Iron Man Mk IV
Iron Man 2 smashed into theaters in May of 2010, accompanied by an absolute wealth of merchandise, books, and most importantly, toys! Taking place 6 months after the end of the first film, Iron Man 2 sees Tony Stark upping the stakes and dealing with his new role in the world. The film features many more and varied mechanical designs, including three suits of Iron Man armor throughout the film, and the fearsome War Machine.
In the last few years, Hong Kong toy maker Hot Toys has stormed onto the licensed movie character toy field with its Movie Masterpiece Series (MMS). Each release in this line pushes the envelope of what is possible in plastic further and further, with life-like head sculpts and detailed outfits accurate down to the rivet and seam. The Iron Man 2 movie line has not disappointed.
The Iron Man Mk IV battle suit was designed as an improvement to the short-lived Mk III suit. Based on the beginning of Iron Man 2 and some comics, the Mk IV was the main suit for about six months leading up to the events of Iron Man 2. It appears to be more armored and heavily armed than the Mk III.
The box is the now-standard Hot Toys shiny slipcover design, which is still beautiful and hard to photograph. The box is densely packed with trays holding the figure, accessories, and stands. The box includes the figure, Tony Stark head, doughnut and box, sunglasses, airbrake flaps that must be attached by the buyer, a replaceable set of arm armor panels featuring the pop-out micro-missiles deployed, a regular display stand, and a detailed and light-up scenic stand with clear flight rod. Woof.
These Hot Toys reviews are no doubt getting repetitive by now, so I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking, because this is another perfect toy. The figure stands 12” tall and, as an improvement over the Mk III figure (among many) is fully painted. The hot-rod red is gorgeous, with an incredible luster and flawless finish.
The articulation is the best of any Hot Toys (or really, any) Iron Man figure yet. There’s more joints than I can count, and the figure can accomplish almost any pose you can think of. It does not quite nail the ‘ground pound’ pose from the first movie posters, but it is close.
There are some specific improvements over the previous 12” suits. The whole pelvis armor part is made of a soft vinyl material with a perfectly matching paint finish, allowing for incredible hip articulation while maintaining a nearly seamless appearance. Secondly, the waist area is significantly improved over the Mk III figure. The waist and ab-area are both jointed, but the ab area can also pull out a layer for even more articulation, similar to that of on the recent Bandai Super Robot Chogokin figures, but seamlessly.
So it can pose. Now we’ll hit on detail parts. First off, take a look at the paint in this close-up. If you really squint your eyes, you’ll notice that there are fine silver paint chips around movement and contact points. In the film the paint finish does get dinged up during regular use, and Hot Toys has recreated this effect perfectly. Best paintjob on a toy ever.
The chest armor is removable, revealing mechanic detail and a perfect paint job. Unnecessary, but cool.
The eyes of the armored head, arc reactor, and repulsors in each palm light up super white and super bright. The switches are all microscopic and well hidden.
Borrowing from the improvements made to the War Machine figure, Iron Man now features fully articulated hands in addition to fixed-pose hands that I never took out of the box.
A new innovation for this figure solves the annoying problem seen on previous figures of what to do about the hand/wrist armor. On the suit, the hand armor is attached to the glove and extends down onto the forearm. On the Iron Man Mk III figure, the armor parts were attached to the arms, and could not move with the hands. On this new figure, the armor parts are articulated and swivel around the wrist, so they can always be on top of the glove where they belong AND match the wrist angle. Way cool.
The flare countermeasure pods on the hips now work. The pods twist and pop out via spring, and are highly detailed.
The calf armor airbrake flaps slide out and hinge up to reveal mechanical detail.
The airbrake flaps on the back are now an entire mecha toy unto themselves. They must be attached out of the box, but they are secure, and feature two hinges and photo-etched metal secondary flaps and are razor thin and a little bit sharp and look incredible.
The forearm armor consists of four removable panels that can be swapped for the micro-missiles. Easy to swap but perfectly secure, and awesome.
The Robert Downey Jr. Stark head sculpt is fantastic. I think the one on the Mech Test Tony might still be a little bit more accurate, but this one also looks great. A neck armor part is included to cover the neck ball-joint.
Accessories are included to recreate Stark’s ‘rock-bottom’ scene at the doughnut shot. The box is actually heavy card-stock and looks great. The sunglasses actually snap into position around the ears and are nice and secure.
So, I’ve inundated you with details. Now what? Well, I mentioned that this figure comes with a scenic display stand with flight rod setup, and this is where Iron Man really shines. The stand lights up, but takes AAA batteries that I did not have for the review. Oh well.
The flight stand features a clamp with rubber grips to hold the figure securely and safely without damaging the paint.
When not encumbered by gravity, Iron Man can really move. Coming in for a hot landing!
Classic soaring pose!
Taking advantage of all the goodies on this figure makes it fun as hell and gorgeous to look at. Iron Man in the comics has always been a fast and maneuverable character, zipping around dodging attacks and whipping around for a quick repulsor blast, and this figure captures that dynamic nature the best of any toy yet.
So, by now you’re drooling. The Iron Man Mk IV figure cost me $199.99 and was worth every penny. This is the best Iron Man figure ever made, bar none (likely until the Mk VI comes out). The articulation, paint, features, fit, and finish all combine to make the most accurate and best looking figure to date, and it is durable enough to be reposed and zoomed around the room. I cannot leave it alone, because it has so much to offer.