The Complete Guide To Hajime Sorayama’s Iron Man Metropolis Variant
UPDATED JANUARY 2023
I’ve said a lot about Iron Man Model 23, the Ablative Armor known as Axol. I have written dozens of blogs telling anyone who will listen about its history, abilities, and design. I have another couple dozen blogs at various stages of development. In other words, I’m going to be talking about Ablative Armor Iron Man for a long time.
But I asked myself in this blog: If there were another Iron Man suit I’d devote a site to, which would it be? Which armors are just so awesome that I could keep talking about them ad nauseam? And the honest answer was: none of them.
But one of them does deserve its own extensive blog — or at least a variant of the armor does. I’m talking about the Metropolis Variant of the Earth-616 Model 42 by Hajime Sorayama. When I first saw the image of this blue and gold variant, I thought it was just awesome fan art. Little did I know that it came from a premier Japanese artist. I’ve collected everything I can find about the various places this design has shown up since its inception. (Click on any image to enlarge.)
The Blueprint - Iron Man Model 42
Five variants of Iron Man Vol. 5 #1. The sixth image is the original mis-coloring before the artist was informed of the color scheme.
Iron Man’s Model 42 first appeared in Iron Man Vol. 5, #1 (January 2013) as part of the “Marvel NOW!” reboot. This armor wasn’t the most powerful armor Tony had created up to that time, but, using nanotechnology and liquid metal, it could adapt to just about any situation. It could also add components as necessary; think of it as a cross between the MCU’s Mark 50 and the Hulkbuster, with Python’s color scheme.
This armor is sometimes referred to as the Black and Gold armor, but the black is sometimes gunmetal gray, sometimes dark blue, and sometimes purple. Since the skin has cloaking capabilities, the color differences are easily explained away in-universe. The armor’s most distinguishing characteristics (besides the traditional non-red color scheme) are the multiple glowing reactors on the hips, lower legs, shoulders, and back of each hand. The chest sports one large unibeam reactor and two smaller reactors.
The Man - Hajime Sorayama
Hajime Sorayama’s Sexy Robot (reprint)
Hajime Sorayama is a Japanese artist best known for creating highly detailed pin-up art of feminine robots. Born in 1947, Sorayama began drawing erotic art in high school, studied design in college, and then joined an advertising agency before going freelance. He became world-famous in 1983 with the publication of the book Sexy Robot. He continued this robotic pin-up art in the pages of Penthouse and created the cover for Aerosmith’s album Just Push Play. He is also the designer of Sony’s AIBO robotic dog, a project that garnered him Japan’s highest design award.
In recent years, Sorayama has worked with both LucasFilm and Marvel. He also lends his designs to skateboard and clothing companies; Sorayama himself has become an in-demand brand.
The Variant - Metropolis
As far as I know, Sorayama only created one Metropolis image for Iron Man, and everything else has been iterations of that image.
Hajime Sorayama Iron Man Cover Variant
Iron Man Vol. 5 #18, Hajime Sorayama Metropolis Variant (January 2014)
It seems to have all started with a variant cover for Iron Man Vol. 5, #18 (January 2014), the first issue of a five-issue arc titled “Iron Metropolitan.” In this storyline, Tony and his brother Arno try to revitalize a city that has fallen apart after the disappearance of The Mandarin.
I have no information about why Sorayama was commissioned to draw this cover. Working with a masculine design is somewhat unique for Sorayama, as 99 out of 100 of his images are of feminine robots. While he didn’t design the Model 42 from scratch, he did give it incredible definition with his portrayal on the Iron Man cover. He also chose to change the black parts of the armor to a light-metallic blue. While at first it might seem that the setting is Tron-like, the rings and the name of the variant suggest that it is a reference to the energy rings seen in Fritz Lang’s 1927 movie Metropolis. (The scene the cover references can be found here.)
Iron Man Vol. 5 #18. (L-R) Regular, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D 1:25 variant, Sorayama 1:50 variant
This issue sported three variant covers: the regular cover, the 1:25 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cover (one copy of this cover for every twenty-five of the regular cover), and the 1:50 Sorayama cover (one copy with this cover for every fifty of the regular cover). With the issue’s print run at about 35,000 copies, the math tells me there are probably around 700 copies of the Sorayama cover. Considering price breaks printers give at 1,000 copies, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were 1,000 printed.
Gentle Giant Statue of Sorayama’s Iron Man
Gentle Giant is a company known for its busts, statues, and desktop figurines for properties like Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. Back around 2013, they dipped their toe into large-scale statues, specifically 1/4 scale (about 18” tall). The only Gentle Giant MCU statues I can find are for Captain America and Black Widow from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rocket and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, and Iron Patriot from Iron Man 3. It’s hard to deny that all of these characters are fairly well-known from their Marvel movies.
Gentle Giant’s 1/4 scale Metropolis statue by Hajime Sorayama
With so many popular characters to choose from, why did Gentle Giant choose the Sorayama design for a statue? The Black and Gold isn’t a very well-known armor, and the Sorayama version appeared on one cover that few people owned. Of all the unanswered questions I have about this armor, “why did Gentle Giant choose this particular suit?” is the one I’d most like answered. Considering the timing, wouldn’t it have made more sense to choose the Prodigal Son from Iron Man 3 ?
Honestly, though, I’m just glad this beauty exists. It’s amazing, incredibly detailed with excellent paint apps. The eyes light up with an eerie green-orange glow, and seven other points shine white. The statue is a solid 11-pound piece of poly-resin with no articulation.
Iron Man Metropolis Armor Variant trading card
The kanji for “Iron Man” is etched into the left leg. If I’m right about him only creating the front-facing image of this variant, then I’m not sure if Sorayama himself designed the back or if that was filled in by the digital sculptor.
The scheduled release of this statue was for quarter three of 2015, and I’m fairly certain it kept that. Only 250 (plus artist proofs) were made, and it retailed for $499. November 2022 prices on eBay saw three sell for $2300-3000.
It came with a simple stand, but it can stand on its own and only wobbles a little. Gentle Giant also included a sealed trading card showing a cropped image of the statue on a black background.
Click any image to enlarge
Manufacturer: Gentle Giant Ltd. (Made in China)
Year: 2015
Height: 18.5 inches
Weight: 11 pounds
Material: Poly-resin, hand painted with metallic paint
Stand: Gentle Giant circular stand. Statue can also stand without support.
Light Up Features: 8 (chest unibeam, 2x hand repulsors, 2x hips, 2x outside of knees), reddish-orange eyes
Articulation: None. Only removable part is the back plate to load batteries.
Extras: Trading card of cropped comic cover image, batteries
Edition Size: 250 (plus assumed artist proofs)
Original Price: $499
Be@rbrick of Sorayama’s Iron Man Metropolis Variant
Hajime Sorayama’s Be@rbrick of Iron Man’s Metropolis Variant, 100% and 400%, with box.
Something weird started happening the week of December 1, 2020: Be@rbricks of Sorayama’s Metropolis Iron Man started showing up on eBay. Since I have alerts for everything “Sorayama Metropolis”-related, this was quite a shock to see them popping up out of the blue from an eight-year-old design.
I’m not terribly familiar with Be@rbricks, and they don’t really appeal to me. That’s a good thing for my wallet. These Sorayama Be@rbricks are offered at prices between $800 (for the 100% + 400% set) and $4,800 (for the 1000% size). Even if I could afford it, I’m not happy with this rendition’s lack of metallic blue to match the original art, and I’m so not interested that I even said no to the $90 knockoffs. The accompanying box shows it as blue, after all.
Detail of 100% (70mm/2.75”)
and 400% (280mm/11”).
1000% (700mm/27.5”) not shown.
Speaking of Be@rbricks, the only thing that might make me buy one is if they made one for Iron Man’s Ablative Suit. I’d definitely buy it if they created a new image for the packaging. I don’t think I have to worry; we’re not going to see that happen anytime soon.
My question is, “why now?” As I said, the Metropolis variant design is about eight years old, and the two primary pieces of merchandise that came out — the comic cover and the statue — released soon after. It’s possible that Be@rbrick asked Sorayama for a design and he (or his agent) just said “go ahead and use that Iron Man one I did.” If I hear anything more about these, I’ll be sure to update this blog.
Minifig [unlicensed]
Unlicensed Hajime Sorayama Metropolis Variant minifig
I have eBay alerts for anything Sorayama, and that’s how I discovered this bootleg — excuse me, custom — of the Metropolis Variant. Despite not liking the Be@rbrick version, Legos are awesome and I wouldn’t mind having this. But for the asking price of over $70, I think I’ll pass.
Like the Be@rbricks, the beautiful metallic light-blue has been abandoned. Considering the coloring is such an important part of the Metropolis design, it’s easy to leave this on eBay.
Medicom Perfect-Studio Die-Cast Gold and Silver Statue
MAFEX Sorayama Iron Man statue prototype
The prototype debuted at the Medicom Toy Exhibition that took place between July 20 through July 25, 2019, at Omotesando Hills shopping complex in Tokyo. Medicom is the company that makes Be@rbricks, so that explains why this Iron Man statue is flanked by shiny bears.
This is a version of the Sorayama variant from Perfect-Studio, a division of Medicom.) The height and stance seem to be the same as the Gentle Giant statue I detailed above. It looks like they’re using the same sculpt, and that’s backed up by the placement of the “Iron Man” kanji on the left leg. The only change I see is the addition of antennae on either side of the head.
Descriptor plaque to accompany the MAFEX Sorayama Iron Man statue prototype
The prototype for this statue debuted in the middle of 2019, but no official announcement was made until January 2022 with a March 2022 release date. It was only available at 2G Tokyo toy and art gallery. Retail was ¥327,800, approximately $2,878.
For a more detailed report, please visit this page about the die-cast gold and silver Sorayama Hajime Iron Man Metropolis Statue / Toy.
Medicom Toy and Hajime Sorayama Die-Cast 'Iron Man' Figure
Medicom Toy and Hajime Sorayama Die-Cast 'Iron Man' Figure (rear view)
Iron Man Skateboard Deck and T-shirts by Sorayama
September 2022 saw the release of a Hajime Sorayama skateboard deck. Much like the Sorayama Medicom Statue above, the deck was only available at 2G Tokyo.
T-shirts with the image from the comic book were also available in both white and black.
Three of these skateboards showed up on eBay, but the listings were taken down within a few days. They contained stock images, so perhaps the sellers weren't able to secure them like they thought they’d be able to. Prices on eBay were between $350 and $450 before the listings were removed.
Kotobukiya ARTFX+ Pre-Painted Model Kit
I’m not claiming that this is a direct version of the Sorayama variant, but it appears this model kit was inspired by it. The most telling aspect is that this is the Model 42 Black and Gold and that it is in the almost exact same stance.
This statue is actually a pre-painted model kit (1/10 scale, or about 9” tall) from Kotobukiya, part of their ARTFX+ line. It comes in six pieces and includes a stand. I include it here mostly because it could easily be repainted to match the blue and gold Sorayama variant. Read more about it here.
That’s It…For Now.
When I started this blog, I never realized just how much research would be necessary to pull together the few products that have been made for the Metropolis Variant. I think it’s been worth it, though, as there’s nothing remotely like this page out on the web.
If you notice that I’ve made any mistakes or have additional information, please contact me. I’ll be sure to update this blog as more information is received or if any more products are released.
