The Marvel Legends War Machine action figure from Avengers Endgame was released in 2019 as part of the Hulk BAF wave. Other figures in the wave included Shuri and Rescue from the MCU as well as comic book figures of Rock Python, Union Jack, Beta Ray Bill and Loki. The War Machine was the one figure in the wave not to come with a Hulk BAF part.
Packaging 3/5
War Machine is part of the 2nd wave of figures based around Avengers Endgame. The packaging uses the purple and blue hues of the first wave. Like the first wave the logo is simply a purple Avengers logo with no mention of Endgame.
The artwork on the side panels and rear of box is not from the movie. This colour scheme was never used on screen. It was based on concept art provided by Adi Granov and was updated to the Patriot scheme for the final movie - Hasbro by this point would have already had the figure in production.
The rear of the box carries the checklist of the other figures in the wave and a very brief bit of text
"When the fate of humankind is at stake, there is no mission too great for U.S. military officer James "Rhodey" Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine"
Paint & Sculpt 4/5
This is a big hefty figure, half a head taller than a normal human Legends figure. Like all Iron-Man armours, the lines and panels are clean and well cast in the base colour of the figure - dark grey in this case. Over this are painted silver panels and parts. Painting is neat with no obvious errors.
The central arc reactor, numbering on chest and the winged star are all applied as decals - very neatly. With the final touches in red on the chest and around the eyes of War Machine's helmet.
The proportions around the waist are perhaps a little too slimming, particularly if you do look at Granov's original artwork for War Machine.
A second version of this armour was released in 2019 in the Iron Patriot colours we actually see on screen. On the face of it, this figure looks like a re-release with a new colour scheme but if you have both versions of this armour side by side you can see that there are very few parts that are a direct re-use. The head is carried over, as are the shoulders, upper arms and hands. The torso, waist and lower arms are all new (or at least tweaked). The legs share the lower legs but have new upper thighs and feet.
All of the weaponry changes, with the War Machine coming with two gun arms and a shoulder cannon. The Iron Patriot has two alternative shoulder cannons and a pair of missile units.
Accessories 2/5
War Machine comes with three clip on heavy weapons. The first two are identical heavy guns that slot under the lower arms. These are cast in a crisp grey plastic to match the figure but have zero paint application. They slot into sockets fitted under War Machine's arms.
There is then a shoulder cannon, also cast in grey plastic with no further paint apps - despite a bunch of detail on the cannon that would have looked awesome if enhanced with paint. We do get a spot of red paint at the firing end, but it is so dull and hidden it is easy to miss it. This uses a ball joint type connection with the ball on the cannon slotting onto a socket on the right shoulder. The ball joint allows the gun to swivel side-to-side until it clashes with the head. Sadly it cant tilt back like previous War Machine's as the ball pops out with any movement backward.
Articulation 2/5
Despite his bulk, Iron Patriot has 18 points of articulation (excluding the weaponry).
The bulk does however have a bearing on how much articulation and posing you can do.
Head : ball joint with pivot neck
Body : torso ball joint
Arms : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, single rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knee, ankle rocker
The arms are only a single joint at the elbow, despite having a bicep swivel, and that bend is less than 90 degrees. The shoulders too are blocked from being raised by the armour panel. This shoulder panel is cast in a very soft plastic, almost like that used for a cape and it squashes as the arm raises. This looks odd but is also stil restrictive as the piece will only compress so much before upper arm movement is blocked.
The positive on the arms is the wrist, which pivots to a full 90 degrees allowing a good pose of Rhodey firing the lower arm cannons.
Legs are more mobile with a good range on the hips as the body thins lower down. The double jointed knees will allow for kneeling if you wish - but more for wider stances and firing positions. The issue with the legs sits in the ankles which are blocked at the front by the sweep of the lower leg armour. With no way to bend the feet forward and flatter, the figure does have a tendency to rock back on its heels - particularly with all that upper body weight concentrated on the back of the figure. Even with his weight, War Machine is not easy to stand unless you have him leaning forward slightly.
Summary
War Machine is another figure that has suffered with being produced too early and then being cut or heavily modified for the movie. However, that doesn't stop it being a very cool looking figure completely in keeping with the rest of the MCU.
The sculpt and paint work is great, apart from the weapons which seem to have been forgotton. Articulation is not brilliant, with some odd features like the squashing shoulders and a shoulder cannon ball joint that doesn't actually move too much.
I score the Marvel Legends War Machine action figure a just above average 3 out of 5.
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, hasbro, marvel, legends, 6-inch, avengers, endgame, war machine, colonel james rhodes, rhodey