While the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be where the majority of mainstream fans know their superheroes from these days, Sideshow Collectibles still produces far more comic book-based Marvel statues than MCU movie-based ones. Only extremely popular movie characters tend to get Sideshow Marvel Maquettes—and with that in mind, the latest addition to the line should surprise no one: the Sideshow Exclusive Iron Man Mark III Maquette limited to 500 pieces is now up for order!

Sideshow Collectibles knows when to play their biggest cards and when to hold them, and that’s why they kicked off their Iron Man movie statues line of maquettes with various fan-favorite armor permutations such as the Mark III and the Mark XLII, but held off on the most iconic and recognizable armor until the less popular ones had already been sold.

But the time for waiting (at least, for waiting to post pre-orders) is over, and the most famous movie Iron Man armor of all is going up for sale today!

The first red and gold armor that we ever see in the MCU, the Mark III Iron Man is a proven crowd-pleaser and the singular armor that most collectors would choose to have a statue of if they could only own one armor.

Sideshow Collectibles has partnered up with Legacy Effects once again to produce this gorgeous Iron Man Mark III maquette, which is almost 23” tall and 16” deep.

Why so deep…? It’s because of the immensely cool—but also immensely space-consuming—wrecked Iron Monger armor on the base! Photos don’t do the size of this base justice—having gazed at it longingly at NYCC 2017 last week, I can definitely say that it is huge.

The Iron Monger base also featuring a flickering electronic Iron Monger Arc Reactor on it, which is one of the most interesting ideas for a Marvel statue base that I can remember. It really helps this piece capture a specific moment in the movie.

Iron Man himself is loaded up with electronic lights as well, of course—he’ll feature LED light-up eyes, chest Arc Reactor and repulsors on his wrists. The maquette also features authentic battle damage and weathering details, and I was really blown away by how incredible the “dirt” on the boots looked in person.

As almost always, there’s an Exclusive edition being sold only on the Sideshow Collectibles website and not through any other retailer–and it’s limited to just 500 pieces! I guess Sideshow prefer a quick sell-out to trying to milk this one!

The bonus EX accessory this time out is a destroyed Iron Monger helmet on its own little base that can complement the larger piece.

I personally don’t feel like this is a “must have” bonus accessory, but I was surprised to see quite a few collectors saying they feel otherwise, so this may actually be a very good “carrot” Sideshow has come up with for the exclusive edition that will make the EX sell through quickly.

But now it’s time for the other armored boot to drop: the price-point. Sideshow’s statue prices have been steadily rising over the past few years, so hardcore collectors won’t be shocked—but casual ones just may. The 1/4 Iron Man Mark III maquette will retail for $684.99, with the Exclusive Edition even 15 bucks higher than that at a full $699.99.

These are not prices for the faint of heart or light of wallet. The pieces made in partnership with Legacy Effects have always been pricey, but I think at this price many collectors are going to be priced out of the market, regardless of how beautiful this particular statue may be. The iconic status of this armor and low LE size of the exclusive may be what really saves it as far as sales go.

The Sideshow Collectibles Exclusive Iron Man Mark III Statue goes up for order on Thursday afternoon, and is scheduled to be released in late 2018. I’ve heard far more collectors than I typically do saying that this is a day one purchase for them, so it’ll be interesting to see how fast the EX sells out with such a low limited edition number.

What are your reactions to the Sideshow Iron Man MK III maquette, Marvel collectors? Is this a must-have iconic piece for you at any price, or is the price (or something else about this statue) keeping your credit card firmly in your wallet?