This version of Iron Man is from the Heroes Reborn era of Marvel Comics in the late 90's. This was a time I was particularly interested in comics, and just loved Iron Man to death, so this character in this costume means a lot to me. That's why I purchased the figure, but I must admit, I'm a little let down by this entry into the Marvel Legends line by Hasbro. Heroes Reborn Iron Man just isn't a great action figure, but if you're a die hard fan of Tony Stark or just have to complete your Ares build a figure, then Iron Man is worth your money.

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Sculpt

Iron Man's sculpt might be his weakest feature. The first thing that comes to mind is just how tiny he is. The back of the package lists him at 6'6", but compared to other characters in the same scale, he's pretty small. He's actually listed at the same height as Classic Hulk from the Fin Fang Foom wave according the packaging, but Hulk towers over him. He just feels small, in both height and heft. I don't know how a man wearing a suit of armor could manage to stay so slim. This size problem is just highlighted further by his ridiculously small head and humongous feet. They did get the costume right, and there are lots of nice details in the wiring and in sculpted sections of red plates. His face looks like Iron Man's should, just way too small. I really love the open hand so that you can pose him in all the appropriate repulsor ray angles.

Sculpt Score: 6 / 10 - Needs to be bulkier, tiny head and huge feet (good for balance, but not an issue here), some good details in wiring and armor, got the costume right.

Paint

Although this figure's paint is pretty standard fare, it still manages to work well. The colors, red and gold, are accurate to the comics pages, if maybe just a little bit darker with the red. The yellow wiring has a nice black to establish the low points and really make the wires pop. The red parts are nice and shiny, pulling off the metallic look well enough. I don't know if it was a paint issue, or a greasy handed factory worker, but this figure was oily oily oily coming out of the package. I've had similar issues before with these glossy figures, and Iron Man took it a step further. He might as well have been dipped in grease before put in the case. He's all better now, but it was a slight annoyance. The paint applications are generally nice and tight, with only a few mess-ups on the back where some black paint strayed a bit too far. The black paint also seemed to pool up where it met red armor sections, so some pieces of armor look outlined in black, which isn't too terribly distracting. Overall, There's nothing about Iron Man's paintjob that makes you stop and stare; it just gets the job done.

Paint Score: 8 / 10 - Pretty close color match to comics, nice applications in detailed areas, some slop on the back, black paint seems to stray.

Articulation

Heroes Reborn Iron Man has a pretty good range of articulation. He's got all the points I need to find a cool pose, if not quite everything some Marvel Legends fans might be used to. He's easily flexible enough to find attractive poses while still being able to stand up. His shoulders are really restricted due to the shoulderpad add ons which catch onto his body, limiting the range of movement. The thing about this figure's articulation that drives me nuts is the terrible looking ball joint that is used for hips. This thing looks absolutely awful and destroys anything the sculpt accomplished. I'm not used to Marvel Legends figures, and I understand most people will kindly just accept this style of hip, but compared to what Mattel offers in the DC Universe Classic 6" equivalent, I think it just looks bad.. If the look of his hip joints doesn't bother you, then you'll be much happier than me. None of the joints are loose or stuck, and all seem to hold the figure up pretty well. 

Articulation Score: 7 / 10 - Lots of different points for cool posing, joints work perfectly and hold their weight, articulation looks terrible in some areas.

Fun

Iron Man is pretty famous as far as superheroes go, especially consider the success of his new movie. As such, I think most kids will appreciate how much fun this character and figure can be. It's not the movie costume that everyone knows and loves, or even a more classic costume that collectors might long for, but it's still pretty recognizable as Iron Man, and who doesn't want to have Iron Man on their toy shelf? The figure is flexible enough to make for some great play or posing, but doesn't have any action features or accessories to really liven things up. He does include parts to the build-a-figure Ares which are two swords and a helmet, but Iron Man himself can't really use them. He's a fun character and a good figure to play with, but is missing out on the things that could really boost his score.

Fun Score: 7 / 10 - Famous character people love, good articulation for fighting/posing, odd costume, no action features or accessories.

Value

This figure retailed for $10 at Wal-Mart, and will probably cost about the same anywhere you get him. That's relatively cheap anymore for an action figure, but Iron Man still didn't feel quite worth it. The figure isn't that big, and doesn't include any accessories, except for the accessories for the build-a-figure. There's just not a lot of plastic in the package. He's not a ripoff at $10, especially if you love Iron Man or Heroes Reborn, yet you can find better deals out there if you're someone who cherishes value.

Value Score: 7 / 10 - Not too expensive, not much there, no accessories, although they're small pieces to the build-a-figure, they are there.

Summary

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Overall Score: 70 / 100 - This is a good toy

This one just barely made it into the good toy category, but it really is a good toy. I think anyone who is a fan of the character and loves action figures would make a good home for Heros Reborn Iron Man. His sculpt is lacking, but his paint is fairly strong, while his articulation, fun, and value all come in just fine.

-The Articulated One