Iron Man 3 Assemblers Interchangeable Armor System Battle Vehicle

When I saw this toy at a local Wal-Mart, I was only excited about the vehicle and not the figure. The figure does not disappoint, but it's the car that is the main selling point for me. Hovering around the 19 dollar price range, Hasbro gives us fans a bargain with two toys in one package. The name of this product I feel is kind of long and can be easy to forget . The vehicle is more suited for Marvel Universe figures size wise than it is for Marvel Legends, however some small stature M. Legends can be squeezed into it. For these reasons alone I feel that this toy is perfect for both kid and adult collectors. When you view the packaging it makes notice of both the Iron Man and The Avengers franchises. I think this is good marketing by Hasbro to make notation of both franchises, to get the attention of fans from both.

When you remove the toys from the packaging, the interior has some nice black and white artwork of the Hall of Armor . I did not notice this artwork until I removed the toys from the packaging. It is kind of hard to notice with the car , figure, and the accessories covering a majority of the space inside. If I had known this artwork was in there, I would've been a little more careful when removing the accessories. As you can see in the pics below I kind of messed up a bit, inadvertently damaging the art a bit with small holes, due to those plastic ties used to hold accessories in place. So I'm warning you so that your art piece does not end up like mine, for those of you whom may not yet own this product , be careful when removing the toys if you want the artwork to stay intact.

I think this Hall of Armor artwork would have looked a lot better if it were colored. But if so a colored version might have jacked up the price a bit, plus due to deadlines this process would have been time consuming. I really don't know the real reason why the piece is not colored, I'm just making assumptions / guesses, although there is a slight shade of a dull blue mixed in with the black and white as you can see.
Now on to the action figure . This Iron Man figure is in scale with Marvel Universe figures. He is around four inches tall with very limited articulation. The head can move all around and side to side. The arms can move up and down and outward. The legs are spring loaded with only up and down movement.
     I love the jet pack / back pack he comes equipped with. It is very well detailed with the propellers and gold trimming. Underneath the jet pack there is a compartment that snaps open and closes.

This toyset comes with four accessories . Three gun / arm attachments and a foot device similar to roller skates, please forgive my ignorance as I do not know what they / it is called. The arm attachments can attach to both Iron Man and the car. When attached to Iron Man they give him extra fire power. And when attached to the car the automobile instantly changes from an ordinary ride to a battle vehicle. The foot accessory rolls really well and makes Iron Man just a tad taller than without.

Now on to what really made me purchase this product, the car itself. I think it is a very cool looking car, with a nice shade of gray and red trim to match Iron Man's colors. However the doors do not open and close. There is no trunk or dashboard or even a steering wheel. The seat in the car is spring loaded and can be pushed back and forth. Despite missing a few basic pieces, this is still a neat vehicle to add to your Marvel vehicle collection. Adults should enjoy displaying it on their shelves and kids should have fun playing with the vehicle.

Sorry about the whited out areas, but I did this to cover the cracks in the white papered background. This wont happen again in future reviews. But for now just ignore that and focus on the car. Nice paint job . For those of you whom are interested in the action feature, Hasbro provided an instruction sheet just for that. One set of instructions shows you how to prepare Iron Man for the car and the other displays the illustration of the main action feature. As you can see the real purpose for the foot accessory is to propel Iron Man forward once he is ejected from the car.

Even though the car was made with the intentions of 4 " scale figures in mind, certain 6" scale figures can fit into the vehicle as illustrated below. As you can see the seat can be pushed back for taller figures, and pushed up for shorter figures.

As you can see shorter versions of 6" scaled figures from various lines can fit into the vehicle after you squeeze them through. I tried to pose the figures as if they are holding on to an imaginary steering wheel. As for the Iron Man figure for which this vehicle is made, he must first be inserted with the seat pushed back so that you can operate the mechanism that controls the action feature.
In the pic below I posed a normal Marvel Legend figure next to the car to give you idea of  the scale of the car. The pic below may also weigh in on your decision on rather you want to purchase this product or not, if you do not yet own it.

                                                        FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - As many of you know this category applies to the figure and not the car. There is lack of elbow articulation, knee articulation, and up and down head movement. However I think this is because of the presence of the action feature involving Iron Man and the car. Extra articulation would probably inhibit the action feature somewhat.
(2) STANDABILITY - Another category that applies only to the figure and not the car. The jet pack makes Iron Man a little top heavy making him difficult to stand without falling. You may have to lean him against something to get him to stand properly. But when you place him into the foot accessory there are no balance issues. He stands well while placed in the accessory.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS PRODUCT ? The car itself. As I mentioned earlier it is the main selling piece for me in this package. The interior artwork of the Hall of Armor is nice and makes for a great diorama piece. Even though I do not know what it is called, the foot accessory is a fun piece to have as it rolls really well across smooth surfaces. I even like the Iron Man figure despite his limited articulation.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS PRODUCT ? The limb on the arm attachment with the triple barreled gun . It is extremely tight and difficult to move.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS PRODUCT ? Add just a little more articulation to Iron Man, add a few of the missing basic pieces and functions to the car. No steering wheel, doors do not open and close, no trunk and no dashboard. Color the Hall of Armor artwork inserted inside. Also make the vehicle bigger.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 - 10 I give the figure an 8.0 . The minuses are for missing some basic points of articulation as I mentioned earlier in this article. I give the car a 9.9 . Almost a perfect 10 but it's not perfect due to some missing basic features of a car as already mentioned. However this does not bother me much I am still pleased with the car. Overall I give the entire package a perfect 10. You get a ot for the price, a neat figure, some nice accessories, a cool car and some nice artwork inserted inside.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - I love this toy package. Like I said you get a lot for the asking price, a new figure , vehicle, etc. I highly recommend this toy for both kid and adult collectors. Iron Man can be displayed with fellow Marvel Universe figures, and the car can be displayed with both 4 " scaled , 5" scaled and some 6" scaled action figures. I think the best action feature of the car is the ability to adjust the seat, and not the main action feature. The ability to adjust the seat allows you to display a variety of different figure scales sitting in the driver's seat.