It’s a funny thing going to your local comic book store to take photos of an action figure that you know you’re not going to buy there, but that’s just what I did today. See, I don’t like the above-suggested retail prices at my comic shop, so I don’t typically buy figures from them. But today a figure I’ve been waiting months to see in person was finally arriving, so I had to drop by to get impressions and take some in-person photos of the Iron Man 3 Marvel Select War Machine 2.0 figure…

I wandered past the action figure section in the store several times and resigned myself to the fact that the store either hadn’t gotten Marvel Select War Machine in at all or had sold out, when I took one last look and realized that Rhodey had been in front of my face all along and I was just too blind to see him.

The Iron Man 3 War Machine Marvel Select figure package doesn’t look all that large on the rack next to giants like the Marvel Select Red Hulk, but don’t be fooled: War Machine is still way heavier than any Hasbro Marvel Legends figure you’ll pick up at Walmart. I misjudged how heavy War Machine was going to be and almost dropped him on my foot (go me).

On close inspection, I am very pleased with how the Iron Man 3 Marvel Select War Machine 2.0 figure turned out. I was stunned to see clearly through the packaging that War Machine, like last week’s Iron Man Mark XLII Marvel Select figure, has what I consider to be the sweetest plum as far as articulation goes: ankle rockers! Yes, Mattel is failing to incorporate ankle rockers entirely in their mass-market DC Universe toys, but the little guy (DST) is now perfecting their figures with it. Thanks, Diamond Select!

The gunmetal grey and silver paints Diamond Select Toys used on the figure look masterful, and I’m really sort of depressed that we didn’t get to see this good-looking color scheme for the armor in the Iron Man 3 movie.

The cardback for War Machine 2.0 is pretty plain, but I’m pretty certain no one cares about what Diamond Select Toys puts on the back of the packaging for their action figures. I am a little disappointed that it doesn’t give any exposition about how or when we would have seen the War Machine 2.0 armor in “Iron Man 3” if those scenes hadn’t been cut/deleted.

The Iron Man 3 Marvel Select War Machine 2.0 action figure has now been released in comic book shops, online stores and specialty stores. I wasn’t going to pay $30+ after tax to pick up War Machine from my local comic book scalper store, so I ordered the Marvel Select War Machine for $23 with free shipping from Amazon. I’ll post a review and tons of photos of my War Machine Marvel Select figure when he arrives in the next couple of weeks.