So the Mark 42. In this reviewer’s humble opinion, it was easily the worst of the movie armors. I thought it looked garish, overly busy and too darn gold for its own good. That said — I actually like the figure. Nothing about the design has changed, but having the movie suit shrunk down to hand-size allows me to experience it in full, not just in quick flashes on the screen. Yeah, there’s still too much freaking gold, but I’m getting used to it.
The Mark 42 is new, so this figure is all new as well. Even better, Hasbro finally got the memo and beefed up their movie Iron Men. While the movie version of War Machine Iron Patriot is the bigger of the two, the Mark 42 is still an improvement over the svelte Armored Avengers of the past. Areas like the bulked-up legs and torso make the “man in a suit of armor” concept more believable than Hasbro’s previous efforts, and the figure is better scaled to the company’s other recent movie offerings.
The sculpt is quite sharp for a figure of this scale. All of the raised panels are nicely defined, with some especially noteworthy work on the helmet and lower torso. A sense of depth is achieved through beveled edges and symmetrical shaping, nicely setting off recessed areas like the arc reactor. Even the tiny mechanical kibble between the panels is noticeable from a distance, helping to convey this particular armor’s “assembled” nature
The paintwork on the Mark 42 is pretty impressive. Oftentimes, movie toys get rushed through production, making action figures that looked amazing in promotional pictures end up resembling cheap dollar store knockoffs. Happily, the QC workers at the factory were on their game when the Iron Man 3 figures were produced.
The gold, a notoriously hard color to get right, is cleanly and evenly applied to the figure. There’s almost no slop present, adding sharpness to the already well-defined sculpt-work. The red is a touch thicker, but you’d hardly notice. Even the black used to highlight the eyes and mouth is crisp.
The bright blue used for the eyes has just the right tone to it to suggest a glow. It may not be quite that dark in the movie, but on the figure it’s arresting. The arc reactor is white with a subtle blue overspray. As a collector I appreciate the fact that the eyes and the reactor are two different shades — Hasbro could have just used one blue for both, but the choice of two separate tones gives the figure even more visual flair.
So what can the Mark 42 do? Pretty much whatever you’d want him to. Well, getting into that “punching the ground” pose is a bit tricky, but aren’t you sick of doing that with your Iron Man figures by now? No? Sheesh. He sports a ball-jointed head, a hinged neck, ball shoulders, swivels at the biceps, double-hinged elbows, and single-hinged wrists. The torso is a ball-joint, as are the hips. The thighs swivel over double-hinged knees and pin-and-swivel feet. That’s more than enough articulation to win the big Armor Wars dance-off this Friday night.
The Mark 42 came packed with the right arm of the Iron Monger BAF. On its own it’s not the most exciting piece in the world — well, unless you really like blue, swirly plastic. Then you have something new to look at on the bus. Collect all six pieces to build your figure! Or don’t — the ‘Mongers were bootlegged like crazy, making finding one on the second-hand market a much cheaper option than buying all six figures in the series.
The Mark 42 continues Hasbro’s trend of making the figure’s head removable. Sadly, no second head was provided — fans who have been patiently waiting for a decent Robert Downy Jr. likeness are still out of luck, but those collectors whose tastes hew closer to the comic version of Tony Stark can use the alternate head that came in the Iron Man/Maria Hill 2-pack. That is, if they’re lucky enough to have one — mine came courtesy of Fwoosher extraordinaire NORM and I owe him a bottle of Shandy.
The Mark 42 ended up being a pleasant surprise. After seeing the movie I didn’t think I’d even bother displaying this figure, but once I had it out of the package I was impressed by its execution and translation. The paint is nice, the joints all work great, and the suit’s design is close enough that I can fudge it into my Iron Man armory. For this slightly pickled collector, that makes this particular figure a $40 bill all day long.
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