Review – Iron Man 2 Stealth Operations

“It wasn’t long into his adventuring career before Tony Stark realized that smashing through walls at supersonic speeds isn’t always the best solution to a problem. He designed this stealth suit to allow him to sneak into enemy strongholds unobserved. Of course, there’s also plenty of firepower — just in case!”
— from the back of the card

After wrapping up the Deep Dive Armor Iron Man review a few days ago (review here), I turned my attention to the second Iron Man 2 action figure I grabbed last week, Stealth Operations Iron Man. While not quite as cool as the Deep Dive Armor action figure, I can’t deny that this is a neat toy and has me planning to go back to ToysRUs this week in search of more figures in the series. Hasbro has a sure hit here, and an awesome companion to the 3.75-inch scale Marvel Universe series.

Classic Stealth Armor Iron Man

Where last year’s Stealth Ops Iron Man from the Marvel Universe series (review here) didn’t look like the classic Stealth Iron Man — found in the The Many Armors of Iron Man* collection — this new action figure is almost a perfect match for the design. Take a look at The Iron Man Armory for a look at the stealth version; the boots, gauntlets, and hips aren’t quite right but they’re close enough to make me happy. And I love the fact that this design is so different from the Marvel Universe version of the suit; now I have two Stealth Iron Man action figures in 3.75-inch scale . . . and if I wanted a third I could grab the Iron Man Armored Adventures Stealth Iron Man**. Man, what a great time this last year has been for Iron Man action figure collectors.

Stylish Sculpt

The Stealth Operations Iron Man action figure uses the same tooling as the Classic Iron Man action figure from the Iron Man 2 series, but unfortunately I could only find Stealth Operations and Deep Dive Armor Iron Man action figures when I hit ToysRUs so, for me, this is an entirely new design. And a great design it is. I suspect that everyone who complained about how thin design of the Golden Avenger Iron Man from the Marvel Universe line (review here) will love this new sculpt. It’s the classic design all over again, but this time a bit beefier and not as thin as the Marvel Universe version of the armor. I actually loved the Marvel Universe figure, though, and had no complaints with the thinness of the toy, so I’m just happy to get another armor variant for my collection.

Hasbro obviously knows what they’re doing when it comes to sculpting Iron Man action figures, because again they’ve nailed the design. Sleek, clean, sharp edges . . . there’s nothing about the sculpting work on this toy that makes me unhappy. And the figure is roughly the same size as the Marvel Universe Stealth Ops Iron Man so I don’t even have any complaints about how the two lines blend together; the sculpt is perfect!

Articulation Trouble

For the most part the articulation on the Stealth Operations Iron Man is excellent. Double-hinged knees, swivel-hinged elbows, ball-hinge shoulders and hips, ab-crunch, ball-hinge ankles (even if the armor blocks most of the range of movement), and twisty wrists are all right in line with the Marvel Universe articulation (and the hips are an improvement). Where it all falls apart is the head. In his review at ActionFigurePics reviewer Sandman21xxi writes:

“The articulation is pretty good except for one thing: The head/neck moves like a swivel, I’m not sure if it’s even a ball joint! (Cmon Hasbro designers! Iron Man should be able to look up, even just a little!)”

Yep, poor Stealth Operations Iron Man can only look from left to right. And since the figure’s center of gravity has him leaning forward just slightly that means he’s looking down most of the time. Hey, Iron Man, the fight’s up here!

It’s frustrating and an unusual decision, but it doesn’t ruin the figure. Just makes him a little less than perfect.

Paint

While not as nice as the paint aps on the Deep Dive Armor Iron Man (review here), the paint on the toy is clean and works well, carrying across the classic Stealth Iron Man color scheme without any difficulty. I shouldn’t complain, but after the black detailing on the Marvel Universe Silver Centurion Iron Man (review here) I have started expecting to see something similar on other Iron Man action figures. It wasn’t a problem for the Deep Dive Armor design because so much of the figure is smooth surfaces, but I would have loved to have seen the ridged areas on this toy painted. I know the dark, purple/blue color wouldn’t have worked well with black detail lines, but as it is I think the color of the figure is just a tad too dark. I’m picking nits, though, and overall the paint is acceptable and doesn’t detract at all from the toy’s coolness.

Accessories

Wow, I just realized that I didn’t take any photos of the “snap-on repulsor blast” accessory that was packed with the toy. I guess I hated this chunk of useless plastic more than I knew; if you’ve just got to see the repulsor blast piece then take a look at the review at ActionFigurePics.

Fortunately, the cards and stand packed with the toy are useful and neat. And at $1 cheaper than Marvel Universe action figures I’ve got no complaints at all with the number of accessories that were included with the toy.

Closing Thoughts

I may as well warn you guys now that as soon as I find more releases in this Iron Man 2 series then I’m going to grab them. I know that not everyone is a fan of the 3.75-inch scale, but I just love action figures in this scale and I still can’t believe how many Iron Man figures we’re getting this year. As long as the toys continue to be as cool as this one and the Deep Dive Armor Iron Man then I’m going to keep grabbing them . . . and reviewing them as fast as I can.

The paint and neck keep Stealth Operations Iron Man from being a perfect action figure, but the problems aren’t so bad that I won’t recommend that you buy this if you’re a Marvel Universe collector. I think it’s safe to assume that this entire series is a close cousin of the Marvel Universe series and that these are going to fit in perfectly with any Marvel Universe collection.

*Affiliate link: Orders using this link earn battlegrip.com cash, which is applied to buying toys.
**Affiliate link: Orders using this link earn battlegrip.com cash, which is applied to buying toys.

Philip Reed is headed to ToysRUs to look for more Iron Man 2 action figures. If you see him there, and his arms aren’t overloaded with toys, then you know that it’s a sad day.