Iron Man 2 Comic Series - TITANIUM MAN

[JeffSaylor]

Armored Soviet is mean and green...

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Hasbro's Iron Man 2 series is a huge boon for 3 ¾ inch figure collectors, offering tons of Iron Man suits. There are so many that you can quickly become overwhelmed, so it's always nice when something different comes along. And that perfectly describes Titanium Man, one of the newest figures in the series. I have to say that I am completely unfamiliar with the character from the comics, but there were several compelling reasons why I picked him up, and I'm going to share those with you today. Is Titanium Man worth your hard-earned green? Let's take a closer look!

As I said, the Iron Man 2 line is chock full of Tony Stark's creations, coming out of the comics, films, and the imagination of the guys at Hasbro. What the line is light on, however, is villains. That was my first reason for giving Titanium Man a second look. He's a unique bad guy and perfect to go up against my horde of Iron Man figures. His bio describes Boris Bullski as a KGB agent who, via experiments, grew in size and strength before donning the massive Titanium armor. Of course, he couldn't beat Stark, but what villain can?

With many figures in the line thus far, Hasbro still uses the exact same package design for each one. From the prominent hero's image at the top of the card to the blockbuster film's logo, it's pretty obvious that these are Iron Man figures. Titanium Man comes straight out of the comic books, and so his figure is marked with the "Comic Series" tag. Through the bubble you can see the figure clearly, as well as his one accessory and the typical display base with three armor cards. The back of the card has the aforementioned bio along with a large photo of the figure and cross-promotion for Guardsman, Iron Man 28 and Iron Man 30.

Now, if you're like me and don't know Boris here from the comics, you might imagine that he represents another version of the Iron Man armor. Indeed, he's a big guy in a high-tech suit of armor. But, there are great design elements that strongly differ from the usual Stark builds, and then there's the color scheme. First off, Titanium Man is indeed huge. He stands right around 4 ½ inches, towering over other figures in the same line. And while many of the other armor suits consist of many overlapping plates, Boris' is a different style with banded/segmented armor covered by heavier armor in specific places. The arms, legs, and torso are entirely covered in horizontally banded armor that's sculpted to the man's physique (especially noticeable in the upper legs and arms). Starting from the bottom, the additions are heavy boots, thick rings on the calves and upper legs, half-circle knee guards, gloves, lower arm bands, a multi-part torso piece, and helmet. The upper body looks really good, with the unique "visor" helmet set between huge shoulder pads.

While the standard Iron Man armors are generally some combination of reds and yellows, Titanium Man stands out from the crowd with his vivid emerald green. Colors follow the different styles of armor, so the banded "undersuit" is a steely gray with the green reserved for the heavier outer pieces. The visor and energy apertures on the left palm and feet are all decorated in yellow surrounded by orange. The helmet looks great, and the addition of the energy effects on the bottom of the feet really shows the attention to detail.

All of the Iron Man 2 figures have great articulation, and Boris is no different. He's articulated at the neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, wrists, ball-jointed torso, ball-jointed hips, upper legs, double-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles. Personally, I don't care for the ball-jointed hip design, as I think it really detracts from the look of the figure. Titanium Man's shoulders are very restricted due to the heavy shoulder armor, but he can still be posed in all sorts of fun positions. Other than the usual display base and armor cards, Boris comes with a translucent yellow plastic "flame blast" accessory that fits snugly over his right fist.

When it comes to 3 ¾ inch scale figures, I'm pretty equal opportunity. On my shelves you'll find Captain America next to Batman, and Indiana Jones by Hellboy. And that brings me to the final reason why I was so excited to get my hands on Titanium Man. The figure bears a striking resemblance to another comic book character, the current version of DC's Green Lantern Stel! Since the chances of Stel getting a figure are pretty remote, Titanium Man will fill in the GL ranks perfectly... once I get enough courage to paint the appropriate symbol on his chest. :-)

Whether you need a big, bad Russian to fight Tony Stark or a robot Green Lantern from beyond the stars, Titanium Man is a great figure who looks really good next to any other 3 ¾ scale characters. The sculpt is clean and detailed, the colors vibrant, and the articulation as good as anything else out there.


Review and Photos by Scott Rubin

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