At last some new Iron Man product is reaching store shelves, while the regular single packs are still loaded with red and gold, the multi-packs give some much needed relief from the constant barrage of Iron Man marks 1-75 (exaggeration of course LOL). Finally the Fury of Combat TRU set has found its way into my possession and while it does have yet another Iron Man, there is enough here to make me feel like I got something good.  

First up is Iron Man and I am just going to be blunt. This figure is so common he is barely worth mentioning so I am not going to rate him. He appears to be virtually identical to the Target Exclusive Hall of Armor version (with what appears to be slightly pink arc reactor, but this could be a bleed over, however this slight color alteration/mistake doesn’t really show on camera). While I do like this figure, it’s a shame he has been so common and is now included in this pack. Not only did Hasbro have to give us a figure we probably already have, but when I took him out of the pack his shoulder pad was broken (as you can see in the picture). To be blunt, this doubly sucks! So much for the “quality” of Hasbro.  

But also, for a few years Hasbro has been milking molds in all of their lines, the Iron Man line is drastically suffering from this problem. The Marks 3, 4, and 6 are virtually identical with some minor alterations and yet Hasbro has flooded the market with these three models, to the untrained eye it looks like there is only one figure on the shelves.  

Add to this the Marvel Universe line is also flooded with Extremis and Classic Iron man, there is a recipe for massive burnout on the part of even hardcore fans. I love Iron Man, I love this movie line, and I swear if it weren’t for this overdone and overexposed same old figures I probably would probably call this my favorite overall line in a very long time. As it is, the IM2 line is just too flooded with similar figures to say that. My (and fan’s) frustrations are well documented on various message boards and I cannot figure out why Hasbro has yet to learn from lessons that should have been learned with Indiana Jones and Wolverine.  

OK enough of the soapbox, now on to something cool, Ground Assault Drones. As you can see these are the big cannon drones who dig into the ground and blast Iron Man in the movie. Just like the movie the drones have braces in their feet that secures them.  

Also just like the movie, the drones fall over easily.  

Just a joke, I actually hit the theater set when I was shooting the shot. I thought it was funny to make a Justin Hammer joke out of it.  

So the Drones have guns in their hands that are unremoveable, they are also a bit malleable, too malleable. The malleable properties of these guns along with the fact they are not allowed to be removed are probably my only knocks on the figures. The other might be that the articulation could be better but being drones articulation should be somewhat limited.  

Overall I would say if you liked these drones in the movie, you will like these two. I think that some better work could have been done on the backpack gun, but not enough to actually knock on the figures.  

Next up is what I consider the true draw of this pack, Samuel L Jackson AKA Nick Fury.  

I can’t remember when (but I do think it was the Sentinel Board on X-Men Legends 2), but I have wanted a version of Nick Fury like this, the Ultimate’s version. This has been one of the few times ever that a race change has worked for me cause the character was still relatively the same. Sure the cigars were gone but the tough as nails, take no prisoners Fury was still there.  

Making the figure even better is the AWESOME face sculpt that is dead on for Samuel L Jackson. It makes me wonder why the same company cannot do an equally good face sculpt for Samuel L. Jackson’s alter ego, Mace Windu.  

It also makes me wonder about some people’s excuses for overpricing of the GI Joe line last year. One claim repeated over and over is that Hasbro had to pay a lot in likeness rights for the actors of the GI Joe Rise of Cobra movie, and thus the prices on the figures shot up. Thing is I am fairly certain that an actor of Samuel L Jackson’s caliber probably will get a bit more money for his likeness on a figure than Chaning Tatum. Then again I suppose a counter argument could be made as that is the exact reason Iron Man is repackaged so maybe I should stop there.  

But also, in what I assume a cost saving measure, Fury is made of 25th anniversary GI Joe figure parts, most specifically Beachead. With the coat on he hides this fact rather well, but without it the weakness of that particular mold shine through. While I like the 25th Beachead, the figure had issues (as it seems all Beachead figures for some reason) with proportions, especially the arms. Thankfully the coat covers these flaws well. Also the coat is a pain to get off, and a bigger pain to get back on. It’s a good fit for Fury and I would suggest avoiding removing it if possible.  

If I had a real gripe with the figure it would have to be the shoulder holster. Having it is pretty cool, but I do wish Hasbro had gone that extra bit and made it a working one for his gun. There is really no where to put his gun as it is and the gun is small and easily lost.  

Still he is awesome and while I would have been happier if he had been a single figure, I still consider him a great part of my Marvel collection and highly recommend him.  

Overall despite the recycled Iron Man, this set is cool. If you like Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson, and the Drones, you have to get this set. Just customize the Iron Man by spray painting him gold and call him “Pretentious Iron Man’ LOL.