So in late 2020 (like December), ThreeZero announced their first entry into the MCU arena - a 1/12 scaled (DLX) Iron Man Mark 43. Seeing how people generally raved about how well ThreeZero was at their articulated robot game, and threw down and preordered one. I eventually even preordered the Hulkbuster that was designed to go along with this figure.
Seemed like a much easier and cheaper alternative than tracking down the Figuarts at this time.
Well, the figure has finally arrived - I honestly didn't even remember it was shipping until I received an email saying it showed up.
Officially under the Infinity Saga, I'm gonna guess the line is going to involve many, many, MANY more Iron Man suits. The Mark 43 is the suit that Tony Stark wears for most of the Age of Ultron film, which of course is also the suit he wore in the Hulkbuster. Or basically as I call it, the Inverted Mark 42.
The art box itself is a nicely photoshopped photo of the toy itself. While I couldn't really take any nice pictures, the front flap opens to show the box contents in a window.
Retailing for $89.90 USD from Three Zero directly (exchange rates... what can you do?), this figure is about 7.25 inches tall, and comes with pretty much everything I'd expect from even a 1/6 release, with the exception of battle damage parts, which they don't do anymore anywa.
- 1 X Main Figure
- 10 X Posing Hands (2 X Closed Fists, 4 X Relaxed/Repulsor Blast Hands, 4 X Relaxed/Repulsor Blast Hands with Effects Socket)
- 2 X Wrist Missiles
- 2 X Wrist Repulsor Effect
- 2 X Foot Repulsor Effect
- 1 X Flight Stand
- 1 X Mini Tool (Battery Compartment Opening/Removal)
Like its Hot Toy cousin, this figure also features LED, though it's for the helmet and the chest RT - the wrists do not light up. I also didn't bother actually trying them, seeing how I didn't have the necessary batteries nor the child sized figures needed to install them.
So, first impression - shiny, shiny, shiny. The figure features an exquisite paint job and is beautifully finished. The die cast advertised is basically in the internal structure, which includes the exposed joint sections. Overall, the suit proportions, like most figures, aren't quite right and tend to run a bit on the lean side.
From an articulation perspective, I'll let the above photos do the talking. There are, naturally some limitations due to the physical nature of the suit, though there are some interesting things that Three Zero has done to maximize the range of motion.
The shoulders, blessedly, come with butterfly joints and as such the arms can collapse together. However, as the shoulders are relatively narrow, the chest plate has built in flaps that move out of the way. This not only allows for movement, but also helps to minimize paint chipping and other damage.
The other major similar feature that ThreeZero engineered is the hips. While the Hot Toys fetured flaps on the waist piece to allow for maximum leg movement, this toy features extending thighs and a moving front thigh cover that allow for positioning of the leg by moving of the bulk out of the way.
The heel flaps also move out of the way more more movement, and there are flight flaps that open on the back.
Overall, I found the articulation to be functional, though strangely limited, especially when everyone raves about how well done the Transformers line up. First up, not helping issues is how stiff the hip joints are. They are incredibly solid and probably won't have issues holding any positions, but at the same time they are very challenging to move. As such, getting precise positioning of poses is annoying.
ThreeZero also did not build in any waist articulation with this figure, and as such all of the torso twist in all in the chest. Couple that with relatively limited head movement, and basically you're not getting your true Three Point Landing Pose with this figure.
Crouching poses, though, in general aren't too bad, and are aided by the double jointed knees and the fact that ThreeZero gave the figure some ab cruch capability, so the poses look more natural. Unfortunately, they did not give the figure an equal amount of back arch, so anything involving those sort of body lines aren't gonna look very good.
The inclusion of dedicated Repulsor Blast hands was a smart move, as the bulk of the armour does in fact interfere with hand movement, and this figure doesn't have the exposed ball type joints like Figuarts or Figma have.
For me, the shoulders and arms are probably the best designed parts of the figure. As stated above, the arms can cross, which makes for more natural forward aiming poses. Couple that with excellent range of motion and variety of joints (shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows) and generally your aiming poses will be great.
As mentioned earlier, the head articulation, specifically the head tilt, isn't really quite there for flying poses - it really looks like he's looking at the ground when he's flying straight ahead.
So, is he the hero we're looking for? It's kind of a mixed picture, though mostly positive. I think at the MSRP, this is an excellent product. Sure there's no die cast on the outside, but there's certainly enough of it on the inside and it is a solid, solid toy. Exceptionally made and is, in my opinion, probably what a Hot Toys 1/12 Iron Man would look like. I look forward to figuring out how this goes with the Hulkbuster, which from what I've seen here, will likely be a very well made product that, again, provides some good value for the asking price of $250 USD.
The articulation, however, could have been better. More neck tilt, functional waist at the very least. Perhaps design the figures with a bit more space tolerance in mind so greater range of motion can be achieved, though admittedly that can affect proportions, but at the same time the Mark 43 could stand to be bulked up a bit. On the other hand, part of me thinks that maybe this one is this skinny due to the intent of combining it with the Hulkbuster. It'll be interesting to see if the proportions change for the other suits.
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