Today's Toy #1: Iron Man Mark IV

I've decide to revitalize this blog and start looking at a figure from my collection every day or so (or, probably inevitably, as much as I feel like) a format which I'm aping from several established toy blogs. Because, you know, I love my toys, and to me they each have a story to tell. And besides examining them on my desk, they just don't get the kind of attention they deserve. So I'll be picking one each day according to my fancy and reviewing it. I think I'll also review new toys as I get them starting...now. And in honor of the release of Iron Man 2 I'll start by looking at my latest Iron Man, Iron Man Mark IV. Here we go...

Iron Man Mark IV
When Did It Come Out?
Right now! Well, ok, not now, it came out a little earlier in about March 2010, but it's out now. These figures bucked the trend of higher and higher toy costs lately, and will only set you back $6.99 if you don't buy them somewhere ridiculous. Why, that's only as much as (or less than?) a Star Wars figure cost when they added those stupid Commtech chips in 1999. But anyway, Iron Man here was released to coincide with the release of Iron Man 2, and is from that movie. He came out with about a slew well articulated brothers in a very nice line of super-articulated 3 3/4 inch figures. If you want a full armory of little Iron Men then you'd better strike now while the Iron Man is hot.

When Did I Buy It?
I bought it with earnings from coming in second in a NCAA Basket Ball bracket. Gambling for toys, I'm such a degenerate. Previously I'd bought a huge number of the rest of these Iron Man toys for my birthday, and, being anal-retentive, I wanted all the armors that appear in the new movie, even though this one is barely different from the Mark VI.

Why Should YOU Buy it?
These toys rule. Hasbro has recently pretty much done away with their 6 inch Marvel toys and turned everything 3 3/4 inch style. And until now the figures were over-priced and kind of wonky looking. But now they're very well articulated and actually more detailed than the 6 inch version from the first movie. All this and they actually lowered the price. Did their price/demand ratio decide no one would buy this for more? Whatever it was, I'm reaping all the benefits! As far as this version itself, he's pretty cool. An updated version of the first movie's armor, this one has a few more little details and gold piping. It's a good basic-armor Iron Man, so he'd be good as a jumping on point if you want to get into these. For me, he's a nice additional flavor to the Iron Man armory, and I think he works well for what he is: a slightly refined and updated version of the old armor after it was destroyed. A kid could have a good time pretending that the Mark III was damaged by Iron Monger and then pull this figure out and use their best Iron Man voice to say something like "I'm back, and I've made a few...modifications!" On one last note, I hate to disparage my toys, but this one is VERY similar to the Mark VI (the one with the triangle chest piece) which is the one people will be more excited about based on the movie. Cause he makes a new element to power it (Spoiler!). So unless you're really into toys, you'll almost certainly just want to get that one (though you'd still have to be fairly into toys to get it at all).

What If It's Source-Material Was a Mystery?
Right now, everyone has heard of him. But otherwise, he's a robot man and he looks like a robot man, with shiny metallic red and gold, and light palms and chest. Visually, he's a little more complicated than other versions, so he comes off as a little more advanced. If you're a fan of robots he'll look great on a desk or shelf, even if you don't care about comics or the movies. And robots always translate well into toys because their joints pass off well as part of the actual robot's joints. Top it off that this toy is detailed and articulated and you're guaranteed to have at least a little fun diddling around with it.