Today’s Marvel Monday figure may seem like I dug deep into the backlog, but I actually just got him last week. The only figures from the “Dude Thor” Wave that turned up in my area were the Cap and Iron Man, and I decided that I didn’t really need another MCU Cap or Iron Man in my collection. I also wasn’t really all that interested in this Build-A-Figure either. As for the rest of the Wave, they were going for well over retail when I could find them online, and so I decided I was just going to sit out this Wave entirely. It was possibly the first time I skipped any Marvel Legends releases.

Well, fast forward to a month ago and pre-orders for Iron Patriot started showing up on some online retailers. Not the whole Wave, mind you, just Iron Patriot. Now, I don’t know if this was found stock or an actual re-issue, but I didn’t ask questions. Instead, I plunked down my pre-order and I’m so very glad that I did. So, I’m just going to go ahead and say it. I think this may be the most gorgeous Marvel Legends figure yet. If not, it’s certainly in my Top 5!

I mean, just look at this amazing amalgamation of piece of plastic! After Iron Man 2, I certainly didn’t expect Iron Patriot to show up again in the MCU, so it was a pretty cool surprise when Rhodey rearmed for the final battle. The Endgame Iron Patriot Armor shares some parts and design elements from the War Machine armor, which is reflected in this figure. There are a lot of common threads in the design, but they aren’t all recycled parts. As a result, this one feels pretty fresh! And while I was a big fan of the War Machine figure from the Banner Hulk Wave, I think I’m even more smitten with this one!

For starters, I love the bulked up look of this suit. Iron Man is all about better and better tech with a lot of the suits getting slimmer and more advanced, to the point where they are almost like a second skin for Tony. That’s not War Machine! This guy is literally a walking tank and he looks it! I particularly dig the larger upper body and those big forearms. I’d also swear I see some nods to MechWarrior design in the torso. About the only thing I’m not so keen on here is the redesign of the feet, which are smaller. Maybe they’ve been redesigned with flight in mind, but I think they should be big and clunky like we saw on War Machine. But enough with the negativity… back to gushing! I can’t deny a big part of what makes me tear up with joy here is the coloring. There’s something to be said for the cold and utilitarian military black and gray of the original War Machine, but when you recolor in this drop dead gorgeous metallic red, silver, and blue, I just lose my shit, because the result is so damn beautiful! To me, the quality of the coloring here is just above and beyond for a $20 mass produced figure.

Of course, Iron Patriot is sporting some major weaponry, even when he isn’t powered all the way up. His forearms feature static machine gun barrels, which are a lot more elegant than what we saw on War Machine. He also has rocket launchers mounted on each of his outer thighs. These are actually removable in case you want to display him with them retracted, but they don’t really get in the way so I prefer to leave them armed. On a side note, the articulation here is pretty decent, in that he can make some nice wide stances and point them guns in any direction. With that having been said, the bulky nature of his armor means that his range of motion in some of those articulation points aren’t as good as what we’re used to seeing in Legends. But I have no complaints!

If you really want to gear up Iron Patriot for battle, he comes with two sets of additional weapons to attach. These include additional guns and rocket packs, which position over his shoulders. In the movie, through the magic of CG, these deploy from inside his suit, but here they simply peg into holes in his back. They’re each separate pieces so you can deploy one set or the other, or one of each, or whatever you like. These added weapon pods are ridiculously awesome and stay put pretty well too! I’m just not sure how he fires those without falling over.

While I’d eventually still like to pick up Heimdall and Valkyrie from this Wave, Iron Patriot here was the one figure in this assortment that I wanted the most. And I’m damn glad to have had a second chance without having to pay double or triple. He is an absolutely gorgeous figure and a worthy addition to my collection, even if this particular Stark Armor didn’t have a big presence in the film.