When Play Imaginative revealed their Die-Cast Iron Man 3 6″ figures, I got total googly eyes and wanted them all. The trouble is, when Comicave Studios took over and actually started releasing those figures last year, I was already deeply committed to buying all the Hot Toys Iron Man 3 armors. But Comicave finally put one over on Hot Toys by being the first company to bring a certain armor to market! The Comicave Shades Iron Man is available for under 100 bucks shipped online, and it is so, so worth it…

The Right:

As soon as you get one of these Comicave Studios Iron Man 3 Die-Cast figures’ boxes into your hands, you realize that you’re not just buying any old “toy” anymore–you’re getting a high-end collectible action figure.

The box has some terrific full-color artwork of Mark 23 Shades Iron Man  on the front, and features a magnetic flap that you can flip open to see the packaged Iron Man Shades figure within and all of its accessories.

The tray containing the figure can be pulled out and put back into the packaging without damaging the box at all, which is a nice option for those who want to save the packaging for display purposes or logistical purposes (such as moving your collection to a new home).

This is the type of packaging that Sideshow uses for its Star Wars sixth scale figures (among other things), and it feels classy and beautifully-executed for these die-cast Iron Man 3 figures.

Of course, as killer as this packaging is, there’s a even cooler toy inside of it. The Comicave Iron Man Shades figure is made up of 75% die-cast metal, and has the heft to match. Just holding this figure, you can feel that’s a quality item.

The outstanding feature of this figure is the paint deco, no questions asked. A complete resort of the more bland Shotgun Iron Man Mark 40, Shades Iron Man is covered in complex camouflage detailing from helmet to toe.

Whereas lesser companies would likely cheap out on this Iron Man’s camo deco, Comicave has printed it onto this figure looking drop-dead gorgeous. This is likely the busiest and most complicated deco I’ve ever seen on a six inch figure, and I think it looks incredible.

Just like the Iron Man Hot Toys figures, the Comicave Studios Shades Iron Man figure has electronic light-up eyes and chest reactor.

I was surprised to see that the batteries came pre-installed in the figure–something I can’t recall seeing on a high-end action figure before–but I’m very pleased I don’t have to go out and hunt down rare batteries to purchase for Shades Iron Man.

The Arc Reactor and eyes both light up plenty brightly (though not so much as to be eye-searing like Hot Toys Gamma Iron Man), and the effect of the eyes lighting up behind the translucent black visor on Shades is super-cool. This figure looks fabulous with the lights on.

And while his palms don’t light up in the way that the Hot Toys 1/6 Iron Man figures’ do, five pairs of interchangeable hands are included, including a pair with light-like white painted repulsors on the palms.

In addition to the repulsors palms, you also get fists, grabbing hands, neutral hands, and repulsor hands with slots for effects pieces to attach to.

The Comicave Studios Shades Iron Man figure includes three total flame effects pieces: two smaller ones for his hands and a larger effects piece flame for his back. All three slide in tightly and hold on perfectly once attached. I love me some effects pieces, and am thrilled to get these.

There’s one more accessory included: a circular figure stand display base with interchangeable poles that can be used to hold the Shades die-cast figure in various poses.

There’s a classy name plate on the front of the base that labels the armor as “Iron Man Mark XXXII Shades” (for those who can’t recite all the armors’ names in their sleep), and there’s two different poles to choose from: a clear one and a black flexible pole.

The clear pole is static and is good for having a pole that’s not very noticeable what you want your Iron Man Mark 23 Shades to just be standing around casually.

The flexible pole works great for when you want your Shades Iron Man action figure to be flying around or doing something dynamic. And yes–it’s strong and sturdy enough to hold Shades aloft without any worries.

And perhaps most importantly for some folks: scale. The Comicave Mark XXXII Shades figure is in standard six-inch figure scale, which means he’ll fit in just fine with most Hasbro Marvel Legends figure displays. He’s actually a hair shorter than most Legends, but he looks great with them anyway and will totally make your Hasbro Iron Man feel inadequate.

The Wrong:

This figure has only one area where it falls short of perfection, but it’s one that will be a sticking point for many collectors: articulation.

While the articulation scheme on the Mark 23 Shades Iron Man die-cast figure is far from bad–it’s actually pretty good–it’s not 100% satisfactory to me either.

If I didn’t own a couple dozens Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series Iron Man sixth scale figures, I’d probably be fully content with the flexibility of this figure. Unfortunately, I do, and so the small posing flaws of this figure stick out to me more than they perhaps should.

The most glaring limited articulation point on this figure is the head. Shades can look down with a decent range of motion, but his side-to-side and upward ranges are downright terrible. He can only look a few degrees in any of those directions, making a lot of poses difficult.

In addition, the ball-jointed upper torso can’t bend forward well at all, making the iconic “punching the ground and crouching” pose virtually impossible. The wrists also are very limited beyond swiveling, and there’s no calves, biceps or thigh articulation at all.

On the bright side, the articulation that is present works smashingly, including ball-jointed hips with a huge range of motion, as well as ball-jointed feet, double-jointed knees and elbows, swivel waist and the flip-up visor.

Overall: While this is definitely one of my favorite Marvel six inch figures I’ve bought this year–if not ever–I can’t in good conscience give it a perfect grade. While the heft and paint deco are outright outstanding and I dig the light-up features and effects pieces, the flexibility on this figure falls a mite short of the perfect articulation schemes Hot Toys and Hasbro have been spoiling us with. Even so, I love this figure and consider it $99.99 very well spent. Highly recommended.

GRADE: A-