TONY STARK – MECH TEST
IRON MAN (HOT TOYS)
Holy crap, I’ve actually written 600 of these things. Wow. And people are still reading, like, at an increasing rate, even. I think I’m actually not scaring people off! Yay! Anyway, another milestone means another “Deluxe Review.” So, we once again dive into the world of high end collecting, with another figure from renowned toy makers Hot Toys.
HT first got into the Marvel game with the first Iron Man film. Over the last few years, Iron Man’s kind of been HT’s bread and butter. It seems like no matter how many versions of the guy they release, the demand just isn’t dying down. I’ve already looked at one of their more conventional Iron Man variants, but my personal favorite is actually a Tony Stark figure. Let’s check that one out!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Tony is part of HT’s main Movie Masterpiece Series. He’s number 116 in the line, and he’s numerically the fourth Iron Man figure in the line. He stands roughly 12 inches in height and has…ummm….a bunch of articulation. As with lots of HT figures, the clothing covers the majority of his joints, and since I’m not really in the habit of undressing these guys, I don’t really have an exact count. It’s worth noting that the movement in the arms is somewhat restricted, due to the armature on his arms. The figure’s appearance is based on the sequences of the first Iron Man film where Tony is testing out the mechanics of the armor, specifically the flight systems. Not the lengthiest portion of the film, but certainly an important one.
Let’s start things off by checking out the head sculpt. RDJ has one of those likenesses that seems to be difficult to capture, especially for Hot Toys. That being said, even though it was only their second attempt at a full RDJ sculpt, I actually think it holds up as one of HT’s better attempts. There are still a few issues here and there. I think the biggest issue with the likeness is the eyes, which seem maybe a little off. I can’t put my finger on it, but they just don’t seem right. Regardless, the sculpt is certainly of a high quality. It’s full of some great texture and it really looks like a real person’s head. The paintwork just enhances this, with the expertly handled detailing for which HT is best known.
Typically, an Iron Man figure from HT is going to be a fully-sculpted venture. However, this one’s a little bit different. His costume is made up of a short-sleeve t-shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a pair of pants, knee pads, a few belts and straps, his boots, and his arm exo-skeletons. The short-sleeve shirt is a little too big to be in proper scale, especially around the collar, but it’s passable. The pants are pretty nice, an feature working pockets and belt loops. The kneepads are a nice hybrid of tailored and sculpted parts, as actual kneepads would be. The big work here is on the armored parts, which feature some tremendously detailed sculpting. You could almost be fooled into believing they’re actually made up of many smaller parts, but they’re just solid pieces. They are also exquisitely painted, which just helps to further the realism.
Under the costume is a fairly standard narrow-shouldered True-Type body, with a few main changes (that I know of, anyway). The biggest is the upper torso, which has be reworked to feature Tony’s signature Arc reactor. In addition, the arms (and torso) have been slightly re-worked in order to facilitate a light-up feature. The arms are wired up and can be plugged into the battery pack cleverly hidden in one of Tony’s pouches, and the torso features its own battery pack. The light-up feature works decently enough, however the batteries don’t last very long.
Tony was a little on the light side as far as extra pieces went, though he included one fairly large accessory that made up for it a bit. He included:
- 2 pairs of interchangeable hands
- A pair of shoes
- Dummy
- Display stand
The hands come in “repulsor” and relaxed varieties. Both pairs are gloved and allow for use of the light-up feature. It’s certainly nice to have the option of relaxed hands, but they really aren’t that different from the repulsor hands, making choosing between them somewhat pointless.
The shoes are a fairly standard pair of HT dress shoes. They’re molded in matte black. Truth be told, I didn’t keep track of the ones included with my figure, hence them not being pictured. I guess they’re meant to allow you to display a more casual Tony, though, it’s somewhat pointless, since the arm pieces can’t really be removed.
Dummy is definitely the coolest of the accessories. He’s integral to the mech test scene, so his presence here is much appreciated. He’s very nicely sculpted and painted, and matches up pretty much perfectly to the machine from the film. He isn’t perfect, though. A lot of his pistons and joints are just mock pieces, and don’t actually move the way they’re supposed to, which is somewhat frustrating. Also, he’s rather fragile. The bottom piece of mine just snapped one day, sending the poor bot tumbling. Hence the carefully cropped photo. Still, he’s a fun enough piece.
The display stand is actually different from the normal HT stand. It’s a flight stand, which is nice, considering the scene this figure is replicating hinges on Tony flying. The base is designed to look like a section of Tony’s workroom floor, which it replicates quite nicely, and there’s also a nice little engraved name tag at the front. I do wish it were just a little bit more compact, as it’s quite a shelf-hog as it is, but it’s not the worst thing ever. He also included a tri-fold cardboard background depicting the rest of the workroom. It’s rather simple; just a screen shot of the room, which can be stood behind the figure. Not the most exciting thing, but it’s there.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
Tony here was a combination birthday/graduation present from my parents. Some kids get a car or something big to take off to college. Me? I got an action figure. Not that it’s really that surprising, right? Tony was only the third HT figure to be added to my collection, and he was the first Marvel HT I got, which makes him pretty special. Truth be told, he’s still one of my favorites, and I find him to be far more interesting than just a basic Iron Man.
maybe stand to be a little more elegant, but they work in a pinch. The hair and belt pieces both look to be new to the figure, and both seem like pretty good matches to the show’s design. The hair in particular is a pretty spot on translation of her ‘do from the show. Karai’s paintwork is decent enough, though, like most of the TMNT Minimates, she’s not perfect. The detail lines are nice and sharp, and actually on the plentiful side, which you don’t always see with animated characters. The armor on her upper arms and thighs in particular are quite nicely handled, and the thigh armor even wraps around the sides. I also love the fully detailed sash, which even features detailing on the clips keeping it in place. However, some of the base paintwork is a little on the sloppy side, most noticeably on the gauntlets and the back of the hair. Karai comes packed with a short sword, an alternate masked head, and a clear display stand.
clean, without too many scuffs or scratches. The head is the best part, with some phenomenal line work on the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. Creeper is packed with a pretty great selection of accessories. He starts off with three different pairs of hands. He’s got a standard set of fists, gripping hands, and open gesture hands. There’s also the standard display stand, which features his design sheet control art printed on the base. Lastly, he’s got a Batman party mask and a pool cue, which are both really cool episode specific pieces. (EDIT: He also has a rat. I don’t remember quite what he did with the rat in the show, but I assume it was in the episode.)
The Figure In Question 