After over half a year of speculation (and quite a few doubts) about the Hot Toys Die-Cast Movie Masterpiece Series figures, the first of the three Iron Man 3 Hot Toys Die-Cast figures has been released in Hong Kong (and will ship from Sideshow next week in the United States)! And while the Hot Toys War Machine Mark II Diecast figure is the Iron Man 3 die-cast figure that went up for sale last and doesn’t appear in the Iron Man 3 movie (at all), it’s hard not to be impressed by the aesthetic quality and advanced articulation of Hot Toy’s latest release…

When Hot Toys announced their Hot Toys Iron Man 3 die-cast MMS line, a lot of collectors were very skeptical of both how much die-cast would be used in each figure and whether or not the die-cast would be worth the increased price of the figures. Today, the very first Hot Toys Die-Cast MMS was released in Hong Kong, giving us an answer to the first question (and perhaps helping collectors decide on their own answer to the second question).

Hong Kong Blogger OMG created a couple of diagrams that shed some light on the mechanics of this War Machine Mark II Die-Cast Movie Masterpiece Series figure:

As we can see, die-cast metal has been utilized for the major joints of the War Machine Mark II Hot Toys figure, as well as for the calves, thighs, biceps and upper torso. This is similar to the way that the beloved Chogokin figures released overseas use die-cast metal, so Hot Toys is clearly taking a cue from the masters! I’m pleased to see that the majority of the legs are made of die-cast metal–that ought to make this War Machine Mark Mark II 1/6 figure nice and stable in most poses.

And for those concerned about the articulation of this figure, Hot Toys posted the video below on their official Youtube channel to show off the articulation scheme of the Hot Toys diecast War Machine Mark 2 figure…

As shown in the video, the articulation on the Hot Toys War Machine Mark II sixth scale figure is absolutely outstanding, making it far more flexible and poseable than the original Iron Man 2 Hot Toys War Machine figure. And speaking of the original War Machine figure…

When I first saw the Iron Man 3 War Machine Mark II figure, I really didn’t like the slimmed-down look of the figure. I always thought that the War Machine armor should be bulky and powerful-looking.

But now that I see the Hot Toys Iron Man 2 War Machine and Hot Toys Iron Man 3 War Machine Mark II figures side-by-side, I’m finding that I actually prefer the look of the Iron Man 3 armor (that we don’t actually see in the movie, mind you). It’s really a shame that the scene with War Machine Mk II were cut–it’s a great-looking armor!

There is an exclusive version of the War Machine Mark II MMS that includes a little holographic War Machine Mark I figurine, but that exclusive version has been sold out for quite a while now. I’ve had success with the Sideshow wait list lots of times in the past, but I suspect it may be too late to go that route successfully if you haven’t already gotten on the wait list.

If you’re like me, the photos in this article are only enough to whet your appetite for more photos of War Machine Mark II. Luckily, there’s about a million more photos posted by Hong Kong bloggers floating around the internet right now, so I went ahead and made a Hot Toys War Machine Mark II Photo Album on the Marvel Toy News Facebook page with 100+ of the best photos out there..

Official U.S. Hot Toys Distributor Sideshow Collectibles still has War Machine Mark II available for order and will begin shipping the die-cast Hot Toys War Machine figure next week. Production numbers on this figure are likely far less than those of the upcoming die-cast Iron Patriot and Iron Man Mark XLII figures, so keep your eyes peeled for this War Machine sixth scale figure to sell out in the next couple of weeks.

Now that you’ve seen the finished product, how do you like Hot Toys’ first die-cast Iron Man armor, Marvel collectors? Is this metal-heavy War Machine Mark II worth your $285?