Oh, Tony. The perils of naming your latest suit the “Modern Armor” should have been obvious. You’re so fixated you upgrade between panels — a bottle of scotch will last you longer than this armor will. But maybe you knew that, and the name was intended as commentary on the disposable nature of modern technology. Maybe you were mocking the the frenetic, hype-driven marketing seen so frequently in your medium. Maybe you were making a statement about consumerism when you gave this armor the color-scheme of a hot-dog stand. Maybe.
First, the good. Modern Armor Iron Man is entirely new. Top to bottom, head to toe, 100% new sculpt. That’s really the only way it would have worked: unlike previous efforts, M.A.I.M. needed a dedicated sculpt and Toy Biz sculptor Dave Cortez delivered the goods. The figure is packed with detail: only the joints and ball-hips lack texture. This is, without question, a guy in high-tech armor. But is that the sum total of Iron Man, or is there something more?
Though the package clearly reads “Modern Armor Iron Man” this is in fact the Model 30, Mark I-A, aka the Pentagon Armor. Doesn’t sound familiar? That’s because it only lasted for eight issues. That’s a few weeks tops in comic book time — it’s like remembering the time Tony wore that red shirt. The Model 30 is a non-event, not so much for what it was, but what it wasn’t.
If you were an Iron Man fan in 2005 the word was “Extremis.” The technological virus transformed our hero from a guy in a suit to a suit in a guy. It was an innovative concept that re-invigorated a character that was starting to show it’s age. The 6-part soft reboot proved the perfect jumping-on point for new readers and Extremis rocketed Iron Man to the forefront of the Marvel Universe. The newly re-designed character began appearing on posters, t-shirts and cartoons. Only then did the Model 30 hit retail, where it was already old news.
Extremis aside, how does the figure hold up? I guess that depends on how you like your Iron Men. If you said “tall and spindly” then you just hit the jackpot, Tiger. The lack of volume in the limbs, coupled with their length, make this figure resemble either a manga character or a marionette. One could argue as a stylistic choice this look is valid, but next to other Marvel Legends figures M.A.I.M. may look a little odd.
Raising the roof? No, just struggling to fire his repulsors. A sculpted panel on the back of the hands prevents Tony from using his primary weapon. Still, for as limited as his wrists are, his hands make up for it in spades. Individually-articulated fingers mean Tony can work with all of the fiddly little bits of technology that go into a billion-dollar battle-suit.
One of Extremis’ selling-points is that it covers the body in a skin-tight coating. There is no need for over-sized helmets or padding, it simply bonds to the wearer. The Mark 30 cannot say the same — it was, for all intents and purposes, a shell that Tony climbed into. So why is this figure’s head so small? There’s supposed to be a person in there! Seriously, that would be a tight fit for a goldfish, let along a human brain and its attendant sensory organs.
One nifty feature the figure does have is the removable face-plate. Toy Biz was good about providing one with every Iron Man figure and this is one of their better efforts.The face-plate is held in place by the sculpt: while it fits tightly it can also pop free fairly easily. I know I’ve spent hours combing the floor for mine. The face beneath is generically-handsome, with a neutral expression befitting a cool exec with a heart of steel.
Standing approximately 6 1/2″ tall, M.A.I.M. features an astonishing 44 points of articulation: he has a hinged head, swivel neck, ball shoulders, hinge and swivel biceps, double-jointed elbows, upper wrist swivels, lower wrist hinges and a torso crunch: below that there is a swivel waist, ball hips, swivel calves, double knees, upper boot swivels, rocker ankles and hinged toes. There’s a lot of potential movement packed in here, but it’s hard to get the figure to look natural doing it. Still, in certain poses it really does come to life.
When it comes to paint — the figure has it. The applications are clean, with nice sharp edges and minimal slop. The work on the face is especially nice, considering its diminutive size.
M.A.I.M. came with a melted wall accessory. I no longer have mine to show you, as the floor was strewn with Ultron parts that I harvested for customs. Remember, it was 2005 and anything resembling a classic Ultron was still years off. Here’s a promo pic to give you an idea:
It’s interesting to see this picture: the red and yellow is much closer to the classic Iron Man colors here. If the production piece had ended up looking like the promo, this figure may have been better received. It still wouldn’t have been Extremis, but it would have been a step in the right direction.
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