The original Avengers film was released over a decade ago, succeeding in uniting heroes across several films into a team based cinematic universe. The movie was very well received to say the least, and unsurprisingly, had a whole slew of merchandise associated with it, including a one sixth scale line up from Hot Toys, including a figure of the iconic Mark 7 suit that is used for the last act of the movie during the climatic Battle of New York.
Iron Man figures generally cost more than the typical Hot Toy, even back in the day, due to the sheer number of parts and engineering involved. The Mark 7 was the most complicated suit Hot Toys had made at that time, mostly due to the sheer number of interchangable parts needed to facilitate the various modes.
Well flash forward a few years and under the current Die Cast line, Hot Toys has been slowly but steadily revisiting older characters and giving them a nice Glow Up. Naturally, the Mark 7 caught my attention, but it was only recently that I worked up the courage to drop Sideshow MSRP on this figure. Keep in mind that the original Die Cast (and only one I owned), the Mark 42, was already about $300 CAD back during the Iron Man 3 days, so you can imagine how horrifyingly expensive things have gotten over the years.
So the Die Cast series has a slightly different packaging variation. The contents are secured within a foam inner tray (at least the main figure and a few accessories are anyway, with the entire assembly fitted into a slip cover that is made of a heavy gauge cardboard.
As with most Iron Man figures, the basic package remains constant. You have the figure, some sort of Tony Stark head sculpt, in this case inside the helmet, closed fists, Repulsor palms, and the articulated hands. I honestly can't remember, but I believe all the suits also feature some sort of weapon on the backs of the hand, facilitating a need for a dedicated fist for that too, or at least a fist that is cocked so you can display the figure aiming the forearm - the Die Cast figure line does not feature the articulated wrist joints like your typical Hot Toy due to the LED light piping in the forearms and as a result can't actually bend the hand at the wrist. There's also a base and stand of some sort, which in the case of the Die Cast figures, is generally a base featuring a dynamic flight arm, though given how much this figure is and how heavy it is, I wouldn't trust that to support the figure in anything other than standing poses. Much like the first Mark 7, this release comes with a large number of loose parts, lots of fun for you if you like to keep track of things flying all over the place. In addition to Missile and Battle Damaged looks, this version includes parts needed to recreate the Pod that flies down from Stark Tower to save him when Loki drops him off the balcony.
There's also that lovely set of 14 batteries, which include tools to assist with the insertion process. I didn't bother actually attempting this, as it's way too much work and would need to be removed ASAP to prevent battery corrosion into the figure itself.
Like with most Hot Toys, the releases are generally accurate to their on screen counterparts, particularly the Iron Man suits. But of course, upon closer inspection you'll start to notice discrepancies. I find hat the Die Cast Iron Man suits tend to be too to long and narrow in the torso. I don't actually understand why that is, as these aren't exactly TTM bodies that you dress up. The Mark 42 had this issue, and I think because that was the base body that has continued to be a problem ever since. You'd think with the cost per figure, they could work in an update somewhere.
The helmet, while an upgrade on the first try, is still not perfect. The on screen helmet appears to be rounder and more squat, though clearly it is identifiable as an Iron Man figure. What's unfortunate, or at least I'm calling it that, is that this is third time they've attempted a Mark 7 helmet, and they haven't quite nailed it down.
The head sculpt is a definite improvement over what we ended up getting. Mind you, the head used for the Battle Damaged Mark 7 was pretty good, as was the one used for the Movie Promo Mark 6, so you can imagine why everyone was a bit annoyed when we got something that looked like a caricature of the both of them.
I didn't have the actual head on me at the time of shooting, so you'll just have to suffer through some of much earlier photography work. Like.. who even is that?!?!?
And what Iron Man figure would be complete without a crap ton of flaps, panels, and things of that nature, though I think the last couple of suits didn't feature that many of them, which is a shame as it was always fun to see how much crap Tony Stark could cram into one of his suits. These sections are of course used for displaying the figure in various other modes, such as flight mode.
Conversion between the suit modes basically involves swapping of effects parts, though the manual isn't particularly clear with regards to the parts that should be used, along with the fact that the picture used to display the various modes is kind of small. If I hadn't handled the original Mark 7, I would honestly have been stuck and would need to refer to the Internet for pictures and what not.
Pod Mode is effectively parts swapping with a good measure of limb removal. It's doable and all, but I worry that I might break the thing, so I think once for the photography is sufficient. It's only a matter of time before I press something the wrong way, or insert something too roughly.
This being the Sideshow Exclusive version, comes with a little "hologram" of sorts, in this case being the Mark 7 in Pod mode. It's... OK. I mean, it doesn't do anything anyway and is definitely more a novelty than anything. These days, any good extras are in the Deluxe Version of figures which cost more, but at least its no longer a race to be first.
Articulation for the Die Cast suits is, given the conditions and all, is pretty good - definitely better than the original plastic suits. It's actually technically better than MY Die Cast suit, seeing how the original Mark 42 did not feature that second hip flat at the back, which not only improves range of motion, but also lets you move the legs without fear of paint scratching. Some poses are going to look awkward, like some crouching poses and of course anything with the arms requiring proper shoulder placement. Torso extends and allows for positioning optiosn there.
Pull down hips aren't present on my Mark 42, so that's new to me - maybe it was added with the backflaps in the Iron Patriot. Ankle rockers are slightly different, requiring a pull down action figure, likely due to the boot design of the Mark 7.
Now I wish I could just simple rattle on about how the rest of figure was as you'd expect, but life generally never works that way for figures I've been really looking forward to. I've actually had more QC issues with the Mark 7 than I have had with any other Hot Toy figure. Mind you, this is also my first Die Cast in a while and they're more complex, so maybe that's why.
There are some QC issues. Some of the panels, such as the ones on the lower back of suit, really like to come off the body with the slightest touch. It's annoying to say the least, and leaves me scrambling every time to find the thing before I crush it or something. If you look at the photo of the Pod with the lasers attached, you may notice that the one on the left is slightly droopy. That is because for whatever reason, the hole to insert the laser beam effect on that particular piece is larger than necessary, resulting in ample clearance for the laser to droop.
I experienced parts with dried glue, which generally isn't terrible except the finishes on the parts make it very difficult to just super glue it and move on. There are some cosmetic discrepancies now on the clean Chest plate (had to reglue Chest RT lens) and the Hologram, and I'm going to have to keep an eye open for at least the chest piece.
Even the all mighty paint work isn't perfect. For the most part it is, and understandably there going to be minor blemishes potentially. But when you have a huge glob of clear coat overspray that looks like donut glazing, it's a problem. Sadly, removing it just left a small crater in the finish, though thankfully it kind of blends in with the battle damage.
So ultimately, by Hot Toy standards, this would be a well designed figure, but one that had the misfortunate of having several unacceptable production flaws. Are these issues widespread? I honestly couldn't tell you, as I didn't keep track and more importantly, many collectors don't really notice or care about things like I do, unless the head sculpt is really bad *cough* Mark 85 *cough*.
I do recognize a lot of it might be my luck as well. Having said that, it's always annoying when it happens, but it is REALLY annoying when it happens to me on a figure that I was really looking forward to.
Everything else is top notch - that's just what makes it even harder to ignore these things.
Such is life, I suppose.
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