Iron Man Figure Is Actually Iron (Well, Close Enough)

Plastic Iron Man figures are all well and good, but its hard to maintain the illusion of metal armor when your toy is light as a feather. Weighing in at four pounds, Comicave’s Iron Man Mark XXXVIII Igor figure is pretty heavy metal.

Courtesy of my friends at Bluefin Distribution, bringers of all things amazing and Japanese, Igor isn’t quite iron—the die-casting process generally deals with non-ferrous metals—but he’s pretty much as close as an articulated figure is going to get. Three-quarters of the eight inch figure is die-cast metal, with plastic pieces filling in in areas where intricate detail and smooth movement are called for.

Igor is Tony Stark’s heavy-lifting armor, because Tony’s far too delicate to just buy some furniture straps. He appeared briefly in the Iron Man 3 film, during the bit where all of the armors showed up for the final battle and then exploded.

Poor Igor. We hardly knew ye.

Though his film career was cut short, Igor’s been a favorite subject among toy makers tired od simply retooling the same basic figure over and over again. His hunched over appearance makes him stand out in a field of multicolored armor, though he does quite well on his own.

Look at this beautiful thug. He’s downright majestic, in a gorilla sort of way. He sort of reminds me of some of Optimus Primal’s appearances in the Beast Wars Transformers series, crossed with the shiny metallic appliances from the 50s and 60s. The way the paint is fading around the edges, the distressed metal effect—this is a figure with some history behind it.

Also a figure with an articulated metal spine behind it.

Igor is a high-tech industrial machine with sliding forklift attachments on his forearms.

Between the white stripes on his blue frame and the warnings stamped across his surface, its clear Tony Stark created Igor for much more than his own personal use.

And despite his bulky appearance, this is a suit of armor that is meant to move. He features more than 60 points of articulation from his hands, with articulated fingers that do rude things I decided to restrict to the video up top...

...to his feet, which are delicate, like a ballerina.

Here are his official specs, as featured on the Comicave product page.

The only disappointing thing about my Igor here is that while his chest lights up, his eyes haven’t done so since I received the figure.

I like to think he’s just sad because Tony Stark destroyed him, though I suspect collectors who paid $184.99 for him might not be quite as imaginative. Then again, collectors paying that much for an eight inch, four pound monster like this will likely turn the lights on, nod appreciatively, then turn them off and take out the batteries to avoid future leaks. Never can be too safe.

Update: Eye lights work! Problem was this figure didn’t have instructions, so I did not know to do this:

to get this:

Honestly I would have never know that top bit came off if Bluefin’s PR guy hadn’t emailed me, so kudos to Comicave for a nearly invisible battery and switch compartment!

Ultimately Igor here is a keeper. While I’ll always appreciate the level of detail a company like Hot Toys puts into its Iron Men, there’s just something about a metal suit that’s actually made out of metal. This is Iron Man, not Plastic Man, which is good as no one wants to get sued.

Comicave’s 1/12 Scale Iron Man Mark XXXVIII “Igor” is now available for order at Bluefin Distribution for $184.99.

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