IRON MAN — ATMOSPHERE ARMOR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark developed his cutting-edge Atmosphere Armor to defend the world against catastrophic threats.”

The latest round of Avengers-themed Marvel Legends are *technically* supposed to be themed around Square Enix’s Avengers game from earlier in the year, much like its predecessor from back in May.  While that assortment was a 50/50 split between game and comics, mirroring how movie themed assortments tend to work as well, the second line-up is a lot less influenced, with only two of the standard release figures coming from the game.  Said figures are also both variants of prior figures from the last assortment, making their overall impact feel even more lessened.  I’m taking a look at the first of these two today, starting with an Iron Man variant!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Atmosphere Armor Iron Man is the fifth figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends.  He follows the first Gamerverse Iron Man from the Abomination Series earlier this year, though he’s obviously a slightly more specialized armor choice than the first figure.  This one’s a space-themed armor, in line with the Gemini Starboost armor from Iron Man 3 (and also the same game as this one).  It’s got a lot of common design elements shared with the standard Iron Man figure, which makes sense, and keeps a cohesive thing going.  In general, I do like this design a little bit more than the standard armor, if perhaps just because it’s actually got a purpose outside of just being different.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The movement style on this figure is very similar to that of the first Gamerverse figure, which is to say it’s a little bit stiff and restrictive.  On the plus side, this makes a bit more sense for this design, given its slightly bulked up appearance.  I’m still not a fan of the crunch joint instead of a ball joint for the torso articulation, but at least I knew it was coming this time.  In terms of construction, this figure’s entire sculpt was released previously as the Target-exclusive Starboost figure.  From what I’ve been able to find, these two are supposed to essentially be the same model, so I guess that’s accurate.  I also didn’t pick up the Starboost figure, so a lot of this is new to me.  It’s not all new, of course, by virtue of Starboost sharing his head, biceps, lower torso, pelvis, and upper legs with the standard Iron Man.  Again, this is sensible from a consistency stand point, and I actually find the head bugs me less with this new design, so I’m down for it.  The paint scheme marks a greater departure from the usual Iron Man palette, swapping the red and gold for blue and silver.  I dig it.  It’s unique and again helps to sell him as a more credible variant than the prior figure.  This one’s just drastically different, and that’s nice for the growing hall of armors we’ve got going right now.  Atmosphere Armor Iron Man’s accessory selection’s not bad.  He drops the prior figure’s blast effects, but I’ve honestly got plenty of those at this point anyway.  In their place, he gets a new unhelmeted Tony Stark head, which is pretty decent, if perhaps not my go-to Tony appearance.  It’s also not quite compatible with the standard armor body, which feels like a missed opportunity.  Atmo Iron Man also gets the same two sets of hands as the prior figure, as well as the right arm for the Joe Fixit Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Gamerverse portion of the last Avengers assortment wasn’t really the star point, so I wasn’t feeling a powerful need for more of them.  They seemed kind of inevitable, of course, so I was bracing myself for whatever we might end up getting.  Ultimately, I was rather middled by the standard Iron Man, but this one stands a bit more on his own, largely by virtue of there being less to compare him to.  Sure, he’s not my favorite Iron Man by any stretch, nor is he even a contender for my favorite figure from this series, but he’s perfectly enjoyable for what he is.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy to review.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.