Okay, fine, you got me.
Following a devastating loss to Firepower, Tony Stark pours his skill into designing an experimental new Iron Man suit to defend Stark Industries.
Target's markdowns are, to say the least, unpredictable. When the Avengers 60th Anniversary line came out, a lot of Targets across America very quickly dropped it to clearance prices, but an equally large contingent of fans reported their stores had no such sale going on. It turns out Target managers are free to decide these things at the local level, which is nothing if not annoying when you're trying to get the best value for your money. For instance, my Target marked these Iron Man Retro Collection figures down to like $8... but only after I already had all the ones I definitely knew I wanted. But hey, good excuse to get one I was on the fence about, right?
I didn't feel like I needed a new Model 09 armor, because I had a perfectly good one from just a few years back. Why, that was only... wait. Wait, no. That can't be. It was 12 years ago?! Oof. So okay, a toy from 2024 is probably going to be better than one from 2012, but was it going to be "pay $25 better"? Probably not. And so we see how Hasbro's attempts at price-gouging you and your collection are only costing them money.
The new parts of the figure were sculpted by
Dannis "The Man" Chan (the arms and legs are from the shared body. While the limbs are less distinctly organic and muscular than the Marvel Legends 3 figure, the "jacket" on the chest is moreso: that is, the older toy just had a rounded plate of armor on the chest and a smooth one connecting to the trunks, but this newer sculpt has obvious pectoral muscles and abs. Honestly? The old look was better, even if the comic art did have a little bit of those features, as well. It made this look more like an armored suit than a guy who happens to be made of metal.
One thing we do really wish is that Hasbro would pick a colorscheme for their Iron Men and stick with it. Tony's made all these armors, and most of them have been the same primary colors, regardless of what other design differences might happen. Half the appeal of him having a Hall of Armor is seeing all the suits lined up next to each other, with different shapes but matching colors. Meanwhile,
when Hasbro releases a toy, you never know if it's going to be red and yellow, or red and gold. In this series alone, the Model 09 is yellow, and the Model 20 is gold, meaning the two don't actually look like they belong together at all. Obviously we'd prefer yellow (it's easier to get a consistently good shade with that, as opposed to the blue tint "gold" paints sometimes suffer from), but we could be forgiving as long as they all freaking matched! Honestly, it's a bit surprising Hasbro doesn't try to prey on completists by putting one yellow and one gold version of each figure in every case. But maybe we shouldn't be giving them scummy, underhanded ideas. The unibeam in the chest is a light blue, here, which looks decent and adds a spot of contrast, though all the source art appears to make it yellow.
When this armor first appeared (in Iron Man #231), the slots on the gloves were on the inside of the arm, not the outside, and the boots were a more normal size - it was only when John Romita Jr. began drawing it that his big, blocky style got interpreted as these giant snow boots. Since there's a joint in the shin, Hasbro could mold new boots and swap them out for a "first appearance" variant at some point in the future.
The fists and open hands are from the same source as the limbs,
and he gets two of the translucent blue repulsor blast effects to fit in the palms. Or the soles of his feet. There are also two new effects parts in the same color, basically the repulsor beam equivalent of gun smoke curling up from the ports. Well that certainly helps make this version more desirable.
It's not surprising this figure is better than one from 12 years ago in nearly every way, but I still wouldn't have bought it at full price. Thank goodness for deep sales.
-- 07/01/24
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