The MCU tends to have a trope where the villain is basically a copy of the good guy after they were tired of being in their shadow or envy their capabilities. While there have been villains that do act similarly to their rivals in terms of powers (Darth Vader from Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy, General Zod from Superman in Man of Steel), but the villain tropes we got from the MCU generally got tiresom for most solo films. It's especially annoying when we have a rich guy pull the strings while the more powered villain does everything overall. At least with Obadiah Stane, he felt better executed than Justin Hammer or Aldrich Killian; it's not the fact that they did similar roles to Stane, but they feel way less interesting than the man himself. We've had merchandise before for Iron Monger, but mainly a 6-inch gimmick figure from the first movie and a Hot Toys that probably has been out of stock for so long. Let's see what Hasbro's new take on the guy has to offer.
Let's start with Obadiah Stane, who has been given the generic suit body that you've likely seen on plenty of Legends from time to time, like Tony Stark, J Jonah Jameson, etc. It makes sense, and the fact that the suit is pretty basic for either comic figures or live-action figures makes it pretty versatile. I think the wrinkles of the outfit, combined with the tie's detailing and the undershirt make it feel more like a completed look that one would expect from a figure like this. The shoes are a nice, shiny black plastic to help them stand out more from the fabric, and they both make them look like proper shoes, too. Some may say the proportions don't quite fit the bodyframe of Jeff Bridges, but it does to me, at least.
Head sculpt is very accurate to the actor in 2008, and I appreciate how there's a good amount of deco applied to make the likeness more life-like, a feat Hasbro have been improving over the years. The beard and the stern expression especially help. The articulation for this guy is on-par with one would expect: ball-joint and neck for the head, shoulders that move 360 degrees, move in and out, bicep swivels, double-elbows, wrist swivels and hinges for in and out movement, ab crunches and waist swiveling, hips that move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, double knees, and ankle swivels as well as hinges and pivots. You don't need to put him in any action poses apart from him holding his black suitcase and the arc reactor he stole from Tony. It's nicely detailed and was one of the pivotal aspects of his creation of Iron Monger. Both accessories can be held decently on the respective hands.
For a suit comparison, here he is in-between Charles Xavier from the 2000s and Logan from his final movie. Indeed, the suit design is different from the torso between the three of them, and if we exclude Charles out of the equation, the professionalism of Obadiah is more present in his attire than Logan's, with the former being more uptight and the latter looking more worn out. Also, the legs appear to be the same, but Logan's are more bent out of the packaging as expected with Hasbro figures due to the plastic used. One thing I noticed is that Obadiah's head is probably smaller than the X-Men's, which may or may not be accurate depending on how he looked IRL (and it's not easy to have 2000s Patrick Stewart, 2008 Jeff Bridges, and 2017 Hugh Jackman together).
And now we have the main attraction, the Iron Monger suit. This behemoth is about the same height as with a majority of BAFs released by Hasbro, but I feel he's quite heavier than most of them in terms of how he weighs in-hand. The sculptwork for the figure is nicely done to make it feel rough dense as it was in the movie, and while it is a monochrome suit, there is a nice color breakup between the gray plastic and the gunmetal paint on some areas of the design. The arc reactor, guns, pistons, and the under parts of the armor are my favorite parts of the suit, as it makes it feel more mechanical than without those, even if it's not as smooth as Iron Man's suit (or the Hulkbuster, for that matter). Let's be honest, the older Stark Tech from the pre-Phase 3 MCU movies felt cooler than the new stuff, even if the latter's more convenient.
Head sculpt is done up rather nicely, capturing the more bucket-head look that it's known for rather than the sleek appearance that Iron Man has. It's like an uglier version of the Mark 1 head, especially with the eyes and mouth being more repugnant than they already were. And the eyes are given a nice amount of paint without being inaccurate. Some would want the armor to look more reflective, but it's fine with me. Iron Monger's articulation is a little different from the man underneath the suit: the head is on a ball joint, shoulders move front and back, in and out, swivel at the biceps (with plastic pistons that flex when you move the arms around and even slide out to allow for more range), 90 degree elbow bends, wrist swivels and hinges for in and out, there is a diaphragm joint, hips move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle hinges as well as pivots. You can add a mini rocket on one of the bars that house the shoulder pads (which can also move around like the pistons) as well as swap the fists for open hands for an alternate display pose.
As far as the other accessories are concerned, you can pose him with an ammo belt that pegs on the machine gun and a blast effect piece that, while normally used for Iron Man's repulsor blasts, are given a rapid fire look that makes sense for this figure's weapon. Another display option is a smoke piece that helps make it look like finished unloading its ammo. Some may think it looks like a sperm, but get your mind out of the gutters because I don't think we've ever gotten figures with a smoke effect piece on a gun.
For a size comparison, here he is with his civilian identity in front of him, Leader Galvatron from Kingdom, and McFarlane Darkseid from the DC Multiverse line. He's definitely got an equal height to Darkseid yet is much heavier than him, and he's even taller than Galvatron, with my impression thinking that he'd be just a head taller than the Voyager with Benefits. Some may wish he was even bigger because Obadiah was pretty small underneath the suit, but in its defense, I think Hasbro made up for the somewhat inaccurate height by having him be heavier than expected. And inb4 people say that they want to fit him inside, good luck managing that without compromising a figure designed for articulation more than suiting up.
Overall, Iron Monger is another win in the few Infinity Saga Legends that I plan to buy, which is pretty great since we never got any new Hasbro representation of this specific design since 2008 from Hasbro. I know they tend to market whatever they put out these days, but Iron Monger feels right at home along with the rest of Phase 1. I have had peace with the recent films after seeing how the handling of them is better than the Hamadaverse (on top of 2018 honestly being a stronger year than 2017 and 2019 by having 2 good films while the former had 1 decent flick and the latter being junk), but the older films have a more satisfying feel to them that makes me think less of them being commercials for films that have yet to come out. Basically, quality over quantity. As for the figure itself, it's great that we have it as part of the multi-pack instead of a BAF because the heft, added pistons, and some of the subtle paint apps make him feel more like a centerpiece for an Iron Monger display rather than the BAF of the wave. And yes, Iron Man's aided by War Machine because it's now a 1v2!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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