If you read my Embo review earlier this week then you probably can guess what I was going to review today. I always liked this War Machine figure, but he’s just one of those toys I never got around to buying. Now, thanks to a Toys R Us coupon, I could waste just slightly less money picking him up.
I’m not a big fan of the Mark VI Iron Man’s colors. I like the gold and red, but those silver parts really break up the flow for me. So Mark VI was out of the running. My TRU actually had a Titanium Man, and for a few moments I was tempted by him. Then I realized he didn’t come with any extra hands. Even at a slight discount I was hoping to get more accessories than a wrist canon. Besides, who would he fight?
So the logical conclusion for me was going to be War Machine. I’ve always loved the look of the character in the comics, especially that pumpkin toothed grin. Even though the movie version didn’t look the same, it still had this great sleekness to its look. Plus, the armored plates look so much better than the metallic muscles of the comic.
Another reason why I bought this figure is because I’m getting a little impatient for the new Marvel Legends line to begin. I know there’re still a few months to go, but I really can’t wait to see what they do with the relaunch of the line. If the Marvel Universe line is any indication, I think ML2 is going to give DC Classics a run for its money.
The sculpt on War Machine is top notch. Not only did they do a great job with making him a good movie representation, but they added a bunch of little details that could have easily been overlooked. For instance, the bottoms of his feet have a raised groove pattern and even little notches around the thrusters. I also really like the segmented look of his elbow and knee joints. It goes a long way of making them look like gears and not just a smooth joint.
War Machine is primarily colored by a dark gray plastic. Most of the paint details come from the silvers used to highlight the pieces around all the dark grays. But those silver parts are done so well that they look molded also. The only other colors are those put on by tampo like the red/white of his eyes and chest core, or the military insignias stamped on his various armor plates. Continue to Page 2…
I got this figure last year, straight after watching the film if I remember correctly. While it’s technically a good figure in every respect, I just don’t find it fun to play with. It’s not the hips either, since between the Wolverine/Iron man 2/Thor lines, I’ve really started to appreciate the benefits of this particular system.
I have to admit he’s not as fun as Embo to play around with, but he does make for some good posing.
You should have bought this last year at wally world. Toysrus is selling the exact same War Machine that Walmart sold for just 12 last year. Pretty crappy.
I know, I’m still kicking myself for not getting it last year. That’s why I waited to get him at $14 instead of $17. That way the sting wasn’t too bad.
I woke up this morning and started to read myy RSS feeds when I came to this headline. I had to stopnand wonder who would make twenty six inch tall action figure.
Nice review vault, I see the top hat is still making it’s rounds
I love me some top hat!
A 26 inch War Machine would be awesome. It would be like a giant mech suit for Rhodie. This needs to happen. 🙂
This was one of my favorite figures last year. The only difference I notice between the walmart release and this one, is that the newer release seems to have consistently better paint apps, and they painted that thing on the side of his thigh silver (walmart version left it black). However, those differences just don’t justify the $7 price hike. They should have done something else to differentiate the two figures more, maybe painting this figure with blue eyes and repulsors.
I didn’t even notice those differences, thanks Clark.
I think it would have been great to see an alternate open mask/Rhodie head as an extra piece. That would have definitely made up for any price hike and been a great repack item.
I actually REALLY want that Titanium Man, but can’t justify the $ for him.
Yeah, I know what you mean. He’s a bit more tempting for me now since I have a hero for him to fight, but the money’s just too much. Maybe if I get another TRU coupon.
I like the hip joints as is. If they’re loose, then don’t affect the figure as much as the older Toybiz figures (looking at you ML3 Thor).
My Walmarts still have WM show up from time to time (among the waves of Mark Vs and Mark IVs. Mark IV is way better than Mark VI in ever way, including having an alternate head. I highly recommend it). It makes it even more ridiculous that TRU is charging $17 when they can be had for $12 right up the road.
That has to be a special case. I haven’t seen War Machine at Walmart since last year around November or October. All any Walmart has around here are Mark V’s.
The walmarts all in my area have pegs and pegs of Mark V’s too. Hasbro really took too long to release that figure. I think had he come out sooner, people would have picked him up still excited about the movie. However, by the time he finally showed up at stores I didn’t really care anymore, and it appears nobody else does either.
I do still want to see some new 4″ IM figures, I’m just worried that might not happen considering how many Wave 1 figures are still at every store.
I saw Mark V maybe a month or two after Mark VI and War Machine. He was a hot-ticket item at first, but after a few replenishments that were nothing but Mark Vs, yeah, he started to warm up the pegs.
I didn’t see Mark IV until probably right around Christmas time. Right now most of the Walmarts near me have a bunch of Mark Vs and a healthy sprinkling of Mark IVs. And, like I said, a few War Machines trickle in every now and again.
It was a year ago when this first showed up as a Wal-Mart exclusive and I said it then and I’ll say it again….
Best 6″ action figure of 2010.
I agree /w Clark that changing the red eyes and repulsors to blue as originally pictured would have been nice and given people a reason to buy it again, but for the dramatic price hike I’d would have liked an alternate unmaksed head too.