Hasbro recently had a livestream for its upcoming Marvel Legends figures, mostly of comic book versions of certain characters. Dubbed the ‘mini comic’ wave, each figure will come in a blister package and will include an in-scale version of a comic book where the character made an appearance. What made this wave interesting though, is the inclusion of a character whose first appearance in Marvel Legends is universally disliked by collectors. And rightfully so since I also have a copy of that figure, in shambles, and it definitely needs a modern redo.
If the opening image isn’t telling enough, I’m talking about “Ultimate” Iron Man from the Ultimates version of the character. The first time Hasbro made a figure of this character was back in 2007 as part of the Annihilus Build-a-Figure wave, or basically Hasbro’s first set of Marvel Legends figures. During that time, they though it was a good idea to use chrome plated plastic on all the red armor bits, resulting in figures flaking all over the place. Not to mention the proportions are wonky and the joints don’t really do the movement they’re supposed to.
It might’ve taken them 18 years, but we’re finally getting a modern, and hopefully much better, version of “Ultimate” Iron Man. And if the recent comic Iron Man figures are to be the basis of comparison, then I am definitely looking forward to this guy,
To those unfamiliar, “Ultimate” Iron Man is part of what was Marvel’s Ultimate Comics imprint which reimagined and modernized characters for easier accessibility to new readers without having to scour through multitudes of back issues. While the first Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) ended with 2015’s Secret Wars event, it was rebooted in 2023 as Earth-6160 and with all related stories under the Ultimate Marvel banner.
This version of “Ultimate” Iron Man is formally known as the Iron Tech Armor and for this modern figure, they did away with the chrome plated parts. While some collectors liked it, most prefer the regular paint especially since it doesn’t chip off. Second, it just looks better overall, with the darker gray body and the properly sized neck. If you recall, the older figure had a removable helmet to reveal the Tony Stark head. Besides not looking the best, the neck was just too high.
The new figure did away with the lanky proportions and just looks like a human wearing a substantially armored robotic suit of armor. The paint might appear sparse, but it is accurate to the design. Articulation looks okay as well; it has been for most of the recent Iron Man figures so I believe this one should be the same. We’ve yet to determine all the included accessories once solicitations drop but I hope we get a better Tony Stark head sculpt, along with a bunch of effect parts.
Marvel Legends “Ultimate” Iron Man will be available for pre-order starting on Feb. 6, with prices and release dates to be announced along with the rest of the wave.
