Diamond Select Toys' line of Marvel Select action figures has been on a roll lately. They've been able to crank out a consistent amount of figures based on the current Marvel films, as well as comic related figures. Not only that, but it seems like with each concurrent figure released, the quality and articulation seem to get better and better, to the point of rivaling Marvel Legends. And now, Marvel Select has finally given fans a classic comic accurate figure of the Avengers built android Ultron. Join me as I take a closer look at him.

PACKAGING - It's instantly recognizable as the standard "bookend" Marvel Select packaging we've seen since the beginning. At times, especially these days, it seems grossly oversized and kind of a waste of resources. However you have to give credit for the consistency in the style. MOC collectors love consistent packaging since it makes for a more aesthetically pleasing display. At any rate, the packaging is very appropriate. You have Ultron's name in large font on the side, and the figure itself is packaged front and center. The back gives you a photo of Ultron, as well as a great bio for him. If you had no idea who Ultron was before picking up the figure, by the time you're through reading his bio, you'll know enough about him to realize how cool he is.

SCULPT - Ultron stands at about 7.5" tall. The sculpt is basic, as far as sculpts go, but it's completely comic accurate. The smootheness of his sculpt is really nice, and the panel lines all look great. They're not completely perfect, since it's obvious it was sculpted by hand, and not done with a machine, but it all still looks great. The head sculpt is easily the best part of the entire figure. The eyes, the side antennae, and the open mouth look perfect. I also love the shoulder spikes. It's a tiny detail, but I feel it adds a lot to the overall look.

PAINT - Lots and lots of silver! It's more of a slightly matte silver, and not really shiny, but it seems pretty comic accurate too. I know he's been portrayed as being almost chrome in the comics before, but back in the good ol' days he just had a regular silver colored finish, and it's well represented here. All the panel lines are painted in with black. There's no messy areas with the silver at all, though the panel lines could have been painted a bit better. There is some messiness there that gives the illusion that the lines are really uneven. Once again, the head shines here. The eyes are painted with bright red, and the inside of the mouth is red as well. When the light hits it right, it almost looks like it's glowing red, which is great.

ARTICULATION - He has a ball jointed neck (complete with disc hinge to allow up and down movement), ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, swivel-hinge elbows, cut wrists, a floating ab joint, ball jointed hips, thigh rotators, double knees, a rotator at the top of the ankle, and the new style of hinged rocker ankle that Hasbro and Marvel Select have both been utilizing. This has to be one of the most posable Marvel Select figures ever. Every joint on him is really tight, and works wonderfully. There's a bit of restriction at the shoulders due to the shoulder pads, but it's not much.

The head movement is fantastic, and the range of motion in the ab joint is phenomenal. I literally exclaimed "wow" when I saw just how much you can move him around for dynamic poses. The ankles have a bit of funky articulation, due to him being an android. You can see that the bulk of the ankles are a thick disc, the top of which has a peg that inserts into the shin. The bottom part has a disc hinge with a peg going in at a 45 degree angle into the foot, allowing for that rocker movement I mentioned before. It works beautifully here, and again just adds to the number of poses you can put this guy in. When I said earlier that this figure rivals a Marvel Legends figure, this is exactly what I meant.

ACCESSORIES - Ultron comes with a display stand featuring the aftermath of a battle. There's pieces of a broken brick wall, with some fallen Avengers adorning the scene. Ant Man and Wasp are lying unconscious on either side, and several of Hawkeye's arrows lay broken on the ground. It's quite a depressing scene, but I'd expect nothing less from Ultron. It's a great stand, and is painted really nice. The brick is realistic, and the dirt on the ground looks great too. Wasp and Ant Man are so tiny so there's not a whole lot of sculpted detail there, but they're both painted appropriately.

It would have been nice for him to include some energy blasts of some kind, since even with the base he seems rather bare, and would really add to the display options.

FUN - He's a lot of fun. Some would argue he's the ultimate Avengers villain, since he's so persistent and essentially immortal. Every time they've come across them, it's been so devastating. So yeah, for that reason alone he's fun. But despite that, as a figure, it's still very fun. The poseability is amazing with him, and if you decide to army build him, you can have a very dynamic display, with each Ultron being posed differently. He's meant for collectors, and not every collector worries about how "fun" a figure is, but for me it's the most important aspect of any action figure.

QUALITY CONTROL - Not a single problem with Ultron.

OVERALL - The sculpt is a near perfect representation of the Ultron character, and the articulation is amazing. There are some small paint problems, and while his display base looks great, some sort of weapons or energy blast attachments would have been even better. At the end of the day, he's still a lot of fun to pose and display with other figures. Like I said before, he stands at about 7.5" tall, which is pretty big. However, Ultron is meant to be pretty tall, so he could still potentially fit in just fine with your Marvel Legends figures if you wish. I know a lot of people would wonder about how he looks with Marvel Legends, which is why I took several photos of him with some. If you're wanting the quintessential Ultron figure for your collection, I'd say look no further. To be honest, the classic style of this Ultron figure really has me excited for other similar characters, like Jocasta. So overall, while it's not perfect, Ultron is still a great figure.

FINAL SCORE: 3.5 / 5

Check out hi-res images below in our GALLERY.


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