Review of Iron Man Tank MK XXIV (24) sixth scale action figure

Introduction

Several years ago, Hot Toys started a tradition of releasing several figures each summer as their 'Toy Fair' exclusives. This caused some confusion in the collecting community, since there is an actual Toy Fair here in the U.S., but it was merely a problem in translation. What Hot Toys meant was these 3 or 4 figures would be their exclusives for all the shows they were attending that year.

For collectors in the U.S., this meant they were SDCC exclusives, available through Sideshow along with their own con exclusives. That didn't last long however, because about this same time Sideshow was wisely re-evaluating their own SDCC exclusives, and decided to drop the concept altogether. To ensure U.S. collectors could still get the Hot Toys 'toy fair' exclusives, they remained the U.S. distributor for them, but you could simply order them from their site at some point in the late summer or early fall.

Such is the case with tonight's review subject, "Tank" from Iron Man.  This is technically the MK XXIV (24) suit from Iron Man 3, part of the House Party Protocol. He's a larger, heavily armored version, hence the nickname.  He's currently available at the Sideshow site for $300.

Packaging - ***1/2
This isn't a fancy box with a fifth panel or a colorful insert. It's a slip cover over a window box, with a couple plastic trays inside holding the figure and accessories safe. It's all collector friendly of course - no need to damage a thing - but it's not particularly special in its design.

But it is quite attractive, with a cool art deco vibe to the graphics. It might not be a fancy design, but it's a pretty one, and will stand out on the shelf for those that are into that sort of thing.

Sculpting - ****
One of the two major factors that appeal with this particular suit is the chunky, thick, heavy look to the design of the armor. This is the Schwarzenegger of Iron Man suits, and the entire costume has a wider, bulkier look, keeping all the proportions in line.

And if you think he looks familiar, you'd be right - this is Heartbreaker. It's not quite identical, but it's really, really close.

This is not a die cast release, but Hot Toys does their usual exceptional job making all that plastic appear like actual metal. Sharp edges, clean lines, and a tight fit create a highly realistic look.

I particularly like the work on the torso, where the larger, layered design has a ton of detail, and the helmet, where the thicker look is nicely proportioned.

With his hips in the tighter position (more on that in the Articulation section), he stands about 12 1/2", fitting in nicely with the rest of the line up.

Paint - ***1/2
In the Sculpting category, I said "one of the two major factors". The second is the Paint work, which sets this guy apart thanks to the palette.

The earthy tones are a nice departure from the brighter reds, yellows and golds. They also seem appropriate to the sculpt, matching the design in style and creating a consistent feel. Had they gone with bright primary colors, it wouldn't have felt quite as much like a 'tank'.

Of course, that's because the on screen suit was well designed, but Hot Toys has done their usual terrific job matching that look in sixth scale. They've added weathering and wear as well, adding that final touch of realism to the paint job.

Articulation - ***1/2
This figure is not as highly articulated as some of his cousins, and part of that is due to his chunkier design. Part of that is also simply due to cost cutting.

The ball jointed neck works great, helped by the space provided between the chin and the high shoulder armor. You can get plenty of tilt and lean, adding personality to any pose.

The shoulders don't appear to pop out, as they have with some other recent releases, but the range of movement is still quite good. That's helped by the articulation in the 'shoulder pads', which allows them to lift up and out of the way.

The elbows, wrists, and knees all work pretty much as you'd expect based on previous releases. The ankle and half foot joint are both here as well, but I couldn't pull the foot down further either. Like the shoulders, that seems to be left off this time.  It didn't mention it in the instructions, and I wasn't going to crank on them to test it out, but the hips DO drop down (no need for the butt button this time), and the waist expands a bit as well. Neither of these joint movements are mentioned either, so perhaps the ankles and shoulders will move...if you're willing to take the chance.

He comes with the fully articulated hands, with each finger jointed just like the real deal. These work great, and are very sturdy.

Along with the articulated shoulder armor, a few other plates move as well, like the top of the foot and the side of the hips. This allows for a greater range of the movement in the nearby joints. The only other joint that was restricted was the cut hip, which doesn't turn outward as much as I'd expected. This, combined with either the difficulty in extending the shoulders (or the lack of that feature) dropped the score here slightly from his twin, Heartbreaker.

Accessories - ***
When it comes to a House Party Protocol variation, this suit has quite a few more accessories, including the release of Heartbreaker.

He comes with hands sculpted in fists, but also has a set that are designed for blasting poses, as well as the now standard articulated hands.  That's not too unusual, but this time he also has a set with red flames permanently blasting from the palms. These are pretty sweet, and can be used for a wide variety of flying and fighting poses.

Speaking of blasting flames, he comes with a huge blast effect for his chest, refereed to as a 'unibeam' in the marketing materials. This snaps in place over his arc reactor, and looks... interesting... when in place. See the photo above.  Yes, I expect this will be used for other poses that won't be quite as demur. In fact, I'm betting the above photo ends up photoshopped in record time.

The figure comes with the heavy duty flight stand with the long (longer than usual), bendable metal post and large, round base. This is the same base that lit up, once upon a time, and instead of creating a new base, Hot Toys just left the light feature out.  I find that highly annoying - you're paying $300 for this figure, it can either have a light up base or a new one that doesn't have the remnants of an old version still so visually obvious.

This figure includes what is perhaps best called a gimmick. They've included two small Iron Man suits in flight poses, the MK XXVII and the MK IX. These two smaller figures have their own bendable metal rods to hold them behind and below the larger figure. The idea is that thanks to perspective, they should look like full size suits, just waaaay behind the Tank figure, when they are all on the stand. How well that works is up for debate, since the posts themselves make their location pretty obvious. Still, you have to give them points for trying something different.

Light Feature - ***1/2
Guess what - the eyes, reactor and palms all light up.  Big surprise, right?

They went with larger batteries (all included) for the chest this time, and it is very, very bright. Getting the batteries in at all four locations is fairly straight forward, but you will have to remove the top of the helmet and a chunk of armor from the back each time you want to turn the lights and chest off or on.

I dinged them slightly this time because they didn't hide the battery compartment or switch on the inside of the arms. I don't mind that it's not covered by a piece of armor - getting to the switch easily is a big plus - but it needs to be a little less obvious. And this is the same as it was with Heartbreaker, but the darker color of the armor in that situation hid the compartment a bit better.

Still, the overall effect works great, the lights are bright and clear, and with a character like Iron Man, the light up feature is critical. One of my favorite aspects of the chest light is due to this particular armor design.  The single chest light illuminates the ribs as well, creating a very cool effect.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Collectors will have a ton of fun with this guy, posing, posing and posing again. You can get plenty of different looks, especially with the flight stand and extra hands. The articulation is also good enough to support a wide variety of poses, although it's not quite as good as some of the recent die cast releases.

Value - *1/2
All the Iron Man variations are getting very, very expensive. The recent Bones release was $285, and he was just a regular release.

Tank is at $300, and does get a slightly better score than Bones.  The reason for this is three fold: you're getting better articulation, you're getting more accessories, and you're getting an 'exclusive'.

Now, we don't really know just how exclusive this figure is, and whether or not that has anything to do with the production number.  Hot Toys doesn't produce and tell, so it's possible that there are fewer produced of something like Bones or Striker, and we'd never know for sure. But slapping the exclusive label on the box does mean the price goes up slightly.

All that being said, he's still not a good value. For ten bucks more, you can pick up the die cast MKIII from Sideshow, making it tough to justify the price tag here.  Of course, if you're obsessively completing your own House Party Protocol, three bills will seem like a small price to pay.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***1/2
If the price of these Iron Man variants is scaring you off, this guy is not for you.  While his suit design and colors are pretty sweet, he's not something the average Iron Man fan must have.

But of the many and varied versions that have come out of Iron Man 3, he's one of the better. I really like the bulky, chunky look, and for me it's an improvement over something like Bones. The big problem here is that MANY of these variants are cool, and settling on just one or two is going to be a matter of taste.

The big issue here is Heartbreaker - if you already own him, do you really, really need this guy?  That's a really tough call, since this amounts to just a repaint with better accessories. I scored this guy better of the two, but that's because I love the paint scheme, and I always appreciate more accessories. But if you already own Heartbreaker, I'd be hard pressed to tell you that you need this one as well.

I assume Hot Toys will run out of variations eventually, but with Striker, Shotgun, and the stealth mode MK III coming soon, it doesn't look like it will be any time soon.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***
Light Feature - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- the exclusive is available through Sideshow for $300.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
The most recent Hot Toys Iron Man review covered the MKIII Construction Diorama. Before that, I looked at Bones. Earlier reviews include the diecast Whiplash, Heartbreaker, as well as the diecast AoU War Machine.

Other die cast Iron Men variations include the Iron Man 3 War Machine, the Iron Patriot, and the newer MK42.  And don't forget that Hot Toys also did an all plastic War Machine from his first appearance.

Other Iron Man related releases include the Mandarin, the Power Pose MKXLII, the Iron Monger, the Mark V, the Secret Project version, the MKVI, the very cool War Machine, the hot chick Black Widow, Whiplash, the Mark III figure, Mark II figure, Mark I figure, and additional Tony Stark men's suit. There are also guest reviews of the Battle Damaged Iron Man and Mech Suit Tony Stark.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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