Written By Dan Hickman • Toy Editor
Hasbro continues to expand on their Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings with this incredible two pack featuring Iron Man and Thanos from the Endgame Final Battle.
Though this is a reissue of the Iron Man Mark LXXXV (hereafter referred to as the Mark 85) armor and a re-tooled version of the Thanos Build A Figure, they have received enough upgrades to make this a must have for any collector!
It’s been five years since Thanos, with a snap of his fingers, eradicated half of all life in the universe.
The Avengers, defeated and scattered, are working to rebuild their own lives until an unlikely event gives them renewed hope.
Ant-Man, amazingly, returns from the Quantum Realm and in so doing gives our heroes the faintest glimmering of a plan to reverse the events of Infinity War and restore the lives Thanos stole.
Our heroes embark on a dangerous journey through time to retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos can acquire them.
After successfully repairing the damage Thanos wrought, the Avengers find themselves face to face with the Mad Titan once again, with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance.
Iron Man and Thanos face off in the ultimate battle for control of the fabled Infinity Stones and the future of life as we know it.
Ooh… man, that gave me shivers and these two figures definitely live up to the hype!
I’m really excited to discuss both Iron Man and Thanos with you all today and hope you enjoy this review as much as I did writing it!
I give Hasbro a lot of guff when it comes to packing accessories with their figures.
While I do understand that limited accessories help keep the costs down, I have to admit that when Hasbro loads up the way they did with this two pack, it makes the price well worthwhile.
Yes, I’m already hinting at the fact that these figures are going to do very well with the Accessories section of our Triple A review criteria.
Let’s dive in!
The Infinity Saga Iron Man/Thanos two pack is filled with multiple “goodies” for both figures.
Though I would have appreciated a couple of specific items for Thanos, I’m overall, very pleased with what came.
First off, Iron Man comes with THREE interchangeable head sculpts: 1 Armored version, 1 unmasked, uninjured and 1 unmasked battle damaged.
The facial sculpts are incredible and I will go deeper into those under appearance.
Iron Man also has three pairs of hands, 1 pair Repulsor Blast, 1 Pair Fisted, 1 Nano Gauntlet “finger snap”, and 1 weapon holding hand. He also has two repulsor blasts, which we’ve seen previously, a repulsor “shield” which clips on to his wrist/forearm, and a really cool concentrated energy double blade, which fits nicely into his weapon holding hand.
Thanos comes with FOUR interchangeable head sculpts! 1 helmeted, 1 unhelmeted smirking, 1 unhelmeted frowning, and 1 unhelmeted dissolving to dust head. Thanos also comes with a Fisted Iron Gauntlet hand, complete with all Infinity Stones as well as a Snapping Fingers Gauntlet (without the stones) and his double bladed weapon.
I would have liked to have seen an extra hand/forearm attachment for Thanos that didn’t have the Iron Gauntlet, but all things considered, I’m not going to harp on that.
All in all, I am very, very pleased with the extras that come with both figures and having so much choice for displaying them makes having them even more fun.
This two pack certainly has earned an A for accessories and they are so worthwhile.
What is even more impressive is the amount of care that has gone into the detail and look of both figures and their accoutrements.
Review: Marvel Legends Infinity Saga Iron Man / Thanos Two Pack 6 Inch Action Figure
While I have a deep appreciation for the appearance of both of these figures, there is one very strong detail that was missed and is quite disappointing for me.
Let’s talk about the Mark 85 Iron Man. We’ve seen this figure before, released individually and it’s just as sharp now as it was then.
That being said, I’m very disappointed with the lack of matching detail on this newer figure and, above all, the missed opportunity for Hasbro to give us a Battle Damaged Iron Man figure!
First off, the paint scheme on this figure is much brighter than on the predecessor and though there are some details such as the blue tint to the chest beam that are better than on the older figure, Hasbro got really lazy on the detail painting here.
On the original figure, the silver/gunmetal details are applied consistently throughout the figure.
ON this, though, those details are painted a dark gray and, unlike the first, are not applied in all of the same spots.
The abdomen for example, has detailed paint applied on the original figure, but on this figure that detail is missing.
The red torso also has the typical marbled look that seems to be indicative of metallic figures and though it is acceptable, under different lighting it gives the armor more of a pinkish/magenta hue, rather than the “hot rod” red that Tony usually goes for.
The gold paints on the arms, legs, and mask are exceptional and very clean which makes for a sharp appearance.
The sculpting on this figure is also very well done and gives us a fairly film accurate appearance in detail.
I may not always like the paint applications, but I’ll admit, I’m a big sucker for the amount of detail that goes into Marvel Legends sculpts and I tip my hat to those artisans responsible.
Once again, Marvel’s photo-real face mapping gives us an incredible likeness of Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark.
The undamaged sculpt looks incredible and the paint details are remarkable.
I’m even more impressed with the battle damaged look though, as Hasbro really went all out in attempting to recreate with accuracy the look of Tony’s face when he utters his ultimate line…”and I am… Iron Man.”
The flesh tones on both are fantastic and the bruising/mottling on the damaged face looks incredible.
Why, Hasbro, why did you not make this figure entirely battle damaged?
At the point in the movie, this is supposed to depict, his armor was beat to heck.
Oddly enough… Hasbro rectified that with the companion figure in this package, more to come on that though.
The accessories with Iron Man also look very nice.
The translucent blue shield really look sharp when attached to the figure, but the clip on mine is loose enough that the shield tends to flop on the forearm, which is very disappointing.
The repulsor blasts are the same translucent dark blue and aren’t remarkably distinguishable from any we’ve seen before.
Lastly, his double bladed energy weapon really knocks me out.
The translucent blue overlays for the energy blades sit nicely on the rich red handle and blade guides and set each other off very well.
The weapon looks really nice in Tony’s hand, especially when backlit.
I’m actually going to give Iron Man an A- for Appearance as Hasbo totally whiffed on giving us a really cool battle damaged Iron Man and the lazy paint apps as opposed to the level of detail in the first iteration of this figure.
Review: Marvel Legends Infinity Saga Iron Man / Thanos Two Pack 6 Inch Action Figure
Thanos, on the other hand, blows my freaking mind!!!!
At first glance, this appears to be a repaint of the Build A Figure, but upon closer inspection we can see a number of new pieces and some significant differences between the two.
First and foremost, his left hand is NOT wearing the Infinity Gauntlet as the previous BAF did. His right arm has also been re-sculpted with the Iron Gauntlet now in place and best of all… his armor shows significant battle damage!!
When I first looked at this figure, I was thrilled as to how much it matched up with the movie counterpart.
My next thought was “if they could do this with Thanos, why isn’t Iron Man just as beaten up?”
What really makes this special though is that the damage isn’t just limited to his chest and shoulders.
Careful inspection reveals that nearly all of his armored pieces have dings, dents, scratches, and scrapes to them.
Even his helmet looks to be dinged up. Kudos to the sculptors on this piece because there is a really high level of attention to detail here.
Additionally the paint apps on this figure far outstrip those applied to the original BAF.
There are more details applied to the armor and costume than previously and shows a much greater care for aesthetics.
The armor is so damaged that the gold paint is scraped away in spots, revealing the dull grey metal underneath and I cannot get enough satisfaction in looking at this figure.
The detailing applied is so intricate that you might think this to be an import figure.
The level of craftsmanship on this Thanos easily approaches the work that overseas companies are doing.
I will honestly say that this version of Thanos is the absolute favorite in my collection now.
The facial paint apps and sculpts are phenomenal but even more so when you look at the “turning to dust” sculpt.
In the movie Thanos, facing defeat, feels his legs buckle and he sits down (just as he foretold in Infinity War).
The calm look of acceptance on his face as he realizes he’s lost is replicated on this sculpt and is simply fantastic.
Best of all though is his weapon.
The double edged/bladed sword that Thanos carries in the movie is more closely matched in sculpting with this accessory than in previous versions.
The handle with the double blade guards and the design of both hilt and blade etchings looks so much better than the lazy attempt in the first BAF.
I don’t know if Hasbro lacked good production stills to work from then, but they’ve more than made up for it with this offering.
Between the incredible paint apps and sculpted detail this Thanos easily earns a solid A for appearance!
Review: Marvel Legends Infinity Saga Iron Man / Thanos Two Pack 6 Inch Action Figure
So far, but for a couple of small gripes, both of these figures have lived up to expectations.
How do they each handle the all important A for Articulation?
Being Marvel Legends, we are well aware of their range of motion, but with that in mind, I will point out a few things on each that I feel are notable, in terms of movement.
I don’t know if it’s just the nature of this particular sculpt but both versions of the Mark 85 armor are very stiff and, for me, required warming up before they’d move freely.
All three of the head sculpts for I.M. move side to side with ease and have excellent range of upward and downward motion, thanks to the ball pegs on each neck.
The biggest problem though is when you use the “piledriver” motion to increase how far up each head sculpt can look, there is a very large and noticeable gap under the chin.
It’s easily hidden by using different camera angles, but when looking directly head on or in profile it really looks bad.
The shoulders are not on butterfly joints and max out to 90 degrees when raised to the sides.
The arms do rotate 360 degrees and feature bicep swivel and double jointed elbows.
Each hand hinges and pivots nicely as well. Iron Man has an upper diaphragm joint which doesn’t bend forward very well, but does bend back nicely and has an excellent pivot.
There is no waist pivot though and the legs do not do very good splits.
They also do not kick forward very well, nor do they kick back at all.
The upper thigh cut works nicely and the double jointed knees bend in pretty tightly.
His ankle pivot, is probably the best part of the foot movement as the hinges are very tight and have been warmed repeatedly for functionality.
Thanos, meanwhile, has a simple ball hinge in the neck which allows side to side movement and downward looking head tilt.
The shoulders raise to the sides nicely but due to the sculpt of his armor are prevented from the 360 rotation.
Thanos has NO upper bicep cut but has a single jointed elbow which also rotates giving an illusory sense of wider motion range.
His left hand motion is extremely limited because of the bracer on his forearm, but the right, gauntleted hand can pivot and hinge very well.
Thanos has an upper diaphragm joint which bends forward and backward but has no pivot or tilt motion, nor does he have a waist pivot.
The skirts on his waist are made of a soft, pliable plastic which allows him to do very nice splits as well as permitting a decent forward kick for his legs.
Thanos has a very nice upper thigh cut which is expertly hidden and functions well.
His double jointed knees also bend in better than expected. Both ankles hinge up and down very easily, but due to the sculpt of his boot armor, have little rocker/pivot motion.
While I’m not overwhelmed by the amount of articulation, both figures do just enough to earn their respective A’s for articulation.
Review: Marvel Legends Infinity Saga Iron Man / Thanos Two Pack 6 Inch Action Figure
Minor complaints aside, I am very happy to have this two pack in my collection.
I really enjoy seeing my favorite comic characters coming to life on the big screen and am thrilled that Hasbro is doing such an amazing job accurately depicting those likenesses.
As much as I love the toys from my childhood, never would I have dreamed then that my favorite heroes would have such amazing figures.
The Infinity Saga Iron Man/Thanos two pack retails at a price point of about $60 and for that price makes an excellent addition to any MCU figure collection.
I am happy to give this offering a solid 4.5 out of 5 toyboxes.
You can find these and many other Marvel Legends figures in retail stores or online at Big Bad Toy Store.
Thanks for checking out the toybox and, until next time… Geek Out!
Related: Review: Marvel Legends Iron Man Modular Armor 6 Inch Action Figure
