Iron Man - Mark 42: Iron Man 3 (Marvel Select)

Marvel Select Iron Man - Mark XLII

Upon purchasing this Marvel Select Iron Man Mark XLII (Mk 42) at my local comic bookstore, I say I have officially got an Iron Man action figure based from the Iron Man 3 movie. I never really bothered ordering the one from Hasbro, although that one is more articulated, but the 7-inch scale with all its great amount of details feels just right for a movie-based action figure. In this case, aesthetics outweighs functionality. Then again, I would still get into everything that are nice and nasty about this figure.















The overwhelming gold colour of the Mk 42 armour makes it one of my least favourite Iron Man suit, let alone how crappy the suit was in the movie. But somehow in my view, I think that movie would probably give the producers and screenwriters some thought on how the character, Tony Stark, is prepared to face yet another otherworldly beings in the Avengers 2. It's like a stepping stone to Thanos.

Anyways, enough of that movie. The colour scheme of the Mk 42 is like a reverse polarity of the Mk 3, Mk 6, Mk 7 or any standard red and gold Iron Man suit you've seen in the comics and the movies. You would not notice any shading or special paint effects (like little sparkles) around the suit, just the colours- yellow, red and gray intertwining together. The external parts are mostly covered in yellows and reds, while gray colours are applied mostly in its interior parts and joints. One thing I also notice is that the red areas are glossier than the yellow ones as you've seen on these photos. So this isn't your knight in shinning titanium alloy suit as you've probably seen in most Iron Man figures. But even without the gloss, I still think this armour looks pretty neat once on the shelf. Moreover, I like that Diamond Select painted the eyes white and not screwing it up like what they did on the MS Mark VI.

What truly impressed me with this figure is the body mold and the sculpt. Standing at 7.4 inches tall, this is the only Marvel Select Iron Man figure I've seen that has the perfect body shape. Arm and leg lengths, and torso are in the right anatomical measurements. The overall girth, specifically the chest is not too wide nor too skinny to feel and look at. Mk 42 has some robotic designs on these ball-hinged shoulders under the shoulder guards as well as the entire armour is covered with designs of "iron platings", wirings, gears and a bunch of robotic stuff.

The Mk 42 comes with interchangeable parts. Both arms can have either fisting hands or shooting hands, or both at the same time. Just by popping its head off, you can replace it with an unmasked version and reveal the man behind this great invention. And if you're ready to get him back into action, you can always put that armoured head back to its place.

Not surprisingly, this Iron Man cannot do a more pronounced flying pose. It is a Marvel Select; it is what it is. However, the articulation on this one is not as bad as its predecessors. In fact, this is one of the most articulated Marvel Select figures along with MS Ultron and MS Captain America.

The Mk 42 got ball-jointed neck that lets you turn its head 360. It got ball-hinged shoulders that lets you turn and move his arms up and down with two of these shoulder guards that are ball-socketed that moves along with the arms but limits it as you move further upwards. And so the only way for you raise it higher is to get these removable shoulder guards out of the way. It got swivel to the biceps, single-jointed elbows and ball-hinged wrists. One thing I like about the hands is that it have these soft pliable plastic wrist guards that bend as you try pose it shooting its repulsor rays, but I'm a bit worried about the wear and tear of these plastics and so I better not use it constantly. Moving on, Mk 42 got diaphragm swivel that can rock front and back, and side to side. No waist swivel, but it has this T-joint, ball-hinged hips and thigh cuts around this area. It got double-jointed knees that kinda reminds of those Play Arts Kai figures. Both toes can point up and down, ankles can swivel and turn 360 as well as do the pivot!

At the bottom of its feet, there are peg holes which suppose to latch on to a base stand. But unfortunately for this guy, its base stand does not have any pegs (which made me wonder), and so you just have to get him to stand on the right position to get it to stay there in place. The design of the prop really look awesome even with its plain metallic gray colour.

MS Iron Man Mk XLII vs. MS Iron Man Mk VI (size comparison)

Next to the Marvel Select Iron Man - Mk 6, the Mk 42 stand probably half an inch taller and it is much leaner compared to it. I definitely recommend this figure for its richness in detail and better articulation. Marvel Select figures comes cheap ranging between $20 to $26 bucks, so its not much of an acid burn in your wallet.