WAR MACHINE

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

Recently, Hasbro’s been putting a lot of effort into making sure that no Marvel Legends prototype gets left behind, so a decent percentage of just about every new series of the line in the last year has been made up of figures we’ve seen in some capacity before. Most of the time, these figures are comic-based figures who take advantage of movie popularity to get their sales, but today’s figure bucks that trend, actually being a movie-based figure who was salvaged from the scrap heap. So, let’s have a look at War Machine, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

War Machine is the second to last figure in the Hulkbuster Series of the Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures. He also has the notoriety of being the only movie-based figure in a series with a movie-based Build-A-Figure, which has caused some people a bit of frustration. This figure was originally supposed to be a part of the third series of the Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends, but that series ended up cancelled. He was meant to be based on the concept drawings for the pre-Iron Patriot War Machine 2.0 armor, but now he gets to be based on the actual armor design from Age of Ultron. Yes, it’s the same design, but now it’s more official, right? The figure stands roughly 6 ¼ inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation (counting the shoulder pads and the mounted gun). Sculpturally, this figure is an almost 100% re-use of the Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends Col. James Rhodes/Iron Patriot figure. Literally the only difference between the two sculpts is the left hand, which was open on the Iron Patriot figure, but is closed here. However, this is one of those cases where re-use is not only warranted, but pretty much necessary for the appropriate look. They’re supposed to be the same armor in-universe. It helps that the Iron Patriot sculpt was a pretty good one, too. The fine detail work is just great, it’s super accurate to the source material, and he has decent proportions to boot. The only real downside to this guy is the mounted gun, which doesn’t get the full mobility of the film version, resulting in it being stuck in a somewhat hard to work with pose. It’s workable, but a little frustrating. The main difference on this guy is that paint job. The Iron Patriot figure was (obviously) in more patriotic colors. This figure returns Rhodey to his more traditional black and grey color scheme for which he’s what he’s more known. It’s not the most exciting color selection of all time, but it’s accurate. Plus, he still has all the small writing and insignias that were seen on Iron Patriot, which is definitely nice to see. Another big difference between this guy and his predecessor is his accessory compliment. In addition to the requisite Hulkbuster piece, War Machine also gets an alternate head with his faceplate up, revealing a pretty decent Don Cheadle likeness.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I definitely got this guy for the Hulkbuster piece. There’s no two ways about that. When he was initially announced for the IM3 Legends line-up, I was definitely going to pass. I like the armor design and all, but I find the Iron Patriot color-scheme much more exciting, so that was the figure for me. But, then he got moved to this set and I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Honestly, he’s a pretty great figure. He’s the same great sculpt, plus he gets that cool new head sculpt, which really makes him work. I don’t regret getting this guy.