In 2018, to celebrate the first ten year of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hasbro released ten set of Marvel Legend figures covering movies from this first decade of the MCU. The fourth set was based on the 2013 Iron-Man 3 movie and gave us our first MCU Pepper Potts. The Hall of Amour was extended a little further with the Mk22 "Hot Rod" and the previously unreleased Mandarin / Trevor Slattery figure got an airing. The set was exclusive to Amazon, but as of the summer of 2019 started to also show up at discount retailers in the UK.
Packaging 5/5
The packaging for the First Ten Years MCU sets moves away from the usual scooped side Marvel Legend packaging and goes with a standard box. The colour scheme remains black, but with scenes from the MCU built into the backdrop. The predominant header is the MCU First 10 Years logo, with the Marvel Legends logo reduced in size and positioned top right.
The figures are displayed in a window, which is bordered in red and carries the character names bottom left. The bottom of this border is broken with a circular icon of an Iron-Man mask. Beneath this and to the right sits the movie logo.
The right hand side piece carries part of a larger art piece that connects with the other 9 sets to make a full montage. The left hand side carries some short text about the Iron-Man 3 plot as well as confirming this as set 4 in the range.
"SUITED UP AS IRON MAN, TONY STARK DISAPPEARS TO RURAL TENNESSEE TO INVESTIGATE GLOBAL TERRORIST ATTACKS AND DISCOVERS THAT THE RADICAL SOLDIERS ARE AFFLICTED WITH EXTREMIS, A VIRUS THAT CAN ENHANCE HUMAN STRENGTH AND DURABILITY, BUT CAN ALSO BE FATAL TO ANYONE INFECTED BY IT."
On the back of the box we have a small version of the Iron-Man 3 movie theatre poster and next to this panels dedicated to each of the three figures in the box - with a circular header and an image of the character from the movie.
"When the CEO of Stark Industries Pepper Potts is infected with the life-threatening Extremis virus, Tony Stark's mission to take down the Mandarin gets personal."
Once opened the figures sit in a standard inner tray which itself sits in a cardboard backing piece. Like the box, this backing section carries a lot of MCU scenes from the First Ten Years, all taken from various movies and assembled like a comic book layout.
Paint & Sculpt 2/5
Starting with the head, and the figure is a good likeness to Gwyneth Paltrow and uses the face print technology to add shading to the face - including blusher on the cheeks and eye liner round the eyes. The hair, an individual piece, flows well around the face and is sculpted to be a little unkempt.
The body is not so good and is essentially a female body sculpt in a sports bra and leggings. The top torso is cast in skin tone and then has the top painted over the top. This paint app is neat apart from a couple of bleed lines around the straps. The lower torso and legs are cast in black plastic with the skin tone painted. This leads to a terrible line around the top of the leggings with the skin colour bleeding over the top of the leggings.
The feet are bare and enormous and because these are cast in skin tone plastic they are a variant colour to the paint exposed ankles above.
Accessories 3/5
Pepper is the only figure in the set to come with an accessory, an alternative right arm and an FX blast piece. The arm swaps out at the shoulder, and the finish of this armoured Iron-Man arm is much more impressive than the rest of the Pepper Potts body. The colouring is good with a deep red glossy finish and gold highlights. Where the arm meets the flesh of Pepper's shoulder there are sculpted wires painted in silver.
The FX piece is the well used blast piece that often comes with Iron-Man releases. It is cast in translucent yellow and slots into a hole in the palm of the armoured arm.
Articulation 2/5
Pepper, as a female Marvel Legends release, gets the reduced 16 points of articulation, and this goes up to 17 points when the Iron-Man arm is used as this has an extra bicep swivel as the elbow is double jointed.
Head - ball joint with pivot
Body - mid-torso ball joint
Arms - ball joint shoulders, single rotating elbows, pivot wrist
Iron-Man Arm - ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed elbow, pivot wrist
Legs - ball joint hips, thigh swivel, single joint knee, ankle rocker
Pepper is a frustrating figure to pose, starting with getting her to stand. The ankle rockers seem to ratchet to either side of a flat foot pose which makes getting Pepper stood straight a real pain and she ends up either falling backwards or with her rear end stuck out extensively. The legs themselves are mobile with double jointed knees allowing for kneeling poses.
The arms are then restricted with the single elbow joints, and even the more expansive Iron-Man arm with its extra joints can't stretch to a full firing pose and you end up with a weird half bent pose with the FX piece looking like Pepper has caught something explosive rather than is firing her Repulsors.
Summary
I love that Hasbro has been brave enough to give us a Pepper Potts - her debut in the MCU collection - rather than another Iron-Man or Rhodey figure. The execution of the head is awesome, but it has been placed on a body that has paint issues, proportional issues with the feet and is tricky to pose and stand. Even the added extra of the Iron-Man arm and FX piece adds to the frustration as it cant be extended out flat in a natural firing pose.
Pepper Potts is the weakest figure of the set and I score her a less than average 2 out of 5. While she is not a complete write-off and with a bit of posing can sit well in a collection, I'd love to see Hasbro revisit the figure and give us a CEO Pepper or even an unmasked Rescue from Endgame.
