Green Arrow's sculpt is actually considerably better than most of his compatriots in this line. While most of the figures are absurdly simple, he features quite a few unique elements and sculpted details in his costume. His boots and vest feature natural wrinkles that bunch in the right spots. There are also actual soles denoted on his feet, as well as straps, buckles, and buttons in all the leatherwork of his vest and quiver. Small details like this are easy to leave off because of lazy production values, but everything is included here, and it really improves his look. The muscles in his arms and legs look a bit too stringy for my tastes, but at least they tried to work muscle details in. The proportions between body parts are good everywhere except his hands, which are huge and sculpted open like he could hold a baseball in each. At least he does come with an accessory you can place in them, which is a compound bow of some sort that has some detail work with pulleys and other technical looking aspects. The problem is that it's so thin and flimsy, there isn't much you can do with it, and the "string" is really thick because it's actually supposed to be three strings, but they didn't cut out the plastic connecting them. Of course they couldn't have removed that plastic because each string would break so easily, but the obvious solution to this is just including a stiff bow and real string! Mattel claims that they can't include a functional bow with an arrow because it could be classified as a weapon. I guess it isn't a problem for other companies though, because I've seen it done before. Green Arrow's vest is a separate piece altogether, although it isn't removable without a knife or taking off body parts. This does give it nice weight sitting on his body, but it's also a problem because it doesn't fit well on his head, leaving measurable gaps on all three sides. Underneath the hood is an okay face. The features come across as a little soft, though it's still an accurate depiction of the character with a neutral expression. He almost looks hateful, but not quite. You can just pretend he's mad at Hawkman. One last problem is the top of his head, which is sculpted bald to accommodate the hood. If you ever want to remove the vest/hood, then you're going to be stuck with an awkwardly bald Oliver Queen who usually has a nice head of hair.  

Sculpt Score: 7 / 10

Green Arrow gets at least one thing right in this category - his colors. Not only does he make a perfect figure to review for St. Patrick's Day, but he looks good too. The dark green of his vest, boots, and gloves is a good forest shade that immediately brings Robin Hood to my mind. It's well complemented by the lighter, though more vibrant green of his pants, which is all tied together nicely with the brown leather accessories. I do wish the pants color was implemented on another part of his costume, but it all still looks good together. On that note the skin color used here looks great too. As does his light blond goatee coloring. On the other hand though, we have the ugliest shade of green imaginable for his actual bow. I don't know why they went with this terrible color, it just makes his bow look like a toy. There is also some sort of problem with the coloring on it, because a couple spots of yellow green show through. I didn't think it was painted, simply cast in this color, so I don't have an explanation as to where the yellow is coming from. I'm quite disappointed with this bow in just about every way. The applications are much weaker than the color choices, meaning they're pretty bad. At points where different colors meet, there are a lot of jagged, fuzzy lines, even a little slop making its way across colors too. The eyes and beard look great, although the brown on his vest is really messy. They missed large spots here, and went way over the lines there; it's just ugly. From far away you may no notice a lot, but if you get close at all, the problems will start to make themselves apparent. One thing that impressed me a lot was that they correctly painted his fingers to match archers' gloves. Getting little details like that correct always help, but they're just as poorly painted as the rest of the figure.  

Paint Score: 5 / 10

If DC Infinite Heroes figures ever want to compete with the Marvel Universe line, then improving articulation is the key first step. I know Mattel is heading in that direction, but I'm afraid they may have lost too many people already with terrible articulation models like the one of green Arrow. He has ball shoulders, hinged elbows, a swivel waist, a T hip, and hinged knees. I would say that he has a cut neck, but because of his restrictive hood, you can barely move his head at all, and when you do he's just looking into his hood. You can get a smidgen of personality of a slight head turn, but not much, and a ball joint would be 100 times better anyway. This limited articulation makes him impossible to pose (you'll notice there isn't much you can do in photos to make him look cool). Playing with him isn't going to offer a lot of options, and he's just going to have to stand straight up on your shelf if you decide to display him. You can sort of get him to hold his bow, as pictured above, and yet I don't see the point, because he looks absurd with it. Thankfully the joints that are here do work well and nothing is frozen or broken. That's the only positive comment I can make, except that he isn't a total statue.

Articulation Score: 3 / 10

   

Green Arrow as a character is a blast. Sure he doesn't have any superpowers, it's the Robin Hood thing that makes him so enjoyable. I've always loved the idea of archers, longed to be one myself, and never accomplished such (the calling for military bowmen these days is low), and the idea of Green Arrow just strikes gold with me. That's why I'm so angrily disappointed every time I see another figure that doesn't do the character justice. This toy has a bad set of articulation, so he's hard to play with or pose, limiting the fun you can get from him significantly. He includes an accessory, but it's just a terrible bow, without an actual arrow. Even an arrow to hold or place in the quiver would have been a huge improvement and it's nowhere to be found. Nothing is broken or particularly frustrating, although nothing is particularly good either. The packaging is okay, and does include some interesting biographical information as well as statistics on the back, but there are no other pack-ins to mention. Unless you're an absolute die-hard Green Arrow fan, or obscenely easy to entertain, I just don't see how you'll enjoy this figure all that much.  

Fun Score: 4 / 10

This figure costs roughly $5-$7, depending on where it is purchased. At Wal-Mart (the only place I can find anything besides the first wave), he was $7, which is a lot for a 3 3/4" inch action figure, even in this market of ever-increasing prices. Now, you may say to me: "TAO, that's the same price as a GI Joe and cheaper than a Marvel Universe figure." And you'd be right, it's not overpriced when compared to similar lines, but it's a much worse figure when it comes to value. Joes include a ton of accessories, a display stand, and bio cards, and even Marvel Universe has a lot more extras, not to mention better figures. This means the value for Green Arrow is considerably lower than the competition, which is really bad. It's a small figure, includes only one terrible accessory, and neither the paint nor the sculpt exude high quality production standards. This price just isn't reasonable until Mattel starts to up the articulation, include more accessories, and even include build-a-figure pieces in the line. He won't fall apart on you, and the only flimsy piece is his bow, but all you really need to consider is how much fun he's going to provide, and I'd say that it's very little. I wouldn't buy this toy again, and buying toys is pretty much what I do. 

Value Score: 3 / 10 

Summary

7 - There are great costume details, muscles are questionable, proportions are solid except for large hands, bow has details but is still terrible in function, face is okay, hood doesn't fit well, why is he bald?

 5 - Got the colors right, costume details are correct, face looks good and clean, messy applications across colors, terrible painting on brown straps on vest, bow looks ridiculously bad, jagged lines here and there. 

3 - For a toy, and a kid's toy at that, he doesn't have enough points, everything works smoothly, no play or display ability here, can't really hold bow, no personality. 

4 - Hard to play with or pose, comes with a lame accessory, character is interesting but the toy is disappointing, packaging is okay, he doesn't even come with an arrow?

4 - The price is way too high for what you get in the package, nothing is broken and he feels sturdy, not much fun to be had, lame accessory, small figure, pricey even compared to similar lines. 

Overall Score: 47 / 100 - This is a Poor Toy

Green Arrow almost climbs into an acceptable category on the shoulders of his good sculpt, but a terrible articulation model along with questionable levels of fun and value make him a pretty poor toy. 

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One