Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Avengers: Iron Man Stark Tech Assault Armor

Once upon a time we saw test shots of some neat looking mech suits for the 3 3/4" line of Iron Man and War Machine. While they were cancelled for that line the suits were brought back for the Avengers line. Here we're looking at Iron Man's suit. War Machine's suit was repainted USA colors for Captain America and the only thing different is the chest hatch being round instead of triangular. Hey, I'm just happy we got these.

The suit stands 7" tall and the sculpting is pretty fantastic. All sorts of tech detail, armored panels, and Iron Man design is worked onto it making it look like a Hulkbuster armor of sorts. The inside of the suit and hatch are detailed too and show all sorts of cool circuitry. Even the add-on weapons, while most are hollow, have a great look to them. Open up the suit and you can fit the Iron Man figure inside nice and snug.

Articulation is pretty decent. The only thing the suit lacks is a bicep swivel, waist, and knees. But the range on the hips is ball-joint quality and the ankles is excellent, enough for a walking pose. Ball shoulders and wrists help with the upper body posing and the head is on a swivel. Articulation on the included Iron Man is better than I expected, upper body being the same as a single carded figure. But he has no ankle or forward hip movement, only side to side. But since his waist turns it allows him to 'walk' inside the mech when you move the legs giving it a good enough motion.

Paint apps are few but clean. There's some painted gold and silver sections, a little blue around the head, everything else is molded in color. The control hand-pods are clear blue. Paint for the smaller figure are equally well done which is surprising because pilot figures usually take a big hit in both articulation and paint. The weapons are removable but are sculpted to only attach one way. You get a shoulder cannon, wrist cannon (either hand), shoulder and leg missile pods. They look nifty but again, are hollow from the back.

There's a big hole in his back for something to attach to but the instructions don't show anything. Perhaps to a larger vehicle? Speaking of the instructions the borders and parchment-like colors are done 'Steampunk' style with gears and vintage designs instead of a current tech look. It shows how to put the armor on, add the figure, and fire the missiles from the two main cannons.

What's the verdict? This is a pretty cool addition to Iron Man's arsenal and with some customization could turn into a really neat 'Hulkbuster' armor. Our Sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has both Iron Man and Captain America's assault suits separately or as a set. You can also find these anywhere Avengers products are shown but they're actually selling out which never happens with the vehicle types. It just goes to prove both kids and adults must like giant robot suits!

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