Review of War Machine - Iron Man die cast action figure

Introduction

Hot Toys has been leading the way in the sixth scale action figure market for a number of years now, but they can feel some heat from behind. There are several other companies pushing the limits and including the use of die cast metal whenever possible.

Hot Toys is not a company to rest on their laurels, and last year they announced they were producing a new series for the Iron Man license made up of die cast figures.  The first of these released is the War Machine MKII, and they are following that up with the Iron Patriot.

These figures aren't entirely die cast, but much of the armor has been replaced with a metal equivalent. Because of this die cast content, the price has risen. This guy will cost you around $285, depending on the retailer.

I'm looking at the Sideshow exclusive version, which is identical to the regular release (including price), but comes with one additional accessory.

Packaging - ****
It's hard to describe this package, but I'll give it a shot. Rather than having a lid that slips off, like a shoe box, or a wrap around flap, which is quite common these days, this box has an upper and lower section that separate about 1/3rd of the way up. These two halves slip apart, and inside is a solid foam box with etched lid. Inside this foam box is the figure and accessories.

While it's hard to describe, it's amazing in person. The upper half has a plastic wrap as well that makes the color pop, and the light color and well chosen graphics invite you in to take a closer look. This is one of their cooler recent designs, and I hope we continue to see it with this series.

Sculpting - ****
This is a beautiful figure, complete with a gorgeous armor sculpt. There is no Rhodes head sculpt though - this is only the suit.

Because of the die cast parts, this figure is very heavy when compared to the usual Hot Toys release. In fact, the included instructions have a little graphic of a person dropping the figure on their foot, with a note saying that this is not a particularly good idea.

Although it's heavy, the joints have no trouble keeping the figure and arms up in any pose. How well they've designed the sculpt and the joints to work together in concert is part of the overall beauty of this figure.

The suit is sharply defined, made up of dozens of small pieces and parts all combined to complete the overall look. It really is an amazing piece of engineering AND art.

As you'd expect, he's just a smidge over 12" tall when standing straight.

Paint - ****
While there's not a ton of paint, what's here is perfect. The colors look fantastic, and even small details, like Rhodes name on the chest plate, is as clean as you can get.

While there's a fair share of metallic parts here, there's still a fair amount of plastic. It's almost impossible to tell the difference, especially by appearance alone, which allows the two distinct materials to work together seamlessly.

Articulation - ****
This is the category that makes it all come together. While the sculpt and paint are amazing, and the heft and feel of the metal is impressive, the figure doesn't come alive until you start working with the articulation.

The number of joints is impressive enough, but it's the range of movement that will blow you away. Certain joints work much better than they have any right to - check out the two extreme poses I used to show off the terrific posability of the waist and torso. He can lean way back, extending the joints in the torso, or he can bend over, crunching his abs together much more tightly than I expected. And he can do all this will still maintaining a solid leg pose, holding him up in even these extreme stances.

One of the sets of hands has articulated fingers as well, and I suspect that most people will stick with these. You can get most any hand pose out of them, including fists and fully extended battle hands.

The only joint that's a little restricted is the shoulder. The instructions will point out that you can't raise the arms up over the chest, but that's a fairly minor issue, and you should be able to get just about any cool fighting stance you could want.

Accessories - **
The one area where this guy falls short is Accessories. He's very light when it comes to extras, particularly at this price point.

He does have 3 sets of hands that include fists and some gesturing poses. However, he comes wearing the articulated fingers, and these are really the best of the bunch for most situations.

The hands swap easily, and they include an extra wrist peg just in case. All the hands have light up palms.

He also has his machine gun, which has an articulated arm and can be attached to either side of his back.

There's also a small gun that can be swapped in on the left forearm. This works well, and is much sturdier than having it actually hidden within the armor itself.

The regular release has one additional accessory - the light up display stand. It looks good, and the light feature works well.

The exclusive includes a small (3") holographic version of the MKI. It's a translucent plastic and unarticulated, but if you can snag it for about the same price as the regular, it's well worth picking up.

Light Feature - ***1/2
This figure includes five light up features. Four of these use the small watch batteries, which are included, while the fifth - the base - uses three AAA batteries that are NOT included.

There's a small screwdriver as well, designed to allow you to open the tiny panels on the body. There's also a small plastic tool that can assist you in putting the batteries in.

The four areas on the body that light up are pretty obvious - the eyes, chest, left palm and right palm. Each of these four has a separate battery compartment and switch. All of these are hidden by pieces of the armor, which must be removed to turn the lights on or off.

And that's really the only issue. Removing these panels isn't always easy, and I fear that doing it repeatedly may weaken the attachment of the panels as well.  While the lights are very bright (you can easily see them in room lighting) and add quite a bit to the overall look of the figure, you probably won't go through the trouble of switching them on and off very often.

Fun Factor - ***
While this figure might not have the biggest array of extras, it still has some really amazing articulation that allows you to pose, re-pose, and re-pose some more. Because the joints also feel very sturdy and solid, you won't fear damaging them, freeing you up to try some pretty extreme ideas.

Value - **
Unfortunately, a lot of the upcoming Iron Man suits are going to run you $275 or more, metal or not. The price on these has really jumped over the last couple years, and it's going to be harder and harder for collectors to be completists when it comes to all the MK varieties.

Things to Watch Out For -
The two pieces of hip armor can flip out and in, allowing the legs to take very deep stances. However, they can also get caught between the leg and upper body, and you might scratch them. Take care to move them out of the way each time you reposition the legs.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm a bit behind on this figure - he's been sitting here for awhile now, begging to be reviewed. With the Iron Patriot shipping soon, I thought it was time to get off my butt and discuss the move to die cast.

While I love the heft and feel of the new suit, I'm not sure if the price is completely justified. Without a Rhodey sculpt, it feels shortchanged, and it also makes it difficult to convince collectors that already have the terrific original War Machine to cough up the money on a second version. A new head sculpt would have gone a long way to making this release ideal.

The Iron Patriot has a leg up though, since there isn't a regular release to compete against. Add in the cool red, white and blue colors, and you may be better served sticking with that release and passing this guy up, particularly if you already own the first Hot Toys War Machine.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow was the place to get the exclusive, where it's now wait listed. The regular version is also wait listed through Sideshow, and both will run you $285 if they become available.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Hot Toys has done a lot of amazing collectibles for the Iron Man series, including these busts, and other sixth scale figures like 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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