Superhero Times: a service of Action Online
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Hasbro’s latest wave of Iron Man figures is filled with that all too familiar line up of repaints and gimmicks that are far more appealing to children than to collectors. But, there is one such repaint in this wave that many collectors, including myself, wanted to get their hands on as soon as the figure was shown off. More than a repaint, this figure was a comic inspired variant. This figure is none other than Captain America Iron Man!
Starting with the packaging, you’ll notice that it looks like the same now-familiar card that all of the movie Iron man figures have come on, but with the words “Concept Series” across the top. This is the explanation of why the wave is full of many different Iron Man repaints. The back of the package sports an image of the figure included along with a short description of the armor. In the lower right corner on the back are the letters CA, for Captain America. This is something I didn’t notice until I got the figure home, so I’m assuming that each figure will have different initials in that corner.
One thing became apparent to me before I even removed the figure from his package, and that was the paint job. It was different than the initial prototype. My biggest complaint here is the shade of blue which has been used. It’s far too light. It could almost be described as a sky blue, and comparing that to the darker blue of the prototype, which is even pictured on the card back, it’s a serious let down. On top of that, there is not a single bit of extra detailing. Granted, none of the other Iron Man figures have featured any kind of wash or dry brush, but something about that light blue makes this one look extra bad without any of that. It almost makes it look cheap.
Another issue seems to lie in the articulation. Now, this may not be an issue with everyone’s figure, but mine has some serious weak knees. It’s hard to get him to stand on his own without his knees giving out, casing this figure to collapse. On top of the, the thigh and pelvis joints are too tight, so it’s hard to pose the legs at all. This is a terrible combination! And worse of all, the head is barely attached to the figure! It just falls right off at the slightest bump it seems. The head doesn’t snap on to the ball on the neck. It just seems to rest there. I was really confused by this, and was left wondering if I just got a bad figure out of the bunch. I couldn’t imagine a child playing with this, especially with that head failing off all the time.
Iron man includes a canon that clips onto his arm, and Captain America’s shield. The shield seems to just be the same as the one that has been included with Captain America Marvel Legends figures, which is perfectly fine. So, the shield is really nice, including both the clip for the wrist, and the black straps on the arms. Iron Man’s arms are a little thin, so really the wrist clip is all you need to get him to hold the shield. And he does look really cool while holding it, admittedly. This seems to be the highlight of the figure. With a little work, you can get some nice poses out of him while holding that shield.
Overall, I do have to say that this figure was a bit of a letdown. I was pretty excited when I saw the original prototype for this one, but alas, this is one of those cases where the final product is much less desirable. If you’re a fan of Iron Man or Cap, then you might still want to add this one to your collection. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t recommend you going out of your way to find this one. It may not be worth the trouble. Completists are going to want this one for sure.
CLICK HERE for more images of the Captain America Iron Man figure.
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Review and Pictures by “Pixel Dan” Eardley