I lucked into finding Striker Iron Man on a business trip back around May, but I didn't see them in stores for the first time until late June 2013. Lately, Hasbro has had more than a few lines where wave 1 is abundant, but wave 2 is a little tough to come by. At $9.99 these figures don't bring a ton new to the table, but the designs are fun and the limb-changing gimmick is welcome.
According to one of the many Iron Man wiki sites, this outfit exists beyond the world of toys - it's the Mark 25 armor, and appears in the video game and supposedly the movie. The heavy construction suit has safety yellow with black stripes on the arms, and the packaging describes it as being able to punch with the "striker fist." Since all Iron Man suits generally allow for some sort of punching, it seems silly to play up but hey, I'm not a toy marketer on a billion dollar franchise.
The sculpt is new to the figure and similar to the photography I've found of the movie/game design - with a few changes. The Arc in the chest here is a little more rounder and more exposed, while the boots are enlarged to a cartoonish degree. The soles on the feet were designed to make Dr. Freud blush, and you can make all the "size does matter" jokes that you would like. Each hand is designed in a gripping position, which I found to be unusual - you can hand him other accessories if they're the right size.
His accessories include 2 alternate arms and 2 missile launchers. Each launcher is a one-piece weapon with a peg that can be mounted on the arms, legs, or back. They don't add a heck of a lot to the figure, but for $10 you really do need more gear. I don't just mean in general, I mean for this specific set - it could really stand another 2-3 pieces to futz around with. After all, the Assemblers are pretty much Mr. Potato Head in action figure form.
At first glance I thought this was an original Hasbro creation, as it reminded me a lot of those neat original designs Kenner would bring in to its 1990s licensed action figure lines. The feet are huge, the arms are bulky, and the alternate arms are just delightfully goofy - mismatched, pearlescent limbs with a fist on the right hand and an energy blade weapon in the left. As an added bonus, the left arm has a jointed elbow - otherwise this particular release only has 5 points of articulation, which is admittedly low for the price point. The plastic quality largely feels decent, but the elbow joint seems weak and I'm curious to see how the long-term wear and tear on the shoulder pegs plays out.
Where this line really sizzles - and where this figure fails to succeed - is in the arms that actually add some fun to the figure. Crosscut Iron Man adds spinning buzzsaw hands. Iron Patriot has a rocket launcher. This figure's highlights are mostly in that it looks cool, any sort of spring-loaded pieces or something like that would have made these really exciting. As it is, it's neat, but not particularly fun or memorable. I really like how these guys look and feel, but there's some paint slop on the shoulder and the price point could be $2 cheaper. Due to the fact it's mildly tough to find in the wild, I wouldn't say you should go bonkers trying to get it - but if you like the design, it's worth picking up. It's certainly striking enough to be a worthwhile purchase.
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