Released in the late Summer of 2021, the Infinity Saga collection was a set of 10 releases in the Hasbro Marvel Legends line that revisited a number of the Infinity Saga MCU movies. It was made up of single and two-pack releases and brought us some new characters not seen before in the MCU Legends line while revisiting some others.
One of the biggest sets in the line was the two-pack from Iron-Man (2008) of Obadiah Stane and Iron Monger. The set was the first release in the line for Jeff Bridges' Stane and gave the old Iron Monger figure a more accurate and better-scaled replacement.
The box design is similar to that used for the First Ten Years sets in 2018 and the 80th Anniversary sets in 2019. It uses a squared box rather than scooped side with a black backdrop. It utilises the Iron-Man movie and the Infinity Saga logos prominently on the box and a foiled side art of various characters from the Saga. The two sides are slightly different, but the same image is used on all the sets so there is no connectivity as we saw with the First Ten Years.
The rear of the box carries a recreation of the 2008 Iron-Man movie poster and some very limited background text for Obadiah and the Iron Monger suit. There is no extensive synopsis of the movie as we've seen on other releases in the past.
Obadiah Stane
After a long stint as second-in-command of Stark Industries, Stane is eager to exact revenge on Tony Stark
Iron Monger
Obadiah Stane suits up as the powerful Iron Monger to threaten Iron Man
The Obadiah Stand figure itself uses the Nick Fury figure from the Captain Marvel movie as a base, with a new tie added that includes some built-in texture and is painted in blue. The suit is cast in plain black plastic as are the shoes, with no paint apps at all across the body apart from a silver buckle on the belt.
The body brings with it the same issues we saw on Fury. The gap on the arm slot of the coat is quite large, particularly on the right-hand side, and the white shirt is visible through the gap in a lot of poses. The shirt collar is also poorly painted where it meets the skin of the neck, it is the skin colour that is the painted part and it doesn't meet the collar fully leaving a white line that makes it look like Stane is wearing a vest. My figure is also starting to rub on the neck and the flesh colour is coming off in several places.
The head sculpt is a new piece and presents a good likeness to Bridges with the photo-real print enhancing the strong sculpt. The beard is well-textured put painted in a single colour rather and is missing the white at either side that we see on screen.
Obadiah comes with two accessories for display, a working briefcase and the Arc Reactor he steals from the chest of Tony Stark. The case is cast in plain black with a simplistic hinge that allows it to be opened. The Arc Reactor is much more detailed and despite the small scale, you can make out the blue of the surrounding ring and the white of the inner segment. There is even the trailing wire where it had been connected into Tony Stark keeping him alive.
Sadly, the reactor is too big for the case so the two don't necessarily work together unless you put the reactor in the open case as we see in the image below.
Obadiah has 19 points of articulation with double joints on both knees and elbows. The chest is a torso ball joint as well as having a swivel in the waist. All of this makes Stane pretty poseable although the character doesn't lend itself too much to action stances. The briefcase fits into the left hand for carrying positions, while the right hand is shaped to hold the Arc Reactor.
Like the Fury figure that provides the base, the should joints don't quite retract enough to have the arms close to the body and this doesn't quite allow Obadiah to stand with the briefcase at his side as you would expect.
While it is great to see Stane join the MCU Marvel Legends line, he alone was never going to sell a set and most collectors will be drawn to this pretty costly pack by the new Iron Monger. This behemoth stands 9 and a quarter inches high so is much more in scale than the original figure and is scaled well with Obadiah and other figures.
The bulk of the piece is cast in grey plastic with a slight metallic sheen to the plastic. Around the body, Hasbro has used silver parts for pieces like the pistons and where we may expect movement which contrasts well against the grey. Further details are added with white eyes behind the helmet, a transparent cover over the white arc reactor, and some yellow & red detailing on the weaponry on the left arm.
The Iron Monger figure includes some clip-on accessories starting with a missile launcher that is tucked away in the box behind the figure itself and something that may be missed when you are unpacking. It is not immediately clear where this goes, but it is shaped to clip onto the strut that connects the shoulder armour - fitting on either the right or left.
Iron Monger then has a piece that recreates casings being spat out of the mini-gun on the right arm and this slots in tightly to a socket just under the weapon itself. You can then enhance this piece further with the blast piece - the same as has been included on Iron-Man figures for some time - which can sit into the end of the mini-gun. You can then go a further step with a smoke wisp which also fits into the barrel to recreate the smoke from the firing weapon. And both parts can be included for a firing and smoking effect. The weaponry on the left arm is fixed and has no parts to enhance it any further.
The Iron Monger is also supplied with two pairs of hands to further enhance the display options. We have a pair of clenched fists for hand-to-hand combat, with two open gripping hands for grabbing and tackling your Iron-Man figure.
Despite its size, the Iron Monger is pretty well articulated with the equivalent to 18 points of articulation in total. The joints are more restricted vs a standard figure but there is plenty of play in the arms thanks to the floating shoulder armour, and in the legs. The head can move in the socket of the chest armour and the torso can not only be rotated on the waist but pivoted thanks to a robust ball-joint within the waist. Every joint is tight and secure and hefty enough to hold its pose for such a large figure. Iron Monger stands, and remains standing, perfectly well.
The joints are supported with some pistons on the back connecting the upper arms and the shoulder armour. These move in and out with the movement adding another 4 points of movement essentially. The single issue with these is the lower set of pistons attached to the arms which do pop out as the arm is posed - and once out they are not easy to put back without bending them which then adds stress marks to the plastic.
This is a pretty impressive set from Hasbro, headlined by the Iron Monger. There is nothing wrong with Obadiah, but he is another character in a suit. It would have been awesome if Hasbro could have gone the one step further and while it would have been difficult to have the whole Obadiah figure to sit into the Iron Monger, it would have been great to have an opening cavity and the options to put the Obadiah head, or torso and head, into position so Stane could be displayed in the armour.
The price of the set is floating between £65 and £75 here in the UK and that is probably inclusive of the recent increase we've seen across the action figure lines from Hasbro. Pre-Pandemic this would have been the equivalent of a £30 deluxe figure with a £20 standard figure and might have come in around £50-£60. Now we are seeing deluxe figures like the Hydra Stomper retailing at an eye-watering £55 which then makes the price of the Iron Monger set more palatable. I am not sure this one will hang around long enough for a deeper discount to be applied at retailers.
For fans of Iron-Man, and that era of the MCU that missed the Legends figures we know today, these Infinity Sets (and others like it) are great to ensure these earlier films are represented on display and with the Infinity Saga bringing us Iron-Man, Obadiah, and Iron Monger - we can now celebrate the film that launched the MCU in our displays.
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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...