Captain America

Sometimes you have to go back to go forward. The all-American hero Captain America charges into battle for justice. That bio is incredibly non-specific, but there may be a reason for that: this is, after all, "America's Ass" Captain America, though Hasbro could never put that on a toy's packaging. So they have to write around it, and let the imagery speak for itself. First, they'll call him "all-American" even though the word "America" is already in his name and thus unnecessary; secondly, they'll describe him charging into battle, making you imagine being behind him and watching DAT ASS work as he runs. Lewd, Hasbro. You're lewd. You're lewd and you know it. When we were reviewing the first series of Endgame toys, nobody knew what was going to be happening in the movie. So when this figure's head appeared on an earlier figure, we had no idea it was actually meant to represent his Avengers 1 costume, not just something with similar ear-warming capabilities. Now we all know better! The first Avengers came out when Hasbro was still trying to make 4" figures happen, so there was no Marvel Legends line - only a few exclusives at Walmart. Cap was one of them, but he was so vibrant (and the costume design so poor) that I didn't bother getting him. That did leave a 2012-sized hole in my collection, though, so Endgame to the rescue! Below the head (which, as we said, was previously used on the Armored Captain America from Series 1), the mold of this figure is the same one seen on the old exclusive! It's impressive how well the detailing has held up in the interveing years - assuming Hasbro just pulled those old tools out of storage, and didn't make new ones for this new release. The colors are more muted this time, so Cap's already looking better. In truth, the blue is a bit darker than it was on the real movie costume, but we'll take that over anything as shockingly bright as the old version. The paint is better overall, with silver apps for the fasteners on his belt and gloves, plus the zippers on his thighs and stomach. They even made the soles of his boots black instead of red. The articulation is what gives this away as a reused mold. Cap has swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, a balljointed chest, hinged neck, balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, and swivel forearms. That's right, absolutely no wrist joints of any kind. If Hasbro had made new gloves instead of sticking with this weird throwback oddity, we'd all have been fooled into thinking the sculpt was entirely new. His only personal accessory is his shield, the mold with the big accidental divot on the bottom. The red stripes are nice and dark, but while you can fit the shield onto his arm (with some work), there's no way to attach it to his back. He's also got the right arm of Series 3's BAF Thor. There were times I regretted not getting the Avengers 1 Captain America, since that was the only one I was missing. But with superior paint and a modern head sculpt, the wait was worth it to get this version instead of the old exclusive. -- 12/20/19

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