Iron Man, Mark III (from Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles)

In my mind a good indicator of a high-quality collectible -- *ahem* action figure -- is that I start getting ideas how the makers could have added even more layers, more detail to a piece that is already packed with detail. In the case of Iron Man, Mark III (from Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles), I wish there was a button to press for catch phrases from Capcom fighting games. It seems a perfect fit, especially given the fact the figure is already wired for lights in four locations. Why not a sound chip to spout, "Proton CANNON!"?

Makes me wonder if there's an after-market supplier that I could contact to install such a thing. I'd even settle for a sound chip in the large base that ships with the figure.

The attention to detail actually starts with the box Iron Man is packed into. And for the price tag of $309.99 USD ($405.00 CAN) that should be expected but as much as I like boxes, the showpiece, of course, is Iron Man.

No assembly required! Just free the figure from the deftly cut styrofoam liner, remove the copious bits of protective plastic and foam, and enjoy!

Well, there is some assembly necessary if you want the full effect of the lights. The package includes the necessary "button" batteries to install for the four light-up locations: visor (accessed through the forehead), the hands (batteries installed in the biceps); and the chest (located in the back). Each of these compartments are secured by a screwed-down hatch.

The included mini screwdriver is, in a word, terrible. This is a deluxe figure so why not include a screwdriver that will actually get the job done? The mini screwdriver slips easily when it use thereby damaging the heads of the screws. In the long run this will mean the battery hatches will become wholly inaccessible.


The lights are pretty dang cool, it's just unfortunate that they're all operated by separate switches. In the case of the visor switch, hidden behind the face plate, it's not easily accessible. The same goes for the ARC reactor light on the chest. The switch is hidden under a flap on the figure's right shoulder. It's great that the switches are neatly hidden -- the switches on the biceps are only noticeable if you know what to look for -- but it would have been a little more convenient if there was one switch to turn them all on rather than flipping them all on then switching them off once you're done basking in the coolness of such a rad figure.

Useful articulation is all over the place, so much so that one can pretty much recreate Iron Man's most popular poses, including the crouched "I just dropped off a building and thought I would land by punching the ground because it's just cooler that way, though in real life it would liquefy my innards and tear the muscles from my bones!" That particular pose is accomplished through some "quick" surgery to swap out the connection between torso and legs. It's easier said than done though, mostly because there are so many moving parts, so many pieces that could snap off, that it's likely my overabundance of caution hindered the operation somewhat.

Extra hands, other little accessories, etc. come packed-in with the figure, which help with the poseability of the figure but could be instantly lost. The base could have been made a little thicker to include a ready storage area for these small pieces. As it is, it feels necessary to keep the large box the figure comes in just so there's secure location to house the extra bits.

Even given the lack of storage capacity, the base is one of the best I've ever come across. At first, it seems little too big given the size of the figure but that's before you consider just how heavy this figure actually is due to its "die cast" nature.

The instructions offer a cautionary tale about the dangers of dropping Iron Man.

The metal pole and adjustable height of the clamp results in the ability to create "flying" poses. Best of all, once posed Iron Man stays that way and because the footprint of the base is so large there's very little chance of the setup toppling over, unless someone walking by snags a piece of clothing on it.

Iron Man has a wide number of flaps that can be opened along the back of the figure's legs and back, to the point that it reminds me of a porcupine. During any kind of play, I can imagine that these would snap off with very little force. In fact, I was so worried about this that a couple of "wing flaps" on it's back are still enclosed in plastic. The plastic wasn't coming off easily so I just gave up. Better to have the plastic still there than a couple of broken flaps!

Instead of playing with the figure, I spent some stressful time just slowly repositioning limbs, fingers, flaps, feet, etc. like some kind of mechanical bonsai/Zen garden. It was weirdly calming, which is probably not something anyone was thinking at any time during the production of this figure. It's more stressful to think what would happen to the figure in the hands of a child.

Since Iron Man is already squarely aimed at a niche audience that is highly interested in a extremely detailed collectible it's easy to say that the figure is worth the high cost of entry for those folks. It's highly functional (in the sense that it's so wildly poseable) and looks awesome, that any shortcomings -- the crummy screwdriver for one -- is easily overlooked.

- Aaron Simmer