Hot Toys’ Ultron Mark I Has No Strings to Hold Him Down

Everywhere you go these days, there seems to be a new kind of Ultron-something-something waiting in the wings. There are costumes, playsets, t-shirts, posters, commercials, movies, and even action figures of the genocidal robot. Truly, we are living in an Age of Ultron.

Case in point, the latest Hot Toys Avengers: Age of Ultron figure which harkens back to Ultron's origin, such as it is in the upcoming film. The Ultron Mark I figure presents a much more raw artificial intelligence, as his body is an amalgamation of parts, pieces and ideas that haven't fully formed into the Ultron Prime we've already seen in both figure form and in advertisements for Marvel's blockbuster sequel.

Ultron getting a second figure in this line puts him on the Tony Stark Path to Success (TM) as the only character to get more than one iteration in a given Avengers series. Tony's had about three dozen different figures from Hot Toys over the years, with at least two in each of the Avengers film series. In addition to this Ultron MK I, there's the previously announced Ultron Prime and there have been teases for an Iron Legion figure as well. While that's not technically an Ultron, he does use the Iron Legion to his advantage, as you can see from the distressed body of the MK I.

Personally, I'm not really excited about the prospects of this figure. I'd much rather have the time and energy that was used to develop the Ultron MK I put into getting the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision figures more time and attention (or even the still unreleased Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy). Plus, we're already getting an Ultron Prime, which is the vastly more iconic version of the character. That said, this sculpt is a doozy. I mean, it is straight up bonkers how detailed the team went in bringing this thing life.

There's a great deal of intricate mechanical detail in just about every centimeter of the sculpt. You can see bits of Iron Man armor, Iron Legion parts and whatever else was laying around Tony Stark's lab that Ultron pulled together to manifest a body for himself. Wires, pistons, computer cables, ball joints, and all manner of bits are exposed and visible, and it was no doubt a challenge in bringing all those aspects together in a tiny 1/6 scale piece. All that detail is also a cause of concern, too, as Hot Toys figures are sometimes a little too delicate. I can already see some of that smaller metalwork snapping off from applying just a bit too much pressure.

Ultron MK I's head and chest will light up, too, and there'll be a damaged Iron Legion accessory to go along with him. The articulation isn't quite clear, but based on the amount of crazy detail, I'm not optimistic we'll see more than 8-10 points of articulation on this thing. It will definitely look amazing, as it already does look pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good, but you've got to be a real super Ultron fan to want to have this in your collection.

No release date or pricing info is available as of yet, but we'll update the story as soon as such details become available.

Update: The Hot Toys Ultron Mark I is available for pre-order at Sideshow Collectibles for $249.99, and is expected to arrive sometime in May-July 2016.

Learn More About Ultron and the Avengers With These Great Facts