These were released here in the Philippines yesterday at roughly US$11.45
The most expensive 3.75" figures available locally (next to Star Wars, that is). Joes are around US$7.00 - 8.00 while DCIH are US$6.25.Some thoughts:
Comparing them to the old Showdown figures is exactly like comparing Hasbro & ToyBiz Marvel Legends figures: Hasbro has better production quality and crisper paint applications while ToyBiz has more detailed sculpts. Hasbro products always look and feel like kiddie toys, which is a negative for me.
The heads on all the figures are large, not so noticable with Iron Man (very noticable with Punisher). The joints are almost exactly like 25A Joes, with the exception of the metal T-bar in the crotch. Instead, there seems to be a plastic cross bar in place which makes the hips very tight but also flexible so I'm afraid I might twist the bar instead of rotate the legs at the joints. Some figures have double hinged knees while some other don't. Another noticable difference from Showdown is the thickness of the sculpts especially around the waist and the elbows and knees. The figures are quite tall, around 25A Destro height, so the DCIH figures don't look right when placed beside them.
The neck ball is much larger than 25A Joes' so don't try that Wraith headswap without a little boiling first.
Imagine ML Modern Armor Iron Man, done in Hasbro's Iron Man movie style of construction and then shrunken down to Joe size. That's Marvel Universe Iron Man.
- JM
