I did, however, pick up this large scale Iron Man, Mark VI figure from Hasbro today. He isn’t quite a 12-inch figure, he’s more like a 9-inch scale. I’ve seen it a bunch of times in the toy aisles and I didn’t turn up much else of interest on the hunt today, so I figured I’d pick it up and check him out.

The packaging is really nice, as it has been on all of Hasbro’s Iron Man 2 toys. The huge window really shows off what you’re getting, and by that I mean not just the figure, but the ridiculously huge and goofy looking weapons that take up more space in the package than the figure. The back panel shows the figure in all his goofy “snap-on blaster” glory. It also has speech bubbles showing off three of the many phrases he says. Oddly enough, one of the phrases, “Inbound missile attack,” isn’t something the figure actually says. Oops. Although, there is a Try Me button, so if you play with this thing in the toy aisle long enough, you can figure that out before you buy it. Just make sure you have plenty of time, because this figure says a shitload of stuff.

Once out of the package, I was pretty impressed with the sculpt, although its admittedly nothing that isn’t reflected in the 3 3/4″ figure. In fact, the level of detail on the two figures is pretty close. Although, I think that fact is more a reflection on how good the 3 3/4″ figures are, then anything bad about this guy. He looks good. All the panel lines in the armor are represented and he even has treads on his boots. Both repulsors can be seen in his hands, and while I’m not a big fan of the new triangular Arc Reactor, its faithfully represented here and lights up when you press it, although i’m wondering why they made it light up green. Really, the only bad thing I can say about this figure’s aesthetics are the numerous screws visible on his back, but that’s par for the course for a figure in this scale and price range.

The paint on this figure is really nicely done, just like the smaller scale figures. I absolutely love the rich, glossy red lacquer they use to give him that “new car in the showroom” shine and it really pops when contrasted with the matte gold plating on his arms, legs and face.

Unfortunately, while the figure looks fantastic, the articulation really sucks. The only ball joint you’ll find on this guy is in the neck. His shoulders only rotate and he’s got hinged elbows and swivel wrists. His legs rotate at the hips and his knees are hinged. That’s it. Obviously, I’d much rather Hasbro invested more money in the joints and less on the ludicrous accessories.

And how about those accessories? Both of Iron Man’s weapons snap onto his arms, so they don’t detract from the figure in any way. One is a cluster of three huge silver rockets, that don’t do anything. This is actually the better of the two. The other one is a massive over-and-under missile launcher that has a big missile and some kind of claw thing, both of which shoot. It makes the launchers that come with the smaller figures look reasonable by comparison. Its just plain awful and he can’t even stand while aiming it. Obviously, I don’t plan on displaying him with these weapons, and I doubt they’ll ever even come out of the box again, which is probably a good thing, because I’m concerned about what snapping them on and off the figure’s arms will do to the paint job.

The speech gimmick is pretty well done, even if it isn’t Robert Downy Jr.’s actual voice. It still sounds clear and the voice has a slightly mechanical twinge to it. As I said earlier, this figure says a shitload of phrases. Here they are…

• I am Iron Man.
• Iron Man armor combat ready.
• Repulsor Power!
• Convert all power to uni-beam.
• Uni-beam blast.
• Mark IV armor, not bad.
• Lets see if this dog can hunt.
• Target engaged.
• War Machine, see if you can keep up.
• Rhodey!
• Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.
• Repulsor charged.
• Stand down.
• Keep the skies clear.
• Yeah, I can fly.

Holy crap, 15 lines! Hasbro really went overboard with the phrases and a lot of them are followed by explosion sounds or wooshing flyby sounds. And yeah, why he says the Mark IV armor thing when this is his Mark VI armor is another little gaff on Hasbro’s part. No biggie. The phrases are not randomized, so you hear them in the same order every time.

All in all, this is a pretty cool display piece with a nice sculpt and a great paintjob. The weapons are awful, but you can leave them in the box and they don’t at all detract from the figure itself. I really wish Hasbro would have invested more in the figure’s articulation. Just Ball joints in the shoulders and upper legs would have gone a long way. Still, considering how many other companies are doing larger scale figures with hardly any usable articulation, I suppose things could have been worse. Either way, considering the price point, this guy is not too shabby.