AFHUB member and regular contributor Mike Gonzales (aka Jujuman) spotted this JLU Hal Jordan figure at a shop in Greenhills. The asking price is a whopping P8,000 (approx. US$160) – which might actually be a decent enough price to pay for something that was only limited to a production of 100 pieces. But the big question that comes to mind (as one mentally tries to explain to the missus why this month’s grocery budget is eight grand short) is – is this the real deal?

First – let’s look at the packaging. The figure comes in a plastic bag with a plain cardboard backing and is sealed by staple wires. It does, however, say “Holiday Hal Jordan” on the top :-) OK, so maybe this is a loose figure of the actual figure. All that’s missing now is Bruce Timm’s autograph.

Next – let’s examine the head sculpt. The frontal view shows us an accurate resemblance to the original one released by Mattel in December of 2005.

But looking at the figure closely from the side, it’s hard to miss the linear grooves found on the right side of Hal’s forehead. The same kind of groove appears along the perimeter of his mask and along his sideburns. This etching is indicative of some kind of post-work done on recasts to hihglight details that were lost during the casting process.

Now, let’s examine the ring. As with all of the 4.75″ Green Lantern figures released by Mattel, the ring on this Holiday Hal is just painted on (no sculpting). So no surprises there. But notice the extra line on Hal’s index finger? Is that a factory flaw or is it something that is remnant of a casting job?

Let’s now have a look at the GL Corps insignia. The paint job is very clean and the lines are almost flawless. It is obviously not a printed decal nor is it a decoupage job. If one concluded that this was a custom because of the points cited above, then this part of the figure begs to say otherwise. It is simply too clean of a paint job, even for a top-notch customizer.

Finally, I can’t help but notice that there’s just one of him for sale. If it was a custom or a recast or a knock-off, I’d expect to see a whole shelf full of Holiday Hals. But there’s just one.

So is it the real deal or just a very good copy? And more importantly, is it worth the P8,000 price tag? You be the judge.

Special thanks to Mike Gonzales for taking the time to take these photographs.

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