Hot Toys - Iron Man 2:Mark IV Limited Edition spec

[The Ringer]

I would love having those figures within arms reach.

 

[dedguy]

I'm oddly much happier with Iron Man (not that I wasn't happy before) seeing it on video. Something about the dimensionality of the moving camera gives me a better idea of it's proportion and mass.

 

[SHOCK-Advised!]

The Mk-IV looks hella sweet on the Toyhunter vids!

 

[Spanbauer]

From the Video it looks fine to me. That's all I care about

It's not bad, but he'd look better if there was some texture to the metal like what he appeared to have in the teaser promo. Note the photoshopped texture in the gold part on his arm especially. If he was covered in that he'd look infinitely better. Anyhow, I'm more concerned with how he's once again too skinny; as others have said he's closer to the suitcase armor in heft, and his wrists and knees are impossibly skinny. Lastly, in that video Whiplash looks absolutely massive by comparison.

 

[Calcifer]

It's not bad, but he'd look better if there was some texture to the metal like what he appeared to have in the teaser promo. Note the photoshopped texture in the gold part on his arm especially. If he was covered in that he'd look infinitely better. Anyhow, I'm more concerned with how he's once again too skinny; as others have said he's closer to the suitcase armor in heft, and his wrists and knees are impossibly skinny. Lastly, in that video Whiplash looks absolutely massive by comparison.

Yea whiplash dose look very big ..war machine alwayz seemed great proportionwize but in that vid when you can see him next to whiplash it looks really weird imo ..if in-hand they look weird side by side ..i will just separate the armors from the human body figure in my collection .. i would display whiplash next 2 mech test tony and black widow ..problem solved, but in fairness i shouldn't need 2 do that.

 

[plasmid303]

I really hope that HT's use of photoshop in their official pics to fake the features of a figure does not become a trend. Not only does it ride the line of falsely advertising the figure (because these will be the only official pics shown on most web stores), it shows that HT once again wanted to hastily present the figure before everything was set in stone. It sets a bad precedent for them.

 

[traylorc]

I really hope that HT's use of photoshop in their official pics to fake the features of a figure does not become a trend. Not only does it ride the line of falsely advertising the figure (because these will be the only official pics shown on most web stores), it shows that HT once again wanted to hastily present the figure before everything was set in stone. It sets a bad precedent for them.

As to your comment that the use of photoshop "rides the line of falsely advertising the figure". I can see your point, but truth be told, the use of photoshop or photoshop like products is commonplace in print advertising. It's all about selling image. HT is not worried about "settting a bad precedent" all they care about is their bottom line. And if the use of photoshop increases that bottom line then so be it. For every one person who is upset about false advertising there are ten folks who will think this is the greatest figure ever manufactured.

I understand you point...really I do. I just don't think that management of HT is losing any sleep over the "perils" of using photoshop to illustrate features.

 

[plasmid303]

As to your comment that the use of photoshop "rides the line of falsely advertising the figure". I can see your point, but truth be told, the use of photoshop or photoshop like products is commonplace in print advertising. It's all about selling image. HT is not worried about "settting a bad precedent" all they care about is their bottom line. And if the use of photoshop increases that bottom line then so be it. For every one person who is upset about false advertising there are ten folks who will think this is the greatest figure ever manufactured.

I understand you point...really I do. I just don't think that management of HT is losing any sleep over the "perils" of using photoshop to illustrate features.

So you're apologizing for them?

 

[dedguy]

I don't see it as a problem, especially since they fairly clearly say that they are doctored photos.

 

[plasmid303]

Yeah, they did put that in the fine print on the shopped photos. Actually, it's not the act of putting out digitally manipulated images that gets me bothered so much, it just feels like there's something rushed about these photos. Photoshopped arm rockets and chest plate, half of the listed accessories aren't shown because they aren't ready, and in a few of the photos, some aspects of the sculpt and paint don't match the rest of the shots (the golden lines on the abdomen are different in some shots, as if HT threw in a bunch of old photos with new).

What's the rush? I understand the movie is out in two weeks, but still. that's some time you could use, can't you? We all know you're at your worst when you rush out your products.

 

[dedguy]

I disagree and this just sounds like complaining to complain.

 

[plasmid303]

I've already expressed my enthusiasm for the figure, and if I really wanted to complain just to complain, I'd join the usual crowd over on HT's facebook page, but I'm not going to start doing that.

And what is it that you disagree with? That they are rushing out these pics before being ready or that they're at their worst when they're hasty?

 

[dedguy]

haha you say that like this isn't the usual place to complain.

 

[JonWes]

I've already expressed my enthusiasm for the figure, and if I really wanted to complain just to complain, I'd join the usual crowd over on HT's facebook page, but I'm not going to start doing that.

And what is it that you disagree with? That they are rushing out these pics before being ready or that they're at their worst when they're hasty?

I don't see a problem with photoshopping features on. It happens all the time, and most places don't even tell you. I work for a toy/hobby company and let me tell you... lots of photoshop going on. Most of the time though it's just because you're working with early samples due to the timelines involved in production and you have to tweak. It's about making it look MORE like the final piece, not less.

As for why HT went out so early with these... it just makes sense from a Marketing perspective. Sure, there are always going to be a core group of buyers (like guys on message boards) who are hyper aware of these products and ready to buy them whenever they come out. But then there's the general populace. The film's release is THE moment of greatest exposure. If they can show the protos for the figures now and get that info out there, there's a likelier chance of people outside their existing customer base learning about them.

For instance, I just got the Mark I and it's on my desk at work. People are impressed, have no idea it exists, and are wondering how to get one. Like... MANY people. So there's still a lot of potential customers out there. I don't blame HT for trying to grab them.

 

[plasmid303]

haha you say that like this isn't the usual place to complain.

Well, you can't blame the internet for being what it is.

 

[plasmid303]

I don't see a problem with photoshopping features on. It happens all the time, and most places don't even tell you. I work for a toy/hobby company and let me tell you... lots of photoshop going on. Most of the time though it's just because you're working with early samples due to the timelines involved in production and you have to tweak. It's about making it look MORE like the final piece, not less.

As for why HT went out so early with these... it just makes sense from a Marketing perspective. Sure, there are always going to be a core group of buyers (like guys on message boards) who are hyper aware of these products and ready to buy them whenever they come out. But then there's the general populace. The film's release is THE moment of greatest exposure. If they can show the protos for the figures now and get that info out there, there's a likelier chance of people outside their existing customer base learning about them.

For instance, I just got the Mark I and it's on my desk at work. People are impressed, have no idea it exists, and are wondering how to get one. Like... MANY people. So there's still a lot of potential customers out there. I don't blame HT for trying to grab them.

I don't blame them for wanting to be timely with their products, and I'll buy the idea that they want to show their hand, hoping that the uninitiated general populace won't notice the trickery, but these aren't $10 dollar Hasbro toys and people don't usually run out to buy expensive niche collectibles. They are aiming this towards those who frequent forums and nerd blogs who know exactly when the movie is coming out and anticipate these products months and months after the film's release. And really, who is the 'general populace' that we're talking about? Casual moviegoers? Do they buy expensive toys? Robert Downey Jr. fans? Well, they didn't even show the Stark sculpt in their official pics that will get propogated all over the net.

I'll buy that lots of companies use photohop to enhance the look of their products. I was just comparing HT to their industry contemporaries though, and I can't come up with one off the top of my head that uses digital manipulation to add features to their product on such a large scale. If you can provide some examples, that'd be very appreciated.

edit: Have these pics been posted? Credit to original poster on Toy World:
https://toy-world.com.hk/forum/viewthread.php?tid=24232&extra=page=1&page=6

 

[JonWes]

And really, who is the 'general populace' that we're talking about? Casual moviegoers? Do they buy expensive toys? Robert Downey Jr. fans? Well, they didn't even show the Stark sculpt in their official pics that will get propogated all over the net.

Well, to give you an idea, there are three guys I work with who liked comic books as kids and enjoy the movies. They don't really collect toys - and not even comics so much really - but as soon as they saw the Mark I they were amazed. I showed them pics of the Mark IV and they were asking where they can get it from.

I think sometimes people can become very shortsighted. They think there's either a hardcore group who'd be interested in these and the general populace. But there's definitely some bleed between the group.

 

[villainsfan42]

What's the rush?

anxious, nerdy fanboys who cant wait to see or have the figures to an upcoming movie. same thing happened with tdk. ht knows how eager we are to see the figures from the new film, so they make them and show pics before the film comes out to satisfy us. instead of waiting until after the movie, to get joker's likeness correct, or to get all of iron man's weapons correct, they'd rather rush to satisfy us before the movie, and then a year later, give us a dx with everything that should have been included originally. it may piss us all off, but they're the ones laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Raikirik]

Wow, the mask part of the helmet looks a lot more accurate there than the ones on the previous figures. Thanks for the pic plas.

 

[creecher]

Hot Toys just wants to alert the buyers, as early as possible, to get the maximum number of pre-orders in to finance the costs that production will incur. The longer they can extend that pre-order time frame the better situated they are.

I don't think they worry so much about sticking to release dates, that they don't even bother describing such as 'estimated release dates'. Rarely are they able to hit that date without some sort of delay. They usually defer to the default, "professionalism to guarantee the quality", though I defer to it being to raise hype and anticipation. Once they have their proto, and put it into production, and that's after they have extended the pre-order period, the ball rolls out at it's own pace. Sometimes things go smoothly and other times we wonder what the hell is going on. e.g where's the BD Mk 3, that's been out for ages but isn't showing up anywhere?

Their 'false advertising' isn't new either. They pull photo's at their leisure and describe items as coming with 'authentic likeness', when it's hit and miss. They do what they can within the limits of what's possible, and all we can do is speculate. Who thinks they test product that comes off the production line? I'd hazard to say they rely on quality control of components but not so much on the final product. That'd hold things up too much, costing money.

Overall they have gained their reputation for good reason, but there's room for improvement whenever there is compromise.