, I would say that the bowstring looks more like kitchen string, and is proportionally much larger than it ought to be. But that doesn’t really bother me in the slightest. It has a much lower chance of breaking when it’s thickened up like this, and I would much rather have that benefit than a thin little string that looks a little better. I suppose they could have used fishing line for the perfect blend of durability and thinness, but eh, who cares? This thing looks too good for me to complain about the string.
Decent paint
The paint jobs are almost never perfect on the Gallery line. Some are better, some are worse. GA doesn’t have the best I’ve seen, but it’s dang good, and it’s much harder to notice the screwups than on some of the other pieces I’ve reviewed. The face, in particular, is very well-executed, which—for me at least—is usually the most important part, because it’s so much more noticeable when things go wrong.
The base paint is really nice, too, with the different building materials looking appropriately textured and varied. This is a diorama meant to suggest—rather than replicate—a part of a building, and I’m glad they went with that approach here—it helps preserve the statue’s compactness, making it easier to fit on the shelf, and making Ollie seem that much more like a stealthy bowhunter.
Go get it
After a disappointing look at the Dark Knight Rises Catwoman last week, I had a blast photographing this one. It’s a great take on the Green Arrow, with elements both classic and modern, and the sculpt and paint are marvelous. If you’re a fan of the Emerald Archer, this is a killer deal on a beautiful collectible.
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