In conjunction with the release of Iron Man 3's trailer - where Iron Patriot will be introduced, I thought it'd be a good idea to just look at some of Iron Man's various armor incarnations (yeah, I'm sure I have a couple missing). In no particular order, altho' I will try to arrange them chronologically.
The Iron Patriot armor - most of you should've/would've seen this armor already by now! If not, you'll see it next year on the big screen! First appeared after the Marvel Civil War event, when Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin - yup, the very same lunatic who's a constant thorn at Spider-Man's side) took over Stark's role as head of SHIELD.
Everyone, even the non-geeks, knows this one - the 1st ever armor Tony Stark developed while in captivity.
Which was then quickly upgraded to this Golden Avenger armor. It just sounds cooler than the Silver Avenger - plus, let's not forget that Stark was a BILLIONAIRE long before Bruno Mars thought of the title for his song!
Iron Man 2020 - a villain in an alternative future where the man inside isn't Tony but his distant relative - Arno Stark! This character first appeared in a Machine Man 4-issue mini-series (back in 1984) that was illustrated by the great Barry Windsor Smith! Try to get your hands on the trade - if not for the 1st appearance of this guy but for the art itself!
This was the 1st modern armor (or the Mark III) that has formed the template for all new armors since. Pretty cool design even by today's standards!
Then, Marvel made a really bad move by giving the armor a nose - which fans really hated. What do you think?
This my favorite (ya, it does look a little dated now but back then, this was the BOMB!) because this is the one I grew up with - the Classic Armor, which he used for a very long time before switching to...
This is one of the nicer ones (called the Silver Centurion armor) that I quite like which made its debut in Iron Man #200 back in 1985.
Hydro Armor
Iron Man is kinda like DC's Batman, always thinking and never trusting. While a founding member of the Justice League, Batman actually has strategies to take down EVERY member of the Justice League should the need arise. So here, similarly, but with less success, Tony Stark (also a founding member of his team) has armors that are designed to take down his comrades should the need arise. Here are a few of them.
The Hulk-Buster Armor - designed to take down the Green Goliath! As if any armor has a chance to even slow the Hulk down.
Thor is even harder to take down than the Hulk because Thor is a warrior, and because he is immortal, he's been fighting monsters and demons for possibly thousands of years. Hence, he's a trained veteran fighter unlike the Hulk. Thor just seems easier to take on because he's tony's friend and he keeps holding back while on Earth! So, Tony, the Thor-Buster armor isn't going to do much.
This was from the 90's paying homage to the Mark III armor, but glammed up for the 90's of course.
Heroes Reborn/Prometheum Armor
Iron Man's Medieval Armor when the Avengers fought Circe the Sorceress & Modred the Mystic. They were all transported to a medieval world.
Stealth Armor
Artic Armor
Tele-presence Modular Armor
Neo Classic Armor - circa the Armor Wars II
The Crossing Event Armor (90s)
I have to admit that by the time the 90s rolled by, I had dropped & stopped reading most of Marvel's comics incl. Spider-Man (Clone Saga anyone?), Avengers, Iron Man, etc. except for Thor & X-Men.
Extremis armor 
Bleeding Edge Armor
This is the most recent one used during the AvX event called the Phoenix Killer. Obviously, this armor had an even slimmer chance of fighting the Phoenix (only 1 of the most deadly & powerful forces in the universe!!) than the Hulk-Buster slowing the Hulk down.
The 1602 Universe's Iron Man Armor.
The Earth X Universe's Iron Man Armor
During the Marvel/DC event called Amalgam, characters from both universes were merged. The Iron Lantern was obviously Iron Man & Green Lantern.
This is the Ultimate Universe's Iron Man Armor.
Which is your favorite or least favorite?
