Wednesday 18 December 2013

Preorder an unofficial Iron Man suit for $2,000

Iron Man Factory is looking to crowdfund its way into full production of unofficial Iron Man armor suits.

Iron Man prototype suit

This shows off the 3D-printed prototype suit.
(Credit: Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)
Behold the ultimate Iron Man collectible, a wearable full-body armor suit complete with glowing lights in all the right places. Iron Man Factory, based out of a Beijing design workshop, is hoping at least 5,000 people will plunk down $2,000 each for a Mark III suit of their very own.
The suits will be crafted from injection-molded pieces made with reinforced polymer. A sensor on the side of the helmet will open and close the face mask. Battery-powered LED lights provide the glow. Unfortunately, there are some size restrictions. It will only fit people between 5 feet 6 inches and 6 feet 1 inch tall. That leaves me out of the fun, unless I want to buy one anyway and just stare at it longingly.
If you do decide to preorder, you will have a bit of a wait in front of you. First, Iron Man Factory says it needs all those preorders before going into production. Once that's achieved, it will take up to eight months to make the suits and get them shipped.

If that's too long to wait, you can speed things up by ordering a 3D-printed version for a whole lot more money ($35,000) that will take about four months to get to you.
Potential customers have queried Iron Man Factory about the possibility of legal action from Marvel against its unofficial suits. The response was, "We will only charge your credit card when your order is shipped and we will still ship out all orders no matter what."

The price tag isn't insane for a complex costume with working lights and an automated helmet. Personally, I would sleep better knowing there are 5,000 people out there in world walking around looking just like Iron Man. Check out this video of the 3D-printed prototype in action:

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