Marvel Legends: War Machine

I'm not entirely the type of person to go in depth blog about a Marvel Legend figure unless I REALLY like it. I guess with this gesture it's me stating that I do like this Toybiz adaptation of War Machine.

The case itself is something a lot of collectors remember Toybiz for! Transparent plastic and shoplifter deterrent! This durable case is indeed friendly for Collectors who never take their decor out of their protection, which again, I will redundantly say that I used to be one, now I am in it for the sake of getting them posed and action oriented. That and BAFs are only justified if out of the case(Apocalypse is the instigator for my BAF hunger!). And so the with that said, the back of the case DOES show Galactus(*hint*).

A rather common thread with the Iron Man related toys back in Toybiz was that the 'face plate' of the helmet usually comes off to reveal the said wearer inside(this case it's Rhodes, all the rest is Stark, obviously). This face is no Don Cheadle or Terrance Howard(don't know if I spelled that right) and truth to be told, I don't even think if this is remotely resembles all of the Rhodey aberrations with the myriad of artists that have drawn this character... guess as long as he is black it's okay. Ha! So along with the removable mask, War Machine comes with a good amount of accessories! Mostly a whole lot of firepower affect and the classic Toybiz articulated stand(only found out recently that its articulated; feel rather stupid for that). This is something that Hasbro still hasn't updated by the way! Stands and affects are a must and some imports like Revoltech are doing their customers justice by adding BOTH firepower and interchangeable hands. Still on the fence about interchangeable or articulated hands... I'm digressing.

The affects and stand does add a lot of possibilities for poses. There is a lot of things someone can really focus on in regards to what s/he wants War Machine to do! In these two pictures could just really point out possibilities with the affects and the stand. Flying and firing in plastic still made easy with this guy and admittedly, it's probably one of the few affects I find rather aesthetic in all of my brigade of toys so far.

Detail wise he is pretty sharp; well sharp as one can be with the way the 'armor' look was with Iron Man and War Machine way back in the 90's. While certain parts do look like Armor, the leggings and the armor still kind of resembled too much 'tights' rather than metal platings. That and the arms.

While I appreciated the details on the guns, the nice shine to the paint, and the affect of the firepower and all that, the scale of his arms in regards to the rest of him is a bit out of proportion. Basically, his arms are a bit TOO long and not a whole lot of angles can really hide that little mistake. The legs could've used a bit more length to him as well as the torso; that could've evened things out.

Articulation is in good standings in my opinion. There's an extensive amount of them so it doesn't lack in that department, though the way the figure is molded makes certain bends and swivels a bit too awkward. Which is of course the comparison I have with Toybiz and Hasbro(now). Toybiz was articulation pleasers and the majority of their toys looked damn good and they have always been THE Marvel Legend ' makers for a lot of people. But some of their figure suffered a lot on aesthetics and proportions solely because of 'too much bend'. Hasbro now eased of in some of the articulation(the fingers! Godamnit! The fingers!!!!) but the majority of their molds and faces looks decent(speaking of females). It's a conundrum at times, though toss in Toybiz better BAFs, the stands, and the effects it gave War Machine and a lot of their characters... well Hasbro may still seem to be inferior compared to. Speaking of comparison .... let's look at things now...

Hasbro made a lot of Iron Man one armors for the sake of milking the 'hall of armor' idea. Well, this one came out of the wood work. A good beginning since this is the 'first' War Machine I came across from Hasbro(not counting the Ultimate War Machine from the Ares series). Skinny and .... skinny.

I like this War Machine armor. It was his Civil War/post Civil War armor and during his stage that he was 'Cyborg Rhodey'. It may lack in details here and there but I like the way it looks. Still a bit smaller than the original ToyBiz War Machine though.

The movie War Machine! This is still my favorite War Machine toy. Interchangeable hands, great details, articulation isn't as abundant as Toybiz's version but adequate, and it's very movie accurate. Just add in the effects accessories and we have a pretty good toy on the table. Honestly, these two are my favorite War Machine toys.

Come to think of it, War Machine doesn't have the variants as much as Stark does; then again, Iron Man isn't one to stick to one version of him. War Machine has had minor upgrades left and right but nothing TOO big to notice; that and it was on the artist's whim half the time. Oh well. For the sake of an Iron Man/War Machine fan, pick up this classic! Got a good deal on him but he averages between $40 - $60. He is also a part of Galactus, just to hint that out there.