IRON MAN ARMORED AVENGER LEGENDS SERIES: WAR MACHINE

If you've been to the malls recently then you've probably seen this latest incarnation of War Machine from the Iron Man Armored Avenger Legends Series. It is a superb Marvel Legends rendition of the movie version of War Machine surpassed only by its bigger Marvel Select cousin which has finer detail and better molding - which we will talk about later. War Machine's six-inch frame is a fine addition to any Marvel Legends collection and a most welcome end the production dry spell of Mavel Legends class figurines. If this is any indication of how they're treating their movie products, then we have a lot to look forward to when the Thor and Captain America figures hit the shelves. 

War Machine comes as shown: 6 inch armored body, three pairs of interchangeable hands (Closed fist, slightly opened and "eat hot repulsors"), a removable shoulder mounted mini-gun, ammo belt feed and a shoulder mounted missile launcher. War Machine's arm mounted "Shotguns" (If I remember the movie correctly) cannot be removed. War Machine's shoulder pauldron move up and down with his arms and can probably be snapped off - but I wouldn't try that - as do these little flaps above War Machine's hands. 

War Machine's mask does not come off which some may see as a bummer and I'm sure that someone will one day create custom versions of War Machine with his mask off.

Speaking of War Machine's mask, the mask is a fine example of just how detailed this particular Marvel Legends figure is. Note the "Eye liner" detail followed by not just one, but two colors in War Machine's eyes. You get to enjoy this kind of detail all over War Machine's body - the paint detail on his arm mounted shot-guns, the fact that you can still see his repulsors when on the fists that are closed, the threaded arm and leg joints, the double-layered knee guards and the hooves on his feet, etc... However note on the close up picture of his head that you can also see how jagged the paint job is and - even more glaringly - the plastic break where the head once had extra plastic. Lets note though that this particular defect is exaggerated because of the photo-detail. The over-all detail of the full product is still exquisite for a Marvel Legend. 

So back to why we love War Machine. In the next three pictures, we focus on his Mini-gun. The mini gun has an ammo belt that attaches into a slot in the mini-gun and then into another slot at the back of War Machine. What's so nice about it is that the ammo-belt is actually flexible and long enough so that a) it doesn't interfere or skewer the mini-gun out of storage position and b) it doesn't constantly pop out whenever you move the mini-gun. Ammo belts have always been a problem for Marvel Legends and even G.I. Joes, so this is a very welcome development.

War Machine's second attachment is his six-pack shoulder mounted missile launcher. Simply pop off one of the shoulder guards and replace is with the positionable launcher.

Here's War Machine ready to rumble:

War Machine is very flexible - despite the armor plating getting into the way every now and then. My only beef with the articulation would be in the hip joints which are very reminiscent of the hip-joints of Halo Spartans. Then hardly move and you can't really raise them past what you see below.

And here is War Machine with the War Machine originally released in 2006 (Wow. Five full years and you can see how far toy technology has come) with the Marvel Legends 9 Galactus Series.

UPGRADES BABY!!!!!