Brief impressions: 1/12 Comicave Super Alloy - Iron Man 3 - Iron Man Mark XL Shotgun
I decided to stop by Comicave's store in Dubai today, and picked up one of these out of curiosity. My initial impressions were actually very positive: the figure felt pleasantly weighty in-hand and the shimmer on the armour was very pretty in person. The light-up effects were also substantially better than YouTube videos had led me to believe, with Shotgun's eyes flaring bright and menacing through the smoky black visor. I have to say, this is probably my favourite Iron Man design and I will definitely keep a place in my collection for a Shotgun figure—but not this one. Here's why:
Right out of the box there was a problem with the lighting—the lights would dim significantly or turn off if I turned the torso from side to side or crunched the abs diagonally. I also noticed some damage on the plastic underneath one of the feet, as though one side of the toe joint was a little warped. On attempting to gently turn up the toe, I felt the plastic begin to bend—alarm bells in my head. I called Comicave to ask about a replacement or exchange, and they seemed receptive to the idea. At that point I wasn't sure if I wanted to exchange this figure for another Shotgun, so I decided to play with the figure a little more and make up my mind.
Within a few minutes I noticed an issue with the light switch. The switch has a simple toggle that flicks up and down, which you can see between the figure's shoulder-blades in the rear product shot. While turning the lights on, I accidentally pushed that toggle into the figure's back and could not reach it with my nails, and so I abandoned my afternoon plans to embark on a journey of stabbing at, levering and finally moving the depressed plastic nub with a small paperclip. Imagine yourself in my shoes at that moment—after much cautious and terrified poking, the switch finally budges, the finish on your tiny, expensive robot man is unharmed, and you're just about to set the poor guy down so you can retrieve his box.
And, just as the toy touches your desk, the light hits it so that its armour sparkles dark and dangerous, enough to make you regret returning this poor puny adventurer to its plastic cage, until—its foot breaks off, and it falls flat on its tiny robot face.
I know, I really shouldn't have continued messing with the figure after noticing the weakness in its foot—serves me right. I have now returned Shotgun to its box, and am hoping Comicave will go through with the exchange instead of leaving me with a broken $160 Iron Man. Given the reputation Dubai-based retailers have cultivated, I am not optimistic, but I am certain that I did not apply too much force to the toy.
Okay, that's the rant-y part of my post over. I wanted to begin with negative aspects of the figure because the current impressions of this figure on YouTube make no mention of the problems I have had with lighting, the light switch and the figure's feet, and I think interested collectors should be aware that they might run into these issues. That said, there are some really good aspects of the 1/12-scale Shotgun figure, and I'd like to highlight those as well in this list of pros and cons:
You might consider buying this figure because:
- The paint and finish are quite beautiful—not on par with Hot Toys' 1/6-scale offerings, but the paint is very cleanly-applied and the metallic shimmer effect looks very good in the right light
- Some sculpts look a little wonky (the position and size of the eyes in the head, for example, seem off to me), but by and large the figure looks sleek and predatory, sort of an Iron-Man-by-way-of-stealth-bomber. The jagged sections under the arms on either side of the breastplate, for example, definitely make this figure look more aggressive than ones with the more 'classic' armour silhouette (MK3, MK45)
- Leg articulation is excellent—thanks to the ball-jointed metal skirting at its hips, the figure can do a full split, and the double-jointed knees bend just over 90 degrees
- The shoulder armour has a similarly ingenious bit of articulation: each pauldron is attached to a double ball-joint with a longish stick between the two balls of the joint, so the armour can be pulled down to sit snugly over the shoulder, or lifted up such that Iron Man can have his arm out sideways at a right-angle to his body. They also allow the figure's arms to reach further above its head
- Lighting effects are very nice for a 1/12-scale human figure
- Accessories are definitely above-average: the included stand is solid and versatile, with a flexible arm for flight poses and a straight clear plastic arm for standing ones; the blaster effects are nice to look at, and a lot of hands are included. I really appreciated the small screwdriver and wiping cloth included in the box
I want to return this figure because:
- QC issues have left a bad taste in my mouth; even if I am lucky enough to get an exchange, it is highly unlikely that the store will let me exchange a second bad figure
- The ab-crunch is actually very limited to allow for the light-up feature; I can only just tell the difference between the 'extended' and 'contracted' abdominal positions
- Horizontal 'flight' positions are impossible because the figure cannot tilt its head upward, and its arms cannot reach fully above its head
- Head articulation in general is very limited, probably because of the lighting feature: a hinge joint in the neck allows the head to turn downward a little, but that's it
- Lack of bicep swivels makes aiming the 'blaster' effects awkward
- The double knee-joint was so stiff that I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a double-joint or not
- Despite having double elbow-joints, the figure's elbows can only achieve a 90-degree bend. After that point, its armour pieces begin clashing
- Mix of plastic and die-cast is beautiful to look at, but actually caused me more grief than comfort—some very fragile joints, like the ones in the toes, are made of plastic and have to hold up to the weight of the diecast parts
- The five included pairs of hands feel more like clutter than worthwhile accessories—for example, one pair is opened to expose the blasters, and a second pair is almost identical but slightly angled to allow for more realistic blasting positions
I was definitely suprised by the small touches that made Shotgun feel special—the quality of the finish on such a small figure, the clever shoulder and leg articulation, the quality of included accessories—but still firmly feel that Comicave's first effort is lacking in some basic respects. Most notably, I suspect a lot of articulation in the figure's core and head was sacrificed in favour of the lighting feature, and that limited articulation stops Shotgun from pulling off natural-looking poses or looking particularly super-heroic when displayed. Sure, the toy will look excellent if you replicate the limited number of poses from the promo material, but those photos are telling—even in the shots Comicave chose specifically to sell this figure, Shotgun ends up looking a little stilted and not particularly dynamic or lifelike. Overall, a good display piece and a much better product than Play Imaginative's old figures, but not worth the $160 I paid for it.
This would be a standout toy for $40-50.
