Iron Man Week Day 2: Review of Movie Mark I, II, and III

Hello everyone and welcome to day 2 of Iron Man week. Today we are going to take a look at the
3 3/4" versions of the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III from the Iron Man 2 line of figures!!

Mark I:

The Mark I suit isn’t  as fast or as powerful as Tony Stark’s later version of the Iron Man armor, but it was still pretty tough enough to blast its way to freedom in the remote mountains of the Middle East after Stark was captured and held hostage by malicious terrorist group known as The Ten Rings.

Sculpt and Paint

This figure is the first armor that Tony Stark has on in the Iron Man films and in my opinion is a must own. The sculpt blew me away, especially since this is only a 3 3/4" figure! There are little screws and cogs everywhere and the bottom of the foot has wiring detail!!! I think it's completely movie accurate sculpt wise, I can't praise it enough. The helmet look great, the back has really nice details on the gears, and the thigh pieces have tracks on them ( I think they helped mobility in the movie? not sure) Regardless it's a beautiful sculpt on Hasbro's part. The paint is also amazing, the figure was given a black wash to simulate a rusted metal look and it came off wonderfully. The figue (mine at least) has no paint slop.Well done Hasbro, well done.

Accessories and Articulation

In terms of accessories the Mark I comes with a gimmicky launching weapon that doesn't bug me much as it is (unlike the others) chracter specific in the sense that it's a big clunky flamethrower. He also has a display stand with the standard Armor Cards, a set of 3 cards, 1 full color, 2 transparent, that press together to form the armor that the figure represents.
In terms of articulation the Mark I has a ball-jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, no wrist articulation, swivel waist, swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.

Mark II:

Packing the pinnacle of technology into a sleek, armored frame, the Mark II suit is everything Tony Stark could want. Amazingly fast and powerful, it is a near perfect weapon system, though it suffers from a slight icing problem at high altitudes but as Tony Stark would say “Sometimes you have to run, before you can walk”.

Sculpt and Paint

The Sculpt is killer yet again. The figure has a sleek look to it overall and just screams Iron Man. Now the suit is actually based on the suit from the Extremis storyline (save for the chest arc being circular). It just looks stunning, The thing about the Mark II compared to the Mark III is that there are so many details that aren't visible in the Mark III unless your right on top of it but on the Mark II, the black paint lines bring out every detail!! Speaking of paint its great. The Silver looks fantastic on this figure, the blue eyes and arc reactor have an aura about them and the black highlights really make it pop on the shelf!

Accessories and Articulation

In terms of accessories the Mark II comes with a gimmicky launching weapon that does bug me because this is the Mark II and rather than come with this weapon which he would never use, they could have included an Unhelmeted Tony Stark head, or even a flight stand like in the comic series figure. He also has a display stand with the standard Armor Cards, a set of 3 cards, 1 full color, 2 transparent, that press together to form the armor that the figure represents.
In terms of articulation the Mark II has a ball-jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrist, ball-jointed torso, swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.

Mark III:

A perfection of the Iron Man armor, this suit is the most advanced piece of technology in the world. Powerful weapons, super strength, and supersonic flight make Tony Stark a one-man army ready to take on any threat, including the villainous Iron Monger.

 Sculpt and Paint
Now I'm not going into detail on the sculpt because it is the exact same as the Mark II because it is the exact SAME figure!! I have no problem as they are the exact same armor in the movie just with a different paint scheme. The paint on the figure is solid. Just watch out for the gold paint application as it can be messy. Other than that, no complaints.

Accessories and Paint
In terms of accessories the Mark III comes with an armor upgrade. I don't really see the point in it so after this review is up it's going into the spare parts bin. It's made from a really soft plastic that was warped in packaging and the paint constantly chips off. He also has a display stand with the standard Armor Cards, a set of 3 cards, 1 full color, 2 transparent, that press together to form the armor that the figure represents.
In terms of articulation the Mark III has a ball-jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrist, ball-jointed torso, swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.


OVERALL:

Mark I
Fantastic sculpt, good articulation and paint, good accessories
9 out of 10!!

Mark II
Fantastic paint, sculpt and articulation, good accessories
9.5 out of 10!!

Mark III
Fantastic paint, sculpt and articulation, mediocre accessories9 out of 10!!



That does it for today, check back tommorrow for a review of the Movie Mark IV, Mark V, Mark VI on Day 3 of Iron Man Week!!



Iron Man Week Day 1

So I decided to start off Iron Man week differently. Originally this would have been a surprise post on Saturday but I decided to do it today instead. The following is a list of (in my opinion) the top 10 Iron Man figures every fanboy should buy!
Let's Kick it off:


Iron Man Figure Checklist (no particular order of importance):

1.) Iron Man 2 Comic Series Ultimate Iron Man

This is art in figure form. Hasbro at it's finest and a must have for any Iron Man collector's Hall of Armor.
2.) Iron Man 2 Movie Series  6" Mark IV

This figure is worth the hunt because not only is it one of the collest looking armors of the 2 Iron Man films but it has a Tony Stark head complete with hangover shades. Epic Win!
3.) Iron Man 2 movie series 3" Mark III
        
The first movie suit to bear the red and gold. You can't pass this up!
4.) Iron Man 2 3" Movie Series Mark I

It may not have had much screen time but this was the first Iron Man suit of the Cinematic Universe. It's beautifully sculpted to boot.
5.) Iron Man 2 3" Comic Series Mark I

Iron Man wore this armor in his first appearance....that is all...
6.) Iron Man 2 3" Comic Series Mandarin

One of the best Iron Man villains gets his 3" figure debut, only he was hard as hell to find, if you come across him, get him!!
7.) Iron Man 2 3" Movie Series Whiplash

The villain of Iron Man 2 was hard to fine but now is showing up everywhere and still looks great. I love the design and the figure is just fun.
8.) Iron Man 1 6" Iron Monger with Opening Cockpit

This to me is the definitive Iron Monger figure to get. Great sculpt, articulation, and an itty-bitty Obadiah!
9.) Marvel Universe Heroic Age Iron Man

Probably one of my favorite all time armors from the comics is one of the best Marvel Universe figures. Go figure.
10.) Return of Marvel Legends Extremis Iron Man (Stealth Variant)
             
Sure this armor may not have been seen much but you can't deny that it looks really really cool, and whether we admit it or not, that's what we all like about Iron Man. He just looks so damn awesome.

That raps up the list, check back tommorrow for the first review of Iron Man week!

The Avengers Spoiler Free Review!

"There was an idea, to put together a team of extraordinary people, so that when we needed them, they could fight the battle that we never could."
                                      -Nick Fury

                  The Avengers hit theaters last night at midnight and man oh man was it....I'm still processing it because it was absolutely perfect. I found no flaws at all, and there was a perfect mix of seriousness and humor, especially humor, very surprising. Lets start with the plot. Loki, the adopted son of Asgard has fallen through a wormhole and is after the Cosmic Cube, also known as the Tesseract. The Cube is in S.H.I.E.L.D's possession and Loki finds a way, as he always does, to open the cube and arrive on Earth. That, dear readers is where chaos ensues. The team begins to meet one another, but not on a friendly note. Everybody fights everybody and it was awesome. Banner is brought in to try to find the Tesseract, which Loki steals and uses to bring an army of the alien race called Chitauri to earth, while Iron Man constantly antagonizes him hoping for a change in pant size and body mass, while Cap tries to calm Stark down, while Widow tries to supervise while Fury hides secrets while Thor crashes down and fights Stark, while Coulson watches in what seems to be concern mixed with amusement. Shortly after a chaotic battle on the helicarrier and a death in the family, the team unites and they become the team they were meant to be. The rest of the movie (about an hour) is one WAM!BAM! final battle in New York. That's as far as I will go into plot details but I want to tell you, stay during and after the credits because this time there is not one, but two, yes TWO scenes!!!

Now let's go into the individual characters themselves.
Captain America:
The Captain is a man out of time and that really shows in the Avengers. In one scene you really feel bad for the guy because as he punches his boxing bag, every punch brings him back to a memory of the war and you can see the pain in his face, especially when he says "When I went to sleep we were in a war, but when I woke up 70 years later, here we are, the winners." Evans did a fantastic job as Captain America making the transition from symbol of hope to Leader of the Avengers.

Iron Man:

Iron Man kick-started the Avengers franchise back in 2008 so it only makes sense  that he has some of the best moments in the movie. The scene where he gets the new suit....my jaw dropped to the floor. It's epic beyond comprehension. Robert Downey Jr. delivered a performance that I enjoyed more than in Iron Man 2 because he was his cocky self but with a hint of sincerity, where Iron Man 2 he was just plain cocky. One of the best parts of having Iron Man in this movie is he lives to piss off every hero. One of the best scenes is where he tries so hard to turn Banner into the Hulk. Priceless.

Thor:

We come to Thor, my favorite of the Avengers. Thor was great in the movie. Hemsworth delivers a great performance as the God of Thunder and we finally get to see him use all of his powers. One of my favorite fight sequences with him is when, yes we all knew it was coming, when he fights the Hulk. He truly shines in the final battle and the scene where he gets his armor was just superbly done.

The Hulk/Bruce Banner:

The gamma-powerhouse is back and better than ever! This time Mark Ruffalo plays Banner and. unlike the previous incarnations, he plays the Hulk as well, through the wonders of motion capture. The hulk honestly stole the show. As Banner, he was like that lost puppy that you want to hold and protect but as Hulk he was a 10 year old on redbull. It was easily one of the best performances in the movie.

Hawkeye:

The teams resident Archer finally gets the screentime he deserves. He doesnt get as much as I thought he should have but for the ammount he did, man Jeremy Renner knows how to handle a bow and arrow. The Marvel Cinematic Universe's take on Hawkeye was great and I hope he gets his solo movie!

Black Widow:

I'll be honest. When I first saw Iron Man 2, I wasn't really pumped for Widow, don't get me wrong it's cool to see her in a movie but it just seemed kind of forced in there. In Avengers however, she really shined. Scarlett Johanssen was fantastic and proved that there needs to be more female heroes taking center stage.

S.H.I.E.L.D:



S.H.I.E.L.D had three main stars in this movie. Nick Fury of course, Agent Phil Coulsen, and Maria Hill.
Nick Fury finally gets the screen time he deserves and gets to fight and shoot his way through some bad guys. Samuel L. Jackson delivers and proves that HE IS Nick Fury.
Agent Coulson is like the godfather of this team and he really shines here. Whereas the past movies have just had him make cameo appearances, this movie he takes a more central role and Clark Gregg proves he deserves as much of the spotlight as the others.
Maria Hill isn't really a focus of the movie but she is portrayed well by newcomer Cobie Smulders.

Loki:

Loki is the main villain and Tom Hiddleston masters the role. In Thor, Loki was still figuring out who he was but in this movie, he is down right vicious and evil. He fights every Avenger and just delivers a stellar performance. Right now he is tied with Heath Ledger as the Joker for my favorite comic book movie villain of all time.

Final Verdict:
The Avengers is one of those rare superhero movies that sets itself apart from other summer blockbusters. It appeals to everyone and I cannot find one singal flaw. The action sequences were top notch. The acting was superb. The script was fantastic. The effects were beautiful and it was just a masterpiece. Joss Whedon is a true master and I hope he comes back for many many more films! See this movie, you will not regret it!!
I give The Avengers a perfect 5 out of 5!!


On a slightly-related note for the 6 hours me and my bros spent waiting in line, I decided to give in and pick up a prop to bring with me. The compliments I got from guys on line were awesome and my friend learned that while it is a prop, it still hurts like hell. Turns out I was the only one with the prop I chose, everyone else was rockin Cap shields and masks. Me? I saw this at my local comic shop and couldn't resist.  :)