You've won yourself Silver Centurion Iron Man. This one I actually reviewed right here on CV!
Yes, Ant Man, Wasp, and The Flying Ant (it deserves caps too) are included in this set, which boasts some newly sculpted parts, lots of great re-use, and a whole lot of whopping bang for your buck.
Well, I was doing nothing one day as I am wont to, when I get a call from the mysterious Rangerlord. He was on one of his ranging trips overseas in the Philippines blah, blah, blah, but mentions he stumbled upon this set! He'd already picked up some of the newest Transformers from the Generations and Reveal The Shield line on the cheap for me, so I hesitated when he said he'd found this awesome 3-pack. Can you believe it? I hesitated!
But he snagged it all the same for moi, that good ol' buddy o' mine, and man has it turned out to be much more than I expected. What are you waiting for? I couldn't wait to open this despite all the Captain America, Thor and Green Lantern goodness I was neck deep in. Click on the jump, dudes and duddettes!
Why was I banished, you ask? Because I was on the losing side of the war for AD. In an attempt to seize power from the The Articulated One (TAO), Dr Nightmare and his Nightmare Horde descended upon the unsuspecting monarch and a fierce battle ensued. TAO called his banners, and I answered. But in a cruel twist, the Original Wes threw his weight behind Nightmare and betrayed the good king. We were beaten.
The charges against me were severe: one charge of treason against the new rightful King Dr Nightmare, one charge of too many Iron Man 2 reviews, and one charge of liking all things 3.75 inches.
I swore I wouldn't crack under torture, but after more than a year of repeated online starvation and email whipping, I gave in. I was to now serve out my sentence in the Night Horde as a grunt reviewer with no food or pay for the rest of my life. I also get to call myself a lowest-level Nightmare Minion.
What of the movie-accurate painted Iron Man Mark VI, you ask? Well, it has a missing left hand and a twisted right leg. -__- Yes, this was a factory packed, sealed, MIB package. But hey, I got a big-ass discount because of it. :). Actually the guy charged me for the drone and Fury and threw in the Mk VI. But some hot water should fix the leg, and a spare hand can be easy found, either off my old Mark VI or an old GI Joe figure. I'd probably just have to repaint the hand that but it's only a tiny part so it's all good. :)
For me, I can't remember what Tony Stark was wearing when I first read a comic with him in it, but the distinct look of the helmet was what caught my eye--it wasn't the color for me, it was Iron Man's "face." Then there were also his unique powers and weaknesses.
That was the Iron Man I remembered, not his colors, but his powers and his unique weaknesses.
Now all you Ultimates fans (me included) can roll up your tongues from the floor, put in back in yer mouths (removed scraps of dirt etc. first), then shut those jaws and swallow. That's right, remember to breathe...
Still not convinced? Not a "looks" person, you say? Well then this guy's personality will getcha! Ultimate Iron Man might not talk to me (despite my attempts to strike up a conversation) or anyone else for that matter. But his character's appeal, brought to life by the superb Mark Millar and the splendid Bryan Hitch in the Original Ultimates Comic Series, is so cool that he might as well have a personality.
Just when you thought Iron Man 2 fever was over, BAM, they hit us with the DVD and a couple of new waves of toys.
It's very unlike the version that is the beast of the1st movie. It's very much closer to being spot on color and design-wise to the comic book version.
"Hey meine, I vant MY borrd," he said as he slammed the table. Gotta love Mickey Rourke. Gotta love Ivan Vanko. Gotta love Whiplash despite him being a rather one dimensional character.
Anyways, being able to get hands on this figure made me really happy because he's the only helmet-less character they've made into an action figure so far in the 3.75" Iron Man 2 line. There'll be more to follow, but I suspect this will be the only verison of ol' Randy "The Ram" Vanko we'll see. I personally want a fully armored Whiplash from the climax of IM 2, but nothing's been announced about that yet...
That's right, an in depth look at this figure minus his two K-Mart Exclusive Advanced Tactical Armor pack-mates. Why? Because I don't have them! The Rangerlord gladly took them home after we split the set and their now nestled close to him under among his sheets. :P
Seriously though, I'm glad we split it because I wasn't too into the Mark V repaint/remolded Bio-Metal Armor Iron Man, while I wanted Recon War Machine in camo colors more than I wanted Omega Factor War Mack, cool green and all. 
This guy is a classic. No, not in terms of being instantly recognizable as a villain but rather as a good laugh. Here's a hint: what if he were painted in flesh tones instead of metallic green?
For one, he looks like he'll have whomever he's fighting against collapsed in a heap from laughter (not bad for Guardsman, really). Also, he doesn't look like he's packin' much heat. Where is he hiding his weapons?
Now I normally don't go for the 6 inch figures (yeah right--a look at my recent posts will totally disprove that statement), but I made an exception for these guys. Oh yeah, I forgot I do but my fair share of DC Universe Classics figures. And there were the He-Man and Skeletor MOTU Classics figures...But as far as Marvel goes, I've limited myself to Hulk figures. And only the recent desire to assemble Fin Fang Foom made me cave and get that Hulk exclusive wave. Even then, those were Hulk related characters. So this Iron Man Mark V represents my first real adventure into the 6" Marvel figure universe.
I was totally blown away with the way this guy looked in the photos, so I couldn't resist when the Rangerlord asked if I wanted to get one because he was swimming in a pile at some local department store. So thank you once again, good sir. You're once again the reason why I didn't miss out on this sweet piece of movie toy magic. So go! My review! It's at Articulated Discussion, along with almost all my other Iron Man reviews. :)
What's important is that this particular suit has the coolest concept behind it but didn't have an instant "like" factor to it--at least that's what I gather from most netizens and people who watched the trailer when it was first released. I was of the same mind. Something about the armor bugged me. I mean, it's awesome that a suit can fold into a suitcase but something that I'd seen about it so far was off. It didn't help when this toy hit the pegs because of one or two things like the paint and the fact I didn't instantly take a liking to the armor at first.
The same goes for this 3.75 scale of the Suitcase Armor. When I first saw it, I was put off by the silver to red ratio and by the sloppy red paint in general. Lots of the sculpt's detail gets hidden because of the poor application. But after a few weeks and the pegs being swamped by this figure, I managed to snag one with good paint. And just like in the movie, after I had a closer look, I was suitably impressed.
It's great to look back at the very roots of the franchise that's all flash, to the Iron Man armor before it was anything but a chance for Tony Stark to survive his failing heart.
Well, it was the same for me. So when there was a 20% of sale at a local department store, I picked him up. And I haven't regretted it, not one bit.
