Hasbro 3.75-Inch Iron Man 2 Concept Series – Hypervelocity Iron Man and Deep Dive Iron Man

Iron Man 2’s May 7th release date comes closer and Hasbro’s accompanying toyline has started to make appearances in retail! Last time we had a look at some figures from the Comic Series of the 3.75″ Iron Man 2 line, today we’re taking a look at the Hypervelocity Armor and the Deep Dive Armor from the line’s Concept Series.

From what I understand, these armor versions are not in the movie, nor are they part of the Iron Man comic continuity – rather they are concept explorations of how Iron Man armors can be designed for different uses. I guess it’s a chance for the toy designers to get creative and design their own different versions of Iron Man. I think it is a fitting idea. Tony Stark already has an array of armors for different environments and purposes, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he had designs for a “Hypervelocity” or “Deep Dive” armor somewhere in his hard drive!

First up is the Hypervelocity Armor.  I love the look of this figure!  The design doesn’t stray far from the movie or comic armor, but it is a great design anyway!  There is an angular look to everything in this design that I really like.  The sculpt is great, with a lot of design grooves on the armor that make it look like it has a lot of plates and create a great rythm across the figure’s body.  The figure’s proportions look good (except for the small hands), he doesn’t suffer from the skinny waist that some Marvel Universe Iron Man figures have.

The back of the figure looks nice, I particularly like the boosters on the back of his lower legs!  He also has a hole in the back of his torso, might it be for a flight stand that got canned due to costs?  I used a Toybiz Super Hero Showdown stand to prop him up in some of the pics, and it fit fine.

Articulation is pretty much the same as the Comic Series with a ball-jointed head, shoulders and hips,  swivel-hinge elbows and ankles, rotating wrists, double jointed knees and some torso ab-crunch/side to side movement.

This figure poses well, you can pretty much hit some nice neutral standing poses, crouching poses and even flying ones.  It does take some fiddling with the ball-jointed hips to get ’em in some poses, but it’s all good.  The shoulder armor does restrict some movement for the upper arms as it is glued in place; you cant raise his arms on the sides to have them perpendicular to his body.

The color choice of muted metallic red and gold is also a nice touch, it looks really classy and adds some color variety to the armory.

The only nitpick I have with the design is the jagged edge of the shoulders and the top of the thigh.  They don’t feel like they belong in the design, even though they were going for an angular look.   The jagged edges breaks the sleekness of the armor and gives it a more rugged look rather than a stealthy one (which according to the packaging, this is a stealth armor).  Also most of Tony’s stealth armors are dark blue, so I usually relate that color to his stealth armory.  That’s my personal nitpick of course, for some it might not be a bother at all!  All in all though the Hypervelocity concept armor just  looks damn cool.

Next, we have the Deep Dive Armor!  As the name implies this armor is designed for some deep ocean missions.  Like the Hypervelocity armor another nice lookin’ figure!  Lots of rounded shapes like a diving suit, and he looks great in a standing pose!  I love how the legs look (they remind me of Gundam robot legs!)  Turn the figure around and you get a nicely designed back ( I took a couple of pics of this view).

Articulation points are pretty much the same as the other figures in this line.  The head, although somewhat cradled by the rear torso armor, can still turn side to side and with very limited upward movement.  His shoulder joints are at an angle and positioned closer to his head, which does look weird in some poses.  (I had some paint chipping on this joint too.)   Also noticeable are the small knee joints used, the lower leg knee pads cover them in a standing pose, but once you bend that leg you’ll see ’em.  Not a biggie for me, but that might bother some people.

The paints are a light metallic blue with some darker sections and some yellowish green for the glow lights on the torso and arms.  Notice he has the same hole in the back of his torso.

I love that the bottom of the boots have detail, most of Hasbro’s Iron Man figures have this!

Both of these figures include a figure stand, armor cards, and projectile-firing clip on accessories.  Personally I would have preferred some blast effects like the ones the Comic Series have.

Now I normally don’t buy concept figures like these, I usually stick to either a movie or comic version, but the Hasbro team did a really good job of creating variety with these armors that I couldn’t resist.  It makes more sense with a character like Iron Man anyway, having different armors.  Scuba Spidey on the other hand doesn’t work for me!   Also it helps that they are new sculpts instead of straight up repaints.

Hasbro’s releases for Iron Man 2 so far continue to impress me, and gives me hope that they can put this much attention to their Marvel Universe line.  Expect these figures to have a widespread release on March 1st (the release street date I’ve been told)!!