Neo-Classic Iron Man

At the end of Armor Wars (Iron Man #231, 1988), Tony Stark had to build a suit of armor to replace his go-to get-up, the MK VII (Silver Centurion), after it was trashed by the aptly named "Firepower" suit built by the US Government to deter its enemies: the MK VIII, or the “Neo-Classic” Armor was that replacement. The suit was harder, faster, better, stronger than those before it, and it made coffee… oh, no, wait. It was called the “coffee pot armor”. This is what I get for getting stuff off the Internet.

I blame Tito Sotto.

 

The new (Return of) Marvel Legends 2012 version of the character is based off of that Neo-Classic Armor. It's "neo" classical because it was a return to the more recognizable red and gold color scheme after having been clad in red and silver for about three years. It looked a lot bulkier than the "Classic" version of the armor which was designed in the '70's. The classic suit looked more like a spandex overall, while this new one had elements that made it look more like proper armor, like a guy covered in metal.

It also had cool shoulder pads and huge boots. There are almost important as pockets (which he doesn't have, but probably should).

I've already covered the packaging of the new Marvel Legends figures in my X-Force Deadpool review, so you can see my thoughts on its design there. The Clayton Crain art on the back is still awesome, even if it doesn't have all the little things to look at in the background. This guy is my new Chris Bachalo or Olivier Coipel. Jim Lee even.

Let's talk sculpting.

It's stellar. This thing looks gorgeous. It's appropriately blocky, and looks and feels massive. It still maintains the look of the '80's armor, but it feels sleeker. I love the Astroboy boots most of all. The hands do feel a little on the tiny side, but he is a man underneath there and I'm guessing he needs to keep some modicum of dexterity, so... whatever.

At first, I thought that the hands were ganked from the Marvel Legends 2-Packs (2010), since those two versions came with quite a few interchangeable options, but nope: these babies are new. You can pop them out fairly easily (careful not to lose them), and you can see that their posts are much smaller than the 2-Packs' hands and there's a ball shaped "tumor" at the base of his palms to fill in the socket at the top of his gauntlet when their plugged in.

That means that this is a new mold, and that, frankly, is awesome. The majority of the last 3 waves have been re-tools/colors so it's nice to get a new one once in a while, especially when it ends up looking like this.

  

Articulation is pretty good, considering. They've done the same thing that they did on the 1:18 scale figure from the Iron Man 2 line, which is make the shoulder armor as separate piece that hinges at the collar bone. Not the most clean look, but you can cheat the angles when you display him. Honestly, I can't think of any other way they could have done it without resorting to giving him a rubber chest piece... hmmm...

Well, that has it's downsides, too.

He does have trouble standing up, though. Despite a big footprint, the shape of his feet and the limited ankle articulation make it hard to keep the soles flat on the ground. The round shape complicates it more, making it hard to find that sweet spot where he'll stand on his own. The included stand helps a lot, but god, it's ugly.

You'll need to look out for paint issues. I looked through three examples before I found one that was acceptable (thanks again to, Thunderbreak of Cybertron Philippines!). There seems to be some issues with clumping and spots, which happened a lot with the Iron Man 2 line as well. These toys weren't that bad though, but Php 900.00 is still a lot of money and if I can make the most of it, I will.

Overall, I think this is a great addition to my 6" Iron Man armory. While not as big as my 4" Iron Man armory, I still can't help but love these toys a little more than the smaller ones. There's just more to play with, and I can't get over the heft of 1:10 scale toys. They just feel more substantial to me.

I'm glad I was able to get this figure, even if I had to pass on the set. Hopefully, I can backtrack and get the rest of them down the line. Who knows, maybe I'll decide to give up the 1:18 scale entirely an move back here.