Tag Archives: Iron Man

#3452: Iron Man – Heroes Return

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

IRON MAN — HEROES RETURN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Following his apparent demise at the hands of Onslaught alongside the other Avengers, Tony Stark returns home with a new armor and new focus.”

In the 1996, on the heals of the success of Image Comics, a company that had been formed when a bunch of Marvel’s superstar artists all left to start their own thing, Marvel, who were trying to recapture their early ’90s success, decided to hand some of their more downtrodden characters over to Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee’s Extreme Studios and WildStorm Studios.  The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, and the FF, who all perished during the Onslaught event, were completely rebooted, in new, totally extreme ways.  Well, totally ’90s ways.  “Heroes Reborn” lasted a year, and though it saw an uptick in the sales of the four books it relaunched, the whole ordeal was far from a critical success.  It was all undone in 1997’s “Heroes Return,” which set things more or less back to where they were before.  Of course, “where they were before” for Iron Man was extraordinarily messy, so Marvel used the whole thing to do some in-universe rebooting for Tony as a whole.  And, he even got a fancy new armor out of the whole thing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man – Heroes Return is the one non-numbered figure in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends, as he’s the double pack that doesn’t contribute to the Build-A-Figure.  As the name indicates, this is Tony’s armor from the Heroes Return era, specifically the Model 16, which he wore for a while during the relaunch of both his own book and Avengers.  It was designed by Alex Ross for a pitch that he put together with Kurt Busiek for the Iron Man solo book *before* it got totally broken.  When Heroes Return came along, Busiek was writing Iron Man and wound up dusting it off.  It’s only prior toy treatment was a Minimate back in 2012, but it’s gotten no Legends, and it was conspicuously absent from Toy Biz’s ’90s run.  Also, fun fact, this armor would eventually become sentient, technically making this sort of a new character.  Yay new character!  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  At his core, this Iron Man is using a good chunk of parts from the 80th Iron Man, which has served as a starting point for a fair number of Iron Men at this point.  Apart from still having visible pins (a recurring issue with this set), it’s not a bad base, especially for an armor that was deliberately trying to recall earlier Iron Man designs.  He gets a new head, upper torso, pelvis, gloves, and boots, courtesy of sculptor Dennis Chan, in order to properly move him over to the Model 16’s set-up.  He also gets some shoulder pads, which work the way of the newer Black Series and Classified Series, where they spin with the arm.  It requires breaking up the flow of the sculpt a bit, but it also means that they won’t end up warped if you leave him posed for too long.  Beyond that, the new pieces work really well to capture 16’s design as seen in the comics, especially leaning into Perez’s take on it.  It’s got a very sharp look to it, and the extra smaller details really add some visual intrigue.  Most of the figure’s color work is handled via molded plastic, which works well enough.  He leans into gold over yellow, and I’m iffy on that some times, but with this particular armor, I really don’t mind.  If anything, I kind of wish the red was more metallic to match, because as it stands, it feels a little too flat by comparison.  Not bad, or anything, but a little flat.  Iron man is packed with two sets of hands and a pair of blast effects.  It’s too bad we couldn’t get an extra head with the face plat lifted.  As it is, he feels a little light, especially with no Build-A-Figure piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, there were three Iron Man armors that defined the character for me, based on my main ways of taking in his story.  I loved the classic armor because of the Ruby Spears cartoons, I loved the Modular armor because of the ’90s cartoon, and I loved this armor because it’s what he was wearing when I got into the Avengers comics.  It doesn’t get the same kind of toy coverage as the other two, which is a shame, because it’s a really fun design.  It also makes for a really fun toy.  And I’ve got another figure for my Busiek/Perez Avengers line-up!

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

#3407: Puff Adder Series Wrap-Up

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

EXTREMIS IRON MAN, BARON STRUCKER, YELENA BELOVA, ORB, & PUFF ADDER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Are you guys ready for a totally radical change-up?  I’m reviewing Marvel Legends!  Okay, that’s, like, not a change-up at all.  In fact, that’s about as status quo as status quo gets around these parts.  The totally radical change-up is *how* I’m reviewing Marvel Legends.  Since the site’s inception, I’ve been reviewing single release Legends each as their own single review.  For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been looking at each successive figure from the latest Avengers-themed assortment on Tuesdays.  Today, I’m wrapping up the remaining four figures, plus the Build-A-Figure, all in one fell swoop.  Won’t this be an adventure!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Extremis Iron Man, Baron Strucker, Yelena Belova, and Orb are the last four figures in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends.  Iron is the one unnumbered figure in the set, while Strucker, Yelena, and Orb are figures 2, 3, and 5, respectively, in the line-up.  Puff Adder is, as you might guess, the Build-A-Figure for the series, assembled by buying six of the seven figures in the assortment.

EXTREMIS IRON MAN

“Tony Stark’s new Extremis Iron Man armor utilizes nanotechnology to allow direct interface between his brain and the armor”

This marks the second time that the Extremis armor has been done in Legends, following his release in the first Return of Marvel Legends assortment, which was good for the time, but also quite a while ago.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation, as well as rotating hip discs.  This new Extremis Iron Man is sporting a brand-new sculpt, and one of its major selling points is the new and improved articulation.  So, how does that work out?  It’s a mixed bag, honestly.  One of the major things is that the original Extremis sculpt is a really good one in its own right, and it was restricted, but workable.  This one is less restricted, and more workable…but it’s not quite the massive improvement that it was touted to be.  Of note, one of the big selling points was the “hero landing” pose, which got used a lot in artwork for this armor.  The figure’s even shown in this pose on the back of the box.  I’ve done my best to replicate this pose myself for the Wilson photo that accompanies this review, and in doing so, I got to discover just how much cheating Hasbro had to do to make the pose work with this figure.  Yeah, it’s doable, but it really only looks good from one very specific angle.  Anything else, and you’re looking at a horrible mash of body parts.  I’m also not a fan of how the shoulderpads work; they’re not jointed on their own, which greatly restricts the movement of the shoulders proper.  However, there are certainly areas where the articulation really shines, and the neck joint’s definitely one for me; he can actually look straight up, which you don’t see with a lot of Iron Men.  The actual sculpting work is also pretty strong.  There’s a lot of mechanical work, which is quite sharp, and he’s also properly scaled to look like there’s actually someone in the suit, which fixes the primary issue with the last figure.  Iron Man’s color work is pretty decent.  It’s a fair bit of molded plastic, but the colors work well, and he’s got that slightly metallic sheen.  The minor bit of paint is all pretty cleanly applied, and it should hold up alright over time.  Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands and a pair of repulsor blasts.

BARON STRUCKER

“Having served Hydra as far back as World War II, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker stands as one of Captain America’s longest-living enemies. ‘Cut off one head and two will take its place.'”

In another life, with a slight change to his last name’s spelling, I bet this guy would have made some great jam.  Either way, he’s definitely celebrating the advancement of some very old people.  Strucker’s never gotten the Legends treatment before, but that’s not terribly surprising.  He’s really just a stand-in for Red Skull most of the time.  He’s seen here in his spandex garb, which seems odd for such an old guy, but when you’re an actual Nazi, I guess clothing choice is the least of anyone’s worries.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Spider-UK base body, which seems consistent with how he was depicted when wearing this outfit.  It’s been modified to remove visible pins on the arms and legs, which is pretty cool.  He’s got an overlay for his scarf, which is loose and free floating, and doesn’t feel especially secure.  The new gauntlet sculpt is clean and sharp, and I definitely dig it.  The new head sculpt is a very strong piece, and definitely the main selling point here.  I particularly dig how they handled his monocle.  In terms of coloring, he’s very green, that’s for sure.  The face paint is very effective, and that scarring looks impressive.  It’s unfortunately not all up to that quality, as the yellow paint for the accenting is very thin, showing the green below.  Additionally, the neck line is very sloppy, though it’s masked a bit by his scarf.  Strucker is packed with two energy effect pieces, as well as the right leg for Puff Adder.

YELENA BELOVA

“Trained by the spymasters of the infamous Red Room, Yelena Belova is the second operative to take on the role of Black Widow”

Yelena’s not new to Legends, but she’s also still had a lot less coverage than you might think, given how long she’s been around, and how easy a variant she is.  Her only comics version before this was back in the Toy Biz days, and it even put her in the wrong outfit at that.  This one places her in her “Dark Reign” era Thunderbolts gear.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Or, you know, she would, if the neck joint on this one hadn’t busted between the first and second photos of the set here.  Not sure exactly what happened there, but her neck just tore clean through.  That’s a real bummer.  She’s based on the Riders Widow body, which hasn’t been used all that much, surprisingly.  It’s a good one, albeit one that’s a little older compared to others.  She gets a new head, upper torso, and belt overlay.  They’re pretty nice pieces, and I especially like the dynamic flow of her hair.  She’s rather light on paint, but it’s generally not too bad.  The red paint on her visor is a little off mark, so it doesn’t quite line-up, but other than that, she looks alright.  Yelena gets some of the best accessory work from the set, with two sets of hands, a pistol with and without silencer, a sniper rifle, a removable strap, two shooting effects, and two barrel flash effects.  She also features the torso of Puff Adder, which is his largest piece.

ORB

“Ridiculed for his appearance since his youth, the mercenary known as Orb holds the ironic distinction of being partially responsible for blinding Uatu the Watcher”

Orb’s certainly the set’s most obscure character choice.  He’s also an interesting selection, given he’s not *really* an Avengers foe, but I guess he’s close enough.  This is his very first figure, so that’s pretty cool.  The figure is just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Orb is still using Bucky Cap body, a base that was once a very good offering, but is now really showing its age and wear to the mold.  There’s some noticeable gaps in the joints, and he feels a little floppy.  He gets a new head and collar, as well as using the pouched belt, flared gloves, and buccaneer boots for the body.  The new head’s not bad; it’s a sphere, but it’s a good one.  Orb’s color work is bold and bright, which is good.  The application of the paint is a bit touchy in some spots.  In particular, the blue paint is a little sloppy on torso and belt, and there’s a stray spot on one of the pouches of the belt.  On the flip side, the eye detailing turned out really well.  Orb is packed with his gun and the right arm of Puff Adder.

PUFF ADDER

Hey, look at that, it’s Puff Adder.  Now the Serpent Society is up to four.  Or five.  Or six?  Possibly seven?  It’s honestly kinda hard to account for it all.  It’s another member, that’s what I’m getting at.  This time, it’s the big guy, Gordon Fraley, aka Puff Adder.  Puff here is a late ’80s addition, and I honestly don’t know a ton about him.  The figure is about 8 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Puff Adder is based on the same body as the Caliban BaF from 2019.  He gets a new head, but is otherwise just a rather basic, by the numbers figure.  It’s about what you’d expect for Puff Adder, though, so it works fine.  His color work is a lot of variations of green, which is again what you’d expect.  It generally works out okay, but without any actual sculpting or line-work, the two shades of lighter green rather blend together, which does muddy things just a touch.  Puff Adder includes two sets of hands, one in fists, one in relaxed poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, why this radical change-up here?  Let me ‘splain.  No, it’s too much.  Let me sum up.  For the last several years, I’ve been buying every figure in a given series of Marvel Legends for the purposes of getting a whole set to review.  However, I’ve been slowing down and even downsizing my personal collection of Legends a bit, so I’m not looking to actually purchase every single figure anymore.  Thankfully, my sponsors over at All Time Toys were kind enough to set me up with a deal where I get to take home and review a whole set of Legends, and then just pay for and keep the figures I actually want out of the set.  So, all of these guys, minus the Build-A-Figure, are the one’s I’ve elected not to keep from this particular assortment, for one reason or another.  And now you know my dirty secret.  Except it’s not a secret.  Or dirty.  So, I guess it’s just….a something?  Yeah, let’s go with that.

Though I didn’t opt to keep a lot of this set, it’s one that I can certainly get behind.  It’s got a good mix of heavy hitters, fan favorites in need of updates, and obscure oddballs, which actually mesh together a bit better than I’d expected.  Wonder Man is unquestionably my favorite, of course, but that Cap snuck up on me for just how cool he is.  Molecule Man’s cool for the novelty, so that’s neat.  Strucker is better than I’d expected, if not enough so for me to keep him.  Yelena *would* be in that category, if not for the breakage.  Orb unfortunately really showcases the need to finally retire the Bucky Cap.  Iron Man’s not bad, he’s just not quite what I was hoping for.  And then there’s Puff Adder, who is Puff Adder.

#3376: Classic Iron Man, Bolt Face Iron Man, & AIM Soldier

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

CLASSIC IRON MAN, BOLT FACE IRON MAN, & AIM SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

2008 into 2009 was quite a resurgence for Iron Man, due to that whole, you know, really successful movie thing he had going for him.  In the world of Marvel Minimates, it meant that he went from a character with one release every now and then to a character that could very seriously be banked upon.  In the space of about a year, his number of Minimates tripled, and we even got some looping back for proper updates to older releases.  He wound up as an anchor figure for the line’s 25th series, which saw him get two different figures, each packed with an AIM Soldier.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Classic Iron Man and the AIM Soldier were released in the 25th specialty series of Marvel Minimates, with Bolt Face Iron Man swapping out for Classic Iron Man in the one-per-case Variant set.  Classic Iron Man and the AIM soldier would both also see release in the third TRU-exclusive series, albeit split up and packed with other figures (Mark I War Machine for Classic IM and Bucky Cap for the AIM Soldier).  Series 25 hit in May of 2009, and TRU Series 3 hit the following month.

CLASSIC IRON MAN

“Continually improving his Iron Man armor designs, the brilliant Tony Stark’s early red and gold armor set the standard for years to come by combining lightweight and maneuverable armor with new Repulsor technology!”

Iron Man had debuted with his classic armor in Series 6, but it had been a couple of years since that at this point, and there hadn’t been a proper update to the design since.  With all of the new attention, DST opted to do an all-new one, based again on his ’70s-’80s armor.  The figure is built on the standard post-C3 ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Classic Iron Man got a rather astounding 9 add-on pieces for this release, which included the helmet, belt, collar, shoulder, arm, and leg cuffs.  All of the pieces were new for this release, and represented DST moving to a generally more sculpted approach to even classically-based designs, although it also showed more of a melding between purely sculpted and printed detailing, as well as a general slimming down of certain figures.  The gloves and boots get cuffs without the need of full hand and feet pieces, and the shoulders get their add-ons without needing to bulk up the whole torso.  It was honestly a pretty big change-up.  The shoulders in particular are a little frustrating, since they had trouble staying properly in place, but they do look good when properly set.  Iron Man’s paint work is pretty involve, with a lot of detail line work on just about all of the surfaces.  While the prior Classic Iron Man had used flat colors, this one used metallic red and gold.  The gold’s a little on the orange side, which kind of muddies the look just a bit.  On the plus side, it’s held up better long term than other gold paints, so it at least doesn’t look awful.  I was never much of a fan of the face plate on the helmet for this guy, though; something about the spacing of the eyes, coupled with the actual eyes being visible, just doesn’t work for me.  It was a pretty common complaint at the time of release, and DST changed it up for later releases of the designs, so they seemed to agree.  Under the helmet, there’s a slightly more intense facial expression for Tony, which was honestly a pretty decent look.  Classic Iron Man was packed with an alternate hair piece (re-used from 24‘s Tony Almeida) and an alternate left repulsor hand.

BOLT FACE IRON MAN

“Similar to his previous armor designs, this improved model featured modular components such as the Black Light Tracer, Reverser Ray, Miniature Generator and even a Proximity Alarm designed to mimic Spider-Man’s Spider Sense!”

We couldn’t just have one Iron Man, so we got two instead.  This one goes for a just prior to classic look, ever so affectionately dubbed “Bolt Face” due to the rivets on the faceplate.  We’d sort of gotten this armor before in its horn-masked iteration, but this was the first proper “Bolt Face.”  Structurally, he’s largely the same as the standard version, though he ditches the shoulder add-ons and gets the Series 6 belt, which gives him a slightly older school look.  His paint scheme is also pretty similar, with the shades all being the same, but the actual detail lines being changed up.  They’re really nice, not as over detailed as Classic, and just a very nice recreation of his comics look for this one.  This time around, the helmet gets blacked out eyes, and the spacing just generally looks a bit better.  The face under the helmet is a lot calmer than the standard, and is again a very ’60s looking Tony, which I really like.  Bolt Face IM got an alternate hair piece (re-used from Jack Bauer), and a repulsor hand, just like he Classic.  He also got a spare helmet, which represents the short-lived nosed faceplate, as well as the shoulder pieces, so that you could turn him into a slightly later stage Iron Man.  Technically, the pieces don’t really match the rest of the detailing on the armor, and would be more at home on the standard Iron Man.  And, actually, swapping the nosed helmet to the Classic Iron Man fixes my only real issue with that figure, and lets me leave this one in all its Bolt-Faced glory.

AIM SOLDIER

“Capable of both saving the world and destroying it, Advanced Idea Mechanics is a powerful terrorist group consisting of brilliant yet misguided scientists determined to invent more and more destructive weapons.”

The AIM Soldier marked an important change for Marvel Minimates: Army Builders!  Up to this point, you were forced to buy a duplicate of the figure packed with the Variant, and it was at this point that DST officially decided to try to make lemonade out of those lemons, and make the duped figure one that people might not mind having a dupe of.  The first offering in the army building venture was those crazy beekeeper guys themselves, who are honestly a pretty natural choice.  The AIM Soldier had two add-on pieces, one for the mask and one for the holster.  The mask was an all-new piece, and a pretty spot-on one for their classic comics look.  The holster was a re-use from Assault Punisher, and it’s a little bulky, but it’s also very easily removed if it’s not your thing.  The paint work does a quite nice job of capturing the usual AIM design; there’s plenty of line work on the suits, bot front and back, and the belts even continue all the way around the waist.  Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed face with ears and a pair of lenses.  The AIM Soldier included a standard pistol (re-used again from Assault Punisher), and a larger rotary gun, which is a slight reworking of one of of War Machine’s cannons.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this series and the Series 28 (which was originally Series 26, before it got bumped for the Origins tie-in assortment) line-ups were revealed, DST ran a contest to guess the line-ups based on daily clues.  I was actually quite good at it, and wound up winning a fair bit of free stuff because of it.  Interestingly, Iron Man and his variant were the two that stumped me, but I did get the AIM Soldier.  In general, the whole thing made me very pumped for both assortments, which, as per usual for the time, I got via Cosmic Comix.  Classic Iron Man wasn’t my go-to at the time of release, nor has he really stuck with me.  The variant, on the other hand, remains one of my favorite Iron Man variants.  Likewise, the AIM Soldier’s top two for army builders for me.

#3326: Iron Man

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

IRON MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

In the second year of Marvel Minimates, after a focus on Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Daredevil in the first year, Diamond expanded the line’s horizons a bit in the second year.  The Avengers, a notable omission from the first year, got their first taste of the line, with Captain America leading the charge in Series 5.  Iron Man wasn’t far behind, with his ‘mate debut hitting just a few short months later in the next assortment.  And I’m taking a look at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man was released in Series 6 of Marvel Minimates, in a pack alongside the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider.  This one was the standard release, and there was also a stealth variant that swapped out for this version.  This same figure was also packed with the standard Dr. Doom for the Walmart and Target Group A selection, as well as in a TRU four pack with Silver Surfer, Gamma Hulk, and Wolverine, and the big TRU 10-pack that debuted Mr Fantastic at the end of the year.  There was also a very slightly modified version packed in with the Ultimate Avengers 2 DVD for certain releases.  The figure was built on the long-footed Minimate base body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Iron Man made use of two add-on pieces for his helmet and belt, as well as a unique left hand for his replusor blast.  All of the pieces were new for this release, though they were all shared with the variant from his debut series.  The belt and the hand would also become standard pieces, and the helmet was used once more for the Civil War set before being retired.  The parts are all quite nicely handled.  They show the line’s progression towards a little more detailing in the sculpts, while still remaining rather on the simple side.  The paint work is quite impressive, and to date holds up one of the best Iron Man paint schemes from the line.  They manage to make the armor look shiny, while still making use of flat colors.  It maintains his look from the page, which I think really works.  It also means that he avoids the issue of how the metallic paints held up over time, which was a persistent issue for the later Iron Men.  Under the helmet, there’s a fully detailed face for Tony.  Again he showcases the line moving towards extra detailing. Also, he’s got a full goatee, which doesn’t feel quite right for this particular era of armor, but it could be worse.  To showcase the unmasked head, Iron Man was packed with an extra hairpiece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very excited by the prospect of the Avengers being added to the line, so Iron Man was my most wanted out of Series 6.  I bought him and Ghost Rider both brand new from my local comic shop, Cosmic Comix.  I wasn’t quite as good about keeping all the parts to my Minimates at the time, so I wound up losing most of their parts.  I was able to piece Iron Man back together with a few spare parts I picked up second hand over the years, so he’s back to his original glory.  He’s quite a nice ‘mate.  I don’t really know that any of the 81 variants that followed ever really topped him.

#3280: Hulk Buster Iron Man

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

HULK BUSTER IRON MAN

IRON MAN (TOY BIZ)

“When Iron Man’s regular armor isn’t powerful enough to get the job done, Tony Stark devises new specialty suits of armor — each tailored to the needs of a specific mission! The heavy combat armor contains few built-in weapons — but it boosts Iron Man’s physical strength to near-impossible levels!”

First appearing in Iron Man #304 as an add-on for the newly introduced Modular Armor, Iron Man’s Hulk Buster armor has become a steady fixture of the character’s armor set-ups.  It was quickly adapted into animation as part of the ’90s cartoon, and with its official appearance in the show occurring the much-improved second season.  The design was granted its first figure in that show’s tie-in line, and I’m taking a look at said figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hulk Buster Iron Man is part of Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Iron Man line, as one of three Iron Man variants in the line-up.  Though the armor appeared in the show, this figure’s design owes less to that look and more to his appearance in the comics, likely owing to this figure being released prior to the show’s second season, and the final design not yet being ready*.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  The Hulkbuster armor is typically a lot larger in stature than a standard Iron Man, but this one’s only a very slight bit taller, with most of his difference in size being more of a width thing.  He’s certainly bulkier, but he definitely feels somewhat diminutive compared to where he should be.  This was presumably done to keep him within the standard price point range.  As with the rest of the line, the figure’s assembly consists of a core figure with a number of armor add-on pieces, though there are notably a lot less of the armor pieces for this release than there were for the others.  The underlying figure isn’t too far removed from the whole design, but he’s certainly less impactful than the fully-assembled look.  Fully assembled, he gets an additional helmet (rare for these figures), shoulder pads, wrists gauntlets, and boots.  The coloring is a mix of metallic and flat.  It works out alright, but there’s definitely a little clashing between the reds.  At least the yellows match.  Beyond the extra armor pieces, the Hulk Buster doesn’t have any other accessories.  Not that there’s a ton more you could include, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a really big fan of the Iron Man cartoon and its corresponding toy line when I was a kid, so I actually had most of the figures, especially the Iron Men.  Hulk Buster was included.  I don’t recall exactly how I got him, though I assume he was probably a gift from my parents, because they got me most of my Iron Man figures.  While I lost a few of the armor pieces to my original over the years, I was able to snag a replacement that came through All Time a few years ago.  Calling it a win.  I was always the slightest bit let-down by this figure’s scale, but he’s otherwise not a bad little figure.

*Had the Iron Man tie-in line continued, we would have received a more accurate recreation of the show’s actual animation design, also matching the stature and general concept of the Hulkbuster a bit more.  The figure was ultimately scrapped, but the molds would resurface for a few other releases, including the Battle-Action Mega Armor Wolverine.

#3267: Steve Rogers & The Hydra Stomper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

STEVE ROGERS & THE HYDRA STOMPER

MARVEL STUDIOS WHAT IF…? (HOT TOYS)

“Who does Peggy Carter call in for backup when she needs it? Steve Rogers, of course. In this universe, Peggy Carter jumps into action with a number of familiar faces, but even she might need some help defeating the enemy. Calling in air support, she certainly doesn’t expect Steve to come swooping in – in a Hydra Stomper suit.”

Prepare for more formula breaking, as I interlude with yet another Hot Toys review outside of a monumental number!  I seem to be doing this far too frequently, don’t I?  It’s gonna make the monumental reviews not so special.  Ah, I don’t really care that much, honestly.  I just want to review the toys.  It’s kind of the whole purpose of the site, right?

In my last Hot Toys review, I was discussing my adherence to just Captain America stuff, and how that played into some alternate universe characters, specifically when What If…? is on the table.  While What If…? is a show I had generally mixed feelings about, I absolutely loved its first episode, “What If…Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”  I’ve already got the HT Captain Carter, so there’s only one proper way to follow-up: The Hydra Stomper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Steve Rogers and The Hydra Stomper is a deluxe set of figures from Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, where it’s numbered TMS060, placing it just after Peggy in the numbering.  This marks the third What If…? offering from Hot Toys.  Like Peggy, this set stuck pretty close to its original anticipated release date of the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, though it did stick to the earlier end of the window.  There are two releases of the Hydra Stomper available; just the Stomper on its own is available as part of the Power Pose Series, and then there’s this set, which adds in the full pilot Steve Rogers figure to the mix.  Clearly, there was no way I was just doing the Stomper when there’s also a Steve available, right?  Right.

Steve is technically the actual “figure” here as classified by HT and Sideshow (to the point of being the one with an actual classic HT-style box), so I’ll kick things off with a look at him first.  The figure stands just over 11 inches tall and has over 30 points of articulation.  Steve’s head sculpt, much like the Captain Carter figure, is an animation-inspired piece, rather than shifting him to a realistic style like a lot of Hot Toys offerings.  As with the Peggy sculpt, there’s still a degree of an Evans likeness present here (albeit, the shrunken down and skinny Evans likeness from early in The First Avenger), so you can tell who it’s supposed to be.  It’s a good match for the design as seen in the show, and it’s nice, clean, and slick.  The paint work emphasizes the animated look further, while still maintaining the usual high Hot Toys standards.

Steve’s outfit is generally pretty simple (which is true to the show), being a rather standard loose-fitting jumpsuit.  There’s an underlying shirt, albeit without any sleeves.  You won’t notice, of course, since the suit’s not designed to be removed.  Further tailored items include some harness straps and a removable back pack.  There’s also a sculpted buckle for his belt, as well as a pair of feet that look like boots.  Under the outfit, he’s got a rather small and scrawny base body, matching well with his pre-serum build.  It’s a rather nicely articulated base body, which makes for easy posing.

Steve gets a rather modest selection of extras, with three sets of hands (L and R relaxed, L and R pointing, L gripping, and R flat), and a display stand that matches with the one included with Peggy.

Moving past the Steve Rogers figure, let’s take a look at the thing that takes up the vast majority of the package space here: The Hydra Stomper!  The figure stands a little over 22 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.  On its own, the suit is part of Hot Toys’ Power Pose Series, which is their way of releasing Iron Man armors at a cheaper price by cutting back on articulation in order to simplify the engineering.  As such, this figure only gets movement where it absolutely *needs* it, rather than just sort of all the places it naturally would.  All things said, the posability is still better than I’d expected.  In particular, the fully articulated fingers are really impressive.  The only area that’s truly restricted is the lower half, but on the plus side, it does keep him very stable on his feet.  His sculpt is, as expected, quite impressive.  It’s very clean and sharp, and a spitting image of the design as seen in the show.  The figure is designed to allow Steve to actually sit inside; it’s a bit tricky to get him in there, and he’s a little cramped, but it’s cool to have the option. There are light up features worked into the eyes and the torso, both of which are battery operated independently from each other.  The Hydra Stomper is packed with a flight stand, which affixes to the belt line of the figure.  It holds him rather securely horizontally, allowing for a more stable point for Peggy to hold onto the back like in the episode.  It’s a little tricky to get it all properly posed and secure, but it’s fun that the option is there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in the Captain Carter review, this episode was by far my favorite of What If…?, and I was honestly already kinda sold on these even before seeing the show.  The Hydra Stomper design is just one that really works for me, and as soon as I saw this figure, complete with the Steve Rogers, I was sold on getting this set and the Captain Carter.  Since I got Peggy from Jason at All Time as a Christmas gift, this sort of became my Christmas gift to myself, I suppose.  It’s huge, it’s impressive, and it’s just a whole lot of fun.  And I’ve even made shelf space for it already, so I don’t even have that whole thing looming over me!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this set to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3249: Iron Patriot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

IRON PATRIOT

MARVEL STUDIOS: THE INFINITY SAGA DLX (THREE ZERO)

In the comics, the name “Iron Patriot” was first taken up by Norman Osborne, during his time as leader of the Dark Avengers, during “Dark Reign.”  With Steve Rogers dead and Tony Stark on the run, Norman repurposes their gimmicks into one leader for people to rally behind, before his eventual undoing  His design actually took some of its cues from a concept Captain America armor that was floated about as part of a proposed alternate ending for “Civil War.”  When it came time to adapt the concept into the MCU, Osborne was still off limits, so Iron Man 3 gave the Iron Patriot monicker to James Rhodes, as part of a rebranding by the US government to make his War Machine persona a little friendlier.  While it’s clearly meant to be a little goofy in-universe, it’s still very much a fun design, and one that the comics even made use of for a brief time.  There was a little bit of toy coverage for the look back when Iron Man 3 came out, but more recently ThreeZero’s started up a line of their own 1/12 scale Iron Man armors, and Rhodie in his Iron Patriot armor is their latest offering!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Patriot is the third figure under the DLX branding for ThreeZero’s Marvel stuff, following up on the Mark 43 and the Hulkbuster.  Thus far, everything’s falling under a larger “Infinity Saga” banner, and they’re presumably looking at offering armors from most of the movies.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 43 points of articulation.  In terms of sizing, at over 7 inches tall, Patriot feels a little over-sized for a 1/12 line, but he appears to be consistent with the scaling on the Iron Men we’ve gotten so far from ThreeZero.  So, they’re at the very least keeping an internal consistency.  He’s also close enough that you can probably fudge him into smaller scale displays.  The articulation scheme is, like a lot of ThreeZero figures, designed with a lot of smaller moving parts that aid in moving larger pieces a greater range.  The flaps of the armor can move up and out of the way for the arms and legs, allowing for a slightly better motion.  The joints are still very tight, and you have to be careful with them while posing, but it’s honestly a pretty good set-up.  The figure’s sculpt is quite an impressive recreation of the design from the movie.  It’s a mix of plastic and diecast metal, which gives him a decent amount of heft.  The outer plates are all plastic, which allows for a slightly sharper detailing, and a slightly better depth of quality to said detailing.  Iron Patriot’s paint scheme is pretty nicely handled.  It’s certainly an eye-catching palette, and the application is all very clean.  In particular, the markings and writing on the armor are a really good touch, and they’re very sharply defined.  Iron Patriot is packed with six different pairs of hands (fists, two different styles of open gesture with spots for blast effects, and the same two styles without the spots for the blasts), a saluting hand for his right side, his shoulder cannon (which is articulated itself), two different styles of forearm plates (closed up and with the rockets out), four different blast effects, and a display stand.  He also has a light-up feature in both the head and torso.  The eyes are kind of dim on my figure, but the arc reactor is nice and bright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

For the most part, I’m pretty much content with Legends for my Iron Man armors, especially of the MCU variety.  I got to see the MK 43 and the Hulkbuster from this line in person, though, and they were definitely cool.  This particular Iron Patriot design is one I’ve really liked ever since IM3, plus it kind of vibes with all my Cap stuff, so when it was announced I put myself down on the list for one through work.  I’d honestly forgotten about him by the time he came in, but he did, and I certainly wasn’t going to pass up on him.  My initial reaction was that he was cool, but I wasn’t sure he was great.  After messing with him a bit more, I’m actually a lot more impressed with him than I initially was.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3211: Iron Man Mark 47 & Happy Hogan

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

IRON MAN MARK 47 & HAPPY HOGAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

Tying the movie more closely into the universe that spawned it, Spider-Man: Homecoming leans a fair bit on Iron Man and one notable member of his supporting cast.  Not only does Peter work directly with Tony Stark on a number of occasions, but long-term Iron Man supporting cast member Harold “Happy” Hogan also gets his largest roles in the MCU as part of its Spider-Man trilogy.  As a Happy Hogan fan since way back when nobody knew who Happy Hogan was, I’m all about that.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Man Mark 47 and Happy Hogan were the TRU-exclusive set for the Spider-Man: Homecoming tie-in assortment of Marvel Minimates.  Due to weird licensing, the Spidey and non-Spidey characters supposedly couldn’t actually cross over in the tie-ins, so these two are isolated off on their own.  It’s not the worst thing, though, since, you know, the two of them do kind of tie together…even if Happy and Tony don’t actually interact while Tony’s in Iron Man mode.  Still, it’s really not that weird.  I’m making it weird.  I’ll stop.

IRON MAN MARK 47

Iron Man’s no stranger to Minimates, especially not when it comes to the MCU.  This was his 72nd Minimate overall and his 31st MCU-based released.  This one’s based on his briefly used suit from Homecoming, which was itself inspired, at least in terms of coloring, by the Ultimate version of the character from the comics.  The figure is based on the standard post-c3 base body, and as such is about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He features an add-on for his chest plate, as well as unique pieces for his upper arms and hands.  All of the non-standard pieces were new to this figure, which is mostly surprising because this armor was really just a quick recolor of the Mark 46 in the movie, and the Mark 46 minimates all just used the Mark 42 tooling again.  These parts are a lot less clunky, though, and generally follow the sleeker design of the armor, so I generally appreciate them.  Additionally, this figure has the interesting change of not getting a helmet piece, and instead just using the standard head.  I’m not entirely sure why that was the way they went, but it’s not a terrible look.  The paint work on this guy is pretty decent.  The metallic red is super slick, and all of the line-work is nice and sharp.  The figure is packed with a flight stand and a clear display stand.

HAPPY HOGAN

Believe it or not, this isn’t the first Happy Hogan Minimate.  Heck, it’s not even the first one I’ve reviewed on the site.  In fact, with this release, I’ll have a review of every Happy Hogan figure there is.  That’s commitment.  Or crazy.  Or there’s only three of them, and it’s ultimately nothing.  Happy has add-on pieces for his hair, jacket, and tie.  The hair piece is re-used I’m pretty sure, but it’s a solid match for Favreau’s hair style in the movie.  The jacket and tie are the World of the Psychic Venkman jacket and Spirit tie combo that they rocked for a while there, which is a pretty good set-up.  The paint work includes an improved likeness from the IM2 release, as well as actual detailing for the belt, which is pretty nifty.  Happy is packed with a clear display stand, which isn’t a lot, but it’s something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had to get kind of picky with what I was buying when these were first released, so I had to skip them, on the basis that I didn’t really need another Iron Man variant, and I already had one Happy Hogan.  But, then TRU was going under, and things were marked down, and I didn’t have this specific Happy Hogan, so, you know, I went for it.  Mark 47 is an improvement on the over designed nature of MCU Iron Men at the time, and I do really like that.  Happy is an improvement on the prior version, and I can definitely dig it.

#3192: Iron Man

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark resolves to get back to basics, donning a new stripped-down Iron Man armor inspired by his most classic designs.”

Oh boy, are you guys ready for some more Marvel Legends?  I sure hope you are, because apparently the only settings on Hasbro’s release schedule for these are nothing at all and everything at once.  It’s…it’s a lot.  With no Avengers movies out or upcoming in the next year, the Avengers portion of the line is shifting over to purely comics based, which is where the most recent assortment sets its sights. The resident heavy hitter for this round is an Iron Man, who I’m gonna be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man is the non-numbered figure for the Controller Series of Marvel Legends. He’s based on Alex Ross’s updated Iron Man armor, which is his current set-up in the comics.  It’s a fairly nice merging of modern aesthetics with his classic design elements, offering a look that’s both unique, but still reads as a standard Iron Man.  Definitely a solid choice for the line-up.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  This Iron Man’s articulation scheme is probably the best we’ve gotten on a Legends Iron Man.  The 80th body and its spin-offs certainly weren’t bad from a movement perspective, but his figure takes a lot of the things that Hasbro’s learned from other lines and implements them for Marvel.  In particular, the neck is a mix of two ball joints and a universal, resulting in a ton of range we don’t usually see.  And, it’s all worked in really well from an aesthetic standpoint, making it doubly successful.  His sculpt is an all-new affair, of course.  It’s a really nice recreation of the armor as we’ve seen it on the page.  The depth of detail is also quite impressive, in part because it’s handled with so many separate pieces that are all assembled.  The only part I’m not super crazy about is the shoulder armor, which is a softer piece that goes over; when posing, it can be slightly restricting, and I worry about warping it by leaving the arms up for too long.  Beyond that, though, it’s a really strong sculpt.  His color work isn’t terrible, but it’s probably the figure’s weakest aspect.  The reds and golds are largely molded, rather than painted.  For the red, it means its not metallic; not the end of the world, but it doesn’t quite have that same pop.  For the gold, it means he’s got the swirls going on.  On my figure they’re rather prominent on the faceplate, which can be a tad distracting.  The actual paint application is all at least pretty clean, though, and I do like how the whites really stand out from the rest of the armor.  Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands (repulsor blasts and fists), and the two-part blast and smoke effects that were first included with Ironheart.  The replusor hands get the full wrist articulation, which I’m very happy about, and I’m also happy to see the Ironheart effects turn back up, as they’re honestly pretty cool.  It’s a shame that there’s not an unmasked Tony head, but there are at least options available.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With classic Iron Man and Modular Iron Man checked off, there’s not a ton left on my Iron Man checklist, but I’ll admit that I’ve liked this look since it was first shown off and was on-board for its inevitable Legends release.  When this one was announced, I was definitely planning to grab it, but didn’t think much beyond that.  It’s actually a pretty awesome figure.  He’s not my standard armor or anything, but it’s just hard to deny that this is a really, really good Iron Man figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2970: Happy Hogan & Iron Man Mark XXI

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

HAPPY HOGAN & IRON MAN MARK XXI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Moving along the Iron Man timeline with our reviews here, we make our way to the final entry in that set of films, Iron Man 3.  IM3 had the good grace of being the first MCU film to get the Legends treatment proper, which was a pretty big deal at the time.  That said, it was just two movie-related figures in an otherwise comics assortment, which meant we just got the rather barebones Mark 42 and Iron Patriot releases, with scrapped releases for War Machine Mk II and Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin.  Later Legends treatments got those additional two released, and there’s been a slow trickle of a few additional House Party armors every so often.  We get one tribute to the film in the Infinity Saga set, featuring Stark Industries Head of Security Happy Hogan, as well as one more House Party armor.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Happy Hogan and Iron Man Mark XXI are a Target-exclusive two-pack, released in the Infinity Saga sub-line of Marvel Legends.  They started hitting retail at the beginning of October, and have thus far been hitting in at least okay numbers.

HAPPY HOGAN

“Stark Industries’ new Head of Security gets caught in the middle of the battle as Iron Man gears up to face an all new powerful threat.”

After six film appearances (with a seventh in later this month), Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan finally gets some Legends coverage.  Not bad for a guy in a suit, I guess.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Happy is a much larger guy than any of the other suit-wearers we’ve gotten, so he requires mostly new pieces.  He borrows the arms from the Logan version of, well, Logan, but is otherwise sporting all-new parts.  I certainly appreciate getting more variety to how the guys in suits are built; things were beginning to get a bit samey.  I do appreciate that he’s even got a pocket on his shirt under the jacket, showcasing that he’s just a little bit more working class than most of the other suit wearing guys we’ve gotten.  The only downside to the sculpt is that they’ve neglected to give Happy his ID badge, which is definitely gonna set him off.  C’mon guys, everyone needs to be wearing their ID badges.  By far the best part of the sculpt is the head, which has a pretty spot-on likeness of Favreau circa IM3, which is when Happy really comes into his own, so it’s a good choice.  He’s got a good recreation of Happy’s usual “sunny disposition.”   Happy’s paint work is reserved, but works well.  Mostly it’s just the face, which is quite lifelike.  Theres a few other spots on the suit, namely the belt and buckle.  It’s all pretty clean, and it does the job well.  Though he may not have his ID badge, Happy does at least get his cellphone.  It’s a tiny little piece guaranteed to be lost, but hey, it’s still a cool touch.

IRON MAN MARK XXI

“Mark XXI, codename ‘Midas,’ is a fully loaded high-altitude suit built by Stark that’s outfitted with enriched gold titanium alloy.”

There are a great number of varieties of Iron Man suits presented by the film’s “House Party” concept.  Many of them are quite unique, while others are really just re-decos of prior armors.  This one’s one of the latter.  Dubbed “Midas,” the Mark XXI is a recolor of Avengers‘ Mark VII, done up in all gold as a reference to Iron Man’s distinctive all-gold armor from the early Silver Age.  Unsurprisingly, the figure is likewise just a re-use of the Mark VII mold.  He stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  The sculpt worked well for the Mark VII and it works well for Midas as well.  It’s hard to fault Hasbro for the re-use, especially when the mold is as good as this one.  The color work is changed up, of course, so that he’s now all gold.  It’s a mix of molded plastic and painted sections, so there’s som variety to the finish.  It doesn’t look half bad.  Midas gets the same accessory selection as the Mark VII: two sets of hands and blast effects, all in changed up colors to match with the core figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Happy Hogan is one of those character’s I’ve always loved in the comics, and I’ve been thrilled to see him actually get to grow over the course of his MCU appearances.  I didn’t have the highest hopes for a Legends release, but they’ve been pulling out all the stops recently, so it’s not the craziest thing.  It was definitely cool to see him show up here, and I like that they went with his IM3 appearance.  Midas isn’t one of the more thrilling House Party armors, but the original base figure was nice, and so is this one.  There have been worse space fillers in these two-packs.