Review: LEGO 76025 Green Lantern vs Sinestro

February 3, 2015 | 18

Welcome to February! This month on the blog, we’re going to go hard and heavy on Super Heroes, specifically the new wave of DC Super Heroes Justice League sets. It seems that LEGO finally clued on to the fact that LEGO fans actually like other non-Batman superheroes from the DC Universe.

The Justice League sub-theme is based on DC’s New 52, a major reboot of their entire line of comic books following the events of Flashpoint. Not content with doing things half-arsed, LEGO decided to give us a spectacular lineup of sets featuring fan favourite heroes from the Justice League and their associated villains. I’m a huge fan of DC Comics (yes, I like them more than Marvel) so this entire theme was a dream come true since I’m finally able to assemble the entire Justice League.

I’ve chosen to review perhaps the most anticipated set out of the bunch – 76025 Green Lantern vs Sinestro.

Name: Green Lantern vs Sinestro
Set Number: 76025
Pieces: 175
Price: AU$39.99 (Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA]) (Barnes & Noble)
Exclusive to: N/A
Minifigures: 3
Theme: DC Super Heroes Justice League
Year of Release: 2015
Instructions: LEGO 76025 Green Lantern vs Sinestro 

There’s only one real reason behind all the hype f0r this set – a Green Lantern minifigure. Prior to this, the only way to obtain a Hal Jordan minifigure was to blow about $400 on the 2011 Comic Con exclusive, which believe it or not, is a huge impediment for those of us with budgets and bills to pay. Finally, after years of waiting we’re able to get a Green Lantern in an affordable, retail set. Thank you, DC and LEGO Gods.

Unlike previous waves, this year’s Justice League theme did away with the smaller $20 set, so Green Lantern vs Sinestro is the smallest set that you can buy this time around. The $40 Super Heroes sets belong to a very distinguished alumni of sets that pack tremendous value at very affordable price points. It joins luminaries such as 6862 Superman vs Lex Power Armour, 76000 Arctic Batman vs Mr Freeze and 6866 Wolverine’s Chopper Showdown.

I’m a fan of the new Box Art, it has a very comic-booky feel to it and the set’s components are presented quite well with Green Lantern and Space Batman (love that this is his actual name) going ham on a poor, almost defenceless Sinestro on some asteroid in outer space. There are some nice embellishments such as some Justice League members (minus Martian Manhunter and Hawkman) on the top right corner looking all cool and smug, as well as a Justice League logo on the bottom bar.

There’s also an illustrated Space Batman being launched into the air by a (NEW!) SUPER JUMPER, which is a new but nasty play feature that they’ve added to the DC sets. More on the SUPER JUMPER (yes, I’m using all caps everytime I refer to it) later on in the review – but here’s an early warning. DON’T USE IT.

Let’s get into the only reason why Super Heroes sets exist – the minifigures. No need to pretend, it’s an open secret that people only buy Super Heroes sets for the minifigures – at least that’s why I buy them 🙂

The lineup for Green Lantern vs Sinestro is absolutely brilliant. Despite Green Lantern being the star of the set, Batman still manages to sneak himself into the set – to prevent Green Lantern from stealing all the limelight. Alongside the two core Justice League members is ex-Green Lantern and chief nemesis of Hal Jordan, Sinestro.

This is a really solid lineup, you have Batman in a novelty (but still very cool) Batsuit, the long-awaited Green Lantern and a classic villain. The Justice League subtheme is a very welcome sign from DC that they too can flex their muscles and call upon their own massive library of comic characters and villains to go toe to toe against Marvel’s LEGO offerings. What a time to be alive!

Here’s Hal Jordan, better known as the Green Lantern. A DC superhero minifig that has been on the wishlists of pretty much every LEGO fan is now finally available in an affordable LEGO set. Green Lantern is everything that I had hoped for. He’s decked out in his New 52 outfit which looks great and has a huge confident, almost cocky grin that is a trademark of Hal Jordan.

The only thing I really dislike about Green Lantern is his leg printing. The pointy triangular tip which is supposed to be his boots is a little too high up in my opinion and makes the minifigure look unbalanced. His boot printing would’ve looked a lot better if the effect was a lot more subtle.

From the back Green Lantern has your prerequisite back printing with small bits of muscle definition, which is par for the course when it comes to licensed minifigures. He also has an alternate face which has a slightly more serious and neutral look.

I consider it a huge blessing that we finally have a Green Lantern minifigure. This set could’ve been just Hal Jordan alone with some random green bricks at the same price and I would’ve bought it without a moment’s hesitation – that’s how badly I’ve been wanting a Green Lantern minifig!

Sinestro is Hal Jordan’s and the Green Lantern Corps’ prime nemesis. A fallen Green Lantern himself who converted to the Yellow Side, Sinestro is an extremely iconic villain that’s a great addition to the DC Super Heroes lineup. He’s in a yellow suit, which is a nod to Sinestro’s Corps (the opposing organisation) as well a well known fact that a Green Lantern’s biggest weakness is the colour yellow. Officially called Yellow Impurity, I always thought that it was extremely silly and never really got the reasoning behind it.

Sinestro is a great minifigure – his suit has a lot in common with Hal’s, except that it’s yellow and has a few extra details. Unlike Green Lantern, I like the boot design on him – the extra fine line near his feet goes a long way in making it a lot more obvious that he has big yellow boots on.

He’s got a great facial expression with blank fuming yellow eyes and not forgetting his impressively manicured and well kept moustache. Sinestro must be a huge fan of Ninjago, as his weapon of choice is a fancy yellow axe which uses the same piece as Ninjago Rebooted’s Techno Blades.

Flipping him around reveals back printing. I’m not too well versed with the New 52 Green Lantern comics and Sinestro’s appearance, so I’m not too sure how accurate the detail is but I’m not a fan of the design. I would’ve preferred a cleaner look for his back torso. Sinestro also has an alternate face which sports an equally menacing non-teeth baring look. He kinda looks like a person who just got his parking lot stolen from under his nose.

Batman is a nice but not wholly necessary inclusion in this set. It helps that we get a really cool version – aptly called Space Batman. Space Batman has a sleek futuristic suit that’s designed for interstellar travel. I really like Space Batman, it almost looks like a cyborg or robot thanks to the great looking mix of silver, gold and white elements.

The most interesting thing about Space Batman are his space-wings. The wings are made out of a solid sheet of plastic, so they hold their shape really well. The material feels really odd and I’m not too sure if I like them. It’s going to take a while for me to get used to them. Space Batman also has a very basic jetpack that holds his wing in place.

You get two different wings for Space Batman, which I think is pretty cool. The ones with the wings outstretched definitely looks the best. Removing Space Batman’s cowl reveals a really cool head, which has a gold visor and a metallic mouthpiece. It’s a really useful versatile head that can be used if you want to create your own Space-themed minifigures.

LEGO was also nice enough to toss us the regular Batman head with his dreadful trademark jogger’s headband which has a dual-sided face. We also get a very curious accessory which helps hold his wings into place.It’s a transparent neck piece with two studs that you can affix all sorts of stuff to. It’s transparent which is great since it’s a lot less noticeable…but if you place it on the front of his tors0 – yup, it looks like a transparent bra.

Despite it looking like the most suspect accessory that LEGO has ever produced, it’s going to really come in handy if you’re the type of person who likes to augment your minifigures with other parts.

Despite being a Green Lantern set, I can’t help but pay extra attention to Space Batman since there are so many new and interesting things about the minifigure. 2015 gives us a new cowl for Batman which I’m quite undecided about. I really like the new cowl’s shorter ears, which makes Batman look a lot less cartoony. The exposed chin is also a fantastic move as it really capture’s of of Batman’s most iconic facial features – his strong masculine jawline. The eyes are also slightly more slanted, which gives Batman a more menacing look.

What I don’t like about the cowl is that LEGO completely blew a golden opportunity to rid us of Batman’s awful looking headband head. The fact that they didn’t just baffles me. Oh well, guess we have to continue hoping for a new Batman redesign and we’re stuck with that horrid headband for the foreseeable future.

Phew, that’s that for the minifigures! Going into the actual build, the first thing that you construct is Sinestro’s cage that holds Green Lantern’s lantern. Based on the set’s description, Sinestro has stolen the lantern and hid it on his home planet of Korugar and Batman and Hal Jordan need to work together to reclaim the lantern.

The cage is a fairly simple build, with a transparent enclosure which holds the lantern that sits comfortably on a pedestal. The best part is definitely the gorgeous printed round flat dome which has Sinestro’s logo on it. I’m so accustomed to LEGO forcing stickers down our throats (very stockholm syndrome) so every time we get a printed piece, it feels like Christmas.

Here’s how the cage looks from the side. Clear curved containment tank pieces are always useful, so this model can be easily salvaged for useful parts.

Sinestro’s Cage has a cute little play feature built into it – you jab Sinestro’s dish and the cage pops open to free the lantern. You’re supposed to incorporate the SUPER JUMPER to activate this play feature, using Sinestro’s logo as a bullseye as you launch Batman towards it. Warning: Do not use the SUPER JUMPER. All will be explained soon.

Here’s Hal, looking very pleased that he’s managed to get his precious lantern back.

Here we come to the main portion of the set – Green Lantern’s spacecraft or fighter jet. The official set details calls it a spacecraft but I’m just going to call it what it is – a fighter jet. It’s a fitting nod to Hal Jordan’s life as a fighter pilot before he was bestowed his Power Ring. If you’re not that familiar with Green Lantern’s power, he can basically conjure up anything that his mind can think of and will it to life.

In this case, he has willed a fighter jet to life, which he uses to travel to Korugar in style.

LEGO surprises us yet again, with the Green Lantern logo printed on the fighter jet’s snout – hurray for printed elements! The first thing that immediately strikes you are all the gorgeous transparent green elements such as the cockpit and tail wings. Transparent pieces always remind me of Space sets such as Blacktron and Classic Space and I firmly believe that there’s no such thing as having too many transparent pieces.

The Fighter Jet looks great for its size. It has a triangular shape and perfectly blends about 5 different shades of green to create a very visually appealing jet spacecraft. It might’ve been asking for too much, but it would’ve been so awesome if LEGO had given us a fighter jet made purely out of transparent green bricks and some black accents.

The process of building the jet was fairly simple, it uses a lot of curved slopes to achieve a very sleek, aerodynamic look which works well. Being a fighter jet, it packs quite a huge amount of firepower – it has blasters on the tips of its wings made out of the new pop-cap style guns that fire 1×1 studs.

There are also two spring-loaded missile launchers that flank the cockpit that use a pretty ingenious way of firing them off.

From the back, you get a better view at the thrusters and the adjustable tail wing flaps. The middle thruster triggers the play feature, firing off the missiles when twisted to each side like a knob.

It’s a fun albeit clunky play feature. It’s cool that you get to fire missiles without actually interacting with them, but the twisting mechanism is a little fiddly and doesn’t work as well as I would’ve liked. That said, the spring loaded missiles pack a lot of power, and it’s quite satisfying letting the missiles loose.

Now, we arrive at the SUPER JUMPER, the most contentious inclusion in this set. I’ve enlisted Lobot to help with demonstrating the SUPER JUMPER’s function and act as a sacrificial lamb to prove that this piece is the dumbest, most dangerous piece that LEGO have ever created because it actually damages your LEGO minifigures.

Lobot, we thank you for your service.

The SUPER JUMPER is a play feature that’s currently exclusive to the new wave of DC Super Heroes sets. The idea is to attach a minifigure to it, press the SUPER JUMPER down and launch the minifig into the air in dramatic fashion. At least that’s the idea in principle.

I had read scattered reports that fans were reporting significant  damage inflicted to their minifigure’s legs after using the SUPER JUMPER and I was eager to see if those reports were substantiated.

Firstly, the SUPER JUMPER has a tremendous amount of clutch power. When I fastened a minifigure to it, it was almost impossible to separate it without exerting a huge amount of force to separate the minifigure from the SUPER JUMPER. I quickly learned that to properly use the SUPER JUMPER, I had to lightly attach the minifigure to it, so that its legs were only fastened halfway so that it could properly release itself.

Here’s how it roughly works. Depending on how you place the minifigure, you can launch it quite far into the air. It’s a really silly unnecessary play feature that really adds nothing much to the playability of the LEGO set. If you want to launch Batman or Superman across the room, you can just chuck it around for the same effect minus the risk of damaging your minifigures.

Pay attention to the bottom holes in Lobot’s legs. This picture was taken before I inflicted the SUPER JUMPER on him.

And here is the post-SUPER JUMPER shot. After using Lobot on the SUPER JUMPER a few times, which included trying to dislodge him from the piece, it was immediately apparent that a lot of stress is exerted on the minifigure’s leg. So much so that it actually warps the plastic in both leg holes. 

Here’s another look at the extent of the damage that can be caused on your minifigures. You can now see why I didn’t want to use Batman or any of the other valuable minifigs in the set. I cannot imagine that LEGO would allow something like this to get into retail sets without properly testing the effects it had on minifigures.

It’s sloppy and I’m quite alarmed at the terrible and harmful design of the SUPER JUMPER. Do not use this on your minifigures – in fact, just chuck it in your container of spare parts and don’t give it a second thought. Don’t risk your minifigures getting damaged by this awful and half-arsed element.

What I liked:

• Brilliant lineup of minifigures led by Green Lantern
• Great price point
• Lots of printed elements
• Green Lantern’s fighter jet’s effective design and plenty of trans-green elements

What I didn’t like: 

• Super Jumper is awful and damages your minifigs

Final thoughts: If you ignore the SUPER JUMPER, Green Lantern vs Sinestro is a fantastic set, underscored by a star-studded cast of minifigures. Green Lantern and Sinestro might be the main reasons to get this set, but the fighter jet ensures that you’re getting great value out of this set.

Despite being a supporting character, Space Batman has one of the most interesting suits that I’ve ever seen and is guaranteed to stand out from all your other Batman minifigs.

The Fighter Jet is a solid build, is just the right size and looks like something that Green Lantern would will into existence using his Power Ring. Despite being on the small side, the great design and vibrant colours make this a very displayable set that would look pretty good alongside other Super Heroes sets.

At the end of the day, this set is a no brainer if you’re a fan of DC Comics and want to complete your Justice League. Like last year’s Batman: The Riddler’s Chase that contained the Flash, there’s really no reason to miss out on this set purely on the strength of the minifigures included.

Just remember, DO NOT USE your Super Jumper!

Rating: 4/5