Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant

Presenting the Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man - Gold Variant.

Today, April 24, Iron Man 3 opens in cinemas all over Metro Manila, so I thought that it would just be apt to blog about Iron Man - that and he's so much fun to Photoshop.

Please also note the attempt to try a different background and lighting.

To the uninitiated, this is the Iron Man Mark III armor. Marvel Legends released three Iron Men in this series, the classic yellow and red Iron Man Mark V Armor, a stealth version (Blue) Iron Man Mark V Armor, and this rare gold and horn-headed version, the Iron Man Mark III.

So this is actually an older version of an Iron Man armor. Marvel actually skipped the Iron Man Mark IV because that one had a nose and simply made him look silly.


The Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant was sculpted by Dave Cortez and its blister card read "To the public, Tony Stark is a handsome, jet-setting industrialist and inventor. What they don't know is that he leads a second life as Iron Man. The armored Avenger gets his fantastic powers from his suit of micro-mesh armor. It gives him superhuman strength, the ability to fly via his jet boots, and a variety of built-in weapons, foremost among these being his devastating repulsor rays! Iron man is dedicated to defeating those forces that would threaten the security of the nation and the entire world."

It came with a wall mountable stand and a free comic book.

What's to like about the Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant?

This 6" action figure was a part of a revolutionary series that set the standard upon which I have judged all Action Figures that have since followed into the dungeon.

Marvel Legends were the bomb!

The figure was highly detailed and highly articulated! Iron Man could kneel, could sit, could twist at the torso, had finger articulation (The first action figure that could literally give you the finger!),  COULD actually thrust its arms forward to fire its repulsors, AND, you could remove his mask to reveal the face of Tony Stark.

And as mentioned and previously shown, the Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant can kneel:

Here's the Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant with his mask removed:

What's NOT to like about the Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant?

Nothing actually. This series of Marvel Legends is waaay ahead of its time and there are actually figures out there that should feel ashamed to be called Marvel Legends in light of what this Iron Man figure can do.

If there's anything that's wrong with this figure, it would be that his hands are really, really big and kinda long, but that's definitely forgivable. There's also a question of the durability of the plastic involved in the creation of this figure since it's still relatively an old figure (2002 - wow, it's 14 years old). 

A Mint in Box Marvel Legends Series 1 Iron Man Gold Variant is worth US$ 66.23 (Roughly PhP 2,715 plus shipping) on Amazon. This particular Iron Man Gold Variant would have been purchased at retail which would have been around PhP 500 (Less than $10) back then. 

A definite golden treasure.