Sunday, November 09, 2008

How much for that Iron Man?!

I'm usually fairly savvy when it comes to keeping an ear open for the best price on collectibles... but nothing prepared me for this weekend. Several months ago, I read on-line that Kotobukiya had the rights to produce new cold-cast porcelain goods for Marvel. Besides the ArtFX line for Star Wars, Kotobukiya isn't particularly well-known for anything but anime PVC figures.

Add into the mix that typical cold-cast porcelain statues in this genre run in the $200 range, and when the photos of their Iron Man offering were published and they looked an aweful lot like those... It didn't take long for me to think, "I ought to save some money."First came the various on-line vendors claiming that the MSRP would be $170... and that $150 would be their "special price to you." Then came it's appearance at a local comic book shop... which I missed (it was on a table but silly me, I forgot to ask how much it was). I even stopped at a competitor because often they're known for having somewhat better prices... not this time (they were asking over $220). But down the street...

When I asked about it, the "comic-book-guy" said, "$115" and before I had time to allow my jaw to drop, I answered, "I'll take it!" Now I was slightly worried when the UPC scanner rang up $900. Clearly, that was a mistake, but momentarily I just prayed that neither was comic-book-guy mistaken. As an added bonus, 3 AAA batteries are indeed included in the box for the LED feature. Both his repulsor gauntlets glow bright blue-white along with his eyes and his chest.
At 1/6 scale Iron Man stands just about 13-1/2 inches thanks to his chest-piece-inspired base.
And as I haven't shared my living room in quite some time... here's what it's like nowadays. I seem to always be short on space.

3 comments:

MrBabou said...

... and there he is, stading proud on the top of the middle cabinet :-D

Man, he looks so awesome!! He must weight a ton too. And it probably looks even better in person...

Ben-Ohki said...

It does weigh a lot but it's weird. It is packed in a large solid foam case inside the retail box. But the whole box is no bigger than one for those 1/4 scale FREEing figures and did not seem to weigh much. It's only when you unpack it you really appreciate the heft...

Anonymous said...

It looks sweet!