Marvel Legends Iron Man 3, Wave 1

As I said in my last post, I finally completed the Marvel Legends Iron Man 3 line here 7 months after picking up my first, the Heroic Age Iron Man. I found Classic Iron Man and Iron Patriot on clearance at Wal-Mart last weekend, knowing this might be my chance to build the killer BAF this line included- the blue Iron Monger!  I'd been amassing an armory of several other 4 and 6" Hasbro Iron Men anyway, so these had become a loosely committed to, long-term goal.

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Surprisingly, I passed on the Classic Iron Man from this wave many times, unsure if I wanted to buy the entire wave at first. This is the Iron Man of my childhood, beautifully rendered in highly articulated form. We get the horned "Proto-Armor" helmet as well as the classic, making this figure extra fun! This looks like the same buck ol' Shellhead had from the 2009 Series 2 twin pack I.M. that came with Shield Agent Maria Hill. 

The Iron Man wave Classic I.M. has more golden colored limbs, and a more metallic, less glossy finish. He's cast in red iridescent plastic- the kind used recently that can sometimes suffers from a swirled finish. But this isn't any glaring issue here, a greater portion of the body painted metallic red and gold.  His body is from a reused mold that had limited neck articulation and doesn't enjoy the newer Hasbro ankle pivot, but he is very well articulated with both a waist swivel and abdominal hinge, and hinge-swivel wrists. This figure reminds me of my Secret Wars Iron Man from childhood, produced by Mattel in 1984- a figure I played with a lot.

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The Heroic Age Iron Man was the first one of this wave I bought, thrilled to see him on the pegs after reading The Avengers: Heroic Age. Modeled after Tony Stark's "Bleeding Edge" armor, which could form weapons with a mere though using nanoparticles that form through this highly user-integrated technology, the Heroic Age Iron Man was the first one I picked up. He's got a lot going for him visually, and his articulation is great!

Some paint apps in the chest reactor would have been nice, considering Hasbro included that on the 4" Marvel Universe version, but we otherwise get a beautiful action figure here.  The mix of  pearlescent plastic and metallic paint apps are attractive, and detail in his segmented armor, particularly the chest, feature some world-class sculpting. The abdominal hinge fits well into the armor pattern, and has admirable range. The  gauntlets are flexible to allow repulsor offensive posing, his wrists possessing a hinge-swivel combo joints. Hasbro smartly outfit his head with a ball-hinge neck for some very expressive posing.

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The Iron Patriot from this line is basically the the same figure as the Extremis Iron man from the Marvel Legends Terrax Wave, save the star-shaped reactor on his chest.  I have the blue/stealth variant of this figure, and held off buying this until recently finding him for eleven bucks on clearance, along with Classic Iron Man. This line included the more realistically proportioned, movie inspired Iron Patriot, drawing criticism from the action figure community on his inclusion, but this Norman Osborn/Dark Avengers version is not without merit.

There are a lot of pearlescent plastic parts in the mold, as well as metallic paint apps- it's a good mix that comes off nicely from afar and up close. Unlike the other two, we get a combination ball-hinge/swivel in the figure's upper torso, as oppose to an abdominal hinge and separate waist swivel. Iron Patriot has great vertical range in his neck due to the ball-hinge/swivel Hasbro gave him, allowing him to look up and down very well. He has no real forward/backward range in the legs which is unfortunate, though the thigh swivels allow lunging poses, in which the discs at his waist can shift to allow lateral posing of the legs.

Right & left legs, and torso of Iron Monger included in this first wave of the Marvel Legends Iron Man 3 line of 6" figures...

As a character, Iron Man lends himself easily to a large assortment of variant figures, Tony Stark always working on his tech, improving his suit of armor as he goes. Ongoing success of the recent Iron Man movie franchise allowed for a renaissance of the character, giving us a tidal wave of great new action figures, and making Iron Man a household name. These are some great looking Iron Men for my growing armory, and unique enough in sculpt and deco to stand out visually. You will see many more comparison pics in the next few posts! Be sure to visit the Iron Man Armory online!

*Up Next: Wave 2!*
More Later- Make It FUN!