Mr. Freeze (2003)
It’s been pointed out to me that there is a distinct difference between American and Filipino shopping sensibilities. When the majority of Filipinos shop for anything, they usually have in mind what it is they are looking for and how much they want to pay for it. If they don’t find it or find it at a price above the one they’ve set, they will pass on the purchase.
Historically, Americans have shopped for fun. If they don’t find what they are looking for, they will often buy something else on impulse, just so that they “don’t waste the trip”. Though this is changing now that Americans are faced with a changing economy and the need for fiscal prudence, that prevalent consumerism is still evident in my own shopping habits.
Having only found a Colossus and Shadowcat from the new Marvel Univeres H.A.M.M.E.R Files toys, I decided to make the trip to Greenhills “worth it” by getting something else. This time, it was a few villians to join my DC Universe Classics Joker and Man-Bat in my Batman rogues’ gallery.
This particular figure was initially produced back in 2003 (or 2004 depending on what website you’re looking at) during Mattel’s Batman line. The wave had 2 variations; this one, and a chase figure without the googles. Mattel being Mattel, they decided to stick with the same figure when they were beefing up their DC Superheroes line in 2006. It later came out again as an exclusive figure in 2007.
Having seen the 4 re-colors, I tend to think this is the best version. The 2006 DCSH one looks as if he’s in a muscle tee, and the exclusive version is dark gray with blue touches and red highlights. Both have black guns instead of the plain gray. I prefer the darker blue that this figure has, though and since I’ve always liked the googles…
But then again, this may just be me sour-graping.
The package that the figure came is the same as most figures back in the day. Only Toy Biz and some of the other high end companies had adopted clam shells, so this one is the good old blister on card, with a internal plastic tray to hold the figure in place. It works just as well as it does today.
The back of the card has an excellent photo of the toy, one of the things I miss from old cards. It was that picture that sold me on the toy more than anything really, since looking at it, it seems as if his right hip moves away from the crotch. When I saw the gap, I thought that this had the same articulation as the modern day DC Universe Classics. Sadly, that’s not the case. The hip joints are just plain swivels.
It’s pretty awesome that I found this toy for only Php 500.00. Sure back in the day the original price for this thing was probably Php 300 or so, but cosidering that a 3.75″ figure is now already Php 450.00, I think I’m coming out ahead. Also, I was looking this up on line, and it looks like prices range from $30 to $60 for this toy, depending on what series it’s from.
Under of the blister, the toy is held in place by a plastic tray that holds him fairly securely. You can plainly see the two accessories he has; the backpack and cannon that make up his freeze ray. They’re both pretty huge, though mostly hollow.
The gun isn’t really all that great. I mean, it looks nice and is styled a lot like how you’d expect a big fat ray gun to be styled, but it’s not really ergonomically sound. The figure can only hold it in a single position, and only with two hands.
If you attempt to put the gun in only one hand, it’ll just fall off because of the thin grip and the limited articulation of the arm. The stock of the gun is completely useless, unless you bend it down and tuck it under his arm. It’s pretty ridiculous since they must have made the gun for this toy. How can they have designed a completely useless element like that stock? It doesn’t go anywhere, doesn’t fit anything, and it can’t get any where near his shoulder.
The backpack acts as a resevoir for water (you can remove one of the caps on top), and pumps it through a hose attached to the gun. A neat little action feature that isn’t too conspicuous and can easily be removed from the figure.
There are also hoses coming out of the backpack that plug into his arms. Luckily, they can also be removed so you’re not stuck with the one look. You can dissasemble him and have a “naked” Mr. Freeze to wail away on old Bats.
By it self, the figure looks awesome. I’m sure this was around the time that the Batman Animated Universe was still big, so he has a lot of that Mr. Freeze thrown in, along with the Arnold Schwarzenegger man hunk build. The body looks a little on the exaggerated side, much like the animated version, with big boots and broad shoulders.
He’s in his survival suit, so you can see all sorts of doohickery and thingamajiggies around his person. The skin looks like plated armor, and he’s got the dome covering a well sculpted head.
I love the fact that he’s got a second action feature built into him; a movable head. You’d think that since his head is inside a transparent bubble you wouldn’t be able to move it, but you’d be wrong. Mattel connected the head with the lower torso so that when you turn his body, the head turns with it inside the helmet.
That’s pretty cool. I’m sure they could have gotten the same effect by just building the head and the bubble dome as seperate pieces, gluing them together and just sticking them to a post on the upper torso, but this solution seems much more elegant.
As I said, there was a chase figure without googles released shortly after this one, but since I’ve never seen it up close, we’ll skip it.
Paint is good, but nothing that just means that there isn’t much to get wrong. It’s about on par with the old vintage Toy Biz stuff. Mostly cast plastic with a few highlights. He fares pretty well, since he’s made of a dark blue, but his gun is a different story. It’s a dull gray that looks like nothing but plasticky. It could certainly stand a few coats of blue or something.
Unfortunately, he’s not in scale with the DCUC crowd, but then I can’t fault the toy for that since it came out well before that line. If you have a bit of imagination, you can ignore the fact that he’s a bit short compared to The Riddler and The Joker.
Articulation is something he is sorely lacking. If you’re familiar with DC Direct joints then you know what to expect here. It’s basically just a bunch of hinges with a couple of swivels thrown in.
What’s worse is that because he’s been sculpted with his legs spread out, it means that he can’t stand in anything but the one position, making his knees completely useless. The slanted soles of his feet won’t hold him up if you try to do anything with him.
The upper body is a little better with the swivel/hinge ball joint shoulders, but there’s not much else there he can use.
Despite that, I’d still recommend this figure if you can still find it. He’s close to the current DCUC scale, has a nice look and a bad-ass looking BFG to point Batman’s way.
Until we get a new one from Mattel, This one does rather nicely.
H.A.M.M.E.R. Files Kitty Pryde
Most comic book characters fill some sort of archetypical role in their respective books. They’re not always particularly deep, and often very 1 dimensional. This is often because comic book fans come back to these books because they identify with them. If a writer were to say decide to do a 360 degree change and get The Hulk into some anger management classes and put him on some new-fangled anti-psychotic that would totally solve his problems, then what fun would that be? If Doom were to suddenly realize that no, it’s not cool to keep working toward global domination and absolute power and auction off his various ray guns for the benefit of Habitat for Humanity… well, who would buy that comic?
That’s the reason that Kitty Pryde has always been stuck in the role of that Unicorn that nerds everywhere have always sought; the geek girl.
Let’s examine her finer points:
The latest toy version of Katherine Anne “Kitty” Pryde ir Shadowcat, doesn’t completely live up to the comic version.
The package is the same simple package that all the Marvel Universe figures come in. A small blister pack that doesn’t have too much wasted space. It has a nice open blister with windows to 3 sides of the figure, a must with Hasbro’s poor quality control these days.
The pack is very sturdy and will stand up to a lot of abuse on the pegs. The inside plastic tray holds the figure in there securely AND supports the outer bubble, so you’ll see fewer dents. The J-hook is also supported now by a plastic piece that’s glued to the back. A nice thing that I just noticed. It’s great for MOC (mint-on-card) collectors since it means that fewer cards will get ripped on the pegs, a problem that was prevalent back when it was Marvel Legends that we were looking for.
Unlike DC toys, Marvel and Hasbro have stopped putting the figures in action poses in the package. While it was a great way to catch the attention of buyers, it also meant a lot of the toys were getting deformed in the packages. Thankfully, we don’t have to deal with that any more. With the lack of twist ties and the nuetral pose in package, most figures seem to be free from the warpped joints.
The tray is easy enough to remove. If you want to keep the package to store the figure later, you can cut around the bubble fairly easily. If you’re just going to toss it, you can just rip it open.
You can see that the Kitty Pryde figure comes with the standard H.A.M.M.E.R. Files file envelope (which includes a file card, a small folded memo from a H.A.M.M.E.R. agent to Osbourn about Shadowcat, and an advertisement for the H.A.M.M.E.R. Files website with your password). I find these less of a draw than I do the [url=http://slangards.i.ph/blogs/slangards/2010/03/12/toy-review-iron-man-2-mark-iv-and-vi/]Iron Man 2[/url] Armor Cards. For one, the artwork on the card has Kitty Pryde sporting pornface. It’s not that flattering.
She also comes with her pet, the purple alien dragon, Lockheed. At this scale, he’s about as detailed as the Wasp that came with Dr. Doom, whcih is to say he’s a blob with a neck and wings. Sad to say, he can’t really do anything by stand on the ground. I would have liked to have a way to make him fly next to her, or sit on her hand. No such luck.
The figure’s design leave much to be desired. I’m a fan of Shadowcat’s blue costume, the one with the mask, poofy sleeves, and skin tight leggings. That one was pretty hot.
Hasbro decided to put her in the standard X-Men uniform though. Blue and gold body suit. In this case, it looks more like black. It’s boring as all get out.
This was probably done to save money, since she’s likely just a re-color of most of the other female superheroes that Hasbro has done in the past, like Ms. Marvel, or Black Widow. I’m sure we’ll see Sue Storm with this same body soon.
The head is a new sculpt though. It looks appropriate, with brown curly hair and a hooked nose, characteristics that she was originally portrayed with. It is kind of soft looking though.
Articulation is sub-par, as with all Marvel Universe female figures. She lacks both thigh and upper arm swivels, which sorely limits her poseability. With her tiny footprint, that means she can’t really do anything without her stand.
You also need to watch out with paint. A friend was able to get this for me and told me that there was another figure there as well and it had some messed up applications on the face. I saw another example at Rustan’s Shagri-La and it had some very ragged lines between the yellow and black portions of her costume.
But then considering how few boxes there were in the initial delivery, beggars can’t be choosers.
She’s nicely scaled with the [url=http://slangards.i.ph/blogs/slangards/2010/05/12/toy-review-hammer-files-colossus/]H.A.M.M.E.R. Files Colossus[/url], who is about a head and a half taller than her. I love that I now have both of these X-Men on my roster. If you’re a fan of the couple, then you’ll need to get both.
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the figure if you’re NOT a fan. Aside from the head and the tiny Lockheed figurine, I don’t think she has anything to offer a non X-Men collector. Kitty Pryde is a very plain figure, with passable articulation and iffy paints.
If she had come in her classic costume, in a semi-phased state to display her powers, with a nicer Lockheed, I probably would have felt better about her.
Other Related Links: H.A.M.M.E.R. Files Colossus
X-Men Origins Cyclops & Iceman
X-Men Origins Wolverine with Jacket
Iron Man 2 Mark IV & Mark VI
Marvel Universe Dr. Doom & Absorbing Man
XMO X-men
I’m going to be lazy again and just lump these two into the same review. X-Men Origins (XMO): Wolverine Cyclops and Iceman.
Back during the Hall of Heroes 2009 event, I had both of these in my hands. They were the only Cyke and Iceman on the shelves and I’d pick them up to look at them, but at the time, I wasn’t a big fan of the 3.75″ lines. Sure everyone was saying that 6″ Marvel figures were dead, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Even now, I’m not sold on the idea, but I do realize that if I want to continue collecting Marvel figures, 3.75″ is the only option out there. Sadly, I didn’t know that then. I put the two back and they were promptly bought by some other collector about half a second later.
As an X-men fan from the start (my start, not the 1963 start), I couldn’t resist picking up a few other figures from the line, figures of my favorite characters, like Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Storm. Most of my memories are of the Claremont X-men from the 80’s, so the core group from that time is really what I wanted. I was missing Rouge, Psylocke in armor, and Shadowcat. After I started reading about the other figures in the line, though, I realized that the XMO Cyclops and Iceman were probably 2 of the best examples of the line that had come out.
As luck would have it, one of the guys at PinoyToyKolektors sent me an SMS that he was selling the set with a free Piledriver thrown in, all at a fair price. Since I was also hoping to complete the wrecking Crew (can never have too many bad guys), I figured this was the best chance I was going to get to own these two figures.
Best toy related decision I’ve made in quite some time.
The packaging is the same as the Wolverine with Jacket I reviewed a few months back when the XMO series went on sale. It’s sturdy enough, with some decent graphics, and some poor product photography on the back. I don’t know what it is about Hasbro product shots lately that just puts a toy in the most unappealing light. What happened to the guys who set up the shots for the Adventure Team line?
The package opens up like any old clamshell and there’s a tray inside that you can slip out. If you’re careful, you’ll still have a decent pacakge to store the figure in later. I can’t stress enough how glad I am that Hasbro has stopped tying figures down with twist ties.
Cyclops is in his Astonishing X-Men costume. I’ve never gotten around to actually reading the book, which is unfortunate since I’m a big fan of Joss Whedon, and have grown to appreciate Cassaday’s art after reading Planetary. Instead of the outdated blue spandex with yellow underwear, he looks as if he’s just wearing any old wetsuit with a hood, boots, and piping. He must be doing his shopping at the same place Kick Ass did his in the movie of the same name.
Not that the costume’s bad. I actually prefer it to the classic one. It’s simple and stark looking, no nonsense. It seems perfect for Slim Summers.
He comes with one accessory; a plug-in eyebeam. It’s a sad little thing, awfully short and made of a droopy plastic that gets deformed under it’s own weight. Despite being a great idea, it’s not maximized. For the suggested retail price, you’d think that they’d include more with him. Two more optic blasts would have been nice. More hands? Maybe even a Flyclops harness. No? okay.
Articulation is a little lacking for this guy. While he has double-hinged knees and a ball-and-socket hip joint, the leg sadly lacks any joints below the knee. This may seem like nitpicking, but a lot of the time, an ankle joint is one of the key points of articulation. Without it, the sole of the figure’s foot won’t lay flat and it falls over.
That’s what happens here. He looks great standing straight, but it’s kind of hard to do anything else with him without a stand.
Iceman on the other hand has very good articulation. Ball-jointed neck, double swivel/hinge shoulders, hinge/swivel elbows, ball-jointed torso crunch, double swivel/hinge hips, double hinge knees, and hinge/swivel ankles.
About all he’s missing is a wrist swivel.
He comes with an ice slide which sadly, looks more like an ice skateboard. I’m sorry Hasbro, but this looks pretty dinky. Accessories these days have really been back sliding. I remember when the Marvel Legends Iceman came with a Sentinel hand with a properly scaled ice slide. This is pathetic compared to that. Really.
Fortunately, the XMO Iceman really makes up for it. On top of the excellent articulation, he’s got a really nice sculpt. The transluscent plastic that he’s cast in hides a lot of the detail, but after careful study, it looks as if Hasbro’s team did a pretty nice job with him.
There are a few sticking points though. He is a little barrel chested compared to the other figures, which is weird. I always remember him as having a slimmer silhouette than the other X-men. Also he does have awfully big hands for someone his size.
That said, I love the way they sculpted his hands in a pose that makes it look as if he’s casting some ice sculptures from his hands. Hasbro should have just dumped the slide and added in an Ice Wall or Ice Beam or something.
Overall, if you can find either of these figures at a reasonable price (maybe about Php 700.00 or so), they’re both great buys. Both are well sculpted, reasonably articulated toys and essential for a 3.75″ X-men collection. Both look great with my Wolverine with Jacket or my Wolverine from the Colossus 2-pack.
That is until they are inevitably re-colored and introduced in the main Marvel Universe line.
Hammer Files: Colossus
I have always had an affinity for the X-Men. Hulk is my favorite Marvel superhero now, but the X-Men were what really got me hooked on comics. Being a dork isn’t easy when you’re a kid, and I was naturally drawn to this story of a group of outsiders, outcasts, and loners who just wanted to belong.
Now I’m not old enough to have been around when Stan Lee created the team in 1960. I was an 80’s baby, so I know the second team, which is kind of like Picard’s Enterprise to Kirk’s. For the most part, the team of that time consisted of a few mainstays: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue, and my favorite X-Man, Colossus.
Since I’ve read comics, writers never seem to give this guy a break. In Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin’s first issue he’s plucked out of his family’s farm to fight a living island. He leaves Mother Russia to live in the United States where people hate him not only for being Russian, but also because he’s a mutant (a fact that I equated with being a nerd and living in a country where English was not the first language). He is in love with a girl that all nerds dream about, but he’s never able to seal the deal. He’s beaten to the brink of death by evil mutants, then paralyzed in his armored form. He is given a chance to lead the life he’s always wanted, without superpowers, and it’s taken away from him. He’s taken over by a psychic entity and forced to hunt his mentor. He finds his long-lost brother, only to have him murder countless people and then commit suicide. His parents are killed by the government. His sister is kidnapped by a demon, turns into a demon herself, reverted to a childhood, and then dies of the Legacy virus. His brother returns from the dead only to die again. He loses his faith, defects, and then comes back only to find out that nerd goddess he loved is schtupping some English git. He dies trying to save everyone, then is brought back in the most insanely unlikely way imaginable. And to top it off, all he wants to do is paint pretty pretty pictures and express himself through his art.
That’s as far as I got. I’m sure that there’s been more in the ensuing 5 or 6 years since I quit collecting comics. And that’s just the Earth 616 Colossus. The one from Earth 295 had it even worse. It’s no wonder this guy’s always pissed off. I feel I can relate.
When I heard that the third series of the Marvel Universe (MU) Hammer Files figures would reach the Philippines, I was ecstatic. Colossus isn’t really a big draw for kids, so he doesn’t get a lot of plastic love from the various toy companies that have held the license. Getting a figure of him in this scale again, not to mention in the same series as other X-Men like Kitty Pryde, Archangel and Havok was just too good to pass up.
Unfortunately, it looks like this series will be as hard to find as the Walmart Exclusive War Machine and Mark VI, since they seem to disappear faster than you can blink. Reports are saying that the Toy Kingdom/Toys R Us/Kidz Station branches around the metro are only getting 1 or 2 sets, if at all, and they’re snapped up before you can say “eBay”.
The good news is… Colossus is 2 per case. Along with the AIM Henchmen and Juggernaut. I was able to get this one for Php450.00 at Babes Toystore in VMall, Greenhills Shopping Center. While I was able to buy this seperately, I hear that the extras were sold as a set of 3 the next day, but they’ve since sold out. Other toy stores just got their stocks today quickly sold out of the shortpacked figures, but quite a few still had Colossus.
The package of the Hammer Files hasn’t really changed from the one Hasbro was using during the Fury Files run:
It’s simple and functional, protects the figure relatively well, and is not too hard to open. The window displays the figure very well from three sides, which is a must these days. Hasbro’s quality control has been very very sloppy of late. Looking at the Iron Man 2 line, one can see how important being able to see the figure you’re buying is. That has not changed here. Though I only saw the one example, he’s not perfect. There are ragged register lines between the red and the yellow (though thankfully no bleeds), and some ugly paint clumping where his triceps were resting on the plastic. There’s also some flashing around the back of the joints, though it doesn’t affect any of the range, thank geebus.
Speaking of quality, buyer beware. MU figures are prone to joints that fall off constantly. Colossus isn’t much different. Like my MU Silver Surfer, Colossus tends to fall to pieces rather easily. Both his legs come off at the hip if pressed, as will his head. More of an annoyance really, rather than a problem. You can put them back in easy, and they don’t really seem to be “loose” at all. It’s just that they fall off.
Articulation is stellar. In fact, this is the BEST articulation I have ever seen on a figure in this line or in this scale. That includes all the GI Joe figures I’ve bought, and the 3.75″ anime sets I have. The clincher is the added thigh swivels or cut joints that allow him to take poses with a deeper stance. This allows for a much nicer, more natural look.
It also allows him to do the occasional axe kick.
It’s been pointed out to me that the paint isn’t what you’d really expect from a Colossus figure. His power is to transmute his body into one made of a substance similar to the element Osmium. While he’s been portrayed in the comics as having the color of shining silver, osmium is a hard, blue-gray or blue-black platinum-like metal. The bluish tint to Colossus’ skin is in keeping with this, but it’s a departure from both the Secret Force Colossus and other versions I have.
I like the washes applied to him however. That two tone yellow on his suit is nice, as is the darker silver wash over the armor that seeped into the ribbing. Both really bring out the details and have been executed much better compared to some of the other Marvel Universe figures.
As for the sculpt of the figure, this is one hard-looking mutant. His face is appropriately square-jawed and chiseled, with a nice scowl on it to intimidate bad guys. He’s very much the Colossus from the more recent comics, who’s always portrayed as a brooding, angry guy.
The body is much beefier than the Superhero Showdown figure from a few years ago, and the articulation much apporved. There’s also the other Colossus released during the X-Men Origins: Wolverine line, but that is no where near as well made, being nothing more than a rotocast figure with springloaded arms.
He even beats the Marvel Icons Colossus (but then, I never really liked that figure much anyway).
His proportions are very good, not overly blocky-looking, or overly slim. He stands well over 2 “feet” higher than other Marvel Universe (or equivalent) figures, which would make him the perfect size for the scale.
Another nice thing I found while fooling around with the toy was that the upper part of his costume is a thin sheet of rubber-like plastic. This allows the shoulder pieces to stretch according to the position of his arms. It’s a solution that works so insanely well that I wonder why it wasn’t thought of before. However, it makes me wonder what the figure looks like under the shirt and if you could make a shirtless Colossus to add to your collection.
This really is an awesome figure, and if I hadn’t taken them and just seen these photos on the Net, I would have thought that he’s in a bigger scale than 6″. The level of detail that Hasbro put into this figure is just amazing and if they had done a job like this on the Icons figure, I might have been sold, despite the crap articulation.
So recap: The Hammer Files Colossus is a nicely sculpted figure which has the perfect amount of articulation, is bigger than the standard Marvel Universe figure, and comes 2 per box (so he’s relatively easier to find). I would say that so far, it is the best Colossus figure put out, despite being in the 3.75″. Yes, it even beats out the Marvel Legends version.
The only caveats are the ragged lines between the red and yellow parts of his costume amd the bluish paint which is sometimes isn’t applied evenly. His coloring isn’t for everyone, so if you want him shiny, be prepared to do some painty yourself.
If you’re a Marvel Universe fan, an X-Men fan, or a Colossus fan, I’d suggest you go out and buy one of these now. It is easily the best figure in the line so far for me, topping Hawkeye and Doom. As soon as I get Archangel and Juggernaut, I’ll let you know if he measures up.
Walmart Exclusive Mark V
Having just completed a glowing review of the awesome 6″ Walmart Exclusive War Machine and Mark VI, it pains me to say that the Mark V is nowhere in the same class as those two gorgeous figures.
I’ll admit that I have a bias to favor this design since I really do love the idea of carrying around an exoskeleton that makes you a superhero in a briefcase. When I got the 3.75″ Mark V, I enjoyed the hell out of it. It was a nice little figure of a very memorable scene in the movie. While the armor itself wasn’t as powerful as the others in Tony Stark’s armory, it’s purpose was clear, and that made it an essential part of my collection.
Having liked the smaller version so much, I wasn’t daunted by the Php 1,200.00 price tag on this figure in Rtoys, a toy store owned by a fellow collector on the second floor of VMall in Greenhills Shopping Center. Considering what I went through just to get the War Machine and Mark VI, the extra Php 200.00 seemed like a bargain.
From the package, it looks like Rbert sourced these from Hasbro Canada, rather than the US. There aren’t any real differences other than the “Hasbro Canada” in small print on the back and the folded over plastic tab of the bubble being perforated. The figure still looks great in the package if you’re a Mint-On-Card sort.
That perforation doesn’t really do anything to ease the opening of the toy. You’ll still need to cut it open and pull out the tray inside, which holds the figure and accessories in molded depressions.
If there is one thing that Hasbro did right on this figure it’s the accessories. He comes with three sets of hands, just like the previous figures. One is a set of fists, the second is a set of open palms that can be posed to look as if they are firing repulsor blasts, and the last set is in a relaxed, open position that can hold the other accessory that he comes with.
That last accessory is the suitcase that the Mark V is supposed to fold out from. It’s relatively well done, with nice details sculpted into the plastic. The paint could use some work, but we’ll get to that.
There aren’t really any gimmicks to this piece. There isn’t any launcher gimmick like the 3.75″ figure’s case, and there aren’t any secret latches to open the thing up. I’d have liked to see it open so that you could put a figures arms into it like Tony did in the movie, but seeing how hard it is to get ANY accessories nowadays, I’ll settle for this.
If you have a figure in a suit and can make a custom 6″ Stark figure, this thing would go great in his had. If you had a display… sweet.
The Mark V Figure itself is highly detailed. Unlike the smaller version, it looks like they followed the computer model fairly closely, with all the plates apparent in the sculpt. The color scheme looks as if it follows the movie’s armor more closely as well, with the entire chest painted silver.
The back of the figure is REALLY impressive. If you’re a detail fan, you’re going to love this toy.
Articulation wise, he’s… ok. While he’s way ahead of most toys from the 90’s, he lacks a few key things to put him up there with the first two toys.
One, his ankle joints are plain swivels.
This is far more dissappointing than I can verbalize. The first two figures had ankles that could swivel around, rock side to side, and up and down. This made for great, stable footing. This figure’s feet can only go around in a 350 degree circle. He constantly falls over. It is unbelievably aggravating to hear him crash to the floor every night, possibly bringing down other toys with him.
Two, dispite the double swivel/post hips and the torso crunch, he can’t really do much with the combination. Both joints are limited and the combination doesn’t really allow any believable poses.
Paint is a problem with the figure. When I bought this the other day at RToys, there were about 10 pieces. Of those, 8 had glaring splotches of red on their silver areas, many on the face plate. I was able to get one that looked decent, but seriously, Hasbro really should have this stuff down by now.
Another difference between this one and the War Machine and Mark VI is the plastic. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat or the way they were shipped, but the plastic feels distinctly softer and more pliable than the first two. The double hinge joints of the knee and elbows are particular areas where this is felt. It’s definitely more rubbery. It really kills my geekgasm.
Ultimately, what I really don’t like about the figure is the proportions. The other 6″ toys feel closer to what you see in the film; a guy in a suit. This figure has a much slimmer torso and hips. You could argue that the suit is supposed to be thinner than the more advanced models, but that’s not really the case from the movie model, or the smaller 3.75″ version. The way he’s built, the Mark V looks more like a set of tights streched over a gymnast in a corset.
At Php 1,200.00, I can’t really recommend this purchase. The glaring quality control issues can’t be ignored, and the sub-par sculpt after Hasbro raised the bar so high with the first set really kills the value of this third figure.
If we see him at retail in the Php 1,000.00 or cheaper it might be worth it. Those extra hands and the suitcase really do add a lot of play value, but it’s not a figure that you’re going to want to spend a lot of time hunting for.
If you're looking for biased, one-sided views of toys and other assorted geekery, then you're in the right place. If you want objective, you'll need a blog written by someone who isn't an obsessive geek.
These are my views on various toys, movies, places, and things, along with assorted pictures and the the occasional link to stuff I find sufficiently geeky.
Enjoy your stay and leave a comment.
Slangards
I may give you a half-way serious answer.
