Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts Avengers: Age of Ultron Iron Mark 45 was released this month and it is a great action figure. The sculpt and articulation on this figure are some of the best out on the market, and for the S.H. Figuarts collector this is a must-have figure.
The figure stands slightly above the 6-inch mark. In fact, he is on an even keel with Marvel Legends Black Panther’s (the generic buck) height. Depending on your collecting preference, he’s either a perfect fit for your Marvel Legends collection or he is too small. If you are trying to pair Iron Man with your S.H. Figuarts collection, you should be gold; the figure will also fit with Figma’s Avengers Captain America and Thor. Standing next to the Figma figures, the Mark 45 is too small and is too small standing next to most Marvel Legends Iron Man figures. Even the head is on the small side for fitting in with Marvel Legends.
S.H. Figuarts is more of the 5.5-inch to true 6-inch line, and the Mark 45 has no problems fitting in with Bandai’s premier action figure line.
The sculpt on this figure is just amazing. I know I thought that Figma’s Mark VII was the greatest 6-inch Iron Man ever, and I still stand by that purely on sculpt and scale, but the Mark 45 is an amazing figure. This figure literally looks like it jumped from the screen to desktop without almost zero faults. There is a ton of detail on this armor that makes you appreciate the engineering that went into the design.
The sculpt and articulation integrate perfectly with each other and this figure looks great in both vanilla poses and action poses. The sculpting is a huge improvement over their earlier Mark 6. The Mark 6 figure comes across as clunky and doesn’t transition well from one limb to the next. The Mark 45 is much more fluid in its transitions. I don’t know if it is the suit design or if Bandai is just improving, but the Mark 45 is a beautiful figure.
The one complaint that has to be pointed out is the foot size. While the feet are nice and stable, they are tiny. Even for 5.5-inch action figures, these are some tiny feet. It’s the one major area that needs improvement. My guess is that enlarging the feet would give the figure a little more height as well.
The articulation is amazing on this figure and there are no new special joints that I can list for you that haven’t been listed before. The Mark 45 can be posed in just about any position, and the range of motion is really good. Bandai followed their formula with previous Iron Man figures and made the abdomen pieces fit in a way that makes them move with each bend. As with S.H. Figuarts Hulk, this figure is a of hand candy.
Once again, the paint apps are stellar. I’ve yet to see a bad paint app on Bandai’s Iron Man figures. And that is an accomplishment considering the high gloss finish of the paint. These paint apps really pop on a shelf and they are great to look at, although they can make the rest of your collection look dull. So watch out what you pair it with.
The accessories are the usual S.H. Figuarts: tons of of hands and some repulsor effects. It’s great to have all these extras, but Bandai really needs to include the zip-loc baggie like Figma does to store them in.
You can still pick up Iron Man at:
