This week Kotobukiya premiered the first paint photos of what I fully expected to be the final entry in the Kotobukiya Avengers ARTFX+ statues line: Iron Man. But while Iron Man was the sixth statue revealed for a line that was only expected to include six figures, Kotobukiya had a twist for us: a previously totally unannounced seventh Avengers Now ARTFX+ statue that’s also Iron Man! Coming to stores at the end of 2014–the Avengers Kotobukiya Iron Man variant ARTFX+ statue in classic red and gold is now up for order!

After Kotobukiya left a couple months between the pre-orders for most all of their 1/10 Kotobukiya ARTFX+ Avengers statues, I absolutely wasn’t expecting them to fully reveal not one, but two, new statues in the same day. Even so, I’m really glad that they did, as this dual reveal will really benefit collectors.

Ever since the Adi Granov Marvel Now Avengers artwork that the Kotobukiya Avengers 1/10th statues are based on was revealed, I’ve heard a circle of fans griping about Iron Man’s black and gold armor. Although the black and gold Marvel Now Iron Man armor is canonically correct, it’s just not what many fans are looking for in an Iron Man statue.

Kotobukiya has heard those pleas and is responding with their first-ever Marvel ARTFX+ variant statue: classic red and yellow Iron Man! And since Kotobukiya has been kind enough to let everyone know about this variant Iron Man just as the regular version is about to go up for sale everywhere, collectors will have an upfront choice of whether they want the red or black Iron Man ARTFX+ statue (or both)!

When I saw this statue I immediately thought it was going to be some sort of limited edition item or exclusive, but none of the solicitation details for the variant Iron Man ARTFX+ statue seem to indicate that it will be. Instead, it appears that Koto is simply giving fans a choice of whichever color scheme they’d like for their 8.5″ Kotobukiya Iron Man Avengers statue!

I think it’s a little sad that the sales for the canon Marvel Now Iron Man ARTFX+ statue sporting the gold and black armor are going to be cannibalized by the variant statue now, but the red and gold version is unquestionably a fan-demanded variant many collectors are going to want.

This is an instance where a variant is truly warranted, and I don’t think anyone can blame Kotobukiya for hearing the demand for a Kotobukiya ARTFX+ Iron Man variant and capitalizing upon it.

The red and yellow Iron Man Kotobukiya variant statue is now available for order online. Kotobukiya hasn’t said anything at all to indicate that the Iron Man ARTFX+ variant will be any kind of limited item, but you might want to lock in a cancelable pre-order now just in case that changes.

What do you think of Kotobukiya’s decision to give us this repaint as well as the Marvel Now black and gold Iron Man armor? I’ll be getting both myself because I love the sculpt (and I’m crazy), but will any of the rest of you be double-dipping on this classic-colored Iron Man ARTFX statue?