Written by Dan Hickman • Toy Editor
Next to the armor I grew up on in the 70’s and 80’s this is, undoubtedly, one of my all time favorite Iron Man armors! In 1994, the modular armor (Model 13) made it’s first appearance in Iron Man Issue #300, today, the modular armor makes an exceptional appearance in the Hasbro Marvel Legends Line.
In an attempt to eliminate the need for developing specialized armors, Tony Stark created the modular armor concept and design.
This highly versatile armor featured specialized components which could be swapped in and out depending on the type of mission Tony undertook.
The new components featured upgraded boots, gauntlets, helmets, weapons, scanners, etc… whatever Stark would need to complete the mission at hand.
The armor had different coupling ports throughout which allowed the multitude of components to be interchanged.
The ultimate upgrade to this suit was, of course, the Hulkbuster armor which could be wrapped around this modular armor.
The weaponry associated with this armor was also impressive and consisted of a railgun, a cryogenic weapon, a camo mode, and a holographic projector, just to name a few.
This suit is, indeed, an arsenal unto itself.
Image: Marvel Comics Group
Does the Hasbro Marvel Legends Modular Armor Iron Man meet the Triple A of Accessories, Appearance, and Articulation?
Let’s delve into this figure and find out. Iron man comes with two pairs of hands; fisted and repulsor blasting and a pair of dark blue repulsor blasts (or boot thrust blasts) and… that’s it.
We’ve seen these blasts multiple times before but to this set, I cannot recall seeing any molded in this deep, translucent blue.
When ported into the figure’s hands or feet, the contrast of the deep blue against the metallic red and gold really jumps out.
Admittedly, I’d have loved to have seen some additional, well, “modules” to apply to the figure, but the truth of the matter is, I’m impressed very much by this figure without a boatload of accessories.
So, even though it doesn’t necessarily meet the Accessory “A” in this review, I’m ok with it.
How does the Modular Armor Iron Man look? Oh baby! This figure is absolutely sick!!!
I love the color scheme of this figure. As with many armored characters, the marbling in the red scheme really gives the figure a shiny, metallic look.
As with the 80th anniversary Iron Man, the yellow parts of Iron Man’s armor are beautifully rendered in gold.
This Iron Man looks like a hot rod ready to show off.
The sculpting on this figure is tremendous and accurately represents the initial appearance of this figure, right down to the vented ear pieces on either side of his helmet.
The detailing on the armor is exacting in matching it’s comic book counterpart and I’m very impressed with the fact that the sculptor paid attention so closely to the source material.
I already mentioned the ear ports and what impresses me most here is the fact that in later variations of the armor in the books, Tony made the earpieces round, like their earlier counterparts.
That this figure was sculpted to represent the first appearance of this armor is impressive, right down to that little detail.
I carefully looked my figure over and, thankfully, found no paint flaws and as I articulated the figure, I was pleased to see that the sculpting remained consistent, especially with the diaphragm crunch.
I am also really impressed with both the repulsor and fisted hands on this figure.
The sculpting is so on point and realistic.
I would love to interview one of these sculptors at some point. Iron Man definitely nails the Appearance section of this review!
Lastly, how articulated is this figure? Can he move well or is he limited?
The design of the armor inherently hinders some articulation, but overall, he maintains a good deal of typical Legends movement.
His head turns side to side but doesn’t look up or down very well.
There is also very limited head “wobble” so getting him to be able to look up in flight poses is minimal.
The shoulders will allow for fantastic T poses, HOWEVER, I did notice that my shoulder covers, which are pliable, can get caught on the torso and bend if care isn’t taken to raise the shoulders.
They will also rotate 360 degrees without any hindrance.
He has an upper bicep swivel which moves nicely, double jointed, pinless elbows, which bend in very deeply and both fisted and repulsor hands hinge and turn nicely.
I love it when Hasbro gives Iron Man hinged repulsor hands.
He has a single diaphragm crunch which bends forward and backward quite well and looks aesthetically pleasing both ways.
He has a waist swivel, which I had to heat up to get moving.
Once I loosened it, the swivel moved nicely.
The cut for the swivel is also hidden very well and looks great.
His legs will do adequate splits and the upper thigh cut moves nicely on the figure.
He has double jointed, pinless knees which will bend back decently but doesn’t allow him to kick his own behind.
Lastly, his ankles will hinge and have a nice rocker, thanks to the forward facing pin.
I did have to heat my ankles up to get them moving, but once done, they now move nicely.
Overall, the modular armor Iron Man nails two thirds of our Triple A.
Even though he could surely use more accessories (can’t they all?). I gotta say… this is one of my new favorites.
The modular armor Iron Man retails for about $23 and is definitely worth adding to your collection.
I’m giving him a solid 4.5 out of 5 toyboxes!
You can find him and preorder many of the new Marvel Legends figures, at Big Bad Toy Store.
Thanks for checking out the toybox and, until next time… Geek Out!
Related: Review: Marvel Legends Disney+ Wave 6 Inch Scarlet Witch Action Figure
