|
|
Iron Man 2 - MKV
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."
|
I had my review of the Iron Man
MKV suit a week or so ago, and now Jeff Parker is checking in with his
look at this amazing figure - take it away, Jeff!
Here we are finally with the last of the Iron Man power suits,
well, at least of the ones featured in the first two movies. Of course
that’s not to say we won’t get any variations of what has already been
released. The updated MK II is still due sometime soon and Hot Toys
also announced they are revisiting the MK I, my personal favourite… in
terms of figures that is! But although the ad hoc junk yard aesthetic
pleases me as a 1/6th scale action figure, my favourite in the movies
is definitely what we have here, the MK V.
I’ve already gone on
record as saying Iron Man 2 didn’t thrill me quite as much as the first
movie, but the Monaco race track showdown with Whiplash is definitely
my favourite scene of both movies combined. Not only was the briefcase
‘suit-up’ moment so cool it hurt, but the actual design of the armour
was far more streamlined and close fitting due to the compact nature of
its portable design.
That sleek nature seems to have been quite
a challenge, as the wait from the first announcement and the proto pics
being showed has been interminably long! In fact the wait was nearly a
whole year, and I can imagine that the interim threw up a lot of
R&D problems for Hot Toys to find solutions to. So the big question
is, were they up to the job, and was it really worth the wait?
|
|
|
|
Packaging
- ***1/2
This
is very much part of the ongoing series, and as such isn’t really that
exciting any more as we pretty much know what to expect. It’s the
classic full colour printed foil card outer sleeve with a still image
of the MK V suit from the movie on the front with full body shots of
the figure on the reverse. Inside we have a large die-cut window on the
front through which we can see the figure and a full production credit
list is on the back. Open this up and you can slip out the vac formed
trays that hold the figure alongside its accessories. Everything is
100% collector friendly and very well put together.
So, even
though there is nothing particularly unique or innovative about this
box, it still does its job well, looks attractive and fits well with
the rest of Iron Man 2 line-up.
Sculpting - ***3/4
Like
all the power suits that came before it, this is ALL about the armour,
and as such this category actually makes the ‘outfit’ section
redundant. Some of the previous suits have come with extra Tony
Stark/Downy Jnr portraits, but on this occasion it’s just left to the
suit to take centre stage. He does also come with some rather cool
accessories and extra battle damaged pieces to swap over, but more on
that in accessories later.
As I said a above this is a much
sleeker version of the suit, looking a little like a high-tech Spidey
with his lean silhouette. So like the previous suits it is kind of hard
separating sculpting from the engineering and articulation, but I’ll
try.
In short it’s an incredibly close representation of the
CG suit as it appeared in the movie, and it’s a design that didn’t
wander too far from the original concept painting seen here.
As
well as rewatching the Monaco scene on my Blu-Ray (about twenty times…
never a chore) I also selected a few stills that I found on line for
reference here:
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Now
I don’t normally use quite so many links as reference points, but this
figure is so complex in its construction that I thought it important
for you to have them when comparing against the figure.
Because
this was a ‘non-flight suit’ (as far as we know) there aren’t as many
opening sections, like the rear of the calves or the extending
air-break flaps on his back, but he is still a damned impressive piece
of engineering. The tooling on the armour sculpt is all very
mechanical, and as such I’m pretty confident that 99% of this must have
been modelled digitally, but it is still just a beautiful thing to
behold! Every rivet and panel is executed to perfection. I particularly
like the tire-tread panels that radiate over the chest into the arms
and the sliding spring-loaded articulation that is concealed here is
actually invisible until you move it. Likewise all the concealed detail
on the underside of the chest plate is exquisitely rendered.
The
left arm and that chest-plate that I just mentioned can swap over to
alternate battle damaged versions that show the devastating effect that
Whiplash’s ARC powered whips have on this more compact (and it has to
be said less protective) version of the suit. The sculpt mimics the way
the metal has been split, melted and literally torn apart to expose the
wires, support frame, cables and indeed his blue racing driver suit
beneath. His back is also sleeker, but is still made up of numerous
interlocking panels.
The mask is traversed with more crisp
sculpted lines that spread out over the face plate and around the head.
This is because of the collapsible nature of the suit, and as you will
no doubt remember from the movie, it physically wrapped itself around
his body. Covering Stark’s face last as the intersecting panels
extended and locked into position.
In short this is another
showcase sculpt that illustrates exactly why Hot Toys are so very
revered by collectors the world over. And even without a Downy Jnr
portrait, what we do get is so devastatingly good it would be nigh on
impossible not to award a full score.
Paint
- ***3/4
The classic
Iron Man look is of course the iconic red and gold, but here the gold
is completely banished in place of steel, which actually works
remarkably well against the glossy cherry red paint.
The steel
falls into two distinct types, the exterior armour parts are slightly
more matte, but still have a deep metallic lustre to the finish. The
second tone which is shinier is used on the small mechanical details
between the panels and over the underside of the chest around the ARC.
I’m impressed by the quality of the paint, but I have to admit I wish
the exterior armoured steel areas could have been a little more
chrome/polished steel in their appearance, rather than the dull brushed
steel we get. I’m sure it’s a difficult finish to achieve on plastic,
especially plastic that has to be able to move and occasionally rub
against other panels… but I’m just saying!
The red parts are a
solid deep glossy colour and all the panels match up well. The damaged
arm also shows a lot of burning, gouging and scratches and where the
metal is torn away there are flashes of the blue and black Stark racing
suit and glove visible beneath.
There is absolutely zero slop
anywhere on the entire body, and on a figure this complex that would
usually be crying out for a full score; and had the steel areas managed
to mimic the actual shiny polished look they had on screen just a tad
closer, then it would have got one. However, its colour is a whisker
off so I’m keeping it a whisker off of a full score.
Articulation
- ****
I
know the power-suits never have what one could describe as a truly
comprehensive range of articulation, but I also NEVER cease to be
amazed at just how much they do actually move and pose; especially with
the huge amount of complex engineering, articulated elements and light
up features that they manage to crowbar in.
So, from the ground
up. We have a split-pin mid foot, 2 moving flaps over the front and one
at the rear of the heel and the whole foot can rock from side to side.
The knee has a very impressively designed double joint that even opens
up and splits the red knee pad when fully bent backwards. The hips are
pretty much the same as what came before with rotating peg joints where
the thigh joins the hip, then the hip is a fully functional universal
joint. These joints are disguised with a vinyl panel that acts like a
pair of trunks, and affords some flexibility when lifting the legs into
deeper stances. The stomach ‘abs’ area can be lifted to separate and
give a much better degree motion, especially when combined with the
joint between the torso and chest. The chest panel and the small
articulated panel below the ARC can both be swapped out for the battle
damaged look. I found this small panel difficult to hold firm when
swapped, but my panacea for all small mechanical failures, the
miniscule ‘blob of blu-tack’ rescues the day once again!
The
shoulders have a universal ball joint with spring-loaded articulated
shoulder pauldrons. The elbows have a 90 degree range of bend and the
joint is hidden with a ribbed rubber sheath (ah, those wonderful ribbed
rubber sheaths have saved many a situation). Once we get to the wrist,
that is usually the end of the articulation story for most figures, and
although we do still get the usual pop-on illuminated ball joint that
helps in the posing of the two ‘battle damaged’ left hands and indeed
the fists, this time we also get the two fully articulated hands. As
with all the power suits released from Iron Man 2 he is issued with the
super funky hands that have made redundant the ‘pre-posed’ selection we
used to get before… why? Well now they have every single joint in every
finger and the thumb fully able to move and pose, and it’s impressive
stuff. Then lastly we have the neck, it has a ball joint both where it
joins the shoulders and where it disappears into the head, this all
affords a solid range of movement looking in all directions.
So,
as I said, don’t expect the full TT range of mobility, that would be
unrealistic. However, when approached with sensible expectations I’m
pretty sure you’ll be knocked out, amazing stuff!
Accessories
- ***1/2
As
I mentioned above, we get no actual Tony Stark portrait here, but we
have had a couple of good ones recently with both the Mech-Test and MK
IV figures (I used the MK IV head in a few of my pics… you DON’T
however get it with the set). What we do get is the extra hands which
consist of the fully articulated ones described above a pair of tight
fists (which are attached when you receive the figure) and the two
battle damaged left hands.
We also get the swap out damaged left arm and the panels that fit to the chest.
Next
up is the uber cool brief-case that the suit erupts from, this is
beautifully executed with deep accurate crisp modelling and it even
comes with a pair of (long chained) working handcuffs to keep it safe
when being transported. Sadly it doesn’t actually open up to show any
articulated elements, but I still live in hope we might get a figure of
Tony in his Stark racing suit, and maybe, just maybe we’ll get an
articulated version with that one. Of course it’s impossible to make a
MK V suit that actually wraps itself around the figure, but I’m
confident HT could make something that mimics a half transition… well I
can dream, and with Hot Toys dedication to this particular license I
don’t think its too far fetched!
Lastly we get a figure stand/base that is the same configuration as the one we received with the MK IV which I covered here.
So like that version it represents the foot-plates in Stark’s personal
suit ‘museum’ line-up from his laboratory/workshop. It also lights up
and has the clear post and a positionable waist gripper so you can pose
him standing or in mid take off/landing mode, even though we don’t ever
actually see the MK V take flight.
So for me it’s a good
selection, made even better with the inclusion of that MK V briefcase,
which although ‘nonsensical’ in conjunction with the actual power-suit,
it does make a rather cool prop for any of your Tony Stark kit bashes.
However, even though we get those groovy battle damaged pieces I do
miss having the extra Stark head portrait that we received with the
other suits, and had they included the MK V faceplate in mid transition
then it would have been a home run. As it is I’m impressed, but not
quite four stars impressed!
Light
Up Feature - ****
No
complaints from me here. The small switches are all well concealed at
the back of the neck for the eyes, the middle of the shoulder-blades
for the chest ARC and at the mid fore-arm for the palm repulsors. All
worked fine and illuminated brightly on mine during a lengthy photo
shoot.
Outfit
- N/A
He is the suit!
Fun
Factor - ****
For
this category I ain’t gotta give a damn about the cost… it can go hang!
And I just LURVE this guy to pieces. I did plan to pose him with
Whiplash, but sadly my storage/cataloguing of my collection let me
down. I found my box with all the other Iron Man figures, but ol’ Mr
Whippy wasn’t in there… TYPICAL!
Even so, I still had a blast
getting to grips with his full range of articulation and rooting out
some cool poses. Of course the potentially fragile nature of the
engineering means that only a fool, and a rich fool at that, would ever
think of giving this to child… but if you are that rich fool, and you
did give it to child, that is one very lucky child! Did you want to
adopt me…? I’m an orphan you know!
Value
for money - ***
On
the Sideshow site this has a hefty RRP of $209.99, and in the present
high-end 1/6th pricing climate that is increasingly becoming par for
the course, especially with the big licensed figures that undoubtedly
need a ton of costly R&D to be done. However, in the present global
‘economic climate’ 210 big ones is also increasingly hard to find for a
lot of people!
It’s the same price as the MK VI and the upcoming
MK II ‘unleashed’, but it is however a full $30 more than the MK IV and
all of those came or will come with Stark or Rhodey portraits. Of
course the finished product is a small work of art, both in terms of
sculpting and engineering, but the lack of that human sculpt and the JC
Hong paint app that would accompany it does sadly contribute to the
price seeming just a tad too steep on this occasion. And the fact it
still hasn’t sold out at the time of writing this review may be
testament to that fact!
Overall-
*** 3/4
I really,
really like this figure. It’s from my favourite scene, it’s expertly
crafted and sleeker than Megan Fox in wet cat suit… but sadly, much
like Megan Fox it comes at price. And like so many figures I have
reviewed lately it is only the price that keeps it shy of the full
score.
In oh so many ways this is an exceptional figure, and
it is of a design and build-quality that most would have thought near
impossible to achieve just a few short years ago! So, are we all
getting a little blasé about the degree of detail we now expect as
commonplace these days? Well, maybe, but as long the quality keeps on
improving the way it has been, you won’t catch me complaining too much!
Where to buy
This
is still available from the Sideshow site for the RRP of $209.99
here. Or check out Mikes sponsors who have it at the prices listed
below-
Alter
Ego - $188.99
Fan
Boy - $194.99
Urban Collector - $209.99
BBTS - $190 t0 $210
Or check out eBay where prices are hovering around the $180 to $215 area.
|
Did you enjoy
the review? Plus 1 it!
Google +1
This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
|
