Package Description
This armor suit is the peak of human technological achievement. It makes the wearer extraordinarily strong, and resistant to damage even from tank shells and rockets. Equipped with an array of repulsors and missiles, it is nearly unstoppable.
Appearance
Iron Man has a brand new Hasbro sculpt that knocks most of Hasbro’s HML offerings out of the water. The figure is highly detailed and very close to the movie look. He looks a little small, which is probably because I have so many figures in 6” scale I expected the armor to be a little bigger. For example, on the snap on armor figure the Tony Stark head is smaller than the heads on other Marvel Legends. The Mark 03 is proportionate though, and the color choices are excellent. Hasbro used metallic red and gold, and the color transitions are good. There are plenty of areas the paint can smudge though, so choose carefully which figure to buy.
The joints are well hidden on this figure in the chinks of the armor. The eye paint doesn’t match the sculpted eyes, but it only looks bad if you look for it. This figure can pass with Marvel Legends figure for his modern armor, but he is too small. Whether the size issue is a big problem is based on individual taste, but in terms of an armory the Mark 03 will look great with all the other suits and the many repaints Hasbro will probably make. Overall, the only things I would change about this figures appearance would be the eye paint and the size. The size is simply for scale issues, but I think following the sculpted eyes would make the helmet look a lot better. Bigger arms also probably would have made him look more imposing, because he doesn’t quite have the strong machine look to him.
Articulation
Iron Man has ball jointed shoulders, torso, head, wrists, and ankles. He has double pin joints for elbows and knees. His legs bend about 90 degrees at the waist. The torso doesn’t go forward much, but he bends backward a decent amount. The ankles twist and go up and down with a nice range of motion, which was a surprise when I got the figure. The shoulder pads pop off for some reason, and tend to do so easily when I’m trying to just pose the figure. I’ve also had problems with the right wrist. The wrist on mine is stuck and won’t budge, and the same is true of my Repulsor Red Prototype figure. Overall Iron Man has a greater range of motion than I was expecting, but don’t expect a range of motion as for figures like Spider-man. It’s also worth noting this figure has more articulation than the snap on armor figure.
Poseability
Iron Man has a good sense of balance, probably from the decision to put ankles that actually move on this figure. He can do some great Iron Man poses, including flying via the torso that can move back. Some fists would have been nice for fighting poses, but he can do most anything I expected. The gun he comes with doesn’t look good at all. He looks good in a crowd of Marvel Figures because the scale issues are not as noticeable as when he’s just standing to figures like the ML Series 1 Iron Man. Overall I think the poseability is as good as the appearance, although the shoulder pads are annoying.
Final Judgment: 7
Iron Man is as close to his movie appearance as I could hope for, and fits in with ML figures easily. If he was just bigger, I wouldn’t have any problems if we never got a comic accurate Extremis armor. This figure came out great though, and considering some of the Marvel Legends Hasbro has made in the past, this figure is spectacular. Iron Man Mark 03 definitely deserves a great spot in a collection.
SCALE
10. My favorite possession.
9. My favorite action figure.
8. One of my favorite action figures.
7. An excellent action figure.
6. A good, but not exceptional action figure.
5. An adequate action figure.
4. Not worth the money I spent.
3. I'll give it to somebody's kid.
2. I'll give it to somebody's dog.
1. It's going to lose a fight with my car.
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