A decade ago, I could pretty much plan on at least one store-exclusive Star Wars store figure, vehicle or box set being released per month. These days, though, Marvel has stolen all the store-exclusive mojo (for now), and it seems you can’t throw a rock without hitting a bunch of exclusive Marvel figures. And today, I finally stumbled across an Avengers Age of Ultron 3-Pack I’d been watching out for for months, including the exclusive Hasbro 4″ Ultron Mark 1 figure!

Ever since the first week that Avengers: Age of Ultron merch started hitting stores, I’ve had my eyes peeled for a Target exclusive three-pack that turned up in some parts of the country early on. I don’t know what the deal with the distribution on this set is, but it’s taken a full two months to hit my area.

After being in the lookout for what feels like eons, though, I finally managed to track down a store today fully-stocked with this 4″ Avengers Age of Ultron Ultron Mark 1/Ultron 2.0/Iron Man three-pack.

There’s only one new mold in this set, but it’s a goodie: the Ultron Mark I figure. While this is another Hasbro action figure with just 5 points of articulation, in the case of this character (whose body is composed of a dilapidated old armor), I don’t really mind the lack of super-articulation.

While the Ultron Mark I Hasbro figure obviously isn’t even in the same universe of coolness and detail as the Hot Toys Ultron Mark I figure, it also costs 1/50th as much as that figure does. So while the paint deco is definitely a bit underwhelming, if you don’t have 250 bucks to blow on this iteration of Ultron (and many people do not), this release is a decent deal.

Meanwhile, the 3 3/4″ Iron Man figure in this set has unquestionably the worst quality control I’ve seen on a Hasbro Iron Man figure. Why do I think that? Because the red paint deco on Iron Man is completely mismatched!

Seriously–the red on Iron Man’s torso is a dark maroon and all of his appendages are a bright red. This looks absolutely ridiculous, and is clearly not what Hasbro intended (as you can see by the prototype Iron Man action figure shown on the back of the packaging).

I’m sure this issue has to do with the plastic the factory chose to mold the pieces in rather than the paint, but this Iron Man never should have made it out the door looking like this. Awful. 

Finally, the set is rounded out by a repaint of the Ultron 2.0 figure that’s being sold single-carded in Avengers Age of Ultron Wave 2. At first I thought this was just a repack, but then I saw the very nice silver-to-red gradient effect on Ultron’s arms.

I’ll know by this time tomorrow whether or not Ultron’s arms actually turn red when charged with energy in the movie, but I think I’ll like this stylish Ultron redeco even if it turns out to not be movie-accurate.

The exclusive Target Avengers: Age of Ultron figures pack is now available in some Target stores for $14.99, and should (theoretically) be available at all  Target stores soon. Like virtually every Target Hasbro exclusive toy, I can definitely foresee this three-pack being discounted significantly to be cleared out of stores as we transition into summer. Watch for it!

Has this spottily-distributed Avengers AOU shown up in your area, Marvel collectors? And will you be scooping this set up for either of the Ultron figures (or to laugh at the abysmal Iron Man), or are you still avoiding these 5POA Marvel figures like the plague?