With the big Iron Man sequel up on the horizon for theaters next weekend, the hype fever has spread quicker than a demon in a bottle, and plenty of collectors are looking for nice little toys based on the movie to add to their own unique collections. Big international toy manufacturing company Hasbro has already unleashed the 3.75" figures and other related kids merchandise on the retail market, and other toy manufacturers like Hot Toys are following suit with very detailed and pricey figures for serious collectors to consider. Anyone looking into the middle ground are in luck, as Marvel and Diamond Select Toys have released their own wave of Iron Man 2 figures for the cool and pristine Marvel Select line. The first of these just came out last Wednesday in specialty shops, and it was none other than Tony Stark's best friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes, all dressed up and armed for battle in his War Machine armor! I didn't hesitate to grab it when I saw this baby, and it's arguably one of the best figs I've gotten since the MS Thor a few months back. Why? Well, read on and find out as I review this sucker full of heavy firepower!
Marvel Select Iron Man 2 War MachineReleased: April 21, 2010
Synopsis taken from back of packaging:"Created for James Rhodes by reverse-engineering Tony Stark's Iron Man, the War Machine armor differs from its predecessor not only in terms of color but also possesses more destructive weapons and raw firepower. Forced to choose between following orders and helping his friend, Rhodes must decide once and for all where his loyalties lie."
Yes, this is THE War Machine armor you're going to see in Iron Man 2, and by the summary and trailers alone, I know this is going to be a beefed up version of the Mark II, which Rhodey "acquires" from Tony and gives to his best friend's business rival Justin Hammer to redesign and use for military applications. We'll be seeing those two duke it out with one another, but they'll eventually team-up and fight on the same page, as we've already seen on the trailers.
First things first, I've gotta say that of all the War Machine figures I've seen through the years, this one impressed me a great deal! This figure exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds, and I'm hardly excited for the new Marvel Select figures nowadays! Also, the movie hasn't even come out yet, and I'm already relishing on Iron Man 2 goodies that capture the characters' likenesses almost perfectly!Looking at the figure's paint job and sculpt, and I can't find any major faults on this area. Yep, War Machine here looks pretty much like he does in the movie, and I gotta give credit to the sculptors for doing a nice job in carving the figure out almost perfectly. The figure's got a nice frame. The detailing is excellent, with every piece of his armor shouting heavy duty firepower all over, right down to the side arm guns mounted on his wrists. Keeping the color scheme intact is also big plus, with coats of black, grey, and silver lighting up his armor right down to a tee. However, anyone with a keen eye may notice some paint quality issues, and that the Edwards Air Force decals are missing. Given that it's a Marvel Select release, the former is unavoidable of course, but it would have been a big plus if the decals were added on at least.
For clarity's sake, you can see the differences for yourself by checking out the pic of the War Machine figure above and comparing it with the one sheet poster from the movie here. Take a look.
Got a nice good look at it? Spot the differences? Alright, let's proceed with the rest of the review.
Aside from the faceplate and mini-gun, War Machine also comes with a display base that reads "Hammer Advances" on the door, so it's pretty obvious that it was Justin Hammer who reverse-engineered Stark's armor and refitted it for Rhodey to use. They come tucked in behind the figure in it's clam shell packaging as two separate pieces you have to connect together to make into the stand. Accessories are always a plus for a Marvel Select release. They help structure and create potentially dynamic poses that toy lovers and collectors can enjoy, especially for photo shoots and displays. In War Machine's case, he's only got two removable accessories packed with him, namely the armor's faceplate and shoulder mounted mini-gun, and the aforementioned "Hammer Advances" stand you can use to display the figure.
Pictured above is Rhodey wearing the faceplate to complete his transformation into War Machine. As you can see, it's a tiny and delicate little item, with two tiny pegs on the rear side that fasten neatly into corresponding holes located in two different spots in the figure's head, namely in the forehead and on the scalp. These areas simulate the effect of Rhodey tilting his "mask" on and off, giving collectors quite the display choices on their hands.
As you can see, this is how War Machine looks with the faceplate tilted up, revealing the face of Don Cheadle, who portrays Rhodey in the sequel. The sculptors did a great job rendering actor's likeness into the figure, and it's faithful enough to make him give a big thumbs up for quality assurance alone.
With the faceplate on, War Machine looks like a total Bad Ass. He breaks down a cold mean stare that will have crooks thinking twice before attacking him, and for somebody who's literally packing some serious firepower inside of him, he has to look the intimidating part to elicit that cowardly response from villains. Also, the armor's helmet emits a crimson red color from the lens, much like what we've seen in the trailers and promotional photos. However, the arc reactor chest plate IS colored blue instead of red, and that may be a point down for some when it comes to consistency. It's not too much of a thing to worry about though, and if you really need to fix these issues, a little customization can always remedy the situation.
As far as posing goes, the War Machine figure has a few joints you can play around with to create different positions of your liking. Bear in mind though, it's REALLY limited, so don't expect any of that "Marvel Legends" flair and hyper-extending to be found on this guy. Just like I mentioned in the Thor review, Marvel Select figures are primarily designed for display purposes only, so you can throw the big grand acrobatic act out of the window. However, that doesn't mean that this puppy doesn't pack some points of articulation, and War Machine can do some rudimentary movements to adjust his posture ever so slightly. There are ball joints located on the neck, wrists, and feet. Pegs located on the limbs allow Rhodey to move and twist his shoulders, arms, and legs around, provided he doesn't move around like Spider-Man. Hardening of some areas may occur due to the production paint drying up, but you easily fix that with some cooling/ heating methods, or carefully popping the appendage back into place. Unfortunately, this guy doesn't have any articulation on the waist (UPDATE: I was wrong. I double checked, and there is Upper Torso movement, so this baby can move sideways!).The side arm guns can't be tinkered around with either, leaving the shoulder mounted mini-gun as the only tangible weapon you can pose around with. It's a bummer, I know, but I can't complain that much since this is primarily a display figure, and there's a lot of excellent detailing placed into this baby already, like the repulsors on the hands and the boot jets on the soles of the feet.
There may be a few discrepancies around and the lack of articulation may be a disappoinment to some, but the Marvel Select IM2 War Machine figure is a pretty solid choice if you're just looking for a livelier version of the character without having to worry about displaying it in a variety of ways. If you're looking for something in line with the Marvel Legends brand, skip this and just look out for the 3.75" or 6"figures that have more poseability options for collectors to decide on (not the 3.75" comic book version or 8" diecast figure with limited poseability posted above). In fact, the 6" Hasbro figure has the most articulation and interchangeable accessories, and the Edwards Airforce decals are present on that one. Unlike the Select figure though, it doesn't have a removable faceplate and the Hammer stand, so there's the trade-off there. Bottomline, if you don't want to worry too much about detail, accessories, and just want a simple, decent representation of James Rhodes suited up, this is the figure for you. Grab it alongside the Mark IV/ Mark VI Marvel Select Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr's likeness, and you're good to go!
As a final word for comparison's sake, here's a pic of War Machine, standing side by side with the old Marvel Select "Extremis-Like" Iron Man. They stand on the same scale and look decent together side-by-side, but I'd much rather prefer pairing it with the Mark IV or Mark VI Marvel Select figure once I get my hands on it. Stay tuned for that, and until then, I hope this review helped out! Can't wait to watch Iron Man 2 this week!Rating - 4/5
There's a diecast figure? I thought the 8"ers at the launch were all plastic?
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