A great take on an armor that wasn’t even shown in the movie.
Producer: Hot Toys
Price: Approx. $285 USD
Release Date: Jan. 2014
Item Height: Approx. 12.25″
Item Weight: N/A
Batteries: 3 x LR621 cell, 6x LR521 cell, and 3x AAA batteries
WHERE TO BUY: SideShow Collectibles (Long Sold Out)
The Marvel Studios “Iron Man 3” movie certainly didn’t skimp out on featuring a vast number of suits but one character that was missing was James Rhode’s War Machine armor that was foregone in favor of him using the Iron Patriot armor which was the War Machine Mk II but featuring a red, white, and blue deco (get it?) However, there was concept art done for a more standard colored War Machine Mk II and Hot Toys used it to make a diecast figure of it. Aesthetically it takes a very big departure from the heavily comic-inspired Mk I while still keeping the general vibe of the armor. In this article I show it in motion in the video above, and then give some more thoughts in the breakdown section below as well as a gallery for this piece. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments.
Presentation: The box on this one is just like the previously reviewed Iron Man Mk XLVI in terms of style and just as impressive. The multi-layered packaging and fantastic artwork is seriously impressive.
Build: The War Machine Mk III from Hot Toys is a mixture of diecast and plastics throughout the frame and it is insanely hefty in terms of both feel and actual weight even compared to the Hot Toys diecast Iron Man pieces I own. The paint and small details like the tampoes and even the offsetting of different silvers on the mark are plain emaculate. The engineering is almost 1:1 with the Iron Man Mk XLVI in terms of things like the waist extending in multiple places and hips dropping down for more range of motion but this one actually improves upon the method and gets further range. It should also be noted that the peg system used for the forearm covers of the light switches are much more well done in the since that they not only peg in and out easier but are less prone to breakage. Even though War Machine hasn’t been portrayed as a main star in the movies, this collectible got just as much attention to detail if not more than any other Hot Toys product I’ve seen.
Accessories: The War Machine Mk. III comes with a good amount of accessories:
– Three (4) pairs of hands:
– One (1) pair of fists
– One (1) pair of opened hands
– One (1) pair of articulated hands
– One (1) saluting right hand.
– One (1) blaster which can be attached to one of five areas on its back.
– One (1) stand with LED features
– One (1) miniature clear War Machine Mk 1 Statue (Sideshow Exclusive)
The accessories are fairly light in number and straight to the point which makes sense considering that this variant of the armor wasn’t used in the movie at all. Everything looks and works fine but I do wish that the blaster was able to actually clip into the attachment points on his back vs. just being held by friction for added security.
Articulation: The articulation points are pretty standard for the Hot Toys diecast armors with a nice amount of range for movement. The amount of forward and back swing that he can get in his abdominal area when extended is particularly impressive.
Overall Score: 7.0/10 – The Iron Man 3 War Machine Mk II is a solid but very bare bones release. I don’t understand the height discrepancy between it and the Mk I and III being so significant and it makes it look even more so like a “b” armor when they’re displayed together. Regardless, it is a fun piece to play with as well as being a nice looking diversion from the very comic-inspired Mark I.
Check out the gallery below, even though the Hot Toys diecast War Machine Mk II is sold out keep an eye on Sideshow Collectibles for all of their latest releases.
