Iron-Man Legends Wave Two Are Outstanding

Awesome movie in theaters, equally awesome toys hitting the shelves… it’s a great time to be an Iron-Man fan!

The new set of Iron-Man Legends are starting to hit shelves, giving fans the chance to complete the Build-A-Figure Iron Monger, as well as get their hands on the best toy versions of the on-screen Mark 42 and Iron Patriot armors we will likely ever see at mass retail. This entire lineup, which also includes a cleverly kitbashed Ultron, is a total win, but the two movie figures are the stars of the show, edging out even the highly impressive Iron Monger to earn the title of the best Iron-Man toys out there.

I must admit, I had low expectations for Iron-Man Legends when Hasbro first announced the series. Sure, the classic, comic-style Iron Monger was insanely cool from those first teaser images, but the rest of the lineup was supposed to feature kitbashes and repaints, so I figured we’d see a lot of filler.  Series One was a surprise, with the inclusion of the wonderful, all-new Bleeding Edge armor figure, and now Series Two has seen Hasbro step up their game yet again.

The two movie style figures make great additions to both the Marvel Movie collection and Marvel Legends overall.  These all-new figures are stunningly accurate designs, and share the same sculpted detail and authentic proportions of the Bleeding Edge figure– the heft and overall dimensions of both Mark 42 and Iron Patriot make it really feel like Tony and Rhodey are inside these suits, which adds a remarkable believability to the design.

Likewise, the paints apps are gorgeous, with a perfect metallic finish that conveys the armored suits without going overboard, and the sheen of these armored avengers adds a new dimension to the brilliant sculpting.  Each figure sorts an impressive range of motion and ample articulation, including the GI Joe style hips which work incredibly well, fantastic double joint necks and all the other great moving parts featured on recent Legends… the end result are figures that are easy to play with and get in a ton of dynamic poses.  Both of these are must-own figures, even for fans who didn’t like the new movie.

Rounding out the basic series is Ultron, in as close to a classic version as we’ve seen in Legends’ ten year run.  The evil robot features a wonderful new head with his signature open mouth and eerie red eyes. The rest of Ultron is a reuse of the Titanium Man body, cast in a pearlized silver with the most subtle of blue ashes on the chest and legs. It’s not much paint application, but when the villain’s look calls for almost exclusively silver, that makes sense.  The body works well here, and what we get is an Ultron worlds better than the Legendary Riders Toy Biz attempt, but being in a lineup with all new, incredibly great toys like Mark 42 and Iron Patriot make a kitbash like Ultron feel all the more undervalued.

But even comic fans disappointed by Ultron will have no complaints about Iron Monger.  The Build-A-Figure’s head and arms are included with this new wave, allowing collectors to finally assemble the entire villain, in his iconic comic style armor.  Iron Monger is massive, and certainly imposing, as he towers over any Iron Man in the Legends universe.  The new parts match the same amazing level of detail as his lower half, and he’s definitely one of Hasbro’s crowning achievements related to Marvel Legends.

Monger gets a great metallic blue paint job with an excellent black wash which highlights the sculpted details of his armor.  This coordinates well with his red arc light and visor, which includes a glowing effect executed MUCH better than last year’s Big Time Spider-Man.  But the real selling point of Iron Monger is his size– this dude is one big, hefty chunk of plastic, and he makes a great centerpiece for any Legends display.  Despite his mass, the figure is very well articulated, with a surprisingly effective neck ball and ab crunch, swivel wrists and injection mold elbows.  I wish the bicep cut hadn’t been removed (the parts are still present, but fused together), but his overall range of motion is impressive.

I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by much of the Iron Man Legends collection, but Hasbro has managed to crank out one of the most exciting and cool sets of Legends toys we’ve ever seen.  Even if it came at the cost of a well sculpted, fully articulated 4″ line, the new approach of collector-oriented Legends for Marvel’s movie properties seems like a winner… and with the recent reveal of a 6″ Ben Kingsley Mandarin, it looks like there’s more Iron Man Legends goodness in the future!