Iron Man 2 Ivan "Whiplash" Vanko Review
 

Ivan "Whiplash" Vanko is modeled after his first fight with Iron Man on the Monaco race track in Iron Man 2. The figure comes with two bendable whips, stand and armor cards

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...20ID/Parts.jpg

As you can see, there's a lot of detail in the sculpt and even though it's not 100% screen accurate, it's pretty close.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2.../FrontBack.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...0ID/Action.jpg

The whips work well and you can pull off some good looking poses with them. I still wish they were able to plug into the wrists under the hands rather than just be hand held weapons

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ctionChoke.jpg

The Good

Like I said, the sculpt is excellent. There's detail just oozing out of this figure. Even the tattoos are depicted all over the figure, including one that goes across the elbow joint and still lines up properly

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ailTattoos.jpg

One of the good points I'd like to really show with this figure is it's eyes. While kinda cartoony, I think these eyes are the best painted 3 3/4" eyes out there right now. I really was just hoping they wouldn't be cross eyed like many of the figures from other lines out there, instead I get eyes that almost look like they could show emotion.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...0ID/Head-1.jpg

The Bad

Look at the picture above, does it look like Ivan is embarrassed? For whatever reason, they added a wash over the face (probably to make it look dirty and such) but they didn't think to match it up to the body so now it looks like he's embarrassed or has been throwing a temper tantrum.

Also looking at the face I noticed the goatee looked like it only got half painted with the highlights. After looking at stills from the movie I noticed, this is actually how it looks. I feel this is one of the instances where creative liberties should have been taken to not make it look half done.

Hip articulation doesn't really work too well. I was able to get the legs to bend outward to the sides, but when I went to spin the hip balls around to allow a sitting position, it just wasn't happening. I though maybe it was due to the "skirt" so I took that off. That's when I found the real culprit. The hip balls have molded details in them showing folds in the pants. These molded details (which are covered by the "skirt" and therefore not seen anyway) block the hip ball from spinning around allowing the leg to go into a sitting position. (The right one is the worst at this as the left one can spin around 1/4 of the way)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ailKneeHip.jpg

The right knee is supposed to look like Whiplash's exposed knee but to me it just looks like a flesh painted knee pad. Maybe if the whole joint piece was cast in the same flesh tone as the elbows and if they made the kee itself a little smaller, the illusion would have worked better

Another issue is the silver paint. so much of it has chipped off after just a few minutes of play. Look at any of the pictures of his chest, see all the missing silver parts, that's what has just transferred to my fingers.

My last issue with this figure is a problem I've had with a lot of figures, the neck. The neck on Ivan is sculpted forward, which makes his head look downward, add in the fact that the head has long hair and now Ivan is just some emo kid staring at his shoes all the time

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...%20ID/Side.jpg

Final Summation, I really dig this figure. Lots of detail and a cool looking figure. I will however, have to get another one just so I can paint his clothes orange and try to make his head match the rest of his body.

GREAT REVIEW , now if i could only find one in stores

Thanks for the review. I've been dying to find this guy, along with Widow and Fury.

Funny, I thought that they were just really sloppy with the paint apps on the silver, then I read that it had rubbed off. Don't know which is worse.

Yeah where can you get one of these i have most of IM2 figures all i need is drones and this guy

I got him at a CVS Pharmacy. So far that's the only place I've heard of this wave showing up at

Last I knew, Whiplash and the Drones were supposed to be part of the "Dollar Store/Wal-Greens/CVS/Rite-Aid/Big Lots" wave of IM2 toys. In other words, Wal-Mart, Target and TRU are not supposed to get any of that wave.

Still haven't decided if I want to pick him up, or hope for a "MK II" version. Maybe if I actually find it, I would be able to make the call.

Yeah i have the unfortunate handicap of living in Ireland so it looks like its e-bay scalpers for me :(

great review.. feeling the same wish I could find it at my local wallmart or zellers but no luck yet... still have to get myself a bunch of versions of iron man, few guardsmen and titanium man..personally would like to get a 6'' and 3 3/4'' whiplash... I would personally touch up the "chrome" aps on him. add real fabric to the pants and come up with a way for the whips to be connected in the hands rather then being held... I wish companies like Hasbro made these figures gave them to hardcore collectors to review, critique then revamp them before they hit shelves so we could have avoided stuff like this..