So a few months back, I received my DLX Mark 43, a 1/12 plastic/die cast steel Iron Man figure from ThreeZero. It was an interesting figure with some flaws, but for the price it certainly was a really good buy.
Well, if you're a MCU fan, you know that the Mark 43 is synonymous with another fan favourite from the Age of Ultron movie, the Mark 44 aka The Hulkbuster. Sure enough, ThreeZero put one up for preorder, designed to work with the DLX Mark 43. After a relatively short waiting period (seven months) this gigantic beast finally arrived for me to tinker with.
At a price point of $249 USD, this behemoth is about the same price as (and same size as) your typical Hot Toy 1/6 scale action figure.. It's certainly cheaper than your typical Die Cast Iron Man release, and an absolute bargain compared to the Metal Power Thunder Megazord. Box was so big I couldn't light it properly with my admittedly underpowered gear.
Now when it comes to contents, the main Hulkbuster figure is the star attraction. Otherwise, you really don't get too many accessories. I was kind of hoping for the Jackhammer arm like on the Hot Toy version, but alas that was not the case. If I had to guess, I'd say Hulkbuster is somewhere in the 4 - 5 lb. range.
I'm not entirely certain that that proportionally, the Mark 43 and The Hulkbuster are the right ratio from one another (I think it's a bit short, actually) but the fact that The Hulkbuster dwarfs the Mark 43 should be readily apparent,
In fact, if they had designed the figure with articulated fingers, this figure would have probably come with no accessories. In the place of articulated hands, you get three fixed poses - close fist, open palm, and Repulsor blast position. You can get a good sense of the sheer size of this figure, as just the hands alone are the size of a Figma torso.
While it's not a perfectly scaled down Hot Toys figure, the overall aesthetic of this figure is quite impressive. In addition to having great looks, there's also a whole bunch of LED lights that I didn't really have the batteries (or patience) to actually get to work, so I'm going to have to presume it's all good. I believe all of the major lights are present, though some of the smaller ancillary lights are absent.
Paintwork is beautiful, all over this figure. Truly as good as anything that Hot Toys has ever delivered.
The various mechanical details on this figure are quite well done. There are also some functional panels, such as the various armour panels on the feet that allow for maximum range of motion of the feet, and the forearm gauntlets that flip open and allow for the Arm Taser to be deployed
While not exactly as nimble as a Phicen body, this smaller Hulkbuster does have one advantage over the 1/6 version, and that is with regards to articulation and posing, as all accounts tell me that the 1/6 version is basically a statue. Under the plastic shell is a die cast metal skeleton system that can be a bit tight, but it certainly does the job of holding poses well. There's a combination of ball joints, ratcheting joints and general swivel joints used throughout the figure. You're never gonna get a three point landing pose with Hulkbuster, but your general giant lumbering robot poses, you're gonna be just fine with. The only "huh" moment I got when fiddling with the figure is I couldn't figure out why they only gave the figure the ability to bring its arms together and not collapse them together at the back.
ThreeZero also took a page from its Mark 43 design, and built in several joints that allow for body shell parts to completely move out of the way so you can get even more range of motion, specifically for the shoulder, forearm, and hip area. Fortunately, due to proportions and general design, Hulkbuster doesn't look as awkward when deploying these "cheats" for posing purposes.
Finally, we have the one feature that is basically mandatory on any high end Hulkbuster figure, which is the canopy opening up so you can put in your Mark 43. Unlike the Hot Toys version, however, you don't have the option of sticking in the figure in its entirety, nor does The Hulkbuster come with a dedicated Mark 43 torso. So, you have to strip off the lower body and forearms of your Mark 43 figure, and shove it in the opening, like so:
Getting the cockpit open and fitting your Mark 43 bust within isn't too difficult, but for me what's more interesting is the design of the forearm attachments on the Mark 43.
Something tells me those tiny plastic clips aren't gonna stand up to some rough handling.
And there you have it - the DLX Hulkbuster from ThreeZero. I feel that if you're in the market for a high end Hulkbuster, but don't want to deal with the size and weight of the Hot Toys version, this is probably the next best thing. Functionally, it can do what the large toy can do, and while not as pretty, it makes up for this with the ability to actually pose. Having said that, there's still the fact that this figure possess some tight joints to contend with, so manipulating the limbs can be somewhat of a challenge. Combine that fact with the fact you're probably gonna leave a mark on that shiny finish if this figure topples over, and you're probably gonna stick with safer poses anyway.
But.. the POTENTIAL for more is there.
That's about it for this figure. It's off to storage for now until I finally figure out my display space situation, at which time I might even try to get the LEDs all on. You know.. for science!
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