I started my Hot Toys obsession midway through its Marvels The Avengers line, at which point Captain America and Hawkeye were prohibitively expensive.

Beyond getting another dose of Avengers goodness, I was highly anticipating Avengers: Age of Ultron because it would give me another crack at completing the team with Hot Toys’ Age of Ultron series. It’s been a long nearly three-year wait, but Hawkeye is finally in my Hot Toys Avengers collection. Does he hit the bullseye or miss the target completely? Let’s find out.

Packaging: Hot Toys switched up the packaging from the Avengers line with a more subtle text size and a wraparound image of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye taking aim. The red “A” takes up half the front while the rest is shaded in purple, complete with Hawkeye’s logo on the side.

As always, Hot Toys goes the cool extra measure with credits in the inner box to salute all the contributors who’ve made this figure possible. It’s a nice touch.

Likeness: The Avengers version likeness was good, but the Age of Ultron take on Renner is even better. From every angle, this is Renner’s Hawkeye. For customizers, the head sculpt would work just as well for a Bourne Legacy Aaron Cross custom.

Scale: I was fully expecting Hawkeye to be the same height as the other male Avengers, but, impressively, he’s smaller and slighter than Captain America. I appreciate Hot Toys not having a “one size body type for everyone” mentality, and it’s nice to see some height discrepancy on the Avengers display besides Black Widow.

Paint: Hot Toys’ paintwork has no competition. You pay for this high level of quality, but if you’re used to searching through mass market figures on the shelf for a figure with decent paint apps, it’s nice to know that won’t be an issue here.

The paint job brings out the very light stubble, but, as usual, the highlight are the lifelike eyes, which give Hot Toys figures that added level of over the top detail.

Outfit: Like Black Widow, who operated with a SHIELD outfit in the first Avengers film, Hawkeye has his own specialized Avengers attire this time, and it’s slowly getting him closer to the comic’s all-purple costume.

While it was essentially just a jacket over his original uniform, it wasn’t a loose fit, and the figure reflects that with a streamlined, tight feel.

 

Despite the complicated design, the tailoring on the figure is exceptional. All the little details like the arm patches, tubing, in-scale zippers, and pads with buckles are meticulously captured.

The boots are equally complex but are very well done. I doubt most folks were paying attention to Hawkeye’s footwear in the movie, but they match up well to the reference pics I found online.

In case you were wondering, no, the jacket piece isn’t covering the sleeveless attire. I was really hoping Hot Toys would make the jacket gear fully removable so we could have both of Hawkeye’s looks from the movie.

Poseability: Of the three Age of Ultron figures I’ve got so far, Hawkeye’s uniform impacts poseability the most. Fortunately, between Captain America and Black Widow, Hawkeye requires the least amount of dynamic poses.

All you really need the figure to do is be able to aim his bow, and thanks to the various left hand options, you can actually notch the arrow and draw back the bowstring for credible archer poses.

Accessories: Since Hawkeye’s main gimmick is his bow and arrows, I was expecting him to fare well in this category, but Hot Toys again exceeded my expectations.

Weapons:
– One (1) fully opened purple and black bow
– One (1) folded purple and black bow
– One (1) speed loader with nine (9) arrows
– Thirteen (13) individual arrows and nine (9) interchangeable arrowheads of different styles

Accessories:
– One (1) quiver
– One (1) pair of arrow speed loaders
– One (1) pair of sunglasses
– Specially designed figure stand with “Hawkeye” nameplate and the movie logo

You’ll need to separate the quiver (held together by magnets) to load the arrows into it. I love all the various arrowheads Hawkeye has at his disposal and appreciate having some display options in that regard.

The biggest challenge with Hawkeye will be keeping the accessories on. The quiver stays on with light handling, but if you’re posing Hawkeye, it’s pretty much a lock to fall off. To avoid the ongoing drama of wondering if it will hit the floor, I’m probably going to superglue it in the holder.

Ditto for the arrow speed loaders. Somehow in shooting the figure, I didn’t even notice one fell off — despite the magnets attempting to hold it in place. Initially I wanted to take Hawkeye out in the woods for some shots, but I’m afraid I’d have an accessory-less Hawkeye by the time I was done.

Worth it? At $230 after shipping, Hawkeye is a purchase most folks are gonna feel sting in their wallets. If you’re liked me and missed the first version, this isn’t much of a question. Even if you don’t upgrade to Age of Ultron versions of Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor, Hawkeye is noticeably different enough to definitely warrant buying.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Hot Toys’ second take at the Avengers’ archer is another high-quality piece. The dropping accessories and omission of the sleeveless outfit bring the score down somewhat. Still, this is a top-notch figure that would have been even better with a few adjustments, and I’m completely geeked-out about having a full Avengers roster finally.

Where to get it? Like all Hot Toys figures, your best bet is to grab them online and don’t delay. There’s nothing worse than realizing that Hot Toy figure you’ve had your eyes on is sold out, and then you’re forced to rely on the price-gouging of the secondary market.