While most of the merchandising companies out there manufacturing Marvel movie collectibles are now looking ahead to the future and “Captain America: Civil War”, I was taken aback a little bit this week when I saw that Medicom is actually looking backwards by soliciting an “Avengers: Age of Ultron” figure that’s arriving a wee bit late: the MAFEX Iron Man Mark 45 goes up for order this week! This figure really does look terrific and has a couple neat things in his favor, but he’s also late to the show and carrying a heavy price-tag…

With the increasing number of international companies releasing toys based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe these days, I know it can be a bit of a challenge for many collectors to keep them all straight. So, to recap, this 160 mm (6.3″) MAFEX Iron Man Mark XLV figure will be just about perfectly-scaled to fit in the with the Hasbro Marvel Legends line, and will be the sixth overall Marvel figure released in the Miracle Action Figure EX line, with the first three figures released being Spider-Man and the other two being Hulkbuster and Mark 43 Iron Man.

I was not utterly in love with the MAFEX Spider-Man figures that Medicom Toy released in 2014, but Medicom has improved somewhat since then (although none of their Iron Man figures have yet been released for comparison’s sake).

On the downside, this is not a cheap import action figure. The Figuarts Mark 45 had an MSRP of 5,800 jpy (about $49 US), whereas this MAFEX Iron Man Mark XLV is carrying a steeper price of 8,424 jpy (about $71 US). That’s a price increase of 44%! At the point when this toy finally gets released, I’m not convinced that a sizable portion of the Marvel collecting community will still be looking for a high-end 6″ Mark 45 at all–much less with such a sizable price-point.

However, this Medicom Iron Man Mark 45 action figure (sculpted by Yoshihisa Koshobu) has two major advantages over the Bandai Mark 45 Figuarts figure that was released last year.

First, this MAFEX Iron Man is actually more screen accurate than Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts version.

In order to get their Mark XLV Iron Man released last year, Bandai Japan based some of that figure’s design off of concept art, and as a result, it’s not 100% accurate. Medicom’s version will be screen-authentic, although the drawback is that it’s hitting stores a year later (and after most hardcore collectors already bought the Figuarts release).

The other major advantage to this Iron Man Mark XLV MAFEX figure over the Figuarts version that I can see is the flip-up face plate with Tony Stark Robert Downey Jr. portrait underneath. Collectors complained (a lot) when the Mark 43 went up for order and the Tony Stark head that Medicom Toy had shown off at events and in promotional images wasn’t included, so it looks like this time they’ve wised up and are giving the fans what they want.

Now, make no mistake, this isn’t a Hot Toys-quality likeness, that’s for sure–but for a 6″ figure head sculpt, it’s really pretty great and clearly miles beyond any attempt at RDJ that Hasbro has managed in the Marvel Legends lineup.

The Iron Man Mark 45 MAFEX will be available for order domestically this week, and is scheduled to be released in September 2016. I think this is a really great-looking interpretation of the XLV armor, but by the time this version finally hits, I’ll have had my SH Figuarts Iron Man 45 for a year and will even have my Hot Toys Die-Cast Mark 45 in-hand (I hope). So as nice as this MAFEX looks, it’s going to be a pass for me unless I hear truly outstanding things about it once it’s released.

Do you prefer this Marvel Legends-scale Iron Man 45 action figure or the SH Figuarts version, Marvel collectors? Which (if either) are you planning to have as the default Mark XLV in your MCU collection?