Toybiz Classic Avenger BoxSet: Gold Iron Man - Chrome Color (Ebay)

I've been looking for this figure for the longest time. Whenever someone posts it at ebay, I get sniped and the ending bid is often ridiculously high. This Gold Iron Man came from the Classic Avengers Boxset which includes: Thor, Hulk, Wasp, GiantMan, Antman and of course, Iron Man. There are 2 color variations for Iron Man - flat Gold and Chrome Gold. Both were produced at equal ratio, but the rarer one is the chrome finished version.



I got lucky at ebay. This Chrome Iron Man was originally custom colored by it's previous owner to look like it was worn out and battle damaged. He even included pics on the auction and it looks as if coffee was poured on the figure. Fortunately no one bidded on it and when I received the item, you can actually remove the paint using alcohol and cotton. Voila - instant shiny figure!



Before I got this Chrome Iron Man, I got a flat colored one via trade, and I'm a bit pissed off because the armor had some dents. These aren't dents, they're actually sculpted into the figure, I realized when comparing both chrome and flat figures. You can remove the helmet on the figures and see Tony Stark's face. The antennae on the left shoulder is retractable and the figure is decently articulated on the neck, waist, shoulders, legs, knees and wrists. By the way, this sculpt is based on Kirby's Gold First Appearance Iron Man on Avengers#1, and it perfectly captures his style. Coolness!



Chrome is pretty much the way to go and this is an excellent addition to any Iron Man collection. The chrome color really stands out. This figure is around 5 inches tall and compliments figures from Toybiz's vintage Iron Man animated series.

The Rundown:
• chrome plated and regular flat gold color (although I highly recommend buying the chrome version)
• decently articulated and can stand on it's own without falling
• wonderful and accurate sculpt of the first appearance gold armor
• tough to find nowadays and usually pricey (chrome version)



It's an instant classic! Find one!

Rocket Blast Iron Man

ToyBiz: Rocket Blast Iron Man $9.00 (Ebay.com)

One of my holy grails. The earlier wave of Toybiz's Spiderman and Friends line hit the local Philippine malls. The Spiderman and Friends line is obviously geared towards a younger audience with the cartoony version of several Marvel characters like Spidey, Hulk, Cap, and Iron Man. But due to lackluster sales, the Philippine distributor of Toybiz stopped importing this kiddie line. My only hope is to buy it in brick and mortar stores overseas. I recently got my credit card and started back tracking on obscure Iron Man stuff... this is one of my priorities.



Rocket Blast Iron Man is as tall as your regular Marvel Legends figure (around 6 inches). It includes a nifty backpack that spreads its wings and boosters in the press of a button. It has some good articulation (movable joints) and I love the paint finish that gives it a slight metallic tinge (although metallic paint isn't used). The sculpting is also superb, they based it on the modern armored Iron Man look.



Is it worth it? The USD $9.00 tag and USD$ 17.00 shipping is really heavy on the wallet. That's almost P1,500 in Philippine pesos. But I love this figure so much that I'm letting it slide. If you can get one at a cheap price, it's a nice addition to any Iron Man collection + it's big and wide. It's also kid friendly and if you have a young marvel addict, he'll get a blast out of it.

The Rundown:
• Kid friendly and durable
• Excellent sculpt and paint application
• Easy to open packaging
• A bit difficult to find in brick and mortar stores, you'll have to resort to ebay or online stores

Iron Man Director Of Shield TPB and Iron Man Battle Dice

IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF SHIELD TRADE PAPERBACK P754 (Druid's Keep)

I've been collecting Iron Man TradePaperbacks (or comics compiled into one book) for some time now. TPBs are usually pricey, but makes comic book reading easy. Iron Man: Director Of Shield TPB is the 4th compilation that came out from the 4th volume of the Iron Man comic and it reprints volume 4: issues 15 to 18 plus some classic strips where Iron Man and Shield Team Up. As an added bonus in this compilation, we also get a comprehensive history of Iron Man (with all his armors) and some info on who became part of the SHIELD organization.



Spoiler Free Review:

Iron Man assumes the role of SHIELD director. Some people like the way he runs SHIELD, some do not. This TPB also explores Tony Stark / Iron Man's relationship with Maya Hansen and Sal Kennedy. We also get to see the return of Iron Man's numero uno nemesis: Mandarin. This will sound like nonsense to you if you don't follow Iron Man's story, so I suggest you search for him in Wikipedia. If there's one thing I really like about this TPB, it's the art by Rob De La Torre. Adi Granov is great, but I always felt that his art is good for pin-ups and covers. De La Torre on the other hand, is perfect for this title. He can draw great backgrounds, people and expressions, technical stuff and most of all, intense action. The story is a big improvement for Charles and Daniel Knauf (who wrote HBO's Carnivale), I think they're starting to nail Tony Stark's personality in the right direction. To top things off, I love the 6 page history of Iron Man from volume one to four. They showed thumnails (bah) of all his armors and specs of the current armor. The only thing I don't like about this TPB are the backup stories and you have to follow Iron Man's comics to understand what's going on in this book.



BATTLE DICE: IRON MAN P200

I don't know how to play Marvel Battle Dice, but since this is an Iron Man figure, I have to get it. For a small figure, this thing is very detailed. It measures less than an inch including the base where it stands. This is probably the smallest Iron Man figure to date (see the comparison pic with Ultimate Iron Man heroclix). You can get this item when you buy a Battle Dice booster pack for P200. A pack has 3 random figures. Problem is, you don't know what you'll get when you buy these booster packs. I was lucky enough that someone in the "pinoytoykolektor" forums offered me one for P200.



Is it worth it? If you're a die-hard Iron Man collector (like me), it's a good thing to have. This thing is so small it won't be missed if you don't have it in your Iron Man collection. :)



The Rundown:
• Smallest Iron Man figure
• Nice sculpt for a miniscule toy
• Good Paint application
• A bit tough to find since you have to buy blind boxed booster packs (3 figures for P200)