For well over a year now I've really cut my Marvel Legends collecting down to just X-Men and mutant related characters (X-Force, Alpha Flight, etc.) and just the random figure here and there I really like. I've sold off quite a few Marvel Legends over the past 6 months that I'd lost interest in or that didn't fit into my collection. I did keep my core Avengers and villains, though, particularly in their most classic looks. I had multiple Iron Man figures but I sold off about half of them, keeping just my favorites. I didn't pick up the Mark I Iron Man last year but when I saw this gorgeous Iron Man (Model 01-Gold) from the new Iron Man Retro Collection I had to bite. These are packaged on cards that look like the old Toy Biz Iron Man cards that tied in with the cartoon, the only Marvel line I collected after I stopped collecting the X-Men line, so the nostalgia hit. But this guy really just appealed to me. I think he'll look great with the other core Avengers. I think the gold suit was Tony's third design, painted gold because he thought people found the original suit too frightening and one of his girlfriends thought gold would make Iron Man look like " knight in shining armor." Cute. I saw him at a local shop and debated grabbing him but I ended up picking him up at my nearest GameStop. With my Pro discount and my monthly $5 reward I ended up with him for less than a Jackson. Let's check out Iron Man (Model-01 Gold) after the break...
Height: 6 1/2 inches
Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball-jointed hips, balljointed waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: 4 swappable hands, 2 swappable heads, 2 jet effects, and 2 smoke trails.
Non-Scalper Price: $25 dollars
* This is a really cool looking figure! First, I love the gold. It doesn't really make me think of a knight in shining armor or anything but it's a very classic look and just makes the suit look new, clean, and very heroic. Most of the figure is reused from last year's Model 1 Iron Man figure but this one gets a new waist piece/ skirt and some more paint applications. There are some darker lines on segmented parts of the suit and more gold paint applications on the little details like the outlets or whatever on the front of the suit. That's accurate to the comic look as far as I can tell and I personally think it makes this one the more fascinating figure. The pattern on the searchlight/ monobeam is really nice, too. Like an old flashlight lens.
* The gold color is very consistent here and it doesn't look as "swirly" or opalescent like many of Hasbro's metallic legends figures often do. There's a bit of a swirl on the back of old Shell Head's helmet, but not too much elsewhere. The back of the figure has more detail and you can see his hip discs from here, too.
* This is an early armor from Tony so he doesn't have things as refined here as the more modern suits. The helmet is non-removable but you can actually see Tony's head inside! You'd think you'd want to protect your eyes more but I guess eyes safety wasn't trendy back in the swinging 60s like it is today.
* This Retro Collection Iron Man comes with an unhelmeted Tony Stark head, too. I believe it's the same head from the 20th Anniversary of Marvel Legends series but it's new to me. Out of the four 20th Anniversary Marvel Legends figures released Iron Man was the only one I didn't pick up. Now I've got this very cool 1970sish styled Tony Stark. Bada boom and look out ladies!
* Iron Man has our swappable hands: A pair of open palms for lifting stuff (he didn't have repulsors yet) and a pair of fists for punching through stuff.
* The boots and legs of the Model 01 Mark III (that's the official name of this armor) look fantastic. They're very heavily armored and just have a lot of presence. I don't know; there's just something really cool about this suit.
* The articulation on this guy is really good, especially considering he's wearing a chonky suit of armor and a skirt. That balljointed waist works wonders and everything else moves like a dream. He doesn't have a boot swivel but I think the swivel hinge ankle and the thigh swivel give us the movement we need while keeping things looking natural. He's just a super fun figure to pick up and mess around with.
* He also has dark black smoke trails that can wrap around the jet booster effects, giving him a fun, comic book styled boosting effect. You'll have to supply your own flight stand if you use these, though. Or just hold him up and have him hover around while making sound effects.
I really am impressed by this figure. He looks fantastic, is a lot of fun, and is really a pretty accurate take on this vintage styled armor for Iron Man. I skipped the Model 01 last year, somewhat because of the inflated price, but this gold Model 01 armor (Model 01 Mark III) is both the bee's knees and the cat's pajamas. Even without being part of a BAF series, the figure just shines. Some of that shine is just because of the awesome color here, too. Including the unmasked Tony Stark head was also a pretty nice extra. Hasbro did great here and definitely convinced me to pick this one up. Did I need another Iron Man? With one this Epic, yes I did.
Looking for more figures of Iron Man? The check out my reviews of the Marvel Legends' Classic Iron Man and Heroic Age Iron Man and the Marvel Legends Series Tony Stark (A.I.), Stealth Iron Man, and Hologram Iron Man.
Looking for more figures of Iron Man? The check out my reviews of the Marvel Legends' Classic Iron Man and Heroic Age Iron Man and the Marvel Legends Series Tony Stark (A.I.), Stealth Iron Man, and Hologram Iron Man.
For more Marvel Legends Retro Collection reviews check out the following:
Marvel Legends Retro Collection by Hasbro
Marvel Legends Retro Collection: Fantastic Four by Hasbro
Marvel Legends Retro Collection: Spider-Man by Hasbro
Symbiote Spider-Man
Marvel Legends Retro Collection: X-Men by Hasbro
Apocalypse
Avalanche
Dark Phoenix
Gambit
Longshot
Spiral
Wolverine (Strike Team)
Marvel Legends Retro Collection: X-Men by Hasbro
Apocalypse
Avalanche
Dark Phoenix
Gambit
Longshot
Spiral
Wolverine (Strike Team)
He is very cool. Like that look as miuch as the 20/20 Arno Stark suit with the monster teeth and the gear shoulder pads
ReplyDeleteOh, that's definitely a cool look, too. I have that guy in my drawer of Legends I don't currently have displayed. I was reorganizing the non X-Men part of my Legends collection a bit tonight and came across him.
DeleteWhy does he have a skirt and the same colour as all the metal as if it's metal but then that wouldn't make sense cos it would restrict movement? :P
ReplyDeleteGood question. I looked on some wikis and found that the "metal kilt" was added to this take on the armor to cover the groin segments of the armor. The early armors do seem to have a mixture of flexible material parts and rigid metal armor. Maybe it's all coated with a material to make the separation less obvious?
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