IRON MAN Action Figures
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There
have been several action figure toy lines inspired by Iron Man
with some specifically related to the Iron Man animated TV
show from 1994 and Iron Man live-action movies with a
couple of these spinning off from there.
Iron Man Animated
Series Figures - 1994
Back in the 1990s Toy Biz had been pretty successful
producing action figures based on Marvel Comics characters.
When Fox Studios began producing a new animated TV series
called Iron Man in 1994 as part of the Marvel
Action Hour along with the Fantastic Four series,
it was a logical choice to make action figures on the show’s
various characters.
The figures debuted in 1995 in the 4.75 to 5 inch scale
which was the standard at that time for Toy Biz.
The figures’ movements were the typical head, arms, elbows,
legs and knees and came with a variety of accessories
especially the Iron Man figures which included various
pieces of armor that you can snap/affix onto the figure with
some having firing missile launchers and missiles.
There
was usually a template/profile card included with the figure
except the armored Iron Mans that offered a brief
description of the character like Mandarin, Spider-Woman,
Blacklash, Hawkeye, Whirlwind, Grey Gargoyle and others.
It was the first time that we collectors would see the high
gloss vacuumed metalized armor on toy figures which at that
time was revolutionary.
My favorites are the Iron Man figures because of the armored
parts that you could attach to the figure and the Hawkeye
and Blizzard figures since the sculpting and paint
applications on these figures are done so well.
This was a
good line of figures offering numerous Iron Mans in various
armor with a nice selection of his villains and supporting
cast including War Machine in a couple of versions.
This line is somewhat a challenge to locate and has gone
unnoticed for a while since there have been so many other
action figure toy lines that have been produced since.
It’s not a very large line as there were in the neighborhood
of 26 figures made. Most often sellers usually push the
newer items to keep current and they might want to discount
lines like this one so it’s possible to acquire them without
spending too much.
Your negotiating stance would be to offer those who have
these figures the opportunity to move off of this product so
they can stock newer items.
No seller wants to sit on product for years, but sometimes
some sellers hang onto items way too long and might be a
little reluctant in parting at a low price so it’ll be up to
your timing to find the right seller who’s willing to move
out of these so you can acquire them for a good price.
A source for
this line is Ebay. You can
do a search on Google for this line to see other sites that
may carry this line.
Iron Man
Movie Figures
With the release of the first Iron Man movie in 2008
starring Robert Downey Jr., Hasbro who now holds the
primary licensing to produce Marvel figures produced a whole new
line of toys based on the movie and then some.
The first set of figures were in the 6 inch scale comparable
to the
Marvel Legends and
DC
Universe lines.
Featured were the Iron Man armors and Iron Monger from the
film.
The
figures’ movements were primarily head, arms, elbows, legs
and knees and usually came with some sort of missile
launcher and missile.
The figures were okay. They weren’t necessarily in the same
standard as the
Marvel Legends series which had more detail and
better paint applications, but they looked nice and were the
primary figures at that time made for the movie.
Hasbro started to expand on the line by producing what they
referred to as concept series which still carried the Iron
Man movie logo of the previous figures, but these were what
the designers/artisans decided would be possible future
versions of Iron Man.
The best of these were the Subterranean Armor where they
used some creative license from the Toy Biz version from the
1990s. It came with a large drill that could be attached to
Iron Man’s right arm with dark brown/copper colors on the
armor. It’s a standout figure in this series within a
series.
There was a
short-lived action figure toy line based on the
current running Iron Man: Armored Adventures TV
series which was made by Hasbro and was geared more towards
kids.
The sculpting was good and the figures were fine, but I
don’t know that I would recommend this particular toy line
to many collectors. It was good for its intended target.
Sources for
this line is Ebay. You can
do a search on Google for this line to see other sites that
may carry this line.
Iron Man
2 Movie Figures
When the Iron Man 2 movie came out in 2010, Hasbro
was quick to convert things to a smaller scale with 3.75 to
4 inch scale versions of the figures very similar to the
Marvel Universe line that they had been producing.
This new line called Iron Man 2 would include movie
versions, comic versions and concept versions tapping into
all of the Iron Man properties and then some.
The line
would include Iron Man armors from both motion pictures
showing the full array of the Iron Man I, II, III, IV, V, VI
armors. There are a few War Machine armors, a few Iron
Mongers, Battle Mongers and various villains from the films
including Whiplash, Drones.
The line includes some of his comic book villains like
Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, comic version of Whiplash,
Guardsman, Mandarin and his comic book armors like classic
Silver Age and Bronze Age armors, Silver Centurion, Modern
Armor, Hulkbuster Armor, Red and Gold Armor, Ultimate Iron
Man Armor, War Machine and various concept series armor.
There have
been numerous deluxe figures which included with the War
Machine for example a very large missile launcher and
missile apparatus. There have been numerous vehicles that
have included previous Iron Man figures, but slightly
repainted as well as motorcycles which included a not so
articulated Iron Man figure.
Hasbro has created a few spin-offs-a multi-pack of figures
which includes a Nick Fury figure using Samuel L. Jackson as
the likeness, Iron Man Armor VI and Drones and other
specialty items like a talking 10 inch Iron Man and War
Machine and a twin pack of Iron Man and War Machine.
All items from the 3.75 inch scale are well sculpted and
very detailed with very good paint applications applied.
They usually came with a base so your figure could stand on
and a profile card offering detailed information on the
specific character/figure.
Each
figure in the line for the most part has multiple points of
movement. Depending on the figure most can be adjusted at
the head, arms-some at a couple of points, elbows,
wrists-some, legs-some at a couple of points, knees and
ankles. The figures can be posed for great diorama and
display possibilities.
The packaging uses the Iron Man 2 headshot at the top left
on the card with a clear plastic bubble affixed which stays
consistent for all of the figures in the line thus far.
There will be a sub-heading below the Iron Man 2 logo
indicating whether or not they are the Movie Series, Comic
Series or Concept Series.
Each carded figure can stand freely without assistance and
look great next to one another.
It’s a fantastic line that looks to have a couple of more
waves introducing more figures. They all look very
comparable to the Marvel Universe, Captain America The First
Avenger, Thor, DC Infinite Heroes, GI Joe, Star Wars and
other 3.75 action figure toy lines.
These figures are not terribly expensive and depending on
where you acquire them can be had for less than $10 for 2 at
a couple of stores during their various sale periods like
Fred Meyer which tends to put these and other action
figures on sale just about every other week and includes a
10% discount coupon that can add to further discounting the
items.
Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, K-Mart
are most collectors destinations for the Iron Man 2
line during its initial debut, but I've noticed the
line is
beginning to thin out here as more time passes by.
Sources for this line are Big Bad Toy
Store, Hasbrotoys, Amoktime, Entertainment
Earth and Ebay. You can do a search on
Google for this line to see other sites that may carry this
line.
Iron Man The
Armored Avenger Figures
Hasbro slowly began to reintroduce the 6 inch scale of
figures in other lines and Iron Man was no exception.
In the middle of 2011 they produced a first series based on
the Iron Man 2 movie and Iron Man comic series calling
itself Iron Man The Armored Avenger line introducing
Iron Man Mark VI armor, War Machine, Iron Man Hulkbuster
Armor and Titanium Man.
They
created a special Mark V armor as an exclusive to Walmart
stores from the Iron Man 2 movie. This figure was separate
from the Armored Avenger line, but was the only 6 inch
figure made up to this time since the Iron Man 2 movie
debuted so you could easily relate it to this new upstart
line.
There are other 6 inch Iron Man figures that are slowly
beginning to be released which include another version of
the Mark V armor which is black and gold and a Stealth
Strike Mark IV armor.
The
figures are nicely done and nicely painted. They have the
typical movements including head, arms, elbows, legs and
knees and usually come with a firing missile launcher and
missile.
The
Hulkbuster Armor looks to be a repainted version of the
Subterranean armor from the Iron Man movie concept series.
The Titanium Man is simply a larger version of the one that
appeared in the 3.75 inch sale line.
The figures come in a redesigned package with a new Iron Man
logo and marquee with the distinctive The Armored Avenger
label below the words Iron Man.
The typical plastic bubble affixed to the card back is used
here and the package can stand freely without intervention
and look very nice when you line up the figures that have
come out next to one another.
It’s a solid line that leads into the relaunch of the
Marvel Legends line for 2012.
My recommendation is that you should be able to find this
particular line of
figures easily at Toys R Us, Target,
Walmart, K-Mart. You really shouldn’t have
to venture online to acquire these, however if for whatever
reason they are out of stock and you can’t wait for these to
return to these stores then check out Big Bad Toy Store,
Hasbrotoys, Toys R Us online, Amoktime
or Entertainment Earth.
Hot Toys Iron Man
Figures
The
most highly detailed and movie accurate Iron Man figures that has
ever been produced
are the ones created by Hot Toys.
Their figures
are in the 12 inch (1/6th scale) and feature a large amount of articulation
providing collectors the most poseable figures on the market.
The
company produces primarily figures based on movie properties that
they call the Movie Masterpiece Series. All of the Iron Man movies and
Avengers movie that Iron Man has been featured in, Hot Toys has
produced an Iron Man figure based on those representations.
They
have even produced Tony Stark figures and some of his villains from
the films such as Whiplash and Iron Monger in addition to
War
Machine, all containing heads of the actors who portrayed each
character - Mickey Rourke, Jeff Bridges and Don Cheadle which have dramatic
likenesses.
The
Robert Downey Jr. heads that come with most of the Iron Man figures
and of course the Tony Stark figures are spot on and are the most
desirable of all Hot Toys figures.
These life-like head scuplts and figures make it very difficult in
some photos to tell whether you're looking at the real actor or the
figure.
There are environments that replicate the Hall of Armor in Tony
Stark's headquarters below his mansion which Hot Toys has produced.
The chambers fit one Iron Man figure that have lights to
showcase the piece which can be connected to one another as seen in
the films. They come in three choices of 1, 4 and 7 chambers
creating the ultimate Hall of Armor set.
Most
of the Iron Man
figures come with a wide variety of accessories such as removable
helmets, a Tony Stark removable head, multiple hands, removable
armor, battle damaged armor and more with the supporting cast
containing their own myriad of accessories too.
The
figures are heavily detailed with gorgeous paint jobs. They
will have armored plastic and some have die-cast metal for armor.
Where appropriate some figures will have cloth costumes. Most
have a light-up feature for the chest battery or a light-up
base/stand. They come in very nice packaging that
are a collectible in itself with cool-looking photos and graphics.
A
lot of collectors for whatever reason enjoy collecting the brown
shipping mailer that Hot Toys ships the figure's packages in. The box simply is a regular
cardboard box like any other shipping package from
any manufacturer and has the typical text consisting of the name, model number and
country of origin
of the product.
If
you decide to collect Hot Toys figures, then its worthwhile to hang
onto these boxes as well if you ever decide to sell or trade them later.
They'll take up a lot of room if you own several Hot Toys items, but
will be beneficial to you in the future.
The
figures are typically in the $225+ range when they are initially
available for pre-ordering by various online retailers and
sell out fast. They will regularly sell for double or more
than its original retail price on the after market.
It's
a good idea if you see a figure you're interested in during its
initial pre-ordering phase to place your order early otherwise you risk
missing out and will be faced with those after market prices.
Some
of the retailers that carry Hot Toys figures are the US distributor
Sideshow Collectibles, Big Bad Toy Store, Alter Ego
Comics, Amok Time.
I
have added some banners and listings which are direct links to some
of these retailers that currently offer the figures for sale whether
its for the pre-orders or after market.
Ebay is a source with many different sellers
putting up their auctions and or store listings. I do find some
good deals from time to time here as well.
Other Iron Man
Figures
Iron Man
action figures do exist in other toy lines like
Marvel Famous Cover,
Marvel Legends,
Marvel Legends Icons,
Marvel Secret Wars,
Marvel Select,
Marvel Showdown,
Marvel Universe, Avengers #1 Gift Set, Mego World’s Greatest Super
Heroes, Toy Biz Marvel Superheroes and Avengers.
There are several
sources to find these figures such as Big Bad Toy Store, Amoktime and Ebay.
You can do a search on Google for additional sources.
Ebay is a great source. There’s
a lot of collectors/sellers/dealers on Ebay always
looking to move in and out of product and use Ebay as
their avenue.
Be careful to check out the auctions and or Buy it Now
listings carefully. Some sellers’ terms are not right for
everyone and sometimes the items are not what you expect.
If condition of the package is important to you, then be
sure to ask a lot of questions. If you don’t get the right
kinds of answers you’re looking for, then move on and try
another listing.
Always check out the seller’s profile to see how their past
selling has been. If they’re new to selling and have only
been buying, ask questions.
You always want to be comfortable with the person you’re
potentially going to be buying from and you really need to
know what it is you’re getting.
Happy Collecting!!!
Johnson's Collectibles
