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Iron Man 2 Cosbaby Figures
Hot Toys

Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys

   "The following is a guest review.  The review and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the guest author."

Jeff loves him some Iron Man and some cosbaby, so it's no surprise he loves them together! Tonight he's looking at the second series from Hot Toys - take it away, Jeff!

A couple of years back I covered the first set of Iron Man Cosbaby figures, it was a licence that lent itself well to the switch and swap ethos that the line utilises. As with a little repainting here and slight bit of retooling there they made six distinctly different figures by simply reusing and repainting different parts in different ways. It’s something they have managed to do again here, but although the re-use is evident, the specifics of the characters in the new selection meant a whole lot more original parts were needed, especially as the set has swollen from a lowly 6 figures to 8, admittedly the first set did actually have seven if you managed to secure the ultra rare ‘Stealth’ chase version, but sadly I didn’t :(.

These look great standing with the first release, but there is one glaring omission that I hope they pick up on, even if it’s a special exclusive, but more on that later.
This set pretty much manages to encompass all the major players from IM2, well the visually interesting ones anyway, and is another great addition to the Cosbaby ranks.
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys

Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys

Packaging - ***
Hot Toys have played around with a few variations for Cosbaby packaging, we’ve had a few ‘double’ sets with window boxes and they even put the US release of the comic book Batman figures on bubble cards. However I’m glad to see a return to form here with the classic little oblong blind boxing. The box shows a promotional shot from the movie of the Iron Man MK IV backed up by War Machine. The sides show the seven standard figures in the set (there is a seventh chase variant). However, once you open up the box you’ll see the big change. Whereas before the blind boxed figures came in a simple polly-bag, this new release has them sandwiched and held secure in a little vac formed tray, akin to a scaled down version of the ones used on the 1/6th figures.
I never suffered an actual broken figure the old way, but occasionally a little re-construction was called for where a hand, foot, leg, arm or even head may have come loose while in transit, but no such problems now!

Sculpting - ***1/2
This time round, as I just said above, we get 8 figures in the set (including the chase) and four of those are variations on the standard armoured mech-suit. I don’t include War Machine in this as every part of him is remoulded to show his bulked up frame and exclusive detailing. We have the MK IV (circular ARC on chest) in both helmet shut and open variants, the MK VI (triangular ARC) and the MK II (silver) with the mask up showing Rhodey within. Now these are all done in the inimitable Cosbaby way so don’t go expecting a likeness of Don Cheadle, in fact if you take the time to look closely you’ll see that both the ‘helmet up’ figures share the exact same head sculpt, in fact the basic face is the same throughout the whole Cosbaby line, even Black Widow and Nick Fury have the same basic face sculpt before it’s made to look like the character with the specific paint apps. The only series to have had a different face so far was the Michael Jackson set his estate obviously took exception to him being shown with a bobbed nose…?

Any way, what I’m highlighting for those new to the Cosbaby game is that they very much have their own unique aesthetic. Meaning that poor old ScarJo as Black Widow doesn’t quite look like the devastatingly gorgeous seductress she is in real life, we all know she has ample curves in all the right places… and oh, those places!
Instead, here she looks like she’s spent too much time in Dunkin Donuts, but hey, it don’t matter cos she’s in the Cosbaby style and still manages to look cute and like a slightly chubby toddler dressed as Black Widow, which is of course what she’s actually meant to look like (the clues in the name).

The Nick Fury figure is also very cute, and kind of manages to be a two in one… how I hear you shout. Well, the eye patch is actually removable, so all you have to do is slip it off and you’ve instantly got a Cosbaby figure of Shaft!

At first glance you might think War Machine has reused parts of the other armour suits, but he’s all new. The helmeted head shows all the retooled differences, as does the bulked up armour, he even has a tiny gatling gun on the back of his left shoulder.

Lastly we get my favourite of the set. Why? Well, because it’s actually managed to make Mickey Rourke as the sweaty, lank haired and over tattooed Ivan Vanko/Whiplash look cute. He comes in his full body harness and a pair of ARC powered whips and is the star of the set as far as I’m concerned.

But what of the oversight I mentioned earlier. Well, it’s nice that we get the figure of Rhodey in the MK II suit, and I guess the alternate mask-up version of the MK IV is a cute touch, but it’s at the expense of the MK V suit… which was quite frankly my favourite suit and indeed scene from the whole of the new movie. So as I said, I hope HT might consider doing him as some kind of one off or variant in the future, because without him the line-up is looking a little incomplete.

Paint - ***
As Popeye said, I'yam wot I'yam! And the paint apps on Cosbaby figures are what they are. They’re always clean, crisp and well carried out, especially when you consider their scale and pocket money price point. All the armour has a nice metallic finish and the detailing is well applied across the board. Whiplash is again my favourite, his paint app isn’t anymore outstanding than the others but the streaking of the hair coupled with his lo-fi armour, tattoos and yellow whips makes him stand out in his own way. Ultimately this set is on par with those that came before, and as such works very well.

Outfit - N/A
No actual clothing, everything is sculpted.

Articulation - ***
Cosbaby figures all have the exact same articulation (bar a few aberrations along the way). So we get the same treatment here as always, tiny ball and cup ‘push-on’ joints at the neck, shoulders, hips and ankles and little peg joints at the wrists. Just enough articulation to allow for a little personality to be injected to your display, nothing extreme or deep, but enough!

Accessories - Whiplash **** the rest N/A
Whiplash is the only one that comes with an accessory, namely his twin ARC powered whips, and to be fair it’s all he needs. I guess a gun or something might have been nice for BW, but at least she has her utility belt and ‘Widows bite’ dual bracelets.

So the whole line is a little on the light side when it comes to accessories, but most Cosbaby figures are so it’s hard to hold it against them.

Value - ***1/2
Sideshow normally carry most of the Cosbaby figures, and with this being a Marvel license I figured they would have them, but I can’t find them on the website anywhere. They were originally going for between $8.99 to $9.99 but the prices are already rising on eBay where you can expect to pay between $10 to $25 each for them, depending on popularity/scarcity i.e. BW is $9.99 and the MK II Rhodey is $25.

So if you can get them at $8.99 I think they are approaching a full score, but at $25 it’s less so (obviously).

Fun Factor - ***
I guess if you wanted to, you could play with your Cosbabies, and my kids have been known to, and so far without any damage. But really they are more of a little display item, ideal for desks and shelves. Kind of a way of showing your particular ‘geek’ allegiance when away from home or at work. So as such they are a cool compact, space efficient collectible that will give you just about as much fun as you’ll let them. On this particular occasion that means a solid 3 stars from me.

Overall - ***1/2
They don’t cost too much (if you get them quick enough), they don’t take up too much space and they are instantly recognisable as the designated character they represent… well, most of the time. 

I’m happy to have these flesh out the ranks of my first IM Cosbaby set, but I seriously hope they address the issue of a MK V version… we needs him Hot Toys, we needs him real bad! 

I’ve got it! 

We need a special edition window boxed 2 pack. Tony in his race suit with ‘THE’ suitcase and the MK V, c’mon Hot Toys make it so!

Where to Buy -
Sadly I can’t find these with any of Michaels sponsors, but if you search on eBay you’ll find them for the prices I quoted above. Good luck hunting them down.

Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys
Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys


Iron Man 2 Cosbaby action figure by Hot Toys


This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer. Photos and text by Jeff Parker.

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