Towards
the end of last year I had pretty much given up on Hasbro’s Marvel
Legends.
Again.
The most
recent time was because it looked like Hasbro had just given up on
the line.
Announced and highly anticipated figures (to me, anyway)
like Dani Moonstar, Blade, and X-Force Archangel never materialized.
Waves just never seemed to show up at retail. And at Comic Con Hasbro
announced that all future releases would be directly tied in to
Marvel movies. I wouldn’t have minded that so much except for the
fact that the Wolverine Legends wave never showed up at retail (it
ended up being a Diamond Exclusive).
So
between that and Mattel’s utterly contemptible handling of the DC
Comics license I was resigned to just not collecting 1/12th
scale superheroes anymore, which sucked because that has been the
heart of my collection for a very long time.
But then
I happened across a full set of the new Marvel Legends Infinite
Series (that’s what they’re calling them now) Captain America
figures at Target. They looked great. There appeared to be a lot of
new tooling, the paint was solid, and it was a good assortment of
characters. Heck, I was drawn in by the neat-o new packaging as well.
And any toy collector will tell you that finding a full wave will
double the enticement factor. It’s easy to pass up a couple of
piecemeal figures, but to find every figure and
their variants is just overwhelming good luck. On top of all that the
figures were priced at $14.99 and I knew they were slated as $19.99
figures.
So I
bought one of every figure except for Baron Zemo (who I already have
and didn’t need because the same build-a-figure part comes with his
alternate, an AIM soldier).
I was
the most excited about this Cap figure. Not because it’s his NOW!
look, but because none of the Caps I own are quite perfect to lead
the rest of my Marvel Legends Avengers. Will this one fit the bill?
FIRST
GLANCE
Every
single bit of this figure is new. I don’t know why, but I am
surprised that Hasbro would put that much into a figure that was just
based on some comic books. I mean, obviously that’s where Marvel
Legends originated, but the toy market is a vastly different place
today.
This is
a look that seems somewhat derived from the Ultimates Captain
America, which is fine by me because I like that look. This isn’t
drastically different; it just has some grey to break up the red,
white, and blue. Id’ say the most immediately noticeable thing
about this figure is how shiny it is.
PACKAGING
I think
these new boxes – for Star Wars Black, Funko’s Legacy line, and
Marvel Legends – are ridiculous and overdone. But I love them. They
just look so darn classy! The only thing I don’t like is how
difficult it is to take good pictures of these new boxes. I had to
lay the Game of Thrones figures down and hold the camera over them to
get even passable pictures. Stupid glare.
The inks
are different glosses and the graphics are reserved and uniform. This
is a look that is clearly geared towards the Adult Collector. IT is
also very successful at focusing the buyer’s attention on the
figure, a smart move considering how good most of these new figures
look. It’s apparent from the get-go that this is a shift from the
unending shared bucks of recent Hasbro ML releases (but not too
much of a shift, as my reviews of the Spider-Man side of this line
will show).
Rather
than a bio there’s just a blurb that actually is relevant to the
current run of Cap comics. I do miss the old days of file cards or
full biographies. I feel like they would be especially helpful given
how many variations we get on all of the primary characters now.
LOOKS
Once I
had the figure out of the package the first thing I noticed was that
the likeness seemed to be of Michael C. Hall as Cap:
Granted,
I was watching Dexter
at the time, but it sure does look like his jaw. Even the eyes have
that look to them.
The
second thing I noticed was Cap’s gimpy right leg:
It’s
bent way out of whack at the knee joint despite the figure’s
relatively neutral in-package pose. It’s because when it was
situated in the tray the hip swivel was not turned and the leg was
forced into the indention in the wrong position. This isn’t a huge
deal, but it seems like I’m making excuses about this sort of thing
for every figure I buy. I could probably spend two hours fixing
figures with hot water and a hair dryer. And that’s just for the
last few months’ worth. I’m about ready for poly-bagged figures
at this point.
Dexter
face sculpt aside, the head is good. This is Cap in a helmet, though
I’m a bit baffled by how the chin strap is meant to work. The lines
of the helmet are slick and I like the clear demarcations between
Cap’s face and the headgear. What I don’t like is the sloppy
paint, and that proves to be a problem throughout this figure. You’ll
notice the grey of the chin strap slops up onto Cap’s face. The
eyes also aren’t quite up to snuff. The graphics – the “A”
that doesn’t stand for France and the wings – are applied well
and are centered. There’s a also a big ol’ blue hinge right in
the center of Cap’s flesh tone neck and that’s pretty ugly, but I
do prefer the increased posability that hinge provides. If Cap could
fly he could at least be posed like he was flying. Unlike every
Superman figure ever.
This is
a big, bulky Cap that looks like he’s ready to beat somebody’s
face in. I like that the figure has that thick Romita look to it.
Rather than the traditional scaled armor, this Cap has a mesh design
that evokes the classic scaled look. That combines with some flexible
body armor-looking parts to create an interesting new look that is
part classic Cap, part Ultimate Cap, and part movie Cap. I feel like
if the US military were going to design a suit for a superhero, it
might look a lot like this.
The
lines and detailing are sharp and clean. All of the various segments
and plated are well-defined. The joints are worked into the sculpt
nicely and aren’t as obtrusive as they have been in the past. When
Cap is just standing there the many points of articulation don’t
jump out at you. You can see them, but they don’t break up the
profile.
Cap’s
gloves and boots are just as detailed as his torso. There are straps,
buckles, and plating. The boots even have visible laces under the
armored shin plate – a nice touch.
Captain
America’s web belt has a great looking buckle with pouches and a
good bit of fine detail.
This is
a tightly sculpted figure that successfully walks the fine line
between comic books and reality. Cap has enough flash to look
superheroic, but just enough real world detail to feel grounded and
not-too-spandex-y.
Sadly,
that beautiful sculpt is tarnished by an unforgivably sloppy and lazy
paint job.
There
are bits of slop, unpainted portions, and scrapes all over this
figure:
Just
look at those armpits:
Ridiculous.
But that’s QC stuff.
The
real problem for me is the choice in paint apps. The blue is too
glossy, as are the red and white on the torso. The light dusting of
paint on the belt buckle is terrible.
It needs a few more coats. As
things stand it just looks like it’s slightly more metallic than
the rest of the belt. The flat red of the boots and gloves would be
okay if there were any other paint at all. Either a wash or some
paint on the details. That goes for the whole figure – the lack of
fine detail or a wash makes the figure look cheap. Not Dollar Tree
cheap, but cheaper than a twenty dollar action figure should look.
ACCESSORIES
Cap
comes with the head for the Mandroid build-a-figure and his trusty
shield, Shieldy.
Okay –
I don’t think the shield actually has a name.
It’s
molded out of a metallic red plastic and the paint apps are pretty
tight.
The
inside features some seams and rivets and the standard pivoting piece
that alternates between a clip to attach the shield to Cap’s
forearm or a peg to plug it into his back. It all works just fine and
looks good.
My
favorite shield is the one that came with the first ML Cap – it had
the clip and a couple of elastic straps that actually fit over the
figure’s shoulders. I have to admit, though – modern technology
has probably come up with a more efficient way for Cap to store his
shield on his back. I can’t imagine having to stop and take it off
like a backpack is very convenient in the heat of battle.
FUN
I may
not be entirely satisfied with the looks of this figure, but he sure
is a heck of a lot of fun to play with. All of his joints have a
tremendous range of motion. The knees and elbows have nice, deep
bends. That neck joint is fantastic. The ankles are Hasbro’s peg
and pivot system, where the feet are mounted on pegs that extend from
hinges on the ankles. It doesn’t create the most natural looking
poses, but it’s a very stable way of giving the figures a great
range in the legs.
Honestly,
this figure is great fun just to look at. The paint is crap, but the
sculpt is so good and the profile makes it look like such an
ass-kicker. All I wanted to do was pose this guy having adventures
with other badass figures. I wish I had a Hitler for him to punch.
OVERALL
This Cap
is really the most disappointing kind of figure. It’s just the
worst when so many aspects are perfect and one simple thing is
keeping it from being great. And this crappy paint job is keeping it
from being great. Not only that, it’s so
crappy that I don’t get how it made it past whoever decides these
things. It’s one thing when a poorly designed figure is painted
well or vice-versa, but this one has what I consider to be a slack
paint job with terrible quality control.
If
Hasbro decides to repaint this figure someday, I’d buy it again and
recommend you do the same. But for now, unless you absolutely have to
have Mandroid’s head (and I do), I’d say this is a pass. It isn’t
a totally failure, but it should just be so much better. If the
sculpt weren’t so excellent this would be a “2”.
3
out of 5
You
should have no problem finding this Cap at Target or Toys R Us. It’s
one of four figures from the current Infinite series that are always
on the pegs. The others are the inaccurately named World War II Cap,
Superior Spider-Man, and movie-style Amazing Spider-Man, which also
has a shameful paint job. But I might end up buying one because I
want Ultimate Green Goblin way more than I want Mandroid.
Do you know if this figure comes with a WWII helmet and sunglasses. My son purchased this exact figure with the Mandroid head and it has a different head. Can't find it on-line anywhere.
ReplyDeleteNope. No extra head with mine. I definitely would have mentioned that. There is an older World War II Cap that came with Nick Fury that had 2 heads.
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