Showing posts with label comic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic. Show all posts
Monday, February 24, 2014
Iron Man 2 Comic Series 3 75 Hulkbuster Armor
This is it! The one armour that lots of you have been waiting for to hit the shelves, the one armour that Tony Stark perhaps uses the least, the one armour that can go toe to toe and maybe (just maybe, for a Hulk fan like myself ;P) take down the mighty Incredible Hulk!
Hulkbuster Iron Man!
I really have to thank The Rangerlord for this find--it seems everything that Ive gotten ahead of most has come from him using his mutant super power of being at the right store at the right time. No matter how remote the store, no matter how obscure the location, The Rangerlord will be there!
So does the Hulkbuster measure up against his super-sized opponenets? Check it out in this review!
(I originally wrote this review for the now defunct Articulated Discussion site. Ive recovered what I could from drafts and reposted it here. Enjoy! ;)
I gotta be honest: the first thing I thought when I had him in hand (in package) was that he was a tad small. I was expecting an Iron Monger-sized figure in height or at the very least a figure comparable in girth to the Marvel Universe Hulk. As it turns out, Hulkbuster Iron Man is neither. But while he wasnt as bulky or as tall as expected, the sculpt certainly doesnt disappoint in terms of detail.
The trademark forearm and shoulder guards are also there, with the shoulder guards cast from separate pieces of hard plastic and are glued into slots in his shoulders. While theyre supposed to be part of his shoulders, the guards are actually fixed to hover over his shoulders and look flimsy from a bottom up angle. I wonder if they wouldve been better to cast them in a softer plastic and let them float lower so the gaps over the shoulder wouldnt be so apparent.
His forearm and shin guards are made of softer rubber, which his shoulders shouldve been. This I think is great-- it wont crack or chip as easily as a hard plastic piece. But while the shin guards are part of the lower leg mould, the forearm guards, like the shoulder guards, are also separate pieces that are glued on. The great thing about the forearm shields are that they are attached to Hulkbuster IMs fist, making them look flexible as well as sturdy no matter which way youve got his hands positioned. Its also worth noting that his triangular chest arc reactor vent is a glued-on piece of plastic, so if youll want to watch out for glue stains around the chest when picking this guy up.
Aside from the hovering shoulder guards, Hulkbuster IM has a fantastic sculpt that ranks up there with one of the best Marvel has produced in this scale.
Most of this figure isnt painted, with everything sculpted in a dark red and only his golden parts painted. As simple as his face is, the gold isnt cleanly applied with both spills over into the seams of the faceplate and sloppy under-painting in the areas which havent been over painted. His eyes and seams at the cheeks are supposed to be white (or silver?) to indicate light but because of the way the face has been mispainted, it simply looks unfinished.
A minor problem that might bother some of you is that since his limbs and head are cast from softer plastic and his torso is made of harder stuff, the colour isnt quite a match--while his chest has a nice muted shiny gloss, his head and limbs have a matte finish. Despite this, the colours are close enough that you wont notice the difference unless you look really closely.
So hes not as large as Iron Monger or the Hulk, but hes still just as bulky as two Iron Man 2 figures put together. Nevermind that he doesnt come with any accessories other than his figure stand and 3 armour cards, hes still worth his weight in sculpting and detail. So he may not have the best paint, but he does have lots of added parts that are not part of the base mold like the shoulder pieces, the forearms guards and the chest arc reactor vent. He also has new “ball” joint pieces which will please those who didnt like the old ones.
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I really have to thank The Rangerlord for this find--it seems everything that Ive gotten ahead of most has come from him using his mutant super power of being at the right store at the right time. No matter how remote the store, no matter how obscure the location, The Rangerlord will be there!So does the Hulkbuster measure up against his super-sized opponenets? Check it out in this review!
Name: Hulkbuster Iron Man
Line: Iron Man 2 (Comic Series)
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: April 2010
Price: Online: (USD) $9.99-$12.99 Retail: $7.99-$8.99
Scale: 3.75 in.
Accessories: 3 x Armor Cards, Base (1 peg) with Armor Card stand.
Sculpt
I gotta be honest: the first thing I thought when I had him in hand (in package) was that he was a tad small. I was expecting an Iron Monger-sized figure in height or at the very least a figure comparable in girth to the Marvel Universe Hulk. As it turns out, Hulkbuster Iron Man is neither. But while he wasnt as bulky or as tall as expected, the sculpt certainly doesnt disappoint in terms of detail.One of the first things that caught my eye were his feet (and shin guards) and also his fists. The shin guards in particular are pretty unique and are sculpted after the Bowen Designs Hulkbuster armour statue (as far as I can tell). I love that his feet are nice and broad with bands of armour and have a cleft to separate the big toe from the rest of the foot. The open hand and closed fist are also extremely detailed, with each almost as large as his squat round head.
The trademark forearm and shoulder guards are also there, with the shoulder guards cast from separate pieces of hard plastic and are glued into slots in his shoulders. While theyre supposed to be part of his shoulders, the guards are actually fixed to hover over his shoulders and look flimsy from a bottom up angle. I wonder if they wouldve been better to cast them in a softer plastic and let them float lower so the gaps over the shoulder wouldnt be so apparent.His forearm and shin guards are made of softer rubber, which his shoulders shouldve been. This I think is great-- it wont crack or chip as easily as a hard plastic piece. But while the shin guards are part of the lower leg mould, the forearm guards, like the shoulder guards, are also separate pieces that are glued on. The great thing about the forearm shields are that they are attached to Hulkbuster IMs fist, making them look flexible as well as sturdy no matter which way youve got his hands positioned. Its also worth noting that his triangular chest arc reactor vent is a glued-on piece of plastic, so if youll want to watch out for glue stains around the chest when picking this guy up.Other highlights of this sculpt are lots of round vents in his back and sides of his legs, as well as pistons at the back of his calves and elbows.
Hulkbuster Iron Man also has a very interesting material composition: his torso and shoulder guards are cast out of hard plastic, while his head, arms, and legs are made of softer plastic, but not as rubbery as his shin and forearm guards. I really dont know what the reason for this would be, but I guess it would lessen any potential damage should you drop this fig.
Aside from the hovering shoulder guards, Hulkbuster IM has a fantastic sculpt that ranks up there with one of the best Marvel has produced in this scale.9/10
Paint
Most of this figure isnt painted, with everything sculpted in a dark red and only his golden parts painted. As simple as his face is, the gold isnt cleanly applied with both spills over into the seams of the faceplate and sloppy under-painting in the areas which havent been over painted. His eyes and seams at the cheeks are supposed to be white (or silver?) to indicate light but because of the way the face has been mispainted, it simply looks unfinished.The other major problem area was the gold rib area of his armor. It wasnt visible in package, but I was disappointed to find a line of glue slop on his right rib area and a chip on the lowest panel edge (also on the right.) But that isnt all: the upper left rib panel has two big paint chips that are really obvious when you rotate his chest to the left.
A minor problem that might bother some of you is that since his limbs and head are cast from softer plastic and his torso is made of harder stuff, the colour isnt quite a match--while his chest has a nice muted shiny gloss, his head and limbs have a matte finish. Despite this, the colours are close enough that you wont notice the difference unless you look really closely.Other than these issues, I have to say the gold on his shoulders, chest piece, forearms, thighs, and knees are pretty solid with no spills.
7/10
Articulation
While I was initially disappointed that he didnt have hinges on his wrists like Iron Monger, he does have the 22+ points of articulation the figures in this line have. And while his shoulders have full range but are blocked by the shoulder guards, everything else is pretty much unhindered.
This figure does have some new joints though, namely the swivel/hinge shoulder joints and the ball-joints (which some call “Hasbro” joints) in his hips. These are basically the same “ball” joints with smaller hinge tracks. And while I first thought them to be a tad too loose compared to the old joints (after accounting for the natural loosening of joints after play), I was impressed that theyve maintained their level of tightness while being easier to manipulate. So I think those of you who are having problems with tight joints in IM 2 figures wont have to worry when it comes to Hulkbuster IM here—hes a ton more intuitive without being any less stable.
Im normally not impressed with head swivels but this guy has one where I expected no articulation at all. I cant emphasize how much a turning head can add to your poses and I really have to thank Hasbro for going the extra mile here.
8/10
Fun
The name says it all! Hulk. Buster. Iron. Man. He was born to go toe to toe with the Big Green Goliath, so naturally thats who hes best posed with.
Also, two large figures with excellent balance make for super fun posing. There are already two characters in the Marvel Universe line who are plus size (namely Hulk—Green, Secret Wars, and Grey—and the Red Hulk) and now there are another two in the Iron Man 2 line—Iron Monger and Hulkbuster IM. With Juggernaut to come, putting all of them together in a knockdown, drag out, super-sized street battle is something thats on my to-do list. And as you can see, large figures like Hulkbuster IM, Hulk, and Iron Monger can literally grapple with each other in poses otherwise unachievable with smaller figs. They can also lift each other and still maintain their balance!
9/10
Value
So hes not as large as Iron Monger or the Hulk, but hes still just as bulky as two Iron Man 2 figures put together. Nevermind that he doesnt come with any accessories other than his figure stand and 3 armour cards, hes still worth his weight in sculpting and detail. So he may not have the best paint, but he does have lots of added parts that are not part of the base mold like the shoulder pieces, the forearms guards and the chest arc reactor vent. He also has new “ball” joint pieces which will please those who didnt like the old ones.Worth it? Yes. Hard to find? Definitely—I havent seen one on the pegs yet but I got this one because my toy hunting wingman, The Rangerlord, spotted these at the airport. Yes, the Singapore airport, before it was seen anywhere else! And Rangerlord was on his way out of the country too, so I had to wait for him to return, while he opened his and had a ball of a time re-enacting Hulkbuster IM vs Titanium Man fights. (No prizes for guessing what one of the upcoming IM2 reviews is!)
8/10
Summary
Sculpt: 9/10 – Great sculpt. Near perfect. His shoulder plates can look weird.
Paint: 7/10 – Suffers from the inconsistent paint inherent in this line. Could be much better, but still not too bad.
Articulation: 8/10 – Largely unhindered for a plus-size figure. Shoulder guards restrict full shoulder movement.
Fun: 9/10 – The best figures are ones like these which push the envelope on a great idea. Hwo wouldnt something as cool looking as a suit design to bust the Hulks behind?
Value: 8/10 – May not be as large as some figures, but bulky enough to be more than worth it.
Overall: 87/100 – This is a great toy. He falls just short of wonderful because of a couple of paint issues and perhaps a major sculpting one (shoulders--which may not be a problem to some!). What this means is that if youve got some talent or experience in fixing up your toys in the paint department, youve got yourself a wonderful toy!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Iron Man 2 Comic Series 3 75 Guardsman
This guy is a classic. No, not in terms of being instantly recognizable as a villain but rather as a good laugh. Heres a hint: what if he were painted in flesh tones instead of metallic green?The Poor guy!
Poor "Flasherman."
While I do welcome as many Iron Man villains to this line as possible, its impossible to see Guardsman as a threat to an armored up Tony Stark of War Machine.
For one, he looks like hell have whomever hes fighting against collapsed in a heap from laughter (not bad for Guardsman, really). Also, he doesnt look like hes packin much heat. Where is he hiding his weapons?Dont think it. Dont say it. In his thong. Ok I said it. Well but Im sure you wont let something like that stop you from heading over to check out my review at Articulated Discussion. Enjoy! :)
Friday, January 31, 2014
Iron Man 2 Comic Series 3 75 Iron Monger
Just when you thought Iron Man 2 fever was over, BAM, they hit us with the DVD and a couple of new waves of toys.Well, alongside Advanced Armor, Arctic Armor, Silver Centurion armor, and a second run of Comic Series Hulkbuster, this brand new Comic Series Iron Monger comes as part of the first new wave.
Its very unlike the version that is the beast of the1st movie. Its very much closer to being spot on color and design-wise to the comic book version.But just as I thought we were getting away with another all new Hasbro creation, surprise surprise, Iron Man 2 Comic Series 3.75" Iron Monger turned out to be not as new as it looks...
Sculpt: 9/10 - Except for the reuse of the IM 2 Hulkbuster torso, I thought this was a brand new sculpt at first glance. But upon busting this guy open, I realized the arms and legs were also Hulkbusters, with newly molded pieces added for the shoulder, forearm and shin plates, fists, feet, and head. The collar bit and the chest arc reactor are also new pieces.
An unavoidable sinking feeling of having been duped soon followed but after playing around with the guy, I started to remember what a great sculpt the Hulkbuster had and that it actually wasnt a bad idea to reuse the entire body, especially if you couldnt tell it is almost a complete reuse until examining it closely. And actually, its a win-win situation for both Hasbro and us consumers--they save money with the retool, and we get a ingenuously reworked figure that looks brand-spankin new.
With Comic Series Iron Monger, the effort has been taken to "break the shape" of the original to really give us something new.
The head is bucket-like with a distinct 80s robot look, while the forearms and shins have been designs to add bulk to the limbs--and it works. Theyve even given CS Iron Monger the radio antenna on one of his brand new shoulder plates (the left one) for the FM Stereo look.Awww yeah.
Then throw in a new chest arc reactor piece, a collar to round out the head, some tubing connecting the forearms to the biceps, and ta-da! Its a spiffy looking Classic Iron Monger!
I think this is a great lesson to those trying to learn from all good customizers out there--it really trains the eye to re-imagine existing figures in an all new light. Gotta give to the Bro on this one. Bravo with the reused sculpt!
Paint: 7/10 - Theres really minimal paint on this guy. Aside from the red bit on his chest reactor, most all of it is a wash! Thats not necessarily bad, and the wash is a great dark shade, but it turned out messy. Some of the ink pooled where it shouldnt, like on the thighs, making the color uneven leg to leg. And elsewhere where it should pool, the wash tends to "over-pool" sometimes. So make sure you look out for what you prefer when picking out-dark and grungy or more of a flat comic book look.
Articulation: 8/10 - Big; chunky; stable; flexible--Its a winning combo! Not only do we get the benefits of a stable figure, but we also get to pose em in a myriad of ways. The stress test for me is something I call the Karate Kid. No, the ORIGINAL, not the Will Smith Jr. and Jackie Chan version (though I thought it was a good movie in its own right--but it wasnt about Karate. It was about kung fu...)
Well ok. ok, so it aint no crane pose. But you get my point--the big guy can stand on one giant foot and stick the other in Iron Mans face. Haha.
One particular feature this guy had that is better than Hulkbuster is in the shoulder plates, which can move ever so slightly up and down on hinges to that when hes got his arms down, the plates can be shifted down so he doesnt look like theyre floating above his shoulders.
At the same time, the plates dont shift ridiculously high up so he looks funny with his arms raised--but it has got enough give in the soft plastic material to accommodate the shoulder articulation.
Fun: 9/10 - Plus-size figures are always fun to meddle around with and Iron Monger is no exception! This is in large part due to the articulation/balance combo of such figures. But aesthetically, figures like these "break the mold." So lots of the satisfaction comes through a newly sculpted body. That this guy reuses 80% of Comic Series Hulkbusters body makes it even more fun, especially when you realize that theyve done such a great job in making the parts unrecognizable by adding a bit here and doing away with a bit there.Being a Comic Series figure also means he fits in well with other figures from the same series--Classic Armor Iron Man (regular and pointy masked variants), War Machine, Titanium Man, Guardian, and Silver Centurion Armor IM. And since IM 2 figures line up well alongside the Marvel Universe Secret Wars figures like Hulk, Cyclops, Magneto, and Wolverine, setting up a display is easy and rewardingly fun when you add in ol Cobalt Head here himself. Why? He takes care of the color blue all by himself.
Value: 8/10 - Iron Monger comes with the now standard Armor Cards and figure stand. He couldve used an energy blast (or five) but which other figure couldnt? But by virtue of being a plus-size guy compared to the standard-sized armors, he should be worth it. Throw in a new head, hands, and feet, add in some newly tooled shin guards, forearm guards, and shoulder pieces, and presto! We have our value for money piece.Summary
Sculpt: 9/10 - Brilliant use of an old sculpt. Attention to detail when it comes to the newly tooled parts makes everyone happy. His limbs are even rubbery! All the better to bend, twist, and turn without loosening joints.
Paint: 7/10 - Hes completely sculpted in blue, and not a very nice one--its rather comic-y. But perhaps thats what they were going for. The deep black wash is great but rather sloppy and inconsistent on the figure and from figure to figure. They least they couldve done was paint the helmet visor black. Instead, they just slathered some wash on it and hoed for the best.
Articulation: 8/10 - Great stuff here. A bulky figure with all his points working well without being blocked. Great job here with the somewhat flexible shoulder plates as well.
Fun: 9/10 - While the character might have only seen a small boost in popularity after the first IM movie, it wasnt even this armor from the comics that was recognized. But the name "Iron Monger" stuck, and fans like myself, who knew him vaguely began to take notice. The movie 3.75" version was great, so when the Comic Series version came, it was a must have for me. After all, everyones got multiple suits of armor, so why should Iron Monger be any different? :)Value: 8/10 - Large figure? Check. "Nuff said.
Overall: 85/100 - This is a great toy. Bonus points for duping...er...the brilliant re-use of s sculpt. Its a pity that the comic version of the character is a little obscure. But that shouldnt stop anyone from picking up a really awesome figure! :P
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