Love ‘em or hate ‘em, repaints are a fact of collecting life. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to know that a repaint is in the works when an original statue is shown, and sometimes we’re not. Today’s item is unfortunately of the latter type, as it was recently announced… a year and a half after the original version. The Sideshow Avengers Assemble Stealth Iron Man Statue is now up for order, and is limited to just 500 pieces produced!

The future of Sideshow Collectibles’ Avengers Assemble statues line seems to be up in the air, with no new characters announced for the line since the Wasp statue went up for sale in the latter half of 2017.

But while there aren’t any new statues on deck for the series just yet (Hullo? Ant-Man?? Eh? Eh??), Sideshow does have at least three repaints coming our way this year in the form of Red Hulk, Modern Iron Man… and Stealth Iron Man.

Ever since I got my first Iron Man Stealth action figure from the Toybiz Iron Man Animated series line as a kid, I’ve had a soft spot for retro blue Iron Man. I’ve got Stealth Iron Man from Marvel Legends, Marvel Universe, Minimates, Bowen Designs and even Hot Toys. So with all those Blue Raspberry Iron Man collectibles already, do I really need another one…?

Well, in this case, I think I really might. The 15.75” Classic Iron Man Avengers Assemble Statue that kicked off the line is my favorite piece in the whole resin 1:5 series to-date, with the ideal paints chosen, well-executed light-up hands and chest and a smooth, perfectly-proportioned sculpt. It legit may be my favorite classic Iron Man Statue I’ve ever owned (forgive me, Randy Bowen).

This repaint takes that statue I already love and puts it into colors that I prefer. Considering I’ve already got a mini-Stealth Suit Iron Man Collection going, that’s enough to secure a purchase from me—especially with the piece limited to just 500 pieces being made and thus almost certain to retain its value (or better).

The rocky terrain base looked cool with the original Avengers Assemble Iron Man statue, and it still does now–because it’s totally unchanged. In this case, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is fine by me.

Surprisingly, this also isn’t just a repaint, believe it or not. Because the Exclusive face plate that came with the red and yellow version didn’t need to be included this time, Sideshow was able to reengineer the head so that Stealth Iron Man’s eyes light up with the same rad red lighting as his hands and chest. It’s a little extra effort that I think will add a lot to the display value.

To compensate for the low edition size and the added lights, Sideshow is upping the price 10 bucks from the regular version to a $370 MSRP. I can live with that, since we’re getting a neat bonus and a small production number.

The LE 500 Stealth Suit Iron Man Avengers Assemble Statue is now up for order, and is expected to ship out later in 2018. While this is obviously not as recognizable a piece as the classic or modern variants, with an edition size of just 500 pieces, I’d be pretty stunned if Sideshow Collectibles doesn’t manage to sell through every unit fast. I’ll be passing on the Modern Version, but the blue Stealth armor is a must for me.

How do you feel about Sideshow busting out new, previously unannounced variants of this Iron Man Statue a year and a half after the original was solicited, Marvel collectors? Do you think this will be a quick sell-out for SSC? Are these two new repaints something worthwhile you’re interested in having in your collection, or do they feel more like a cheap money-grab to you?