Tag Archives: Tony Stark

#0532: Iron Man – Mark 43

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

IRON MAN – MARK 43

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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When it comes to casting comic book characters for the big screen, it can be difficult to find someone who can properly convey such an important, larger than life character. Often times, things end up toned down, causing a less entertaining end result. Occasionally, those casting directors strike gold, and end up finding someone who is irreplaceably brilliant in a role. That’s what happened with Robert Downey Jr in the role of Tony Stark. That guy is just totally spot on! He’ll be reprising the role for the fifth time in this summer’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is, of course, getting its fair share of action figures. So, let’s have a look at a figure of RDJ as Iron Man, shall we? (I need to work on my segues a bit…)

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IM43bIron Man is a part of Series 2 of Hasbro’s Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He’s the second of three figures in this particular series to be directly from Age of Ultron (following Sunday’s Captain America). From the looks of things, Iron Man will have at least three different looks over the course of the film. This figure is based on the first of those, the Mark 43, which appears to be just a re-decoed version of the Mark 42. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and sports 31 points of articulation. Sculpturally, the Mark 43 is 100% identical to the Mark 42 released in the Iron Man 3 tie-in line. Luckily for you, dear reader, I don’t own the Mark 42, making this one all-new to me! It’s a pretty good sculpt; it looks accurate to the film design, it has pretty good internal proportions, and it’s at least a little bit feasible that there’s a person inside of this armor. The legs could probably stand to be a little thicker, as they seem just a tad thin currently, but that’s minor. The details of the armor are all pretty well handled, and everything seems to line up with where it would be on the “real” armor. One issue of note has to do with movement related to the shoulder pads; if the arms are in an upward position for any decent length of time, the shoulder pads get a little bit warped. Previous Hasbro figures with such a design have usually had articulated shoulder pads in order to prevent such issues, so it’s possible that said joints are just stuck on mine (which is a whole other issue). Paint is one of this figure’s key areas, what with it being a re-paint and all. Fortunately, the Mark 43 ends up with a generally well-handled paintjob. The colors all seem right, and everything is applied to the right areas. Some of the gold areas are a little fuzzy around the edges, but they are generally pretty good. The only real issue I encountered on my figure was a bit of paint rub on his right thigh, where some of the gold rubbed off. It’s a minor issue, but one to keep an eye on if you find them in-store. Another thing that separates the Mark 43 from the 42 is the accessory complement. In addition to the requisite Build-A-Figure piece (Thanos’ left leg, in this case), the Mark 43 also includes an extra head with the faceplate up, revealing Tony’s face. It’s a well-sculpted, well-painted piece, and it actually manages to get a pretty decent RDJ likeness. It’s a really great piece to have, especially given how often IM is presented this way in the movies, and it’s even backwards compatible to the Mark 42 figure!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, if you’ve read the Cap and Spider-Woman reviews, it really shouldn’t be too hard to figure out where the Mark 43 came from. Mostly, I just wanted this figure for the Thanos piece, but I was interested in the figure at least a little bit. I didn’t actually have a proper Movie-style IM in this scale, and I will admit to liking the 43 design a fair bit. The 42 wasn’t bad, but the colors didn’t jibe with me. Reversing them for the 43 really makes it work. Add in that the figure is actually pretty well executed and the inclusion of that pretty sweet flipped-up faceplate head, and you’ve got a figure that is quite a lot of fun. And he also comes with that Thanos piece!

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#0501: Iron Man – Space Armor & Ronan the Accuser

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

IRON MAN – SPACE ARMOR & RONAN THE ACCUSER

MARVEL MINIMATES

IM&Ronan1

You know what I’ve missed reviewing? Marvel Minimates. Sure, I’ve reviewed a fair amount of figures from other Minimate lines, and a fair number of other Marvel figures as well, but it’s just not the same! As luck would have it, the latest set of TRU exclusive Marvel Minimates just started hitting stores, so new Marvel Minimates to review! First up, it’s two space-faring ‘mates, Space Armor Iron Man & Ronan the Accuser!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two comprise one of the four two-packs that make up the 19th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates. These two figures in particular were originally designed for the TRU exclusive Infinity tie-in set, but they weren’t amongst the four chosen for the actual set. It’s nice to see them turn up here.

IRON MAN – SPACE SUIT

IM&Ronan2Like Captain America before him, Iron Man has had quite a few Minimates in the past, but he had yet to join the ranks of the space worthy heroes. Now he’s an official member of the club, with a card and everything. Okay, there’s no card. Or club. It’s more of an “in my mind” sort of thing. Anyway, Iron Man was the other “heavy hitter” from the Infinity poll, so it’s no surprise to see that DST found a spot for him. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches in height and he has 12 points of articulation. Tony’s had a few space armors over the years, but this ‘mate is based on the most recent one, which has made prominent appearances in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy comics, as well as being Tony’s main look in Infinity. Iron Man is built on the standard Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for the upper arms, hands, and feet, as well as add-ons for the helmet and torso armor. The figure features a fair bit of re-use from previous Iron Men. The upper arms come from the Series 35 Mark V, the hands are from Series 49’s Mark 42, and the feet are from Series 45’s Mark VII. The helmet and chest piece are both new to this figure, and both seem to be pretty great adaptations of the comic design. The re-use pieces are also pretty decent matches to the source material, which is always cool. It’s really awesome to see DST put their tremendous bank of prior IM pieces to good use. Iron Man’s paint is overall pretty good. The base colors are a little sloppy in some places, and it would be nice if the red and gold were just a little bit more distinguished. The biggest issue is one that isn’t apparent when the figure is all armored up. The underlying Stark face is set rather high on the head, resulting in a rather chubby looking Tony, and worst off all, the red paint from the helmet has bled onto the face, resulting in permanent red marks. Fortunately, these issues are hidden by the helmet, and the rest of the figure’s paint, particularly the detail work, looks nice and sharp. Iron Man includes a spare hair piece (re-used from the Series 51 Nova), a blast off base cast in yellow, and a clear display stand.

RONAN THE ACCUSER

IM&Ronan3Now we get to the real star of the set, Ronan the Accuser! This marks Ronan’s second venture into the world of Minimates, but it’s the first comic version of the character. As cool as the movie version was, it’s hard to beat the classic Ronan design. Ronan stands about 2 ½ inches tall, and has 14 points of articulation, although his head is a bit restricted by the hood. Ronan is based on his original comics design, which is the one he’s pretty much stuck with since his creation. It’s a solid piece of design work, and really holds that classic Marvel feel. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for the hood/shoulder pads, belt/skirt, and glove and boot cuffs. The glove and boot cuffs are re-used from numerous classic Iron Man ‘mates. They’re pretty straightforward pieces, and they are pretty much perfect for Ronan’s look. The hood/shoulder pads and the belt/skirt are both new to this figure. Both pieces are very nicely sculpted and are pretty much spot-on for the character. The impediment of the neck movement by the hood is a little annoying, but I’m not sure how else it could be handled. Ronan features some pretty great paint work. The various greens are all very nicely chosen and all pop in their own way. The detail lines are fantastically handled, and the face in particular is perfect for Ronan. Ronan includes his signature hammer (and the head is right side up this time) and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I acquired these two from my local TRU, with the assistance of fellow Minimate Multiverse member Ms. Marvel Fan, who was super helpful in making sure I got a set. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this set’s release ever since I picked up the Infinity set, so I’m really happy to finally have them. Iron Man is a little “meh” but he’s not terrible. Ronan, on the other hand, is easily one of my favorite ‘mates in quite some time. He’s just so well done!

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#0386: Grey Hulk – Transforming & Iron Man – MK29 Armor

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

GREY HULK – TRANSFORMING & IRON MAN – MK29 ARMOR

MARVEL MINIMATES

So, one of the cool things about the Best Of sub-line of Marvel Minimates is that it’s a great way for Diamond to fix some issues with previously released figures. Figures that were almost there, but just the slightest bit off. They also can offer some much needed updates to important looks of popular characters. Both of these can be seen in today’s set, Grey Hulk and the Mark 29 Iron Man.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hulk and Iron Man were released as a two-pack in Series 3 of the Best Of Marvel Minimates line. Like yesterday’s set, both characters featured here have had a previous figure in the Best Of line.

GREY HULK – TRANSFORMING

The story of Hulk’s skin color is kind of an interesting one. See, he was originally supposed to be grey (and he is in his first appearance), but the printing standards of 1960s comics weren’t up to the task of consistently printing the color, resulting in Hulk coloring changing a few times in his initial appearance. So, they decided the color had to change, and they went with green, as it was the accidental coloring they liked the best. And so, green became the Hulk’s distinctive color. It’s worth noting that Hulk’s change in palate was never mentioned in the comic itself, but it also came coupled with a slight change in the beast’s personality, which was used by writer Peter David to bring back the original look as a separate personality. As such, Grey Hulk has claimed a place as one of the key looks for the character. The last real Grey Hulk Minimate was released back in Series 7 of the main line (and even then, it was just a rerelease of an exclusive released at the same time as Series 1-4), so he was definitely in need of an update. The figure is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and he sports 12 points of articulation. He makes use of the standard issue Minimate body, with an assortment of “bulk-up” pieces. All of these pieces have seen use on previous Hulks. The torso, upper arms, upper legs, upper legs, and feet are from the series 41 Mega Rage Hulk; the hair is from the TRU exclusive World War Hulk; the torso extender is from Series 27’s Ultimate Hulk; the hands are from Series 45’s Movie Hulk. The torso cover is also a re-use piece, which has seen use on countless figures over the years. This is the best assortment of Hulk pieces available, so DST definitely chose well. The paint on Hulk is pretty great, but perhaps not as exceptional as some of the others in this series. There is a tiny bit of bleed over on the ends of his pants, and the black detail lines seem just the slightest bit muted. Underneath of the torso and waist covers, there are fully detailed pieces, which, with the addition of a spare set of hands and feet, as well as a new head and hair (courtesy of Tomb Raider’s Roth), allow Grey Hulk to be displayed as Bruce Banner, mid-transformation. It doesn’t work quite as well as the previous Series’ fully civilian Bruce, but it still looks pretty cool, and the angry face is a wonderful addition to the range of Banner emotions. In addition to the transformation pieces, Grey Hulk also comes packed with a clear display stand.

IRON MAN – MK29 ARMOR

Sometimes, Diamond, for all their efforts, doesn’t get a figure quite right on the first try. Such was the case with the original TRU release of this armor. The figure featured a unique set of upper legs, but the sockets for the hip joints were too shallow, giving the figure an odd look and making it virtually impossible to keep the legs on. Fortunately, Iron Man’s a popular enough character that a second release wasn’t unwarranted. This figure represents Iron Man’s Mark 29 armor, which is one of the iterations of his Extremis armor from the comics. Not one of my favorite looks, but he did sport this general style of armor for a while, and it’s not too far off from his movie look. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. The figure makes use of the typical body, with character specific upper arms, as well as add-ons for his helmet, upper torso, belt, gloves and boots. The helmet, upper torso, belt, and boots are from the Iron Man in the 14th TRU exclusive series, and the upper arms and gloves from Series 45’s Iron Man Mark 7. These pieces all mesh very well together and present a nice amalgamation of the various Extremis designs. The only real issue is the feet, which are at just the slightest angle, making the figure fall backwards if he’s not posed correctly. The paint is another dividing factor from the previous release. Where the last one used metallic red and gold, this one goes for a more straight red and yellow. This is a bolder look, and it makes the figure pop a bit more. It also does a nicer job of showcasing the sculpted pieces. All of the paintwork is nice and clean, and the detail lines don’t suffer from the washed-out appearance of those on Hulk. Underneath of the helmet is a Tony Stark face. It’s clearly a modern Tony, and it has just the right amount of self-assuredness. Iron Man includes a spare hairpiece (first used on Series 27’s Ultimate Cap), a flight stand molded in clear orange, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the other three sets in this series, I picked up Hulk and Iron Man from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix. My primary reason for picking up the set was Hulk; for whatever reason, I never picked up the original Grey Hulk. This figure provides an exceptional update to that figure, and brings Grey Hulk up to the same quality as the Green Hulk offered in the previous series. While this Hulk’s Banner look doesn’t excite me the same way as the earlier version, it’s still a fun extra look, and it adds extra value to an already awesome figure. While I’m not the biggest fan of this particular look for Iron Man, this is still a solid figure, and he offers some much needed fixes to the previous version. The third series of Best Of Marvel Minimates is a solid addition to the Minimates line-up.

#0277: Iron Man

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

IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

IronManSpace1

Groot Week continues today with part five. Like the previous reviews, this figure comes from Hasbro’s most recent round of Marvel Legends Infinite Series, based on the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The series includes six regular figures and a Build-A-Figure. I’ve reviewed the four movie figures, and today I’ll do the first of the two comic-themed reviews. The first comic-themed figure is Iron Man, who is effectively the series’ heavy hitter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IronManSpaceWilsonIron Man is part of the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He stands about 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation (counting the shoulder pads). The figure is based on Iron Man’s space-faring armor from the most recent Guardians of the Galaxy comics, also known as the “Phoenix Killer” armor. It’s certainly a unique design, and its prominent placement with the Guardians makes for a sensible inclusion in the series. The figure is predominantly re-use. He features a new head and shoulder pads on the body of the Bleeding Edge Iron Man from the first series Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends. The Bleeding Edge is one of Hasbro’s better Iron Man sculpts, so it’s a great starting point, and the head offers a different take on the Iron Man helmet. I’m not sure how I feel about the shoulder pads. They stick up pretty high, and almost seem like they’d seem better flipped the other direction. The biggest issue the figure faces, however, is his inability to put his arms all the way down, which is an issue native to the original base figure. It would have been nice if Hasbro had done some re-working to facilitate improved movement, but I can understand the need to save some money on tooling. The paint work is fairly basic. He’s molded in a metallic red and has some simple gold highlights, and a few yellow details painted on. For the most part, everything is applied cleanly with no noticeable slop or bleed over. There are one or two areas of some minor chipping, but they aren’t too noticeable, so it’s not bad. Iron Man is relatively light on the accessories, with only the right leg of Build-A-Figure Groot included. I can’t really think of any accessories that could have been included, so I can’t really fault Hasbro here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Iron Man was purchased via Amazon, like his series-mates before him. For the most part, I only got Iron Man for the Groot piece, but I have to say, after having him in hand, I like him a whole lot more than I thought I would. The bold colors and the use of one of Hasbro’s best Iron Man bodies make this a really solid figure, and the unique design means he really stands out from the pack. Iron Man is a pretty great that will sadly be overlooked by a lot of people due to being yet another Iron Man.

#0250: Iron Man Mark VII

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

IRON MAN MARK VII

THE AVENGERS (HOT TOYS)

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Alright, I’ve gotten to 250 reviews. Amazingly, people are still reading these things. I guess I don’t drone on too much, right? Well, it’s been another 50 reviews, which means it’s time for another “Deluxe Review.”

Once again, the figure is one of those produced by Hot Toys, producers of extremely high-end action figures. They like to pick up the licenses to super hero movies, so it was no surprise to see them pick up the license to The Avengers in 2012. Today I’ll be looking at a version of a character that has been HT’s bread and butter the last few years: Iron Man Mark VII!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Mark VII is a part of HT’s Movie Masterpiece Series, number 185 to be specific. He stands a little over 12 inches tall and features 68 points of articulation in his default set up. The figure is based on the Mark VII armor, which is the armor that Tony wears during the final battle in Avengers.

The Mark VII is different from most HT figures in that he is a fully sculpted figure, instead of relying on different materials for a costume. The Mark VII features an entirely new sculpt to accurately reflect the armor’s design in the movie. The sculpt is based on the 3D models of the suit created for the movie, so it should be pretty much spot on. However, there are a few areas that are noticeably off. The wrists are a tad too skinny, as are the elbows, which makes it hard to believe a person is actually inside the suit. Also, the eyes are just a tad too large to be accurate. It’s not terribly noticeable in person, but quite obvious in photos. Their only the slightest bit off, but it makes quite a difference at this scale. Those issues aside, the rest of the figure’s sculpt looks pretty much dead on.

The paintwork on the figure is phenomenal, but is once again different from most HT work. On this figure, it’s absolutely imperative that the paint be exactly on the mark, otherwise the figure won’t have the appropriate machined look to him. HT has pulled this off excellently, with nothing out of place. They’ve even added a few small dings and scratches to make the armor look slightly used. Everything looks really great!

The Mark VII includes a huge selection of accessories, even getting more than the usual HT faire. He features:

  • An unmasked head w/ armored collar
  • 6 interchangeable hands
  • Extra wrist armor for repulsor hands
  • Battle-damaged faceplate
  • Battle-damaged chestplate
  • Interchangeable arms with lasers deployed
  • Battle-damaged shoulder pads
  • 3 interchangeable sets of Thigh armor
  • 2 Wrist rocket launchers
  • 3 interchangeable sets of shoulder mounted armor
  • A display stand

The unmasked head is not unexpected, as it has become the standard for a HT Iron Man release. Robert Downey Jr must have a difficult likeness to capture, as HT has never quite had his look down. This one ends up being a bit off the mark. It’s an odd case where it’s not a bad Tony Stark sculpt, but it has only a vague resemblance to the actor who plays him in the movies. I don’t hate it, but it’s not HT’s finest work. From a technical standpoint, it’s great. There’s some wonderful texture work, and it looks like a real person, just not the one they’re going for. The paint is up to HT’s usual standard, which is certainly nice to see. The collar piece slips fairly easily over the neck and the whole thing attaches to the MVII body without too much trouble.

There are six hands: two fists, two articulated, and two repulsor. All of them look great, and match the rest of the body wonderfully. I like the articulated ones in particular, as they provide the greatest variety of poses. The repulsor hands have been specially sculpted to allow you to depict Iron Man with his hands in blast mode as shown in lots of promotional material, and they have their own set of wrist plates to aid in this effect.

The figure also includes several pieces to allow him to be displayed in a “Battle-Damaged” mode. These pieces range from simple repaints of normal pieces to complete resculpts. They swap out with relative ease, and look pretty good when in place.

The thigh and shoulder armor come in three possible sets: closed, fully deployed, and removed. The closed is what the figure comes wearing, as they depict the default look. The deployed fit well with the Battle-Damaged set-up, for that middle of the battle look, and the removed allow for the figure to be streamlined. All of the pieces swap out pretty easily, though they’ve also included a small tool to help remove the pieces without risk of damage.

Lastly, Tony includes a basic display stand with Mark VII printed on the front and the Avengers logo on the base. It’s a simple piece, but it helps connect him with the rest of the figures from the set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like most of my other HT figures, the Mark VII was ordered via Sideshow Toys’ website. I had not initially planned on picking this figure up, as I had intended to make do with my earlier Mech Test Tony Stark from the first Iron Man. However, as I got further into the Avengers line, I realized that the display wouldn’t look right without a proper Iron Man. So, I waited until I was certain I’d have the money and placed a pre-order for the Mark VII. I’m glad I decided to go for it. The figure was definitely on the expensive side, even for a HT figure, but I honestly feel he was worth it. He’s the best version of the character available, and he has a lot of display options to keep things interesting. And the truth is, he is Iron Man…

#0193: Mark I, James Rhodes, & Mark II

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

IRON MAN MARK I, JAMES RHODES, & IRON MAN MARK II

MARVEL MINIMATES

Minimates, Minimates, time to review some Minimates! Yep, it’s more of my favorite line of toys to review, Marvel Minimates. It’s a long running line, with almost 60 main series, plus lots of supplemental boxed sets and exclusives. And I own a very large portion of them, so there’s quite a few for me to review. Today, I’ll be looking at a set from the tie-in series for 2008’s Iron Man. It’s James Rhodes and the Mark I armor, plus the variant Mark II armor.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released in the 21st series of Marvel Minimates.

IRON MAN MARK I

While stranded in a cave, being held captive by a terrorist cell, Tony Stark builds his first suit of armor, dubbed the Mark I, from scrap parts. That’s right, Tony Stark built it. In a cave. With a box of scraps! The Mark I is built on the standard Minimate body, which means it has 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. The figure has 10 sculpted add-on pieces: helmet, chest plate, upper arm covers, lower arm covers, thigh covers, and boots. All of these pieces look great, and have a tremendous amount of detailing. The coolest feature about the figure is what’s underneath of all those pieces: a whole Tony Stark! Add the included hair piece and spare feet, and you get a pitch perfect interpretation of what Tony wore while working on the Mark I. It’s a great touch, and this was one of the very first Minimates to implement such a feature. The paint work is very detailed and quite cleanly applied, especially on the underlying Tony pieces. This is by far my favorite figure in the set, and in fact the whole of series 21.

JAMES RHODES

James Rhodes, or Rhodey as Tony likes to call him, is Tony Stark’s best friend and confidant. This figure is kind of funny now, given that it’s based on Terrance Howard’s ill-fated portrayal of the character, and is in fact wearing the very outfit he has on during the infamous “Next time, baby!” scene. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body with two add-on pieces: hair and jacket. Both pieces were new to this figure, and both are pretty much spot on to how Rhodey looked in the film. The paint work on the figure is pretty nice, with no real slop, and some very nice detail work on the shirt and pants especially. The face isn’t quite Terrance Howard, and it seems like the skin may be a tad too dark, but it’s a valiant attempt. Rhodey included no accessories.

IRON MAN MARK II

After he returns home from captivity, Tony decides to refine the Mark I, and builds the Mark II. It’s a sleeker design, and it’s a bit higher powered. It’s also a really easy repaint for toy companies, given that it’s really just a silver version of the Mark III, the film’s main armor. So, here it is, for pretty much that reason. The figure is on the basic Minimate body, with 6 uniquely sculpted pieces: two-piece helmet, chest piece, gloves and legs. All of these pieces are well sculpted, and look accurate to the movie. Not as impressive as the Mark I, but still pretty good. The paint is fairly basic, being mostly one shade of silver, but they did put all the appropriate rivets on, which is a nice touch. The figure includes a spare set of hands and legs, and a hair piece, to allow a more disassembled look.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really loved the first Iron Man film, and patiently awaited the release of the tie-in ‘mates. They kept getting pushed back, which was very annoying, but once I had them, they were one of my favorite series of Minimates for a very long time. I still love the Mark I, and all the amazing detail present in that little guy!

#0047: Iron Man & The Thing Minimates

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

IRON MAN & THE THING

MARVEL MINIMATES

Look!  It’s more Minimates!  Yes, I’ll be looking at even more Minimates, once again from the Marvel line.  This time I’ll be looking at a set from the “Best Of” sub series.  The idea behind this sub set was keeping the definitive versions of the main Marvel Heroes and villains on the market, while trying to produce the best possible minimates of those looks.  I’ll be taking a look at Iron Man and the Thing from that line.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released as part of the first “Best Of” series of Marvel Minimates.

IRON MAN

First up is Iron Man.  He’s depicted in his classic red and yellow armor he wore for most of the 60s and 70s.  Unlike previous minimates of this particular look, the yellow is actually yellow on this one, instead of Gold.  Iron Man is built on the basic minimate body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He features a sculpted helmet and belt, as well as sculpted boot and glove cuffs.  Paint-wise, the details are all well done, though some of the red paint is a little thin in places, and seems a bit fuzzy on the edges of the boots and gloves.  But since those are meant to be covered by the cuff pieces, it’s not really an issue.  Iron Man also features an extra left hand in a repulsor pose, a flying stand, and a hairpiece to display him sans helmet.  These are all reused pieces, but they work well here.

THE THING

Next is Benjamin J Grimm, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing.  Ben’s look is a bit more difficult to nail down than IM’s.  I think it’s meant to be Ben in his look from the mid 2000s, after he switched back to shorts from pants, but I can’t be certain.  The “4” on the belt buckle is throwing me off.   Anyway, he’s built on the basic minimate body, but with sculpted hands and feet instead of the regular ones.  As such, he stands a bit taller than IM and has 12 points of articulation.  In addition to the sculpted hands and feet, Ben’s other sculpted pieces are: Headpiece, upper arms, torso, waist and upper legs.  These are all slip over pieces, and have been used on previous Thing figures.  With that many sculpted pieces, the paint work on Ben is minimal.  He’s got detailing on his face, and on his belt and that’s about it.  They’re both clean and well done.  Ben also includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy this set when it was initially released, as I already had a few classic Iron Men, and my default version of the Thing is the look John Byrne gave him in the 80s.  However, my comic book store was having a sale on minimates, and had these guys for about 40% off, so I decided to pick them up.  While the Thing is still not my go to, I think the Iron Man may very well become my new default Iron Man.

#0042: Tony Stark & Heartbreaker

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

TONY STARK & HEARTBREAKER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey, look!  It’s review number 42!  And it’s doubly funny, because the not only  is 42 the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but it’s also a significant number in this year’s Iron Man 3.  Today, I’ll be taking a look at another selection from my large Minimates collection.  This set once again comes from the Marvel Minimates line.  It’s Tony Stark and the Heartbreaker from the Iron Man 3 tie-in Minimates.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a Toys R Us exclusive set in Diamond’s Iron Man 3 series.

TONY STARK

Tony is depicted in his workshop gear from the film.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands just over 2 inches tall and has either 14 or 12 points of articulation, depending on which pair of feet you decide to display him with.  He features sculpted hair, boots and gloves.  The hair piece is a generic piece that’s been used a few times before, but it’s accurate to Tony’s look from the film, so it works.  The boots and gloves are reused from the Mark 42 armor from this same wave of figures.  It’s a sensible reuse, given that they were just the boots and gloves from the Mark 42 in the film anyway.    Tony also includes a spare set of hands and feet.  They’re the basic Minimate pieces, molded/painted in the appropriate colors.  The rest of the detail on the figure is conveyed through paint.   The face is an okay depiction of RDJ, and is unique in that it has him wearing his control visor.  The detailing on the torso is also really cool, especially the texturing on the gray parts of the shirt.  Tony’s rounded off by a clear display stand.

HEARTBREAKER

The Heartbreaker armor is one of the many armors shown during the climactic battle in the film.  It’s a unique look, and one of my favorites from the film, so it was a good choice for the line.  The figure’s built on the base Minimate body, but with newly sculpted upper arms and legs.  He stands about 2 inches tall and has 12 points of articulation due to his sculpted boots.  Heartbreaker features a sculpted helmet, torso-cover, waist-armor, gloves and boots.  As far as I can tell, everything but the boots is a new sculpt.  The sculpt is nice and clean, if a bit bulky in places.  The paintwork is a bit less detailed than most Minimates, relying mostly on the sculpted pieces.  Heartbreaker also includes a hair piece to trade out with the helmet to show the Tony head underneath.  It’s the same piece as the one featured on the Tony in this set which makes for good consistency.  Like his pack mate, he’s rounded off by a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These were yet another TRU.com purchase.  Like many TRU purchases, it was far from smooth.  In fact, if it weren’t for a very helpful poster on the Minimate Multiverse, who posted the SKUs for each set in the wave, I wouldn’t have been able to get this set, because TRU.com had every set in the wave labeled “Iron Man 3 Minimates Assortment”!  I’m really glad that I did get this set because I think it might be my favorite from the Iron Man 3 line.  In fact, one could say not getting this set would have been …heartbreaking!(Badumsh)

#0006: Avengers First Appearance Boxed Set

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

ANT-MAN, WASP, HULK, IRON MAN, THOR, & GIANT-MAN

TOY BIZ AVENGERS FIRST APPEARANCE BOXED SET

Now a days, pretty much every one knows who the avengers are, but back in the mid 90s, they were  kind of obscure outside of the comic collecting community.  So, sets like the one I’m reviewing today were kind of a big deal.  I’ll be taking a different approach to these, and reviewing the whole set all in one shot.

ANT-MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

First up is Ant-Man, the first of the two Hank Pym figures included in this set.  He’s a good deal smaller than all of the other figures in the set, but that’s to be expected.  He’s got 7 points of articulation, which is good for the scale.  The most impressive part, I feel is the removable helmet, which is astounding on a figure this size.  And it looks great to boot!

WASP

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is Hank’s girlfriend, then wife, then ex-wife, then it got really complicated, Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp!  The Wasp is depicted in her original uniform, as is appropriate for an Avengers #1 set.  It’s not my favorite look of hers, but it’s not bad.  The figure shows the look off pretty well.  Wasp is about the same height as Ant-Man and has pretty much the same articulation, though his works better.  It would have been nice to get a regular sized Jan as well, but this one worked fine.

HULK

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is the jade giant, the Incredible Hulk.  Hulk is in his shown here wearing his Avenging shorts (I mean, that has to be their purpose, right?  Because we only ever see him wearing them with the Avengers).  Hulk is well sculpted, but the paint leaves a little bit to be desired.  Or more specifically the choice of plastic color.  They went with this sickly looking pale green, which doesn’t befit Dr Banner at all.  He looks like he needs a little sun.  Overall, a fine figure.

IRON MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Onto the armored Avenger, Iron Man.  He’s depicted in his second suit of armor, the same as his original, but gold plated.  To emulate the coloring properly, Toybiz offered two versions of the set.  One came with a Vac Metalized shiny, gold chromey paint job, and the other came with a dull, brozish style of coloring.  My original was the dull version, but when his helmet got stepped on and crushed, I upgraded to the shiny one, found loose at a toy show.  Oh, and that helmet I mentioned?  Yeah, it was removable, which was definitely this figure’s coolest feature! Just look at Tony’s handsome mug!

THOR

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Oh boy.  This Thor.  Man this Thor.  This was not a good Thor.  Though, amazingly, it was the only Thor figure I owned until late into the Marvel Legends line.  But it’s not a very good figure.  The Chrome helmet and chest-circle-thingies (technical term!) are cool, and the basic body’s okay.  But then you look at that face.  Oh, man that face.  It’s bad.  And to top it all off, he has this weird poofy cloth cape, which pretty much never looked right.  I’m fairly certain this figure is the reason why I didn’t like Thor until the movie came out in 2011.

GIANT MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lastly, we have what I consider to be the best figure in the set:  Giant Man!  He’s the second version of Hank Pym we’re looking at in this set, and he’s actually not quite accurate, what with Hank not being Giant Man until Avengers # 2, but man this is a cool figure, so I’m willing to overlook it.  The coolest thing about this figure, I feel, is the size.  He had some serious scale on his side.  Plus he’s just about a picture perfect representation of Hank in this costume.  The paint is sharp, the sculpt is good.  This figure’s got some serious win on his side!  He once had a set of antenna, but they fell of after a few months of play.  But at least they both fell off, preserving the symmetry.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures are pretty important to me, because they represent a first for me:  waiting for a figure to be released.  In the early days of the internet, I remember seeing the control art for these guys on Raving Toy Maniac.  I was absolutely thrilled.  I printed it out, and made paper figures to hold me over.

I finally saw these figures on an end-of-the-school-year shopping trip with my Nanna.  They were on an end cap and I eagerly picked them up and informed her that I didn’t need to look at anything else.  I was done.  She didn’t really get it.  Who were these characters?  Didn’t I want a Spider-Man, or a Batman instead?  Nope.  I wanted my Avengers and that’s what I got.  And man was it a great day!