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Iron Man is back with the first solo film in Marvel’s phase 2. This start of summer blockbuster has a few tricks up its sleeve. Let’s see how the accompanying Iron Man 3 minimate sets compare to their movie counterparts.
Packaging
The Figures
Iron Man Mark 42
Tony sure has been busy since we last saw him in the Avengers. He’s created a ton of new armors and his most recent, Mark 42, and is the most advanced one yet. The movie armors keep getting better and better on film and in minimate form.
His helmet is slightly different from the Mark 7; it has a flatter face and more sculpted lines around the main face plate. Besides the main mask cover there’s also included another helmet with removable face plate which I’m really glad they brought back for this version. This TRU version has the hot rod red and a mustard yellow color scheme (the LCS has the red & gold). Underneath is Tony’s dashing face with iconic goatee. They’ve also included and updated hairpiece.
I really like that they’ve continued with the short torso cover rather than the full cover used for the previous solo Iron Man movies. This really slims his body frame so he’s not so bulky. This torso cover just goes over his torso without extending over his shoulders, rather his arms have added sculpted details for the shoulder plates. It looks very good but just be wary with movement of his arms. The added detail along with the torso cover don’t leave much room at his armpits. With his arms straight down or straight up there’s plenty of room but at around the 90 degree angle you may have some separation at the ball joint. It’s not a major concern, just be wary as you pose the figure. Aside from this the arms are well done with similar gauntlets as from the Mark 7. His boots are also new with same yellow and red coloring.
Underneath the hood on the base torso and legs are some of the best underarmor detail we’ve ever seen. I was impressed with the Avengers Iron Man underarmor but I’m even more so with this version. The top half of his torso is exact same as what’s under the Mark 7 just brighter color, the bottom half has the added yellow panels that look incredible. On his legs rather than going with sculpted detail they are regular minimate legs with painted details all round; again they are top notch.
Besides the extra head pieces is included a clear base stand. With all the excellent pieces and extra helmets this is a good figure for swapping parts with other Iron Man figures to get more updated looking armors, especially underarmors.
The Mark 42 looks incredible on screen and they did a good job creating it in minimate form. But if you’re only getting one, I would lean towards the gold instead of the mustard yellow.
MMC Score – 8 out of 10
Mandarin
I don’t want to spoil how the Mandarin was used in this film for those that haven’t seen it yet. I’ll just echo one of his quotes: “You’ll never see {him} coming”.
The Mandarin has a very detailed face which is a good match to Sir Ben Kingsley. He comes with two grey hairpieces. One is just the hair part with bun in the back, the other has the attached long beard. With his robe the non-beard piece works best as the rope tends to keep it from fitting all the way down on his head. Speaking of his robe it is a nicely done piece with sculpted hood in back and gold trim on the front. His main torso has some detail for his shirt and on his legs are simple details for his boots. He has wonderfully done sculpted cuffs on his arms with what appears to be some writing details around the wrists. His hands have five rings on each; four on the top of the hands and one on the thumb side.
He comes with a silver gun and another clear base stand. His parts make for a good quick custom along with the wave 36 Modern Mandarin figure. Also those cuff arms, ringed hands and excellent robe make for welcome custom fodder.
In conclusion, regardless of how you like him in the movie, this is a great figure and a welcomed non-armored Iron Man villain.
MMC Score – 8 out of 10
Review and pictures by Lurch77
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This set is currently available here at Luke’s Toy Store!
