Aside from the occasional, scratchy spider ring that a guy might wear around Halloween every year, we have a tendency to, well, NOT collect toy rings. At no point in my development was I compelled to collect little 25-cent gold rings with plastic jewels glued to them. I’m a little surprised myself – I’ve collected just about everything.
DC Comics, however, is trying very hard to change this. Men wearing rings has always been something of a staple in DC Comics – The Flash kept his costume miraculously stored in his ring, Lex Luthor has been known to surprise Superman with a ring that secretly housed Kryptonite, and of course, we have Green Lantern, whose sole power is the fact that he can channel the energy of his ring into constructs based on his willpower.
If Green Lantern wants to create a giant dinosaur to chomp his robot enemies to death, all he needs to do is think really hard about it, and a glowing, translucent green dinosaur appears. It’s been this way since 1940, with Green Lantern wearing a green ring. Really, the ability to just make things with your mind would be enough to get any guy to wear a huge, gaudy green ring, but the original Green Lantern totally rocked poofy purple pants also.
Then, the Yellow Lanterns came along. Well, Sinestro came back from from Qward after being banished for being a jerk and stripped of his Green Lantern powers. When he returned, was wearing a Yellow Ring. It wasn’t until 2006 that more wielders of Yellow Rings, The Sinestro Corps, appeared, whose rings are powered by generating fear. And then things got crazy.
The Red Lanterns appeared, fueled by rage. The Blue Lanterns appeared, fueled by hope. The Black Lanterns appeared, powered by death – and the same occurred with every color of the visible and ‘emotional’ spectrum. It’s comics, and this means that we get a Zombie Batman action figure, so I’m not complaining. What this also all means is that DC Comics is not producing one, but THREE different formats to collect all eight rings in.
Right now, a set of eight plastic rings is available to represent all of these Lanterns, which were packaged with comic books released between September and November that related to the ‘Blackest Night‘ storyline. A full set, with comics, will run about $25, and they’re fairly nice for rubber rings. They’re quite large, but wearable, and inexpensive. I’ve already taken a few stupid Facebook photos wearing them. Who needs girlfriends? I have Power Rings.
DC Direct also just released the JLA Trophy Room Green Lantern Rings Replica set, which again features all metal-plated eight rings set in a round, illuminated base with a removable glass dome. It’s made very clear that these high-end prop replicas are not meant to be worn as costume pieces, but for $250, who isn’t going to try? This item is also out right now.
Finally, DC Direct just announced a set of eight wearable Blackest Night Power Ring Spectrum Set made of PVC. These will be adjustable, come in a fancy display box, and best of all, they’ll light up when you put them on. While not officially available until July of 2010, the price tag of $60 is pretty convincing.
There have been a few official, wearable metal prop replica Lantern rings that have come out in the past, which were packaged with mini-busts. There have also been GL rings packed in with action figures, and even a Flash ring with a spring-loaded cap. It’s hard to resist the lure of the plastic, toy ring.
