Tag Archives: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

#0222: Black Widow

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

BlackWidow2(Long)

Toy companies have long insisted that female action figures don’t sell as well as male action figures. So, their response to fan demand is usually one of two things: they shortpack the figure, making it impossible to find, or they put no effort into the figure, making it a monstrosity nobody wants. Or they do both (case in point: Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch. Eughhh…). These actions lead to female figures not selling as well, which leads to companies saying they don’t sell well, which leads to shortpacking and poor figures. Which leads to, you guessed it, bad sales. It’s one of those self-fulfilling prophecy things.

Anyway, this mentality lead to Black Widow being the only team member absent from Hasbro’s 6-inch scale Avengers line, meant to tie-in with the 2012 movie. It was really annoying, but Hasbro said they’d make it up to us. When the Captain America: The Winter Soldier figures were announced, they informed us that Widow would be including two heads, so she could be displayed from either movie. How could it go wrong? Well, Hasbro decided to pack Widow one per-case. For a ratio, there are eight figures in a case, and three of them are Captain America. To make matters worse, Widow included the most essential piece to the line’s Mandroid Build-A-Figure. Fortunately, Hasbro seems to be learning, and has announced that they will be sending out revision cases with Cap, Widow, and Winter Soldier all evenly packed. Maybe their starting to get it…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Widow was released in the second series of Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The figure stands a little under 6 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. She’s actually a bit too tall, which is the reverse of the problem that most female figures suffer from. It doesn’t ruin the figure, but she’s almost as tall as Cap, and there’s a difference of almost a foot between Scarlet Johansen and Chris Evans in real life. The figure appears to have a brand new sculpt, and it’s a very nice sculpt at that. I’m not sure if I like the body sculpt quite as much as Hasbro’s Spider-Girl sculpt, but it’s a very close second. Like that figure, she has very nice, mostly realistic proportions. Her stance is perhaps a bit too wide, but other than that, everything looks pretty good. The basic TWS head is a great sculpt, and it looks pretty much spot on to what Ms. Johansen looked like in the movie. The long hair is a little bit restricting to the neck articulation, but that’s understandable given the style. It certainly isn’t as bad as it could have been. In the paint department, Black Widow lucks out compared to the previous two figures I’ve looked at. There’s still a bit of bleed over in a few spots, but she seems to have less of the fuzzy lines and slop of the other two. She includes an extra Avengers-styled head, an extra set of trigger finger hands, and the Mandroid torso. The head is a nice touch, given Widow’s absence from the 6-inch Avengers line and the closeness of the costumes. It looks like the same face with new hair, and it looks pretty good, though the hair might be sitting a smidge too high on her forehead.Widow also includes two pistols…sculpted into their holsters. Remember how I said she had trigger fingers? Yeah, she has nothing to hold in them. It’s seriously disappointing and mars an otherwise great figure.

BlackWidow3(Long)  BlackWidow1(Short) BlackWidow(Short)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Widow was part of my set of Series Two figures from Big Bad Toystore. She is the primary reason I bought the set, as I wasn’t going to fork over almost $60 for just her. She definitely lives up to the hype she’s gotten. It’s a great representation of Widow. She’s a great action figure in general. This is the second Hasbro female I’ve given that assessment is the last week. They’re definitely on to something here! However, the figure is hurt by the lack of firearms. I ended up finding a suitable handgun in my spare parts bin, but not everyone has a spare parts bin.

CapTrio

#0221: Baron Zemo – Soldier of A.I.M.

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

BARON ZEMO – SOLDIERS OF A.I.M.

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

ZemoII

If you’d told me a few years ago that two of my favorite lines of toys (Star Wars: The Black Series and Marvel Legends Infinite Series) would be coming from Hasbro, I’d have laughed in your face. I’ve never hated Hasbro or anything, and I’ve been pretty happy with their work on Marvel Universe, but they’ve never been known for anything downright outstanding. In the past year, they’ve really stepped it up in terms of sculpts, articulation, accessories, and general quality of figures. Sure, they’ve had a few missteps (re-packing Han in the third series of SWB instead of an extra Stormtrooper; making Black Widow, the Hydra Agent, and the A.I.M. Soldier one per case), but they do seem to be learning, and they actually are trying to make up for some of their failures. That’s down right admirable, especially after years of dealing with Mattel…

Today, I’ll be reviewing Baron Zemo from their recent Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Unlike yesterday’s Cap, he’s based on a comic design, and if you’d like to know more about him, head over to the Backstories section!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Baron Zemo, or “Soldiers of A.I.M.” as he’s officially named, is part of the first series of Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series and is also in the first revision case featuring series two. He is a swap figure with the A.I.M. Soldier, hence the name. The figure is a little over 6 inches tall and sports 32 points of articulation. He’s based on Zemo’s more recent appearances. It’s honestly not far off from his classic design, sans the fur-lined boots and shoulders. The figure is built on Hasbro’s medium male buck, with flared boots and gloves. He also gets a new head and add-ons for his shoulder holsters and his belt/loincloth. The head is a perfect representation of Zemo’s look in the comics, and the body and add-ons look great too. I quite like the “Z”s embroidered on his holsters. They’re a nice touch. Like STRIKE Suit Captain America, the figure’s sculpt is let down a bit by some rocky paint apps. The forearms have been molded in yellow and painted purple, and not only did they miss some of the spots closer to the gloves, the paint also seems to be a bit too thin, allowing the yellow plastic to bleed through. The edge of the mask also has some pretty fuzzy lines, the whites of the eyes aren’t quite in line with the sculpt, and his crown piece isn’t totally painted. None of these are major issues, but they are annoying, and they detract from an otherwise great figure. Zemo includes a pistol, a sword, and the right arm of the Mandroid. I’ll be taking a look at the Mandroid after everyone else is reviewed, which leaves the gun and sword. The sword sadly suffers from similar bleed through issues to the forearms, but it fits well in his hand, and can also be slipped through the loop on his belt. The pistol is a nice piece, which has some great painted details. Sadly, he’ll be forced to always hold it, because both of his holsters have permanently sculpted guns. Drat it!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Zemo was part of the set of Series two figures I received from Big Bad Toystore. I wasn’t sure I was going to get him at first, as I wanted the A.I.M. Soldier a bit more. However, he was in the set, and I figured why not? I’m glad that was my attitude on the figure. Paint issues aside, he’s a great figure, and a very welcome addition to anyone’s Captain America shelf.

#0220: Captain America – S.T.R.I.K.E. Suit

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

CAPTAIN AMERICA – STRIKE SUIT

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITY SERIES

CapStrikeSuit1

It’s still early into the summer movie season, but I think it’s going to be hard to topple Captain America: The Winter Soldier from its spot at the top of my list. The movie really resonated with me, and unsurprisingly, I wanted all my favorite characters from it in action figure form. I already picked up and reviewed three of the smaller scale figures, and the Minimates are still a little ways out, but the ones I was really interested in getting were Hasbro’s 6-inch scale versions, released as part of their latest incarnation of Marvel Legends. I finally managed to get a set, and today I’ll be starting my reviews off with the main man himself, Captain America! Foes who oppose the shield, you’d best prepare to yield!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cap was released as part of the second series of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinity Series. Man, is that a long name! He’s presented here in his S.T.R.I.K.E Team suit from The Winter Soldier. That suit is in turn based on Cap’s Commander Rodgers from the time he was Director of SHIELD for a while in the comics. The figure stands a bit over 6 inches tall and sports 32 points of articulation. The figure features an all new sculpt, and it’s a really good one at that. The body has excellent proportions, and the uniform has a great variety of textures, just the real thing. The main head sculpt (the helmeted one) is a very nice piece of work. The face isn’t spot on to Chris Evans, but it’s a decent attempt, and the helmet looks pretty much spot-on to the one featured in the movie. The figure also sports an add-on belt piece, which aids in giving the figure a bit more dimension. The paint work doesn’t quite live up to the sculpt. There are a few noticeable spots of bleed over, though there doesn’t seem to be any outright slop. There are still some nice touches, such as the American flag and “ROGERS” name tag on his left shoulder, and the SHIELD logo on his right shoulder. These could have easily been overlooked, but their inclusion really adds to the figure. Cap is quite well accessorized, with an extra unmasked head, saluting and pointing hands, his mighty shield, and the right leg to this line’s Build-A-Figure, the Mandroid. The extra head is nice, though it looks even less like Evans than the main sculpt. The extra hands add a bit of extra character, and I especially love the pointing finger. It’s got a lot of possible uses. I’ll be covering the Mandroid after the rest of the reviews are done, which just leaves the shield. It’s a well sculpted piece, but it does seem a bit large for Cap. Not too much, but still noticeable. Also, they’ve gone with the all blue look, which I suppose goes with the costume, but given that it’s only in one scene of the movie, it would have been nice to get a regularly colored version.

CapStrikeSuit2 CapStrikeSuit3 CapStrikeSuit4

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I received Cap and the rest of Series 2 from Big Bad Toystore just the other day. I’ve had the set pre-ordered for a while in order to insure I got all three of the movie related figures. Cap is a really good figure, and one of the best Captain America figures that Hasbro has produced. I’d love to see this level of detail applied to a more classic Cap design. Still, I loved this design in the movie, and I’m glad to have a top-notch figure of it in my collection.

#0184: Precision Strike Winter Soldier

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

PRECISION STRIKE WINTER SOLDIER

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

In case my last two reviews didn’t clue you in, I quite thoroughly enjoyed Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I think The Avengers still holds up as my favorite of the Marvel Studios films, just for the sheer accomplishment, but CA:TWS is a very close second.

Hasbro’s doing two separate lines of tie-in toys: one in 6 inch scale and one in 3 ¾ inch scale. Thanks to the way the characters have been laid out between the two lines, it appears I’ll be picking up both lines. Today, I’m looking at the 3 ¾ inch version of the (sub) title character, the Winter Soldier, or as he’s billed on the package “Precision Strike Winter Soldier.” Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF
Winter Soldier was part of the first assortment of Captain America: The Winter Soldier figures. He’s based on Winter Soldier’s look for roughly the first half of the film, before he ditches the mask and goggles. I imagine this choice was made to hide the character’s true identity until most of the movie going public has a chance to have it revealed to them. It’s also just a cooler look. The figure stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and has 19 points of articulation. As I mentioned in my review of Cap, the figure is hurt by the lack of wrist, ankle, and waist articulation. Articulation issues aside, the sculpt on this figure is amazing. There’s lots of tiny detail work and textures, and the proportions are much better than they are on many 3 ¾ inch figures. Everything looks spot on to the character’s appearance in the film. The paint manages to live up to the sculpt, which is a rarity amongst Hasbro figures. There’s no slop or bleed over, and they even gave the torso and right arm a nice wash to bring out the details. The accessory selection ends up being the figure’s only real downside. Hasbro has given him a big dumb rocket launcher, and absolutely no guns at all (even though he’s labelled “precision strike”), and his hands are both molded to hold said non-existent guns. Guess he’ll forever be Marvel’s resident Fonzie stand-in…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had intended to only get the 6 inch scale Winter Soldier, but after finding Falcon at my local Target, I broke down and picked up the 3 ¾ version as well. I’m glad I did. Winter Soldier is easily the best of the three I picked up. Yeah, the lack of wrist joints sucks, as does the stupid rocket launcher, but the sculpt and paint on this guy are really phenomenal. Arm him with a spare GI Joe gun and he’ll be even better. If only someone at Hasbro had thought of that…

#0183: Rocket Fire Falcon

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ROCKET FIRE FALCON

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

One of my favorite things about The Winter Soldier (which is a super awesome movie, by the way. If you haven’t already, go and see it!), was Anthony Mackie’s performance as Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon. It’s a role that could end up being either boring or too hokey, and he made it neither. He offered a great sounding board to Cap’s displacement in the present day, and I really hope to see more of him in the role (Is it too late to work him into Avengers 2?).

Needless to say, I definitely wanted the action figure. Sadly, Hasbro seems to have decided to leave him out of their really cool 6 inch line, so the only way to get him was to get into the 3 ¾ inch line (Of course, there’s no Black Widow in that line, so that means I still have to get the 6 inch stuff if I want her. Damn you, Hasbro and your ability to play into my need of action figures to get me to buy two different scales!). So, I broke down and bought him. Let’s take a look at how it turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Falcon was released in the second assortment of The Winter Soldier figures, alongside “Shield Blitz Captain America.” He’s mostly based on Falcon’s look in the movie, though it’s a little bit off. He’s a little over 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation. I like that he has the wrist articulation that Cap lacked, but I still think he’d be helped by ankle and waist articulation as well. The sculpt is pretty good, though it isn’t without issue. First of all, he has a bit of a pin head. Not terrible, but it’s there. Secondly, his uniform’s wrong. They’ve given him sleeves, which he definitely didn’t have in the movie at any point. Aside from that, he’s not bad. The head does actually look a bit like Anthony Mackie, which is cool to see. The paintwork kind of betrays the sculpt. It’s not atrocious, but it’s certainly sloppy, and once again, the top half of his uniform is just plain wrong. Falcon manages to get hit the least severely of Hasbro’s decision to cut actual accessories in lieu of silly rocket launchers. He still has trigger hands, to be sure, but they can be hidden by the posing, thanks to the wrist articulation. He’s got this silly bright red rocket in place of his jet pack, but Hasbro has thankfully also included a more film accurate one as well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, the fact that I have any of The Winter Soldier figures from the 3 ¾ inch line is totally Falcon’s fault. I found him at Target over the weekend and decided to pick up Cap and the Winter Soldier as well. Falcon’s not a bad figure. I wish he were a bit more accurate, but he’s a decent representation of the character in the movie, which is cool.

#0182: Shield Blitz Captain America

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

SHIELD BLITZ CAPTAIN AMERICA

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

Did you guys see Captain America: The Winter Soldier? If the answer isn’t yes, go see it. Go see it now. I’ll wait. Actually, I think I may go see it myself. Yep, I’ll be back in 2 hours.

 

 

Oh, hey guys, you still here? Cool. So, yeah, that was a good movie. And you know what good superhero movies mean, right? Action figures! And thanks to Hasbro’s wonderful case pack outs and distribution, I’ve ended up buying both the 6 inch and 3 ¾ inch lines, to ensure I can get my Captain America fix. Yes, I have a problem. Anyway, there are a few versions of the sentinel of liberty himself. I picked up the “Shield Blitz” version.

THE FIGURE ITSELF
Cap was released in the second assortment of figures in the Captain America: The Winter Soldier line, along with the Falcon. This particular figure depicts Cap in his WW2 uniform seen in the first movie, though they seem to have given it a color scheme a bit more in line with the one he wears in The Winter Soldier. The figure stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and features 19 points of articulation. The figure seems a bit small, especially in comparison to other movie offerings, and he would also really benefit from wrist, ankle and waist joints. As he is currently, he seems a bit stiff. The sculpt on this figure is okay. I think it’s better than the previous movie’s take on the costume, but still not amazing. The head does bear a vague resemblance to Chris Evans, but it’s hard to tell at this scale. One of the things that does bug me a bit is the torso just seeming a bit too short, which gives him this oddly scrunched look. The paintwork is decent, with no real slop, but I do wish they had added a few more paint apps. They left his gun the same color as the holster! Also, there seemed to be quite a bit of variance in the quality of the paint work on the figures I saw, so you might want to check for the best one. The accessories, oh boy, the accessories. Hasbro is and has for quite some time been a fan of the over-sized, useless missile launchers as accessories, but they are typically in addition to one or two more sensible pieces as well. This seems to have changed with The Winter Soldier figures. Cap includes a shield launcher (because we wouldn’t want him to have to actually throw his shield…) and a shield that can be launched. No real issue, right? He still has the shield, right? Yeah, about that… To facilitate the launching feature, they kind of undersized the shield, rounded the edges, and, for some really stupid reason, replaced the usually handles meant for holding it with a single peg. Which he can’t really hold properly, since his hands have been molded in pseudo trigger fingers. Thanks Hasbro…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is kind of another example of my lack of self-control on certain action figure purchases. I pretty much bought this because I wanted a Cap to go with the Winter Soldier and Falcon figures I was buying to hold me over until the Minimates and 6 inch versions are readily available. Of the three Caps available, this one seemed to be the best option. The shield totally sucks, and the proportions are a bit off in some places, but I actually am not all that bummed by my decision. He’s not too bad, and I do feel, appearance-wise anyway, he’s an improvement over the one from The First Avenger.