War Machine

War Machine

The Return of the Simply Awesome

Hasbro Iron Man 2 Toy Line, 2009

Like many people, I loved the Iron Man movies. As a comic book fan, I have to confess a general ambivalence to Tony Stark and his alter-ego as ole Shell Head, but the movies definitely showed me a side of the character that I wasn’t familiar with. I think that speaks volumes as to just how successful the movies were, that not only were the entertaining and fun, but they enticed a casual-yet-established comic book fan into going back and reading up on this classic character.

Background

War Machine is the player 2 of the Iron Man universe. Originally a combat suit of armor Tony Stark built for himself, he handed it off to his cohort and friend James Rhodes (in Iron Man 2, Rhodes uses the Mark II Iron Man armor to knock some sense into Tony and then refashions it with the help of the US military). War Machine/Rhody isn’t exactly a sidekick to Iron Man, at least not in the classic Robin-to-Batman sort of way. Rhody is a well-developed character who is more Stark’s friend and even partner than merely his lackey.

Iron Man storyline aside, its worth noting that the Marvel Comics toy department has a long and established history with action figures, going back into the 70s. It wasn’t until the Secret Wars figures in the 80s came along that they began to establish themselves as something unique from the common fare. Each iteration of the Marvel toys has gotten better and better (with only a few stumbles along the way) and has generally been at or near the cutting edge of action figures. The Iron Man 2 characters are a fantastic example of this with figures that are mobile, sturdy, and worth the very reasonable asking price.

Appearance – 4 out of 5

This is a lovely toy, no two ways about it. It’s beautifully detailed, well-sculpted, and is visually engaging without being overly busy. The toy very effectively captures the character from the movie, while also staying true to the concepts from the comic book. About the only way you could make the toy more visually appealing would be to make it out of metal or if they eyes glowed, but even then, that would only do so much to elevate this fantastic-looking figure.

Construction – 4 out of 5

War Machine, like the other figures in the line, is made of a sturdy plastic (especially for a 5-inch figure). The joints feel very solid and the figure itself is well-balanced so as to strike a near-mythical balance between durability and playability.

Movement – 3 out of 5

I wanted to give War Machine a Four here, but there are a few tiny problems with this otherwise fantastically mobile figure. For starters, the shoulder armor inhibits arm movement. This isn’t too big of a deal as the armor pieces lift up, but it is a bit strange. Also, the hip joints are quite bizarre, being not quite ball joints. While the legs re still perfectly mobile for most uses, don’t expect to position War Machine doing any high kicks without expending some effort.

Extras – 4 out of 5

War Machine doesn’t come with much, but does come with a fairly standard fare. He comes with a standing platform, two ‘special effects’ attachments for his guns (which are mobile on his back), and three cards that fit into the stand.

Now, I have to say a little bit about the cards. Two of the cards are transparent, with each of the three showing parts of the War Machine figure. It’s only when all three are laid down on top of one another that you can clearly see the whole figure. This. Is. Awesome. Can you imagine mixing and matching different sets of cards, just to see what the different armors would look like? I appreciate that this isn’t a tangible extra like an additional gun that can clip on or whatever, but this is still really cool! And it’s because of this innovative extra that the score is bumped up to Four.

Packaging – 3 out of 5

I really like the packaging of this toy, but it’s nothing out-of-this-world. The plastic wrap shows you the figure and the name and numbers on the front give you an idea of how to tell which is which. On the back is an individualized picture and write-up on the figure that is both a story summary and an outline for just who this character is. There are also a few other toys, just to whet your appetite for what other fan there is to be had in the line.

　

Overall – 5 out of 5

I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t expecting this toy to be THAT cool, but after opening the package and playing with the toy, I have to say that it really is just a lot of fun. The toy is well-made, very engaging both visually and tactilely and can be posed a million different ways. The toy is just fun to play with, and with a whole line of these figures, along with the pretty reasonable asking price (I paid under seven dollars for mine), and the innovative cards, and this toy really is the kind of thing many of us love to play with.