Toy Review: Advanced Tactical Armor Boxset

Iron Man 2 Advanced Tactical Armor

Okay, I was supposed to review another Final Fantasy XIII figure since I only have one more left after Lightning and Vanille. I wrote it on my to do list and set aside some time om my calendar before Holy Week and everything, but variety is the spice of life, and you never know what will show up on the pegs.

I had no idea this set would be showing up here. In fact, I only saw the test shots of it once online somewhere when Hasbro was showing some of their upcoming products. I was actually buying some unrelated merchandise from one of the guys on PTK when he told me that they had just shelved a few of these. Knowing how random things are when it comes to toy hunting, I decided to get the set even if the Iron Man addiction has already put me in the red.

The packaging for this particular 3-pack is similar to the Marvel Universe 3-packs we’ve gotten here over the past year or so. It’s just a plain, rectangular box with a nice big window that allows you a pretty good view of all three figures,as well as the accessories. The price break is welcome (the old 3-packs were Php 2,200), but I’ve got a feeling it was Toys R’ Us that was overpricing them. They seem to do that with their exclusives.

I’m very glad that Hasbro has stopped with the fancy box art that they’ve been using in the various Transformers lines. Sure it may draw some attention to them on the shelf, but all those annoying tabs and the rolls of tape and twist ties it takes to hold everything in place are just idiotic.

This package is very neat (if a little big) and tidy. You cut open one piece of tape, slide out the cardboard liner, and pop each figure and accessory out of the molded plastic tray. Easy peasy. You can keep the box if you want to put them back. It’s a simple matter to pop them back in and display as if it was Mint in Box (but you’ll know it’s not and it will eat at you and eat at you until you buy a second set - ah, the life of a collector).

The side of the box has some nice Iron Man artwork if you want to display it bookshelf style.

There are 3 armors included in the Kmart exclusive “Advanced Tactical Armor” pack (sometimes called the “Heavy Metal” pack on the local forum boards). The first is the “Omega Factor Armor”, an army green re-color of the Movie War Machine. The second is the “Vibranium Armor”, a Mark VI re-color in Captain America colors with a nifty sheild. The last is a Mark V re-color, cast in transluscent red and painted with black and silver highlights, that is called the “Bio-Metal Armor”.

None of them have any unique accessories. The guns on the Omega armor are the same as the ones on the single packed War Machine, the shield is the same that comes with every Captain America figure, and the missle launcher that comes with the Bio-Metal suit is the same that we got with the Hypervelocity figure, only cast in the same transluscent red plastic as the new figure.

The back of the box doesn’t really say anything about the new armors, other than that they were made to tackle different kinds of missions. Doi. We kind of figured that out, Hasbro. I’d have appreciated some background on the armors, maybe a description of the Omega Factor Armor, or why the Vibranium Armor is colored Red, White and Blue (I know it’s a What if? nod, but that’s not exactly part of the public consciousness now is it?).

The lack of info is not a bad thing, but considering that Hasbro is the second largest toy manufacturer in the world, you’d think they could shell out for a nicer box. The toy photos and tiny little text box are dissapointing.

The figures, on the other hand, are pretty surprising.

Let’s start with the Bio-Metal Armor.

The figure is a carbon copy of the Mark V armor, or the “suitcase” armor seen in the latest trailer of the new movie. A few people I’ve talked to have said they weren’t really that impressed with how this armor turned out, but when I got the Mark V, I was genuinely pleased with it. I found myself favoring the little red Iron Man more than the Iron Monger or Stealth Armor. It was just so much more unique.

The Bio-Metal one has the same sculpt, but it doesn’t fare so well. There’s nothing specifically wrong with the figure. It has nice paint applications an accessory, the same extra hand, and is cast in translucent plastic which is always a plus for me since it adds to the fun. After sitting down with the town, I figured out why I couldn’t give it the same rating I gave the first one.

It looks like Iron Man in his underwear.

The dark red and black “body” with the silver highlights on his butt, crotch, and feet make Iron Man look as if he’s wearing a banana hammock and the latest havianas.

It’s not a good look for the armored Avenger.

The aforementioned Hypervelocity rocket launcher doesn’t help things at all. Sure it’s cool that they molded it out of the same translucent plastic, but they didn’t even bother to adjust the clip that attaches it to his arm.

The clip is still the same one that was designed to attach to the Hypervelocity Armor’s gaunlet, which is a totally different shape from the Mark V’s. The Mark V’s arm is a lot smaller than the clip, which means that this launcher becomes something like an over-sized iPod armband. Would have been nicer if they just attached a peg back there and had it attach to his back. Instant jet pack.

Did I say he was translucent?

Next up would be the Vibranium Armor or the “Captain America” Armor.

The idea is taken from the What If? Civil War series. I’m a little fuzzy on the details. I’m sure one or two geeks on the boards will be happy to clear this up for me, but either Iron Man programs armor to mimic Steve Rogers tactics, or Steve Rogers dons the armor. Either, or, this armor looks awesome, and since this mold (the Mark VI) looks more like the Extremis Armor than the Mark III toy from the first movie did, it’s a better figure.

Hasbro repainted the 6″ Mark III a few years ago for their Concept Series. The Captain America Iron Man was the one that was hardest to find, but it was also the one with the worst paint out of all of them. I’m glad to say that this 3.75″ version is much nicer.

The body is cast in white and then painted with a metalic blue. The blue fares much better than the red that they used with the other 3.75″ toys and doesn’t look clumped and tacky. It’s nice and even all over and it doesn’t look as if it bleeds into the silver.

The accessory he comes with is the sheild that comes with all the 3.75″ Captain Americas. Not bad, since it is scaled perfectly for these figures. It has the same elastic bands that let you strap it to his back, but again, the fold out clip that attaches it to his arm is sized for another figure altogether. It’s a little too big to clip onto this guy’s arm, so it tens to fall off a lot. Not a big con, but it’s aggravating.

Again, like the Mark IV and the Mark VI, you can switch his hands out with either of those two figures. That way, if you want him blasting away with all repulsors on full, you just need to pop it out at the wrist and make the trade.

Last but not least is the Omega Factor War Machine Armor.

As I said, it’s a straight re-color of the Movie Series, 3.75″ War Machine. From photos on the Net, it looks like the only change here is a swap from gun metal grey to olive drab green. Since I don’t have the Movie version, we’ll have to settle for a comparison with the Comic Series War Machine:

As you can see, he’s much more heavily armored than the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit Mark II, Model JRXL-1000. He’s got 2 chain guns which are both bigger than the Comic Series version’s puny cannons. There’s also an included ammo belt that connects to a slot in his back and feeds in either of the weapons. It’s a little fidly, and I’m wondering if I should just glue it in place.

Instead of the nice little fire effects that the Comic Series version comes with, this guy gets the requisite missle for his BFG. Though it’s a bit oversized, it’s not ridiculously so. It’s a welcome change, and actually makes him look meaner than the other toy. The missle not as nice as the fire effects, but it’ll do. You can swap the Gatling gun fire from the other figure as well if you want.

If you like the missle launcher from the Comic War Machine better, you can swap them out too, but I’d be very careful. The other weapons are set pretty tight, and I have a feeling it would be very easy to snap that ball mount right off.

Another improvement over the Comic Series version is the shoulder armor. The pads were the biggest fail of the Comic version, limiting the range of motion to a sideways swing. The Movie version has a pad made of much thinner plastic, with more room inside for the arm to swing forward. You still can’t bring it straight up without lifting the shoulder armor up on it’s hinge, but it’s far more natural looking.

The paint is done very well (there weren’t many bad examples that I saw), and these are 3 of the better sculpts in the new 3.75″ line, but I doubt this is a set that’s the target of many collectors out there. There are no new features, no new accessories, and the normal versions should be available here in the Philippines any day now. At Php 450 each, getting the three single carded versions would be cheaper than paying the Php 1,900.00 asking price for this boxset.

But considering how hard it was to get the Comic Series War Machine, I don’t want to risk not having this mold in my 3.75″ armory. I’d probably have to pay some scalper later on to get a War Machine at twice retail value. This way, I’ll have at least 1 Movie Version, and the green makes for some nice color variation in my display.

Variety is the spice of life.