Vision Comes Into Focus With New Hot Toys Age of Ultron Figure

While we've been seeing the core team's new Hot Toys incarnations over the course of the past few months, Vision is the first new Avenger we've been deemed worthy enough to get a look at. He's also the perfect example of how ideas are sometimes better as a concept than in execution.

Beware, faithful readers, there be some light spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron in the images.

Let's start with the good. Vision's portrait is really impressive. That is some high-level Paul Bettany action happening. He's handsome and stoic, and the detailing with his more robotic features is on point. The gem looks a little dull, but it could just be the photography and not indicative of the final, real figure. The paint app looks good, too, and thankfully it is the colorway we saw in the film, and not the curiously grey palette so many other figures have used thus far.

Now it's time for some real talk. The rest of the figure is just not doing it for me. The decision to put Vision in clothing, rather than have his uniform merely be his skin, is a mistake in my opinion. The figure looks incredibly awkward stuffed into that costume, and though it will hide the joints well enough, that resulting creases and folds in the suit look terrible. The design of the costume is just fine, and it mirrors the version we saw in the film quite well. Unfortunately, where a form-fitting uniform works on an actual human because it's tailored so tightly, the opposite is true of a figure if you hope for it to have any range of motion at all. And that's why we end up with those awkward creases in the joints, as there has to be some give in the fabric.

Also, that cape looks atrocious. It looks awesome in the film; all glittery and gold. In figure form, it looks like really tacky wallpaper thrown onto the back of a toy. Again, another case of things looking fantastic in a movie, and not fantastic at all in real life. I don't have any answers as to how Hot Toys could have made a metallic, circuit board-y cape look better. I just know this one doesn't look good.

As for accessories, Vision will come with a few different hands for posing, and one very special item that you can see in the images below if you have seen the film or don't mind spoilers. There's no release date or price yet, but we'll update this post when Sideshow Collectibles has more information.

It's a shame this Vision isn't quite so on point because now I'm a bit worried about how Quicksilver is going to turn out in his Under Armour suit. With just Pietro, Wanda and Thor left to unveil, one miss out of a dozen isn't so bad. When the figures cost $220 a pop though, it's still disappointing.

Update: Vision will be released between Dec. 2015 and Feb. 2016, and is available for pre-order now at Sideshow for $219.99.

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