Same great packaging we’ve been getting for a while now. The artwork on the card really looks nice and the figure is displayed well in the bubble. I could have done without the crappy energy beam being so prominantly displayed, but more on that later.

The armor is sort of a cross between the classic and the new. It isn’t as angular as the modern Iron Man suit, but it does have some added plates on the shoulders and off the hips, as well as reinforcements on the thighs. At the same time, it retains a smidgen of the older, more organic looking armor, particularly in the biceps and abdomen and the calves. There are some nicely sculpted panel lines throughout the figure, and I really dig the design of the helmet. His left hand is open to show off the beam emitter in his palm, while his right is clenched into a fist.

The colors on this figure are absolutely striking. You get a red, silver and blue motif with a hint of metallic finish. I also love the star shaped Uni-Beam emitter on the chest. The only problem with Iron Patriot is the finish is prone to chip. I’ve got one tiny chip already starting on mine, although it doesn’t seem to have gotten any worse.

Hasbro cut back just a bit on the articulation because of the armor sculpt, but Iron Patriot is still sporting 20 points of articulation. Yeah, not too shabby. He has a ball jointed neck. His arms have ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists and hinged elbows. His legs have ball joints in the hips, swivels in the thighs, double hinges in the knees and swivels and hinges in the ankles. He also has a ball joint in the waist. The missing swivel in the waist isn’t all that problematic, since he can still swivel up at the chest.

Iron Patriot comes with a figure stand, profile card and Top Secret documents. He also comes with a clear yellow energy beam that clips onto his wrist. It’s the exact same piece that came with the Classic version of Iron Man, released in Marvel Universe a little while back. I’m not usually crazy about these added energy bits, and this one in particular just doesn’t work for me at all. There’s no real way to clip it on so that it looks like anything other than a piece of plastic clipped to his wrist.

Even if you have no knowledge or interest in the Dark Reign story, I’d still recommend this figure as a pick up. The blended homage to two superheroes works well and he’s all around one amazing looking figure. As an added incentive, Iron Patriot is one of the easier figures to come by on the pegs. And if for some reason you can’t find him at your local toy aisle, he can be had online for a fraction of what a lot of the other MU figures tend to go for through e-tailers.