Orignally Posted at:
http://www.zedsjoesite.com/review/capa/cap.html
After the horror and suckage of the Green Lantern figures I needed something uplifting. Something that reminded me of WHY I collect figures and something that made me want to continue collecting. While Thor had some cool points, he wasn't cutting it overall, Marvel Universe is going into rehash mode after the Apocalypse wave, Star Wars has had maybe one figure per wave this year that has interested me, GI Joe has a few as well but most are not the fun I am in collecting figures for. Then, as if by magic comes the Star Spangled Avenger Captain America. While the whole line doesn't do much for me there are some gems in the line that grab my attention and make me glad I do this little hobby I do and I plan to showcase most of them now.
Cap is not my all time favorite but he defiantly ranks in the top 5 very solidly. I just stumbled over my first Cap comic last night, which is fun to look through (plan to re-read it later). It was the story of Cap finding a woman who had survived a concentration camp who also remembered Cap freeing them. A cool story from the victim's perspective I thought and it was also hella cool to look at a comic with all those 1970's ads (no Sea monkeys, but plenty of others including ads for Megos LOL). Anyway I didn't start collecting Cap's comic on a regular basis until much, much later (important soon I promise) and he quickly became a fav of mine. So without further ado let's look at the figures.
This is of course a repaint of the almost legendary WW2 Comic Con exclusive Captain America and perhaps the legendary status of this figure got my hopes up a bit too high for it. It's a good figure and I like it but it is not the figure I expected. I expected a masterpiece with the way people went on about it and I will grant you there are tons of great aspects to the figure. At the same time he isn't perfect by a long shot, again that isn't saying he is bad, just not what I expected. The good is the articulation, from the great further articulation of the arms and the much improved wrist articulation to the mold itself which is unique and cool. But the figure, while very cool, is far from the beacon of action figure perfection I was lead to believe by reviews of the SDCC exclusive.
A major flaw is the fact his machine gun appears to be made out of play-dough. Of course I am being facetious (and for some I need to remind them I am), but it is very soft and bends easy. The pistol is a bit more solid. Another big thing is the added articulation does come with a price. The arms are oddly shaped due to the extra arm articulation. The design tries to disguise this as folds in the uniform but it is still pretty obvious. However this is worse on the back of the thighs and creates an odd gap at the point the knee reaches to bend. Also I am not sure if this is a QC issue, but the feet are problematic and often act as if they don't want to stay on the body and the pegs become very visible very quickly. All minor quips, but when being presented as one of the best figures ever made you expect one of the best figures ever made. Still, I love the straps and such around the chest and the shied is great with the clip and peg combo. Many people complain about the hips in this line, but this figure is the one I have had the most trouble out of posing with those hips. It is very hard to align the movement points which isn't a problem I have had with the other figures in the Cap Line.
So the verdict? If you are a big fan of WW2 Cap then go, if not I would pass and this is an easy design to pass up in that case. He is the Ultimates version of WW2 Cap as well which means you can argue he isn't the "TRUE" Cap to begin with. I chose not to get into such arguments, but it is a fact that should be pointed out.
I generally shun the deluxe figures in these movie lines. I feel they are overpriced and generally the figures are less than stellar. This one might be the exception. I wasn't actually going to grab him but I had the cash and said why not. To be honest of all of the Cap figures I think this one probably was the most surprising.
While the shield has the straps design it isn't just a repaint of the movie shield (as the details on the back are actually different. The spring loaded door knocker thing actually has moving handles which I thought was neat. While the armor is a PITA to get off, underneath is a pretty decent figure that resembles Ultimate Captain America. Really if you wanted Ultimate Cap to display he would work really well. Oddly he has wrist articulation but the other regular Caps don't. Not sure why this is but I think it is notable. Also this figure doesn't have any kind of swivel in the arm, another weird fact.
Of course the other thing is that his shield is a great sub for US Agents as it looks a great deal like the shield he had in Omega Flight (Just reversed). All of that makes this one of the few deluxe figures that are worth my time. I think the helmet looks kind of like a Watchdog's helmet but also the chest armor could probably be customized into the Cap Armor he wore when his body was breaking down shortly before Heroes Reborn. My verdict, only if you are a Cap fanatic or want an Ultimate Cap with a better shield, otherwise avoid.
This is the figure that caught me way off guard and honestly I wasn't going to buy him at first. However Cap with a winter coat is a pretty novel idea and to me it kind of works. I checked the figure against some of my arctic Joes and it appears that the jacket is new (unless it was borrowed from a figure I don't have). Really it is a novel and simple idea but one that works out pretty well. He is also one of the few figures in this line with forearm articulation so that is a plus.
The Snowboard he comes with actually made me laugh, but in a cool way. It's one of those goofy accessories that works with Cap but probably wouldn't with anyone else. I am not too keen on some of the specialist Caps that are on the horizon but this one works really well so he gets a thumbs up from me. His overall appearance does remind me of some snow filled Avengers adventures so in that respect he fits rather well with the other figures of this line and probably many other lines as well.
Verdict, if you ever plan on putting Cap in an arctic setting or think you might in the next few years, grab him, you will regret it otherwise. Next up is not cap, or is it.
I mentioned earlier that I didn't collect or read Captain America's comic until much later than most comics I read. The fact is my first issue was when Cap was stripped of the Captain America mantle and the job was given to none other than John Walker and Cap himself took on the name The Captain and wore this outfit. It was later that Walker himself took this outfit and the name US Agent. Still I always loved this outfit and wanted it in figure form. When Toybiz first did their 5 inch line they did a US Agent, when I bought it I was nearly heartbroken because it was actually a repaint Cap, in fact you could see the star on his chest. The first big positive for this figure is he doesn't have this problem.
At first I wondered why we got an inaccurate shield until I found the picture in the corner, so I guess at some point he was packing a shield like that, wow I have lost touch with some Marvel Characters. Oh well I should be thankful they didn't try to use the other crappier US Agent's outfit. Still I like the other shield from the Deluxe Cap with him better than this one. I should mention he doesn't have wrist articulation, which is my only real knock on the figure.
Overall I say defiantly grab, even if you are not grabbing up multiple Caps, this one at least looks different from the others and is in fact a different character. This is significant cause despite other Caps in this line, they all kind of look the same overall.
Once in a while, it all comes together in a way you cannot imagine, or a way you imagine but not on the figure you thought. In all honesty this is the figure I expected when I opened Battlefield Cap above and know what, this is the figure that should get ALL the hype in my opinion. At first I thought his helmet was the same as Battlefield Cap above, but close inspection reveals that to be wrong. This figure delivers where the flaws of Battlefield Cap fail. He even has wrist articulation (OK just swivel but that is more than what we are seeing by many of the caps).
The other, and most important thing about this figure is just the detailing on him is great and the paint brings out those details perfectly. The holster is pretty neat and has a nice strap over the gun. Really Hasbro could have gotten away without that detail. The shield is smaller than some of the other figures, but it's in a good way and also it has straps rather than the typical peg and clip combo. Unfortunately there is no way to put the shield on his back, but with this cool a figure you may not want to. The shield looks to good with him holding it. The helmet fits well but he also looks good without it. Unlike Battlefield Cap, Movie Cap hasn't got awkward gaps on his figure to accommodated articulation points. Also his hips, while the ball design, are not difficult to move around and are very solid. All the joints are solid from what I can tell although I have heard a few people say this fig is loose, mine isn't.
Simply put, THIS IS THE FIGURE TO GRAB!!!! Seriously he has to be my favorite Cap ever made at this point, he looks good, is solid and has most of the articulation you could want.
So that wraps up Cap, get out there and enjoy some toys.
