Thorbuster Iron Man Variant

Marvel Legends
Thorbuster Iron Man Variant
By Big Bear
March 19, 2007 - 21:59

The Destroyer is a creation of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. He was first introduced in 1965, in Journey Into Mystery #118. The Destroyer, Odin's protective construct against the forces of the Celestial, was created to be a near unstoppable test for Thor. This walking suit of magical armor has remained one of the durable opponents in the Marvel Universe.

Likeness

This version fo the Destroyer is a mixture of Jack Kirby's original design with the streamlined body found when Iron Man wore armor based on the Destroyer. This version of the Destroyer is reminiscent of what was seen when Thor became the Lord of Earth.

Plastic

The plastic used on is very solid. The only soft parts on the figure is the neck guard that rests on the top of his chest. My standard mode of operations is to drop my figures off of a shelf or a table to see how they stand up to the damage. After the trouble I have had with certain figures recently, I just had to put him to the test. I was happy to see him survive the outcome with no damage to the body or harm done to his articulation. (See my toy blog for more details on my action figure woes). I could swear that my Destroyer looked at me after I dropped him to the floor as if to say. "Human, is that all you got?"

Package

The Destroyer is a typical Toy Biz Marvel Legends, so that means the clamshell packaging. I like the clamshell because it is protective to the figure and the accessories, although you need a scissor or knife to open it.   Since the Destroyer is a variant version of Thor-Buster Iron-Man, you get to see the Destroyer's likeness on the cover instead of ANOTHER version of Iron-Man.

However, on the back of the card on the clamshell, there is a plus. I don't know if they did this for the Spider Woman 2 variant, but for the Destroyer variant of Thorbuster Iron-Man they gave him a brand new and completely different bio/ history legend for the character. Normally all variants are subject to the same bio readout even if they are different characters.   (Ex.: Baron Strucker, Genis-Vell, Dark Phoenix). Since I did not read the back of the Julia Carpenter variant, I don't know if it is the same as Jessica Drew's. I will say that I was thrilled to read the way they described the history of the Destroyer. That was a pleasant surprise from Toy Biz, I just wish they had a chance to continue thrilling me. Hey Hasbro, you guys better be good!!!

Sculpt

I promised myself that I would find the Destroyer variant as I was sick of getting unwanted Iron-Man figure. (I love Iron-Man, but who really needs to own Tony Stark with 8 different suits of armor?) Well, I was blessed enough to find a bunch of variants for the Modok series and one of them was the Destroyer.

The Destroyer is a nice piece of work for a variant.   While most variant are just head swaps or color scheme change-ups, the Thorbuster Iron-Man variant tries to incorporate all of that into one figure to actually gives you a new character altogether.

The upper torso or chest area of his armor is without the shoulder appendages and the uni-beam apparatus that Iron-Man sports. Instead on his chest is a semi-circled armored collar. And the facial design would make Jack Kirby proud as he give then faceless menace (no mouth or nose), a cold staring look that would worry Jason Vorhees. With more than average cosmetic touch-ups, the Destroyer ends up being a rare prize in the variant department.

Unfortunately the Achilles Heel of this figure is his hands. The hands are too small for his body. His hands are even smaller than the ones on Beta Ray Bill. That slightly detracts from the all-around design of the figure.

Stability

The Destroyer is a sturdy figure. I had very little trouble posing him. The only thing is that the tightness of the packaged makes it seem that he was designed to be knock-kneed. You may have to stretch the legs outward a bit to help him to stand well in poses. Outside of that, he stands very well on his own.

Scale

The Destroyer is nice and tall, but he is not as bulky as I would have liked. He is taller than the Giant-Man series Thor and looks imposing enough to take on anyone this side of Doomsday. His height gives him an imposing look, especially when standing next to other Marvel Legends and Mattel's DC Super Heroes. He is right in line with many of the DC Direct figures. He looks perfect standing next to other figures from his specific toy line.

Articulation

The Destroyer is chock full of moveable parts. Toy Biz lists him with 34 points of articulation, and I am hard pressed to prove them wrong. He has a ball jointed neck, with ball jointed shoulders and hips. He has double jointed elbows and knees. There are cuts to rotate the forearms and the calves. He has bends in his wrists and ankles. His fingers also clamp down as if he was trying (but failing), to form a fist. The Destroyer also has a twistable waist and and a bendable clicking abdomen on his torso.

The Destroyer has all of the necessary movements to keep any Marvel Legends fan very happy. I only wish that the visor was able to flip down, but it is cool. I am very happy with the Destroyer and look forward to bringing the pain to Thor or Loki very soon. (LOL!!!)

Props

The props that come with the Destroyer are a comic of Iron-Man issue # 64/ 409, a diroama that is character specific (in this case a desolate battle field), and the right arm of M.O.D.O.K.

Paint

The paint is very good on the Destroyer in my opinion. While it is not a solid straight coat of gray to cover the figure, it looks like it took several applications to properly coat the figure. This served two purposes: (1) the greyish/ silver wash is to cover over the yellow and red paint job of the standard Thorbuster Iron-Man, and (2), to give the Destroyer variant the look of battle damage. The Destroyer looks like he endured a long drawn out battle under terrible weather conditions as the hot sun and the sand beat upon him while he received scrapes all over his armor. I love it.

Cost

The Destroyer, if you can find him, is currently running from $9.00 - $10.00 at Toys "R" Us in the United States. He is probably going to cost you and arm and a leg online.

Availability

If can't find him in one of the main stores such as: Target, Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, or K-B Toys, then you can order him online. Expect to pay for him because this is the first time the destroyer has ever been made into a toy and the fact that it is a variant, it may be costly to own.