The new Captain America has taken flight - and Anthony Mackie's portrayal of Sam Wilson embracing the stars, stripes, and shield in the finale of the MCU Disney + series "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" is now going to be fully realized with the upcoming 7" Marvel Select Sam Wilson Cap figure!
The Disney Store exclusive is now available for purchase, and now that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series is done - fans can now add this to their collections!
Say hello to the Marvel Select Iron Man Mark IV Armor. Yes, I finally have something to pair with the War Machine MS action figure, and it happens to be the suit that stands side by side with it on one of the iconic Iron Man 2 posters we've seen around promoting the movie - the one pictured below:
Here's a photo of the two MS figs following a similar back to back pose from that shot:
Those two look awesome and badass alright. Anyhoo, let's move on to the review.
Synopsis taken from back of packaging:
As the synopsis stated, the Mark IV is a more refined and streamlined version of Tony Stark's Iron Man armor. Still using the iconic red and gold color scheme that makes Iron Man identifiable to the public, this baby symbolizes everything that makes Ol' Shellhead who he is - a jet setting avenger and an awesome hero. As far as I can remember, there weren't any flaws shown in Iron Man 2 to make the armor a problem for Tony to wear, besides his deteriorating Arc Reactor chest plate condition that became worse each time he donned the suit. Eventually discovering a new element to cure his ailment, Tony upgraded to the Mark VI, which looks almost exactly identical to the Mark IV, save for the grey areas inserted to several sections of the armor and a new Triangular chest plate, which reflects the look of the Extremis Armor in the comics. Despite the cosmetic changes to the exterior, the man inside the suit is very much the same, and no matter what iteration of his armor he wears, Tony Stark is and will always be Iron Man, 'nuff said.
Originally released together, it took me a while to get my hands on the Mark IV. At first, I was counting on getting the Mark VI armor instead, but shipments for that figure were delayed as well. Fortunately last weekend, new stocks of Mr Stark's upgrade to his badly damaged Mark III arrived in the malls, and I was a gleeful little bugger when I finally picked the 8" inch figure up. Much like the Marvel Select War Machine, the Mark IV is primarily meant to be for display purposes only, but that's not to say that those who have it can't play around with it. The figure comes with some points of articulation, as well as an extra pair of removable hands that can easily be swapped or detached to the owner's liking. A silver base is also packed in, divided into two segments that can be inserted together to form a stand area with a single peg that allows the Mark IV to do his thing and pose around. Again, this compliments the War Machine figure, as it has it's own base to stand on as well.
The best thing about the Iron Man 2 Marvel Select line, and probably what got me to collect the figures in the first place, is the removable face plate accessory. Much like the War Machine figure having the likeness of Don Cheadle, the Mark IV has Robert Downey Jr's face sculpted onto it, completing the look of Tony Stark in his armor. Of course, with the two sets of holes you can insert the mask's pegs into, collectors have the option of having Tony "tilt" the faceplate up or down. In fact, you could even redo that "Demon In A Bottle" scene where he gets drunk in his own armor, with the Mark IV having two sets of hands to play around with. One set is a pair of closed fists, while the other are two open hands, that you can either use to simulate sustained flight or fire a repulsor blast. All with those accessories, but but if you notice that the face plate doesn't have any "lights" on the eye holes, rest assured, all of them are like that. I had to take the time to craft and customize my own stickers to add to the slits and complete the armored up look. It's a bit of a pain, but I had fun doing that at least.
Poseability wise, the Mark IV doesn't have anything in terms of dynamic posing. You can raise and twist the arms and legs around to make him, punch, kick, or fire a repulsor, but there's nothing of the sort that will make it pass as Marvel Legends like. Joints are typical, with points of articulation of the arms and knees you can use to bend the appendages. The waist can also move and twist around, and the shoulder pads actually has hinges on each side that make it swivel up in case Iron Man raises his arms. Finally, the head, hands, and feet move 360 degrees thanks to the ball joints. I had a hard time getting some segments to move thanks to paint freezing and misplaced joint issues, but a little tweaking and popping those pieces back into place fixed the issues in no time. There's not that much movement here and there for MS figures anyway, but with the amount of detail already placed into them, sometimes what's there is already enough.
For its value alone, the Mark IV Iron Man figure is decent and well made. It's not the best nor is it the most poseable iteration of the character from the movie, but it gets the job done and is pretty good in its own right. This is Marvel Select after all, and you can only expect so much articulation compared to the 3.75" and 6" figures and toys. There's plenty of movement enough, and at least there are extra accessories and a stand in hand to make it versatile enough to play around with. Bottomline, get this if you're a serious collector of all things Iron Man, or are one to appreciate detail.
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 Machine
Synopsis taken from back of packaging:
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!
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!
A few years ago, I was among those toy enthusiasts who collected what is already considered the toyline of the past decade - "Marvel Legends". Initially produced by Marvel toy division and subsidiary Toybiz, it was not only a phenomenal series of action figures, but it was also a superb collectible that provided fans with something that was not perfected til the line came to be - crafty detailing and superb points of articulation on each figure. Initially starting off in 2002 as a spinoff of the "Spider-Man Classics" line, ML was conceptualized to include other famous heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe, standing at 6 inches to scale and usually packaged with a complimentary comic book that features the character's origin or one of their best adventures. As the years went on, the line expanded to include "chase" figures (otherwise known as the rare ones) and build-a-figure gimmicks, giving more reason and demand for the fanbase to collect every single figure they could find. However, something unexpected occurred in 2007, when popular toymaking company Hasbro gained the reigns to the Marvel license and literally took over the ML brand, forcing Toybiz to cease production of the series after 15 waves of marvel character goodness. As a result, my days with the ML line were practically over, and I settled into semi-retirement with action figure collecting... or so I thought.
Be cautious when placing him in the peg of the base though, as the figure doesn't stay put and has a habit of falling off easily when moved around. Another gripe people may have is the neck joint, which refuses to turn sideways. I myself have encountered this problem, and I hesitate to force the issue lest I come up with a headless God Of Thunder to display. Also, you can only equip Mjolnir on his right hand, so no swapping the hammer on the other hand.
By all counts, if you like Thor and all things Marvel, I'd highly recommend the Marvel Select Thor. Comparing it to the old ML Thor and the upcoming Marvel Universe modern Thor, this one stands out as the best among the lot, and frankly, it's built like a brick wall that will last for ages to come. The figure is still widely available in retail shops and stores everywhere, but be warned, there are a couple of stocks out there that may have some factory defects, so be sure to pick and choose your copy wisely. All things considered and despite some minor setbacks, it's an impressive figure to mount and display on one corner of your room, and if you like some God Of Thunder awesomeness alongside your other collectibles, here's the product just for you.
Rating - 5/5
