Review – Marvel Universe Captain America

“Captain America is the living symbol of the spirit and strength of America. He was created by American ingenuity at its best. Wartime super science combined with the unbreakable will of a frail, young man named Steve Rogers to mold the ultimate soldier.”
— from the back of the card

It took some digging, but I finally managed to place my hands on one of the Marvel Universe series Captain America action figures. When I first saw photos of the figures online I knew I was going to need a Captain America in my collection, but there for the first few weeks he was impossible to locate. Well, he’s in my hands now. Was he worth the hunt?

Yes. Yes, he was.

Packaging

Cap comes wrapped in a plastic bubble that’s glued to the same basic card back that we’ve looked at already. If you’ve read my Green Goblin, Hulk, Iron Man, or any of the other Marvel Universe reviews that I’ve posted then you know what to expect from the packaging. It’s fairly standard, looks good, and serves its purpose. On the card back we see Iron Fist (not interested), Wolverine (I’ve got him), and the Hulk (already reviewed, as you know). The more I think about it, the more I’d like to see Hasbro drop the bio and large photo and use the card back to show all of the figures in the series. But that’s not really important to enjoying Cap.

Captain America, Reporting for Duty!

Forgive me, but I’ve gotta tell you that Captain America is easily my favorite release in this series, and not only because he’s Captain freaking America. Hasbro elected to go with the Ultimate Avengers-style Captain America, which means that his costume’s tweaked slightly from the classic version, with some coloring changes (gray elements on the chainmail shirt) and a ton of pouches: seven on his belt (plus a canteen), one on each boot, and one on each glove. I’m not sure what it is about pouches, but they really make a figure look great.

For articulation, Cap’s got ball joints on the legs, arms, and head (and the head and legs are pretty easy to pop off on, allowing you to customize Cap without too much trouble), a swivel waist that’s locked in place because of the pouches (Hasbro should have made the belt a removable piece), bicep, glove, and boot swivels, that funky mid-torso articulation that’s so common these days, and hinged feet, elbows, and knees. It’s a lot of points of articulation, but even with all of those joints Cap’s fairly limited in his pose options because of a balance issue. His shield — a necessary accessory — really throws his balance off and just highlights how desperately this series is in need of stands.

The sculpting is pretty good, even if the body is just part of Hasbro’s growing selection of Marvel Universe body parts that they’re sure to use for as long as this series remains on store shelves. The face sculpt is decent, and certainly better than some of the other — Punisher! — figures I’ve seen in the series.

Paint detail and quality is excellent, with none of the blotchy issues I’ve seen on some of the Wave 1 figures. Maybe someone over at Hasbro quality control stepped in to talk with the factory, but whatever happened I’m glad they straightened things out for Cap. He’s mostly molded in blue, with red, gray, and brown details painted; even his laces are painted cleanly! A black wash across the chainmail shirt, boots, and legs gives him a grimy, realistic look which is perfect for this costume choice. The more realistic Cap looks the better, in my opinion.

What Makes Him Fun?

His size, definitely, and design. Captain America is one of the few 3.75-inch superhero action figures that can fit into a G.I. Joe or Indiana Jones setup and not look at all out of place. I mean, you can even pit Cap and Hellboy against 3.75-inch Nazis! Obviously, you can see where Cap stole this cycle from an evil Nazi that he beat in combat. Hell, he even grabbed a helmet while he was at it. (Unfortunately, the evil Nazi had a small head so the helmet doesn’t quite fit Captain America. But Cap’s gonna cowboy up and soldier on. That’s just how he is.)

Closing Thoughts

I’m not being at all objective about this toy and I can admit it. If you’d like another opinion, take a look at this review at www.articulateddiscussion.com. In my opinion, Cap’s got a great costume, an excellent history, and works perfectly as a 3.75-inch action figure. Intellectually, I know that he’s not a perfect toy. In my heart, though, this is the best figure in the Marvel Universe series and maybe the best 3.75-inch action figure we’ve seen this decade. I mean, he’s so awesome that I bought an extra so that I could make . . .

Airborne Captain America

Cap was just begging for a little customization. My merging a Captain America figure with a G.I. Joe Para-Viper (reviewed here) I managed to create a Cap that looks ready for battle.

For more pictures of my custom Captain America, comments from others, and a few words on how I created this custom Cap check this thread at www.hisstank.com.

And now I want a third Captain America so that I can create an arctic Cap action figure. I mean, Cap needs a coat if he’s gonna go up against that Arctic Hiss tank that I pre-ordered. Right?

Philip Reed thinks it could be really cool to pit Captain America against a squad of evil soldiers made up of stormtroopers, Cobra Vipers, and Nazis. Is that wrong?