Photobucket got back to me and explained that they're trying to fix things, so yay! They're also putting back some of the removed features that everyone didn't want removed. Double yay!
In the meantime I'll continue posting some older junk: Here we have the first batch of toys I found when Iron Man 2 was coming out. Whether or not you liked the movie, the accompanying toyline made for some great figures!
So we begin in February of 2010. I think I've made it clear that I LOVE me some robots, and that goes equally for armored suits, 'cause honestly, you can use them either way. I've got a long history of using fully armored figures as robots or the other way around. This toyline really hit me the right way, so I ended up with a good portion of it...until the end, when Hasbro usually loses interest and only spits out a couple boxes of the end of the series.
At the time I was just starting my mission to replace all 6 inchers with 3.5 inchers (and I'm still kinda going that way, though I'm still folding on some 6 inch figures that are too cool to miss). I wanted to show off the differences between the previous line for Iron Man 1, which I also kinda collected profusely (and now I'm weeding most of them out).
Iron Monger and the MK I Armor both got tiny versions, so I of course wanted to pull some jokes from that. Both are good figures, though your value may vary depending on how large you want your Monger (there's a joke there somewhere; I just know it).
I really liked this little guy! Looks more accurate to the first movie if I'm not mistaken, but I don't care as much about that. He's a surprisingly agile little beast; I never expected to get the poses out of him that I did. I think he came with a missile launcher of some sort that went in a bin instantly. That flame blast didn't come with him, but it works better, obviously.
Now once again, I think size will be the decider in whether or not to get this guy (why I'm saying so I don't know - it's not like these are so amazing that you should hunt them down). They matched his size between Iron Man 1 and 2 toylines, but that was always a little off. I think that the 6 inch Monger may be in scale with the 3.5 inch Iron Man, or maybe a little bit too big. But it's closer than the respective Iron Man figures for their toylines. I mean, Monger does pic up Iron Man by the middle in the first movie, an he can't do that as easily unless it's the 6 inch going against the 3.5 inch.
Bah, doesn't matter! It's a cool little toy, all the same. Well articulated.
Now this guy I really liked! Look at all that scratched up armor! Cool details and a great simple look. This is obviously the comic version of Iron Man's first armor. Built that sucker in a cave with a box of scraps he did! Although he used that when he got back home too, so I dunno if this is supposed to be his break-out armor or his I'm-back-home-maybe-i'll-do-this-all-the-time armor.
Say it with me: Doesn't matter!
He came with this orange fireblast...I dunno why. Looks better with the yellow ones that were throughout this series.
If you don't have a regular 6 inch superhero collection, then I highly suggest this one as your classic Iron Man. Great little figure, and if Hasbro is planning on just making articulation limited in future movie toylines, then I would go back and look to this line for your classic needs.
Oh yeah, I highly suggest this one too. Crimson Dynamo. He's your standard communist Russia version of Iron Man, but the main point is that HE ROCKS. Oh man this is one awesome looking figure! Very much a must if you like robot or armored dude figures.
He's fighting a Stealth Iron Man, though I think those are the only pics I took of him. The thing around his head is supposed to be eye beams and they did come packaged with him.
I friggin' love this guy and he's still one of my top favorite toys. Get 'em if you find 'em.
Next is a few Iron Men. As per usual they make a million of the hero and a few enemies, but with Iron Man I don't care so much because any of them can be a robot!
I like this one 'cause he's purdy! A nice accurate MK II from the first movie; bolts and all. Just painted on, of course, 'cause this is a repaint of the standard MK III figure - the main armor from the first movie. He doesn't come with the blast beneath him (comes with the next guy) but he doesn't really need much. I think he had a missile launcher blabblahppphhtttt anyway, it's neat and you won't find a better representation of him in this size.
Next is your absolutely standard classic Iron Man - the one most recognizable for me. He's on the right. The left one is from Marvel Universe. I'm still undecided on which one is better!
The Marvel Universe one is really thin, so I like the looks of the IM2 figure better...but the Universe one plays better. Also, the IM2 one can't look up - at all. His legs also can't go as far up due to the way they are sculpted. But MAN he looks great! That's why I keep both around, I guess. One of these days I'm sure I'll weed one of them out. Which one, though...which one...
Now this guy I was CRAZY lookin' forward to, but he's kind of hard to play with. Looks fantastic, but his shoulder armor pieces are on hinges rather than being built into the shoulders and into the articulation, so you have to manually move them up to move the arms forward. If I were a kid I probably would have just taken them off. Another problem is that the thighs are sculpted in such a way that they run into the body when you push them up, so he barely has any range in the legs. Once again, he looks great, but he is very stiff.
Still, I wouldn't get rid of him 'cause I had been waiting for another War Machine for a good while. They don't pay much attention to him in toy form very often, and the last one I had was from the old animated series toyline. I got what War Machine figures I could in this line (save for that awesome last one with the cyborg face).
I think that covers a good portion of the first batch. Why not separate this into sections like with the Thundercats one?
Man, if it wasn't for the generally wonky hips that you just had to live with and the excessive Ironman suit to Villain ratio and hard to find Drones (that I still need to get some of), this line would have been perfect.
ReplyDeletePlus negative points for lack of Pepper, Tony and Rhodes in regular get up. I know the usual excuse is kids don't want this and that, but that doesn't stop them putting out figures like Leia in her Endor dress or Cloud city dining gear. ANd who wouldn't want a sharp suited Tony Stark figure? Or a Baldy Jeff Bridges?
Plus they never did get the Whiplash armoured movie suit out.
Curse you case assortments.
I prefer the IM2 Iron Man to the Marvel Universe one. He might not play as well, but he looks so much better. The MU one looks all thin and stretched.
DeleteI also have the IM2 MK 1 and Iron Monger figures. They're just too cool to pass up! I did pass on Crimson Dynamo, and now your pics are making me regret it. He was around on the shelves for so long too, but I doubt I can find him now.
I bought one figure from this series (one of the standard Iron Man movie-style figures), and resolved in thirty seconds to part with him; I hate the hips!
ReplyDeleteI also hate rocker ankles and thigh cuts. I'm the odd man out, I guess.
Eh, I don't blame you. The hips are annoying as hell, but they work in a number of these figures.
DeleteAnd yeah, cut thighs can get in the way many times, and rocker ankles can often ruin a good standard pose. As i've said before: I'm a fan of just the right amount of articulation. No more no less than necessary. I think the absolute worst time for it was the Toybiz Marvel Legends days of "EVERYTHING MUST MOVE!!" Oh god the articulated fingers and toes and redundant cuts. What the hell do you need with a thigh cut AND a shin cut? They also started that god-awful trend we see with many of the figures above where the ball hip attaches upward into the body instead of sideways into each other. Toybiz was worse, though. You just can't play with those things...every movement requires another movement somewhere else to get them to look good.