Iron Man Mark VI by Kotobukiya

My friend Jon recently went to Singapore and had several toys shipped here in the Philippines and of the toys happens to be an Iron Man Mark VI by Kotobukiya. Having seen and photoygraphed the Mark III I was expecting the Mark VI to be better.

Kotobukiya incorporated a different design scheme for the Mark VI by inserting a peg under his left foot. This peg acts as a connector that when inserted to the base activates the light up eyes, chest and hands of Iron Man.

The Mark VI is available online at http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=KOT10542&mode=retail for about $149.99.

The Mark VI (which is around 13 inches) has a limited production of 1500 and there’s a label on the box that indicates which number you get. Kotobukiya continues to use a simple and sleek box design with pictures of portions of Iron Man’s armor. I would have preferred an action instead of this museum pose but I guess Kotobukiya designed all of them that way.

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

A typical studio shoot type would bring this statue to life. You can also make use of the light up eyes, chest and hands to create mood shots. I was not able to fully insert the foot with the peg into the base for fear of damaging either component. Because of this the statue was not that stable and the lighting of his eyes, chest and hands were flickering.

It does not differ much from the Mark III for me except for some minor modifications to which it fell short of my expectations.

Some Issues:

1.) The paint job falls short of my expectations. It does not have that shiny armor effect that I prefer and some there are some paint consistencies.

2.) The peg on his left foot does not insert fully well to the base, which makes Iron Man a bit unstable when attaching him to the base.

War Machine by Bowen Designs

When Jon informed me that Bowen came out with a War Machine statue I immediately checked online to see what it was. Ever since I saw WM from Iron Man Movie: 2 I began to appreciate him it even more than Iron Man. The cool gray/silver combination and extra ammos on his shoulders makes him a mean fighting machine.

It took him a few days to lend me his statue because of a minor defect – the slot of the Gatling gun is filled up with plastic. He informed the seller of the problem and they were able to fix it.

My high expectations of the War Machine statue were not met because of some issues, but mostly personal ones. The craftsmanship is excellent and the paint job was well taken care of. BD limited this production to about 1,500 pieces and the best thing is that this is an action pose. The package consisted of 4 pieces, War Machine, the base, shoulder cannon and a gatling gun.

The statue is available online for about $184.99 at http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=BWD10212&mode=retail. Jon bought it for P11,000.00 at one of the local malls here in the Philippines.

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

Because of the color of War Machine I was able to apply my rim lighting style and it worked for me (see picture below). I am so used to seeing museum poses by BD (Bowen Designs), it was a refreshing change to do this fighting pose War Machine.

Rim lighting works pretty well for this statue because of the color combination of gray and silver. 

Some Issues:

1.) The armor looks more of a body suit than an armor. I guess this is a preference of taste and I do prefer a more armored version of War Machine. The body needs more details for me.

2.) The face is a bit long for my taste. 

War Machine 1/4th Scale Bust by Hottoys

I saw an actual display piece of this at Toy Hunter in Mongkok and my jaw dropped. It's practically a masterpiece! I was not able to buy it because it was not yet available for sale.

More than a month later Jon was able to get this at one of the local toy stores here in the metro area (R-Toys to be exact) and immediately loaned it to me for a photo shoot/blog. My initial impression was the price, because I feel it’s a bit pricey for a plastic 1/4^th scale bust. However, after I opened the box and saw the actual piece I knew that collectors would definitely skip lunch or dinner for this piece.

The packaging is simple, black box with some illustrations and wordings. War Machine comes with a Gatling gun (with ammo) and features light up eyes and chest. The red lights of his eyes are awesome! The details are stunning and the craftsmanship is very impressive. Though the Iron Man Mark IV is nice, this War Machine is even better.

Big Bad Toy Store is selling this for $74.99. Jon bought it around $88.00 (which is the normal selling price here in the Philippines) that is $13.00 more.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=HOT10291&mode=retail

Iron Man fans will definitely want to add this to their collection.

PhoTOYgrapher's Perspective:

As with statues there are no moving parts here so basically this works best (in my humble opinion) with a tabletop treatment. I would probably get some props to go along with this bust (maybe some Iron Man cosbaby guarding it) or maybe do a composite by adding a cool background later.

You can also do a comparison photo by shooting it eye level and below eye level. I find the latter works for me because it makes him look big. The lighted eyes (red) and chest (powered by 3 AAA batteries) are good additions to this awesome bust.

Some Issues:

1.) The built is plastic.

2.) I would have preferred HT not to include portions of the arms because it looks as if they are dangling. It would be better if they leave the sculpting until the shoulders only.

Stealth Iron Man by Bowen Designs

One of the most popular statues under the Marvel banner is Iron Man. I have seen countless Iron Man statues from classic to stealth to even a Hulk buster and a Thor buster version. With so many IM statues available I already lost track which is which.

When I decided to do a PhoTOYgraphy blog I asked Jon to loan me his collection. Jon being an Iron Man fan had several statues with him and I am going to start off with the Stealth Iron Man.

The stealth is packed in Bowen’s conventional styro and box with colorful illustrations. The base is separated from the figure, which shows Iron Man blasting off. Bowen Designs released this statue last April 2009, so chances are this is already sold out. Amazon is selling this piece for $ 119.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Man-Stealth-Statue-Designs/dp/B001VDYK24

Personally if you are an Iron Man fan then you will have to add this to your collection. The sculpting by the Kucharek Brothers made this statue come to life. The paint quality however is a different story. There are mixed reviews as to whether the blasting off pose is good or not, however I find it a bit stiff.

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

Iron Man is an interesting piece to phoTOYgraphed because you have to do well with the lighting to show off his armor. The stealth is dull compared with the classic red/gold combination but given a proper lighting treatment it will come to life.

I usually do 2 types of lighting here, one a rim lighting style and the other a high key effect just to show my flickr colleagues what the statue looks like. The fact that statues do not move gives me more time to prepare for the shoot and not worry if my model is uncomfortable.

It would probably be nice to bring this outdoors for some realistic scenery shot but it is not mine.

Issue:

1.) The blasting off pose is a bit stiff for me.

Lighting Setup:

Here is a diagram of how I did the lighting. The Octabox acts as a reflector only (notice there is not strobe/flash gun attached to it) so basically what I did was a one light setup. I did the same shot with the classic and the stealth so the pictures are similar except the classic has more punch.

Invincible Iron Man by Bowen Designs

Iron Man shot to fame when his official movie was released 2 years ago with Robert Downey Jr. pitching in as billionaire Tony Stark. Statue manufacturers cashed in on his popularity by releasing several versions of Iron Man with different armors (I lost count already).

When I recently started to try blogging I turned to Jon to loan me his statues for this purpose. I’ve already taken pictures of his collection but decided to give it another shot using a different style. He delivered to me both the Invincible and Stealth by Bowen Designs (special mention to the Kucharek Brothers for the great job).

Like with the stealth version the Invincible is already sold out and your chance to get it is the secondary market. Amazon is selling this for $148.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EVX5HO/ref=s9_simh_gw_p21_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=015HW68Y3B71N2990607&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846).

Same with what I mentioned in the other review, if you are an Iron Man fan then this is definitely a must have. If you go to Bowen’s site they release a lot of Iron Man statues (and busts) already so just imagine if you can own every Iron Man release they made and put in your display cabinet, wouldn’t that be cool?

The fact that the scaling of their statues is smaller compared to what Sideshow Collectibles is doing is favorable to collectors with limited display cabinets.

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

I decided to give this Iron Man a different treatment by incorporating a little bit of enhancement via Adobe Photoshop. If you check out my flickr stream around 99% of my toy shots are with plain backgrounds and I just play with the light. However my jaw dropped when I saw what my colleagues are doing so I decided to give it a shot. It’s far from their masterpieces but I am slowly getting there.

Issue:

1.) The blasting off pose is a bit stiff for me.

Lighting Setup:

Because of the limited time and space I decided to shoot this on my trusty Falcon Eyes product table with a savage background. The setup consisted of one 400 watts light fitted with a softbox on one side and an Octabox which acts as a reflector was on the other side.

The Flash by DC Direct

When Jon loaned me his 13" figures I was excited seeing The Flash for he was one of my favorite DC heroes (Superman remains top on my list). I used to watch cartoons of Flash in action and sometimes dreamt about being the fastest man alive.

The packing is nice and colorful and shows Flash in several running poses. It comes with an extra pair of hands and a cheap quality stand. This figure has long been sold out so your best are resellers or maybe eBay. If I am not mistaken, the price tag for this figure was almost $90.00.

I think the price tag is expensive for what you get. The quality of the figure is nowhere near as good as other 1/6th scale figures. Except for the costume, the whole body looks and feels cheap.

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

Here is where your graphic skills could come in handy. If you are using a Nikon camera then try using the multiple exposure feature and take several shots of Flash, moving the figure forward or sideward after each shot. You will be able to create the running effect without any manipulations.

On the other hand if you are using a Canon camera (like me) then all you can do is take one good picture and let Photoshop do the rest.

Some issues:

1.) The figure gets easily off balance so it's a little challenge to pose it.

2.) The face looks very cartoonish, something is wrong with his expression. I find that the line on his lip is too long compared to the rest of his face.

3.) The body looks and feels very cheap compared to what HT (Hottoys) makes.

4.) The replacement hands looks cheap.

Superman Classic 13" by DC Direct

When I visited Jon's warehouse a few months ago I saw several boxes in one of his cabinets stacked neatly. I asked him what it is and of course my jaw dropped when I saw them - 13" figures of Superman, Batman, Flash, Shazam and Aquaman by DC Direct. They were all sealed so I did not bother asking if I could borrow them for a photo shoot. 

A few months passed by and when Jon finally bought the KC version of Superman he lent me this and the classic Superman figure.

I got excited when this piece reached my office and was very much anxious to open the package and start taking photos. 

After a few minutes I finally opened the box, removed the plastic wires and took out the figure and the stand. This was the first time I saw a DC DIRECT doll-like figure, much less hold one and the theme song from the movie started playing inside my head. 

It took me awhile to pose the figure and that's when I notice a lot of the flaws of Superman.

I checked DC's website and this has long been sold out and they are making a reissue which is way better than this one (http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=6173)

PhoTOYgrapher's Perspective:

Action figures are a joy to take photos because of the pose ability. Unlike statues wherein you are limited to angles and perspectives, action figures gives you more flexibility when it comes to phoTOYgraphy. The fabric costume is a nice touch and captured the essence of the Man of Steel very well.

I can already imagine having a Fortress of Solitude or maybe a Hall of Justice backdrop for Superman. However you will need good PS (Photoshop) skills pulling this off. You can probably imitate his flying pose by tying some strings and do several flying poses. What I love is the fact that you can do his trademark pose – hands on his waist.

Superman is my favorite comic book superhero of all time and despite this I have several disappointing issues with this figure by DC Direct.

Some Issues:

1.) The boots is made of synthetic and when I finally opened the box and took him out, a small red patch from his boot got stuck with the plastic so the boot got damaged.

2.) The extra hands that looks like a karate chop pose are worthless if you cannot tilt his head back for a flying pose.  Even with the stand you cannot do a flying pose because you cannot make his head look up.

3.) If you look at the back of the figure, the zipper in his clothes is visible. I would have preferred if the opening of the cape were slightly higher to cover this.

4.) The knee joints are flimsy so it takes a bit of patience to make Superman stand. You can only do very simple poses otherwise he will fall.

5.) The stand feels and looks very cheap. I would assume that DC Direct could have made this better.

6.) Overall, this is a very disappointing Superman figure to me.