When Hot Toys first said that they were going to produce the entire “Iron Man 3 House Party Protocol” collection of 40+ armors in sixth scale form, my heart said “Yesssss!”, but my head said “That’s impossible–there’s no way that Hot Toys can pull that off.” Fast-forward three years later, and while there are still over a dozen armors to go, there are only two unique armors left to be produced–at least, there were until today, as the Mark XV Sneaky Iron Man Hot Toys figure is now up for order!

As much as I am in love with the Iron Man 3 House Party Protocol, I honestly, truly never believed that Hot Toys would get as far with the sixth scale series as they have. But while I’ve had doubts about the line, Hot Toys never has–and they’re continuing full-speed ahead with the line in 2016!

This time, we’re getting one of the two totally unique armors that required new tooling: Mark 15 Sneaky! With this release, Hot Toys will only need to create the Hammerhead armor and then they’ll be able to repaint and kitbash  armors to their heart’s content to complete the lineup!

For those who need a refresher, the Mark XV Sneaky armor is one of the two “stealth” suits in the “Iron Man 3” movie, and features a built-in cloaking system (which obviously doesn’t work on this toy). 

This particular armor permutation actually does appear on-screen in Iron Man 3 when the various HPP armors fly up, for those who are unconvinced. It’s the blue-black armor to the left of the Silver Centurion when all of the suits arrive. 

As usual, Sneaky will include all of the electronic LED light-up features we’ve come to expect (this time on the eyes, arc reactor, left forearm and repulsors). While I don’t turn on these lights very frequently, I’d be lying if I said that I don’t get a little giddy when I do!

And yes, I specifically said that the “left forearm” lights up on this figure, as this is one of rare Iron Man armors that actually features an asymmetrical design. Cool, huh?

The accessories for this MMS release are rather bare-bones, with just a figure stand display base and several pairs of interchangeable hands included. However, that doesn’t take into account the fact that this figure features removable chest armor and shin armor that can be opened up, both of which exposing the super-detailed interior workings of the suit.

And that said, if this limited number of accessories is keeping the price down on this unique armor (it’s just $265, whereas other unique armors have cost quite a bit more), then that’s A-OK with me! 

The Hot Toys Iron Man 3 Sneaky Iron Man figure is now available for pre-order, and is scheduled to be released in late 2016. I’m all-in for the House Party Protocol and I want to see Hot Toys complete the line, so I made sure to place my pre-order for this guy as soon as they opened up. Here’s hoping we see Disco, Hammerhead and Blue Steel armors added to the lineup sooner rather than later!

At this point, I suspect that most collectors have already jumped ship or decided that they’re in for the long haul with the Iron Man 3 sixth scale figure line. Where do you fall? Is Sneaky Iron Man on your 2016 collecting radar, or have you already moved on to more recent MCU movie merch?