Tag Archives: Watcher Series

#2949: The Watcher

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

THE WATCHER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Time.  Space.  Reality.  It’s more than a linear path.  It’s a prism of endless possibility, where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know.  I am the Watcher.  I am your guide through these vast new realities.  Follow me and ponder the question…What If?”

First introduced during Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s second year on Fantastic Four, the Watchers have remained a consistent fixture in the background of the Marvel Universe.  Our central Watcher, named Uatu in the main universe, at least, participated in numerous prominent events, most notably the Galactus Trilogy, where he was forced to break his vow of non-interference to help save the planet from destruction.  Uatu became a fixture of Marvel’s What If…? title with its launch in 1977, serving as a host for the stories featured, much like Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone.  For the MCU’s animated adaptation of the concept, the Watcher is back in his central role as host, now voiced by Jeffery Wright.  And, in a rather fitting fashion, he’s also the central piece of the tie-in toy assortment as well.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Watcher is the eponymous Build-A-Figure for the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s a perfect choice for the spot, since he’s got ties to (almost) all of the figures in the set.  This is the first time the Watcher has been included in Legends, and only his second time as a figure, following his Marvel Select figure from several years back.  He’s of course based on his show design, but the nature of that design does also give him the ability to work in a multi-faceted sense.  The figure stands 8 3/4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  The mobility on the figure is a little bit restricted by the design, of course.  He’s got full articulation on the legs, for instance, but the rubber skirt piece pretty much means you’re not ever going to do much with them.  The arms at least have a little more room for range, though the right arm has been tweaked so that its articulation won’t break up the sculpt of the sleeve too much.  The sculpt is an all-new offering, clearly based on his main animation design.  I don’t know that there’s a ton of re-use potential here, but I suppose some of it could be repurposed if they wanted to do an Armored Watcher…that’d actually be pretty cool.  The sculpt is a pretty decent one.  He captures the character’s on-screen design pretty well, while still fitting in pretty nicely with the line as a whole in terms of styling.  In particular, I think the head has turned out very nicely.  He’s got a neutral expression that doesn’t seem like it’s doing too much, but has some subtleties to it when you look at it more closely, much like a proper Watcher sculpt should have.  The Watcher’s paint work is overall pretty basic.  Mostly, it’s just molded colors, like the rest of the assortment, but there’s some nice work on the head again, which gives him a fair bit of character.  The Watcher is without any extras or accessories, but I’m not sure what there would be to give him, and he’s honestly an accessory himself, so it’s not a big deal.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Watcher is one of those important characters from a story perspective that doesn’t really make for the easiest toy translation, since he, by design, doesn’t really do much action oriented stuff.  The Marvel Select kind of fulfilled what need there was for him, but that one got very hard to find, and he started to look a little out of place with some of the newer stuff.  An update’s not a bad thing, and I was actually pretty happy to see him turn up here.  The end product isn’t amazingly playable or exciting, but he’s a solid piece, and he looks very nice with the rest of the set.

I like this set quite a bit overall.  Captain Carter is definitely the star piece for me, with Zombie Cap not too far behind.  Strange and Sylvie are both solid figures that are only held back by a few small things.  Heist Nebula is a fun, if not essential piece.  Zombie Hunter Spider-Man is at least an okay basic Spider-Man under it all, if nothing else.  T’Challa’s really the only weak link, and it’s not even that he’s a bad figure, just sort of a messy one with limited applications.  And The Watcher’s really one of the best choices for a Build-A-Figure in a while.

#2948: Sylvie

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

SYLVIE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Laser focused and relentless, Sylvie is the TVA’s most formidable villain, who has vowed to burn the organization to the ground.”

At the end of Loki‘s first episode, we were presented with the twist that the villain the TVA had brought in Loki to help hunt down was, in fact, another version of Loki himself.  In the following episode, a further twist revealed that this variant of Loki wasn’t just another Tom Hiddleston Loki, but was, in fact, a take on the Lady Loki concept from the comics.  This alternate Loki, who takes on the name of Sylvie to differentiate herself, would from that point forward serve as the show’s deuteragonist, who, much like the Loki we all know and love, proves that there’s a much more sympathetic side to her than her rough exterior might let on.  And, hey, toy love!  Alright!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sylvie is figure 6 in the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the only figure in the series not to be based on What If…?, but is following up on the single Loki figure that was in the first Disney+-inspired assortment.  She was also the first figure we knew about from this assortment, since she was shown during the show’s run.  The figure stands a little under 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Sylvie’s articulation scheme is pretty decently handled.  She doesn’t get double jointed elbows, but the single joints do at least get a lot of range, and the rest of the movement is all pretty solid.  The only thing I’m not big on is how the knees do sort of break up the flow of the leg sculpt, but it’s not terrible.  Sylvie’s sculpt is an all-new offering, and generally a rather strong one.  The likeness of Sophia Di Martino isn’t bad on the head sculpt, at least facially.  The hair’s a little iffier, but that’s always a little more troublesome.  The separate piece does at least help a fair bit, as does the inclusion of her broken crown piece, which helps to break things up a bit.  The body sculpt is overall fairly well-proportioned, and the costume parts are all fairly well defined.  Sylvie’s paint work is by and large pretty basic.  Obviously, the most intensive work is on the face, but there’s a little bit of work on the hair, and some smaller details on the outfit.  All of it looks pretty good, and the application is generally pretty clean.  Sylvie is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and a fist/open gesture combo), her blade, her cloak, and the cape for the Watcher Build-A-Figure.  The hands are definitely fun, and the cloak looks pretty good, although with it in place, she’s got no real ability to move her arms.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sophia Di Martino’s portrayal of Sylvie was really one of the highlights of Loki for me.  I really liked her chemistry with Hiddleston, and her story as a whole made her a quite likable character, so I was immediately down for her getting a figure. I’m glad she showed up relatively quickly, and I’m also glad she turned out as nicely as she did.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2947: Heist Nebula

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

HEIST NEBULA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tech savvy and brave, the intergalactic Femme Fatale, Nebula is an intergalactic opportunist in the galaxy’s underworld.”

And we’re back to the Legends reviews.  I left off on Friday only part way through the reviews for the Watcher Series, a largely What If…? based assortment of figures, so for the first half of this week, I’ll be wrapping those up.  The first of those returning reviews is a second figure from the show’s second episode, “What If…T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?”  We already took a look at the episode’s title character, but now let’s take a look at T’Challa’s intergalactic love interest and business partner, Nebula!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Heist Nebula is figure 5 in the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s designed for pairing off with the T’Challa figure, and really not much else, but I’m hardly one to complain.  This marks Nebula’s second time as a Legend, or third if you count the extra head included in the Endgame Hawkeye and Widow pack, which feels like a real stretch to me.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  Nebula is one of the heaviest parts-re-use figures in this line-up, which was probably a large contributing factor to her getting made in the first place.  From the middle of the torso down, she’s re-using the last Nebula’s parts, along with a set of standard female base body arms.  The head, upper torso, and belt are what’s new here.  Generally speaking, the last Nebula figure wasn’t a bad sculpt, and the costume design remained quite similar, so it makes sense to re-use.  The new parts mesh well, and are generally well-rendered.  I quite like the new head; it’s got a lot of character, and maintains some of the animation style, without going too deep into it the way T’Challa did.  The paint work on this figure supports her overall cleaned up appearance well.  The colors are close to her prior figure, while still being brightened up a bit, making them a little more eye-catching.  Nebula is packed with two sets of hands (trigger fingers and an open gesture/fist combo), her unique blaster pistol, and the upper and lower torso, collar, and skirt for the Watcher.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I quite liked the show’s new take on Nebula, and I really enjoyed her more cleaned up design, so I was certainly okay with her getting a figure.  She’s definitely the most oddball choice of the assortment, but I still like her as a figure.  I think it’s a design that translated well, and I’m ultimately glad she got the nod for this set.  I hope she signifies a chance to get some of the other secondary characters, should they do another assortment of these figures.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2944: Doctor Strange Supreme

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

DOCTOR STRANGE SUPREME

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When an unforeseen event changes Stephen Strange’s perspective on life, the path he chooses is one filled with even darker magic.”

In the comics, What If…? stories could have a real tendency to end on a major downer note.  The show didn’t do that quite as much, but episode 4, “What If…Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” goes full-on into that downer territory, as a desperate Stephen Strange’s path winds up having reality destroying implications.  It’s also the first episode to show the Watcher in any way interacting with those he’s watching, setting up the events of the season’s final two episodes.  All-in-all, it’s a very classically “What If…?” story, albeit not one that exactly gets the warm fuzzies going.  As such a overarching plot relevant story, it’s not a huge shock that the altered version of Stephen Strange got a figure, which I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Doctor Strange Supreme is figure 4 in the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the only figure based on his episode of the show specifically, but there aren’t a ton of other looks to choose from, so he can kind of mix in with pre-existing figures, and also pairs off pretty well with the Watcher Build-A-Figure that I’ll be looking at next week.  The figure is specifically based on Strange’s darker “Supreme” appearance from late in the episode, as well as his reappearances in the final two episodes of the season.  Definitely a solid choice for design, since it gets a lot of play.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Strange’s sculpt is a mix of old and new.  His lower half is re-used from the first movie Strange, while the rest of the figure is an all-new sculpt, based more directly on the show’s tweaked design for the character.  He sticks much closer to how Peggy’s sculpt handled things in regards to walking the line between animation and realism.  His head sculpt in particular is clearly very much based on the animation model from the show, but it makes it work, and he doesn’t look completely out of place with standard MCU figures.  No doubt, his exaggeratedly gaunt appearance in the episode aids in that.  Also like Peggy, I feel that this cartoony sculpt manages to have a better overall likeness to Cumberbatch than even the improved Infinity War release had.  I really quite like it.  The torso and arms are a good middle ground between the realistic legs and the more cartoony head.  They’re slightly simplified in terms of texturing, and the proportions are certainly a little more exaggerated, but it’s generally a good look.  To denote his different path in the show, Strange doesn’t get his Cloak of Levitation, but instead gets a slightly more evil coded equivalent.  It’s an all-new piece, and, while the Cloak of Levitation didn’t get this, this new cloak pegs into place on Strange’s back.  It’s a little loose, but generally it looks pretty good, and I love how dynamic the sculpt is.  Strange’s paint work is pretty much on par with the rest of the figures in the set.  His base work is clean and colorful, and there’s some solid accenting on the face to help sell how far gone he is, which works pretty well.  In terms of accessories, Strange is packed with the alternate Time Stone effect hand we saw with the IW figure, as well as the left leg to the Watcher figure.  I like getting the Time Stone hand again, and I’m glad that it’s just an alternate piece this time around, but it’s a shame we couldn’t get any alternate parts to represent the alternate forms Strange took while absorbing all of his power.  That definitely would have been cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Doctor Strange episode wasn’t my favorite episode of the season, but it did certainly resonate with me on a slightly more personal level.  I also did really like the redesign they gave him, and it wound up translating quite well into toy form.  While I wasn’t in a crazy rush to get this one, I did certainly like the look of him a fair bit.  He’s definitely one of the better figures in the set, behind Peggy and Zombie Cap.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2943: Zombie Hunter Spidey

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

ZOMBIE HUNTER SPIDEY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Zombie Hunter Spidey is in a ragtag group of survivors, fighting his way through a zombie-infested world.”

In the original Marvel Zombies, just about all of the major heroes had been zombified, which included everyone’s favorite web-slinger, who in the main story actually served as sort of the token good guy of the zombie group.  For the purposes of the MCU version of the story, the zombies no longer retain their personalities, and Peter Parker is also spared his zombified fate, instead becoming the story’s central remaining human character.  It makes him a solid choice for toy treatment, I suppose, and so I’m looking at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zombie Hunter Spidey is figure 3 in the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends, and the second figure in the assortment based on the “Zombies” episode.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme on the figure is a little bit outmoded in its implementation, so he’s not quite as agile as you might hope.  Notably, as a first for an MCU Spidey, he lacks butterfly joints on the shoulders.  Not exactly sure why, but that’s how it is.  Peter’s design in the episode is a mix of a few of his designs from the movies, most heavily leaning on his Homecoming appearance, which is really the most classically “Spider-Man” look of the bunch.  To that end, his sculpt makes use of parts from the Homecoming figure (which does again raise the question of why the shoulder joints were adjusted.)  The figure’s upper torso and arms are new pieces, following the slightly tweaked design of the suit from the episode.  It’s really not terribly removed from the other MCU Spider-Men, which I suppose is the point, really.  During the course of the episode, Peter inherits Doctor Strange’s cloak of levitation, and as such the figure gets its own version of the piece.  It’s totally unique from the ones we’ve gotten with the various Strange figures, which was honestly surprising.  It also has no peg or anything to hold it in place, which does make it a bit hard to keep it seated properly.  Zombie Hunter Spidey’s paint work is notably brighter in color than other versions of the MCU suit, bit it works well.  There’s a bit of shading to indicate the suit’s gotten a little dirty during the apocalypse, which makes sense, and also keeps him from being too bland.  Spidey is packed with an alternate unmasked head, two sets of hands (fists and thwipping), and the right leg to the Watcher Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had not particular attachment to this figure before the episode aired, and I still really didn’t have any after.  Mostly, I got him because I was getting the whole set.  He’s an MCU Spidey wearing a Doctor Stange cape.  That’s really it.  It’s not like he does that badly, I suppose, though the decision to remove the butterfly joints and not to include a peg on the cape both do seem rather strange, and also serve to kind of hold him back a bit.  Ultimately, he’s a rather middle of the road figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2942: Captain Carter

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

CAPTAIN CARTER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With the Super Soldier program in peril, Peggy Carter bravely participates by becoming Captain Carter.”

Kicking off the What If…? show was a concept that goes back to the earliest days of what we’ve seen of the MCU (so far, at least; Eternals is definitely gonna change that), with a story that slightly deviates during the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, presenting a version of events where it’s Peggy Carter, not Steve Rogers, who becomes the Super Soldier.  By far, it’s the season’s strongest entry, wonderfully capturing the look and feel of the original film, while also doing a fantastic job of exploring in depth the changes that Peggy as a Super Soldier would cause.  And, hey, there’s obviously a figure, because why wouldn’t there be?  Let’s see how she turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Carter is figure 2 in the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s specifically based on her design from the first episode of the season, while she’s fighting Hydra in the ’40s.  It’s the look that got the most play in the lead up, and it’s also the one that matches up with Hydra Stomper, who’s also in the first drop of figures, so it’s a solid choice.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation.  Compared to the two other figures I’ve looked at so far, Peggy’s articulation scheme is closer to Zombie Cap.  It’s not quite as optimized as Zombie Cap’s was; there are a few more restricted joints, especially at the neck (due to the hair), and the elbows and knees aren’t quite as smoothly worked into the body, but it’s generally very workable, and she’s pretty stable on her feet, which are definite pluses.  Peggy’s sculpt is a completely new affair, though it’s already been slated for a repaint for the Target-exclusive Stealth Captain Carter that’s coming next spring.  The sculpt is quite a nice piece.  She’s definitely inspired by the animation style, more so than being a strictly realistically styled figure, but she doesn’t go as far with it as the T’Challa figure did, which means she has an easier time slotting in with other figures from the main line.  It’s a very nice middle ground, and I think it makes for the best possible toy adaptation.  Though technically a slightly cartoonized take, the likeness on the head is an even better match for Haylee Atwell than the movie-style Peggy, and is just genuinely one of the nicest head sculpts that Hasbro’s done for a Legends figure.  The detailing on the rest of the sculpt is quite nice; in order to keep with the animated look, much of the texturing and such is a lot smoother, but there’s still a lot of detailing on the actual line-work of the uniform.  Peggy’s construction uses a lot of smaller parts for the assembly, so there doesn’t have to be quite as much actual paint.  It means that the base color work is all very clean, since it’s not actually paint.  What paint is there is generally pretty decent.  The work on the face is definitely the best work.  There’s some slop on the red parts on the torso, but otherwise it’s generally pretty clean.  Peggy is packed with her version of the vibranium shield, as well as both arms to the Watcher Build-A-Figure.  The shield is smaller than Steve’s, and it’s hard to tell if that’s accurate, since it does seem to fluctuate in size based on what it’s doing in the show.  Generally, it seems to scale well to her, though, and they actually gave her a gripping hand for actually holding the straps for a change.  I’ll call that a win for sure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Captain Carter was very definitely the concept I was looking forward to the most when What If…? was announced, and it was by far my favorite episode of the season.  I pretty much just loved every minute of it, really.  I was absolutely down for this figure as soon as she was announced, and she was the figure I was most looking forward to in the main assortment.  There was a pretty high bar for this figure to clear, and to Hasbro’s credit, I really feel they cleared it.  This is one of my favorite Legends of the last year, and she’s just a good all-around toy.  I can’t wait to get Hydra Stomper in hand to go with her!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2941: T’Challa Star-Lord

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

T’CHALLA STAR-LORD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“T’Challa grew up in space and became Star-Lord, now leading adventures throughout the galaxy.”

Some of the concepts in What If…? are simple minor changes to a specific story, some are straight forward concepts injected into the overall narrative of the MCU, but some are….well, they’re kind of out there.  Of the more out there ideas, perhaps the most successful is “What If…T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?,” an episode that out of nowhere decides to mix Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy.  Why?  Reasons, that’s why.  It’s maybe a little limited in its ultimate scope and at times almost feels like a parody of its self, but it’s ultimately a fun story, and one of the first season’s more memorable episodes.  It makes its main character a pretty natural choice for our first selection of figures, and I’m going to be taking a look at him today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

T’Challa Star-Lord is figure 1 in the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s based on the character’s appearance in the second and ninth episodes of the show.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  T’Challa’s articulation scheme follows the rather established format for the line, but it ultimately feels like it’s not really fully optimized.  The articulation is there, the layout is there, the range isn’t terrible, but ultimately, it just doesn’t feel like it flows.  The elbows have a tendency to stick, and getting both halves of the joint to articulate can be frustrating. The knees are similar, though to a lesser extent, and the ankles are also prone to sticking as well, though in a slightly different way.  In general, it’s just not super pleasant to pose this guy.  T’Challa’s sculpt is an almost all-new affair.  The hands are re-used from the Vol 2 Star-Lord, which seems like it’s not a big deal on the outset, but that’s…well I’ll get to it momentarily.  The rest of the sculpt is new.  While the assortment as a whole is clearly inspired by the animation style of the show, T’Challa’s sculpt is the most directly based on the animation model.  This tweaks the figure’s the proportions, as well as leaving him a lot simpler on the detail front.  It makes the articulation stand out a lot more, which isn’t the best from an aesthetic standpoint.  It also means he doesn’t quite blend in as well with the other MCU figures, which is a might limiting.  The head is clearly meant to be the animated T’Challa likeness, but it’s a little off, notably with how the hair is shaped.  It’s just not quite right.  Also, remember the hands that are re-used?  Well, they still have all the very realistic detailing, plus they’re pretty large, which means they just generally don’t match up with the rest of the figure.  The paint work on this guy is at least pretty decent.  It’s fairly cleanly handled and generally follows the show design well.  It’s not the most thrilling design, but it is what it is.  T’Challa is packed with two element guns (re-used from the prior Star-Lords), an alternate helmeted head, and the head to the Watcher Build-A-Figure.  The helmeted head isn’t bad as far as the helmet goes, but for some reason they’ve given him this weird raised hairpiece, which doesn’t match the animation at all, and just generally looks silly, leaving him with two heads that both just don’t really jibe with me.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Star-Lord T’Challa concept is definitely a weird one that I really wasn’t sure about at first, but the final episode was entertaining enough.  The prototype for this guy wasn’t one I was super impressed by, but I was hoping he might be better in-hand.  Unfortunately, that didn’t wind up being the case.  I don’t think he’s a bad figure, but he just feels like his various parts just don’t gel together the way they should.  Generally, he’s just kind of underwhelming.  To give him a little bit of credit, he did grow on me a little during the review process, so he’s not a total loss.  That said, he’s definitely the weakest of this particular set.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2940: Zombie Captain America

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

ZOMBIE CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Captain America’s team were the first responders to the zombie outbreak — and its first victims.”

October may be over, but the spookiness continues….well, for today at least.  But it’s in this great sweet spot of spookiness *and* Marvel.  Because, well, it kind of has to be, because how else am I going to get all these Legends reviewed.  Yay for the crossover potential of Marvel Zombies!  First appearing in the pages of Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2005, later that same year Marvel Zombies launched in its own book, spawning a whole franchise within a franchise.  Said franchise within the franchise then made its way into the MCU this year in What If…?‘s fifth episode, aptly titled “What if…Zombies?”  My opinions on What If…? were a bit mixed, and the zombies episode was itself rather a mixed bag for me, but there’s no denying that the zombies make for a good concept for toys, especially when it gives me a good excuse to buy another Captain America, who, it should be noted, remains a Captain in this universe, rather than getting a promotion to Colonel as his does in *some* zombie universes out there.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zombie Captain America is part of the Watcher Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s unnumbered, as the one figure in the set that doesn’t actually include a piece for the Build-A-Figure (ironic that the zombie is the only one that doesn’t include an extra body part), and he’s also the double packed figure for this assortment.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Compared to other MCU Cap figures, the articulation scheme on this one is definitely improved.  There’s a better range of motion on most of the joints, as well as use of ball joints at both the neck and the mid-torso, which supports a more fluid range than prior molds had.  He also gets pinless construction on both the elbows and knees.  While you would think that a Zombie Cap would be a good excuse to share some parts with older MCU Cap releases, this figure shares only the left boot with the Infinity War version.  Everything else is all-new to this release.  The helmet and shoulder harness pieces are separate parts, adding some nice depth to the sculpt.  The uniform is also nicely detailed, and there’s some fantastic work on the tattered remains hanging around the major spots of damage on the body.  Speaking of the damage, the actual damage is a lot more gruesome and in depth than I’d had anticipated on a mass retail release.  The legs in particular are quite gnarled.  It’s some truly impressive work.  Aiding the rather impressive sculpted work is some pretty solid paint work as well.  All of the base work is pretty straight forward, and matches the color scheme presented in the show, but they’ve also added a degree of blood coverage (albeit in a slightly purple color, so it’s not explicitly blood) around the wounds.  Hasbro doesn’t often do this kind of accent work, so it’s certainly nice to see them do it here, especially when the confines of a mass retail release would have given them an easy pass for not including some of these details.  Cap’s only accessory is his shield; it’s the same mold they’ve been using since the First Ten Years release, but this time with a bit of that purple splatter on the front of it.  It’s a good piece, but he does end up feeling a little bit light compared to other offerings.  That said, I’m not really sure what else he could have gotten.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I run hot and cold when it comes to zombies, and I wasn’t super big on the episode this figure was based on, so I wasn’t really sure how I’d feel about this figure in hand.  That said, he’s still a Captain America, and I do have a hard time passing on those.  I gotta say, this is honestly one of the strongest figures in this set.  He’s just a solid figure from start to finish.  Really, I just wish we had a more standard Cap that matched this one in quality, but that’s hardly on this particular release.  He’s utterly fantastic, really.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.