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Standard Marvel carton, no surprises here. Window to view the figures, Minimate styled artwork to the front. Photos of the entire wave to the back, and each character gets a sideflap picture.

What a difference 2 years can make. This is an update of the Extremis Armour Iron Man that was part of the Civil War Boxset. At the time I gave that version (in hindsight) a very generous 8 out of 10. Let’s see how this one stands up against it.

Apart from the Minimate body this figure shares no parts with its forebear. The obvious starting point is the helmet. It’s a deep red in colour with gold paint on the faceplate. Lots of sculpting to the faceplate and around the sides and back of the helmet give the figure presence, and the eyes make it come alive. The eyes are such a simple paint app/tampo, but they’re in exactly the right place and contrast beautifully with the gold.

The chestpiece is also extremely detailed and well sculpted. For some reason I expected the shoulders to be hinged. That’s how detailed the piece is. Paint apps are minimal, being confined to the omni-beam in the centre of the chest. There’s a piece that clips over the crotch which helps to add weight to the figure – this is also sculpted and lines up well with both the front and back of the chestpiece. The figure is finished with boots and gauntlets which are re-uses from the Iron Patriot Minimate (not reviewed at time of writing). Both sets of parts are well suited to the overall look of the Minimate.

As with all other Iron Man Minimates, DST give you enough alternate parts to enable you to display him as Tony Stark. These days that’s generally done by including more than just a hairpiece. This version of Iron Man has hair, plus extra hands and feet. I’d imagine most Minimate fans aren’t going to display their figure as Stark. Iron Man’s just too damn cool to hide away. But if you do remove the extra parts you’ll get a chance to admire some nifty detailing on the chest as well as that gold paint that DST seem to use so well. It’s incredible to think that just 2 years ago I was impressed by the original version of this figure. This little guy is light years ahead of the Civil War version and a very welcome addition to my, and anyone else’s collection.

In conclusion: Great looking, much needed update of an essential armour.

MMC Score – 9 out of 10

It is strange to see DST package one of Shellhead’s oldest villains (introduced in 1965) with one of the most modern versions of his armour. Still, it’s great to see this old school villain getting the Minimate treatment.

Titanium Man isn’t the most stand-out Marvel Minimate ever to be created, but all the same a lot of time and effort has been spent on him. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the character, he reminds me of a Telebug (crappy cartoon from the 1980’s, ask your Grandad). The face plate is just hokey compared to even the most basic of Iron Man armours, but he has a certain charm. While I may not ‘like’ the face on this ‘mate, it does look just like the character. Then again, this most classic version would be pretty much impossible to get wrong. The eyes and ‘mouth’ on the figure are the only colours and so the attention is always drawn to them. Both prints are fine and the mouth lines up well with the face plate. There’s some fine detailing to the pods either side of the face, especially to the front.

Detailing to the chest piece is very good. There’s lots of rivets and the suggestion of heavy metal, though I am disappointed that the chest piece itself isn’t actually sculpted. This does leave Titanium Man looking a bit flat. There’s further detailing down the skirt part which is all very true to the character but difficult to notice because all detail is merely black print on a fairly dark green body. It’s good to see detailing on the upper arms, though again this does go largely unnoticed thanks to the colour scheme. I can’t help but feel this figure would be improved immensely if DST had opted to use some kind of metal effect paint, just to make Titanium Man shine out a little bit more. Chunky gauntlets and boots finish off this figure.

What is cool is that as Titanium Man is an armoured figure, DST have given him the same kind of treatment as the Iron Man Minimates. The helmet is removable as is the chest piece to reveal Boris Bullski (crazy name, crazy guy) in all his glory! The face on this guy is excellent, it’s super-villain personified. The line work on the brow is so expressive and the heavy beard just adds to the menace. With the chest piece removed and the alternative flesh coloured arms added you also get an extremely burly Boris Bullski. He looks like he ought to be posing for the world’s press on horseback, like some other famous Russian bloke. It is cool that DST went that little bit further with this figure by giving it that alternate look. But really I’d have preferred the cash and resources being spent on making Titanium Man as good as he possibly could be.

Titanium Man has no accessories, though as previously mentioned he does have an alternate hairpiece and alternate arms.

In conclusion: Fine, but should have been better.

Review and pictures by Rad Kerrigan

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