Iron Man Mark VI Maquette by Sideshow Collectibles

With so many Iron Man merchandises coming out (kudos to the success of the 2 movies), it's no wonder companies are trying to outdo each other producing quality collectibles. Sideshow Collectibles, a huge company known for its extensive line of Marvel based statues, recently released (IMHO) the best Iron Man statue to date – Iron Man: Mark VI maquette.

When I first took a photo of Jon’s Iron Man Comicquette (still on my wish list), I kept telling him how much I love the statue. The Granov signature smashing the ground pose gave it a huge impact and the exclusive version came with an interchangeable head of Tony Stark. It was a blast and up to this day (it’s been more than a year or two) I still dream of having one.

When I first saw pictures of the Mark VI maquette from Sideshow’s website, I immediately said to myself, this is the best Iron Man statue to date. The resemblance to its movie counterpart is uncanny. I have seen (and photographed) several variants of Iron Man from classic, stealth, modern, extremis, etc. and they are all good with their designs. However, I so much love how they made him in the movie and this Mark VI totally blew me away!

The statue is at approximately 17 inches tall and comes with a base that when connected to the Mark VI lights up his eyes, chest and hands (via a power switch).

Sideshow Collectibles is selling this piece for $489.99 but the item is already sold out. You will be on the wait list if you decide to purchase from their site.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=400041&ref=preview_page

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

My tabletop setup works best for figures that are 15 inches, or less in height so I had to improvise on the background that I used. I also used a regular table instead of my Falcon Eyes one to have a more stable support for the 1/4^th scale statue.

A lot of possibilities entered my mind when I was taking pictures of the Mark VI. There was the dry ice effect (which Bleau already did with his BD Mark III, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleau72/5068793674/) or maybe bring him on a dark alley with a single spot light place on top and use the dry ice there. Then again I would probably need to hire bodyguards to ward off nosy bystanders. Also the fact that this statue is not mine is another thing to be concerned with.

I did the usual rim lighting that I do, which I think worked really well for Mark VI. After several ‘catalog’ shots I decided to see how it would turn out by using just one light.

You can also flip the switch at the back of the base and be stunned when his eyes, hands and chest lights up. The base can be operated by 3 AAA batteries or a power supply (included).

Lighting Setup:

For this experiment I used a Union 4 Rime light 400 watts fitted with a bowl and 2 rectangular mirrors. I took one shot with just the Rime light and a couple of shots after using 1 mirror first then finally 2 mirrors.

As you can see from the 2 succeeding photos, the first one was just the Rime light while mirrors were added on the second one. By turning on the modeling light of the strobe and placing the mirror opposite it, I can see where the highlights will hit before I press the shutter. If you examine the left leg and upper torso carefully you will notice the difference. The other mirror was pointed towards the right leg.

Iron Man Mark VI 400% Bearbrick by Medicom

The first time I saw a Bearbrick was when the local vinyl store FRESH Manila used to operate a few years ago. The owner who had several Bearbricks of different sizes on display introduced me to this.  I saw a small one, roughly about 3-4 inches and another one that is almost twice the size. What caught my eye were the bigger pieces to which they were coined 400% in size.

One of Jon’s haul during his Singapore trip was a 400% Bearbrick of Iron Man Mark VI. Even Medicom, the company who manufactures these Bearbricks capitalized on the success of the movie and made their own version of Iron Man.

I browsed online for the cost of this item and I saw someone selling it on eBay for 120 Singapore dollars http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Hot-Bearbrick-400-Iron-Man-Mark-VI-Be-rbrick-Toys-/380257967437

Packaging:

Bearbrick collectors will definitely grab this opportunity to own a fantastic piece of Iron Man memorabilia with this purchase. The print on the figure is of high quality and captures the essence of Iron Man Mark VI. Also when you try to move the arms and legs there is a clicking sound with each rotation that informs you of the certain degrees to which you can move both the arms and legs.

PhoTOYgrapher's Perspective:

The posing is limited so I was able to get only a few shots of it. I was impressed with the paint job (printing) done with this figure. After taking several shots I decided to imitate the famous Adi Granov pose with a touch of rim lighting effect.

Issue:

1.) Light up eyes and chest? Nah, too much.

* Comparison in size between the 400% Bearbrick and Hasbro Mark V

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.

Batman Mini Cosbaby by Hot Toys

When Hot Toys introduced their DC mini Cosbaby a few years back I was still unaware of what a Cosbaby is. Fast forward to the current time line and I am happy to own the Toy Story and Iron Man 2 set.  My recent acquisition of IM2 mini cosbaby set garnered another bonus, I was offered a complete set of their Batman line at a reasonable price and immediately grabbed the opportunity.

Now I am also a proud owner of the Batman mini cosbaby set. However Robert informed me that he does not have the Nightwing exclusive so I did what any nutty collector would do, go to eBay. I only got 2 hits, one seller selling the whole set and another one selling an opened Nightwing. After inquiring on the shipping fee here in the Philippines I decided to purchase the item.

Package Contents:

Each piece is packed in a small sealed box and contains the following characters: Batgirl, The Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, Batman (Classic), Batman (Modern) and Robin. For more information kindly check Hot Toys' site at http://www.hottoys.com.hk/index.php?target=categories&category_id=6 and look for the Batman icon 

below.

Collector's Perspective:

Toy collecting is addicting. You can never have enough unless your fund diminishes; otherwise you keep on buying and buying. Though I do not see the value of these to increase extensively someday, they are still worth to collect in my book. The good thing with mini cosbabies is that they are also for play and not just for display. 

I checked Amazon's site and this is what I got http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=batman+cosbaby&x=0&y=0&ih=12_3_1_0_0_0_0_0_0_1.4_161&fsc=-1.

PhoTOYgrapher's Perspective:

Cute is just one of the many words to describe a cosbaby. Since they are only 3 inches and 7cm tall you can practically bring them anywhere to be phoTOYgraphed. My good friend Jon was kind enough to lend me his PF Thor statue and I took the base to be use as a prop. The backgrounds are added via Adobe Photoshop.

Some Issues:

1.) How come Penguin, Riddler and Mr. Freeze were not included? =D

2.) Accessories for Batman, Catwoman and Robin would have been nice.

Gears used:

Canon DSLR

Canon 100mm f2.8 L lens

2 pcs. Jinbei 180 watts (each), Rectangular and Octagonal Softbox, Green Background and Pocket Wizards

Falcon Eyes Product Table

PF Thor's Base

Iron Man 2 Mini Cosbaby by Hot Toys

I recently caught the Mini Cosbaby bug and during my last trip to HK I was able to complete The Toy Story characters and bought a couple of Iron Man 2 Cosbaby figures. I was browsing through eBay the other day in hopes of completing the characters from Iron Man 2 and found a couple online. Prior to this writing I only had Whiplash, War Machine and Tony Stark face Mark IV.

My colleague Jon knew about my quest to complete the set and on one of his toy trips in Greenhills (one of our local malls here) he was able to buy the whole set (Rhodey included) for P 4,000.00 (roughly $85) after discount. He tried to get in touch with me to see if I wanted a set for myself as well but I was unavailable during that time.  When I finally came to my senses and knew of his great deal I called a friend of mine who owns a store there as well and finally after 2 days of hard thinking I grabbed the opportunity. The fact that I was able to sell a toy made the decision easier for me.

My friend gave me a great deal as well for the set that also included a Tony Stark Mark VI Taiwan Exclusive version (love the box design). Thank you Robert!

Taiwan Exclusive Tony Stark Mark VI

Package Contents:

Each box is sealed and contains one of 7 characters including Whiplash, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Tony Stark Mark IV, Iron Man Mark IV, Iron Man Mark VI and War Machine. If you opt to get 1 case then it contains all 7 characters plus the secret version, James Rhodes Mark II. For more information kindly check http://www.hottoys.com.hk/index.php?target=categories&category_id=6 and look for the Iron Man 2 icon below.

Collector’s Perspective:

Toy collecting is addicting. You can never have enough unless your fund diminishes; otherwise you keep on buying and buying. Though I do not see the value of these to increase extensively someday, they are still worth to collect in my book. The good thing with mini cosbabies is that they are also for play and not just for display. I was also happy to acquire the Tony Stark Mark VI which was exclusively released last July at a Toy show in Taiwan.

Amazon is selling the Taipei exclusive for $15.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Man-Cosbabies-Exclusive-Version/dp/B003XUI9SY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1281176273&sr=8-1).

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

There is only 1 word to describe these figures – CUTE! The cuteness level alone already makes these mini cosbabies worthy to be phoTOYgraphed. A Captain America statue was recently loaned to me for pictorial and when I saw the base I figured it could make an interesting diorama for the toys. Check out the pictures below…

Since they are small bringing them outdoors for a location shoot is hassle free. I will definitely bring them out the next time I plan a trip. I mostly did tabletop shots and digitally added backgrounds via Adobe’s Photoshop.

Some Issues:

1.) The quality of paint job done is not consistent or I am probably just nitpicking.

2.) Detachable weaponries for War Machine would be a welcome addition.

3.) They should have included Mark V.

For more pictures of IM2 Mini cosbabies kindly check my flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerpee/sets/72157624535884069/

Gears used:

Canon DSLR

Canon 100mm f2.8 Lens

3 pcs. Jinbei 180 watts (each), Softbox, Grid and IR Trigger

Falcon Eyes Product Table

PF Captain America's Base