Tag Archives: Sam Wilson

#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.

#0132: Falcon & The Winter Soldier

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

FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today is part 2 of 3 of my review of the latest wave of Marvel Minimates.  The wave is themed around Captain America, and I’ll be looking at two of his compatriots, both of whom are set to get pivotal roles in the upcoming Captain America Sequel.  It’s the Falcon and Winter Soldier!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 54th wave of the Marvel Minimates line.

FALCON

First, my favorite part of the set, Sam Wilson aka the Falcon.  Oh, sorry “Marvel’s Falcon.”  ….TM….  The Falcon is depicted here in his more modern outfit, specifically the one he wore during Brubaker run on Captain America.  I would have preferred his classic outfit, but after 54 waves with no Falcon at all, I’ll take what I can get.  Falcon is built on the standard Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Falcon features 5 sculpted add-ons:  2 2-piece wings, and a hairpiece.  The hair looks to be new to this figure and the wings were originally sculpted for the Vulture  in the Spider-Man Friends and Foes boxed set.  I would have liked for the mask to be separate piece, so I could swap out the face for one without a goatee, but it looks okay.  The paint isn’t perfect, but it’s serviceable.  The work on the face is sharp, but the body doesn’t quite match up, with some fuzzy lines and a little bit of slop.  Falcon includes his sidekick Redwing, a flight stand, and a clear display stand.

WINTER SOLDIER

Next, it’s Cap’s former sidekick-turned-Russian-Assassin (umm…Spoilers?), Bucky Barnes aka the Winter Soldier.  There used to be a joke that nobody stayed dead in comics except for Uncle Ben, Bucky and Jason Todd.  I am eagerly awaiting the big summer event that brings back Uncle Ben.  Winter Soldier is depicted in his look he sported during the initial Winter Soldier arc.  The key difference between this look and more recent ones is the longer hair and the red star on his robot arm. Winter Soldier is built on the standard body, so he’s got the regular stats.  He features 4 sculpted add-ons: Hair, shoulder holster, belt, and leg holster.  The hair was originally used on Warpath and the shoulder holster originated on the wave 42 SHIELD Agent.  The belt and leg holster look familiar to me, but I can’t figure out for sure where I’ve seen them before.  The leg holster doesn’t quite keep the gun in place, which can get a bit annoying.  The paint is well done on this figure, with no noticeable slop.  The facial expression looks pretty dead-on for the character, with a dead-set determination.  Winter Soldier includes 2 different handguns, a sniper rifle, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was part of a larger order I placed with my favorite Minimates retailer, Luke’s Toy Store.  This was one of the sets I was most looking forward to in the wave, as both of these characters are long overdue.  I still hope to get a more classic Falcon down the line, but this one should do all right in its place.  And Winter Soldier is certainly no slouch either.