LEGO Marvel fans were dumbfounded when the trio of LEGO Iron Man 3 sets were revealed in early 2013. The major shocker wasn’t even the fact that two of the three Iron Man LEGO sets were based on scenes that didn’t occur in the “Iron Man 3” movie at all (Iron Man vs. The Mandarin in a giant tank?! What exactly did Marvel tell LEGO was going to happen in this movie!?). No, what stunned LEGO Marvel collectors was that there wasn’t a LEGO Iron Patriot minifigure included in any of the sets! As it turned out, though, that was a marketing tactic to sell the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video game–and it worked…

Despite being the single most prominent armor in the merchandising for the movie, there was no Iron Patriot LEGO Minifigure packed in with any of the mass-market LEGO Iron Man 3 sets. At first I thought this was just an oversight, but it quickly became apparent it was a ploy when Walmart announced the exclusive LEGO Iron Patriot figure would come with pre-orders from their store for the new LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video game.

I was going to order the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video game regardless, but Walmart managed to get my dollars (when they absolutely otherwise wouldn’t have) with this promotion. Good show, Walmart. I picked up my PS3 LEGO Marvel video game with exclusive Iron Patriot LEGO minifigure this morning (the last one in the store), and you can read my early impressions of the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game on my LEGO blog, Bricks and Bloks.

As for my thoughts on the LEGO 30168 Iron Patriot minifigure polybag itself, well–it’s outstanding. No, really–LEGO will sometimes take shortcuts with minifigures, such as packing in zero accessories or not printing any design on the figure’s back, but neither is the case with the LEGO Iron Patriot minifigure exclusive.

The LEGO Iron Patriot minifig has a nicely-executed print on both the front and back sides of the figure, as well as a flip-up helmet face plate.

James Rhodes (Rhodey) has a reversible head, so you can choose between an angry/growling Iron Patriot or a stern, no-nonsense Iron Patriot when his mask is down. The figure looks terrific with or without the helmet on, and I know I can’t be the only one out there dying for a LEGO Norman Osborn head to stick on the Iron Patriot body now?

Meanwhile, you get a small brick-build accessory with the LEGO Iron Patriot–a little gantry! This is hardly the gantry that came with the Hot Toys Tony Stark figure, mind you, but it’s still a cute (and free) extra bonus to go along with this LEGO Super Heroes minifigure Iron Patriot. I’m using the little gantry stand to hold Rhodey’s Iron Patriot helmet and help him get dressed up.

If you didn’t pre-order the LEGO Marve video game Walmart, how hard will it be to snag this exclusive LEGO Iron Patriot minifigure 30168? Well, the good news is that it won’t be difficult–there’s plenty of LEGO Iron Patriot figures out there for sale. The bad news is that there’s a ton of collectors wanting said Iron Patriot LEGO minifigure, resulting in the LEGO Iron Patriot selling for $20-$30 on the aftermarket already, so if you want your own Iron Patriot, it’s gonna cost you.

Overall: While I’m irritated with the fact that a LEGO minifigure of such an essential character is basically being used as blackmail to force collectors to buy the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video game at Walmart, there’s no denying that LEGO did a bang-up job with the LEGO Iron Patriot 30168 polybag promo set. From the reversible head to the front-and-back printed armor to the little gantry base, this is an outstanding little LEGO polybag. If all LEGO video games came with an exclusive minifigure as good as the LEGO Iron Patriot minifigure, my wallet would really be in trouble. The 30168 LEGO Iron Patriot is beautiful work by LEGO and a must-have for LEGO Iron Man collectors.

GRADE: A