"Your mother protected me like I was one of her own. The least that I could do is try to return the favor."
Ahead of the cinematic release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Hasbro released a selection of Marvel Legends figures from the movie including a wave of single figures featuring Nakia, Namor, Okoye, Agent Ross and Attuma - and a deluxe release of Riri Williams’ Ironheart. The new Ironheart figure was packed into the wider deluxe packaging but was released during the short-lived plastic free packaging series, coming without any window and using artwork and photography to depict the contents.
Ironheart is a deluxe release, newly tooled and based on the suit Riri Williams is wearing at the very end of Wakanda Forever. This is cast predominately in red gloss plastic with black panels and gold trims painted on top. The chest reactor line is picked out in light blue while additional components like the gear around the thighs, and vents on the legs, are finished in silver. There are two large plug in boosters that connect to sockets on the figure's back to complete the Ironheart armoured look - these are not overly secure and can frustratingly fall off with any minor handling or a knock. Again, these boosters are red gloss cast with black trim and silver booster segments. The figure stands at 6.5 inches tall but looks proportionally taller thanks to the lengthened legs and their incorporated boosters - pretty much in keeping with the suit we see on screen.
You can choose from two head options for Ironheart, the first an unmasked Riri Williams head that is sculpted with as slight smirk on her face rather than a neutral look. It's an OK likeness to actor Dominique Thorne with the 3d facial printing adding further realism to the eyes. The hair piece is part of the overall sculp tbut still features quite a crisp hairline. The colouring is black with brown inlays around the plaited sections. Two ‘buns’ are included at the back where Riri has tied up her long hair for use in the suit. The unmasked head does look marginally too high on the neck peg.
The masked head is the final element of the Ironheart helmet and this is again red gloss plastic with a black central section, gold trim and light blue visor. The heads can be swapped simply enough, and by including both masked and unmasked versions you can pose Riri holding the helmet - if indeed the suit works that way and is not nanotechnology.
Accessories are plentiful and are likely the key driver behind the Deluxe status. We have two pairs of hands to choose from with a pair of clenched fists, and a second pair with the hand extended to fire the central repulsors. These also include a central socket on the palm that can incorporate one of the included effect pieces. The hands can be displayed as they come on the figure, or by adding the extended wrist weapons, which are black gloss parts with gold trim. These are fitted by taking off the hand, fitting the extension and then resetting the hand. There is also a larger fully extended weapon version for the left hand only which starts with the black casing and then extends out to two silver prongues with inlaid blue repulsor panels. This weapon also features a softer plastic pipe that connects to the weapon and backward to a matching socket on the jet packs. This one fits in the same way, although you can’t put the hand back on when this, the largest of Ironheart’s weapons, is deployed.
To go with the weaponry are a selection of effect pieces. We start with the usual Iron-Man blasts in a very translucent blue. These slot into the sockets on the hands for firing effects, or onto the feet for a flight position. You can also use these with a pair of smoke swirls that sit around the repulsor blasts to create a smoking effect, having been cast in a translucent grey/black plastic. The final effect pairing is a set of slimline blast effects that slot into the jet pack to the rear - again helping with a flight position if you want to go down that route using an aftermarket stand.
Ironheart has just 16 points of articulation, all pinless. These start at her feet, which are the least articulated as rather than a standard rocker, the entire foot is on a single pin hinge that rocks it back and forward in one direction but has no lateral movement. Above this there are a pair of single knee joints, some thigh swivels slotted behind the thigh armour and ball jointed hips. The leg joints are all tight and secure, and Ironheart is simple enough to stand and to support her own weight, and expanded weaponry and thrusters.
The torso features a ball joint with a relatively good range, and a neck joint that permits both heads to fully rotate as well as some degree of tilt forward, backwards, and sideways. This does come with a partly visible neck peg when using the unmasked Riri Williams head. Arms include a standard wrist joint with pivot, double jointed elbows and a set of ball joint shoulders that also incorporate the upper shoulder armour. While the shoulder armour moves with the joint, it does prevent the arms from being raised up at the sides, even when rotated. This all allows the arms some level of posing, but not to the extent you would perhaps want from an armoured suit with blasters on either arm - with the blasters themselves also restricting further movement when engaged as they overlap the elbows.
The Ironheart design, seen at the end of Wakanda Forever, has been translated reasonably well into this figure with its stark red colour scheme trimmed in black and gold. Proportionally it does look lengthened at the legs, and with some limitations on articulation its not overly easy to pose in some of the ways we see it fight on screen. The unmasked head is a good likeness without being spectacular, and the additional weapon options are a good way of allowing variation to the suit, much in the way the Infinity War Iron-Man was given his nano-weaponry. The effects are not everyone’s cup of tea, but add some character to the suit, which can be posed in flight pose but needs an aftermarket stand to take its weight.
Ironheart, like much of the Wakanda Forever figure line, did seem to struggle at retail, driven in part with plastic-free packaging. It sat well under retail price for some time, and is still easy enough to source at time of writing, a couple of years past release.
ep Track of all the Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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