Heroic Age Captain America

(Captain America: The First Avenger Comic Series)

Height: 10.5cm to top of head.

Articulation: 24 points total- ball-jointed neck; 5 points each arm: universal joint shoulder, universal-joint elbow, swivel wrist; mid-torso ball joint; 6 points each leg: universal-joint hip, double-joint knee, universal joint ankle.

Colors: Molded black, blue and silver; Painted metallic red, white, metallic blue, black, silver and fleshtone.

Accessories: Handgun, Knife, Shield.

Release Data: Released Late May 2011 at an MSRP of $7.99.

Author: RAC

(more...)


Bucky inherits the honor of becoming the new CAPTAIN AMERICA, as well as the original Super Soldier's mighty Vibranium shield. A master marksman and fighter, Bucky is more than ready to take on the challenge of protecting the world from the wrath of Red Skull. Watch out as Bucky hits multiple targets with one throw of his awesome shield!

And probably rips them to shreds because the shield is ringed with giant blades!

I think those were probably added after Steve died.

Bucky Barnes, who Marvel once swore up and down would never be resurrected, was resurrected six years ago as the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed, bionic-armed Soviet assassin who was kept in cryogenic stasis when not out killing people so he would be not old today despite vanishing during World War II. Convenient! Anyway, once you get better from death, getting better from brainwashing isn't much of a leap, so he was available to take up Steve Rogers' old job when he was killed at the end of Civil War.

And now Steve's back. Made Bucky a little bit redundant. So next time Marvel had a coffin to fill for an event- Fear Itself this time -Bucky was up. (Fifty years dead, six years back... hardly fair, you know?)

Why do I have one? Well, I like the costume design. And when I got Dr. Strange there was a BOGO sale so I grabbed modern Thor. And then I got "Modern Armor" (Bleeding Edge) Iron Man, so I figured what the hell, may as well go for the Heroic Age trifecta. (Now I just need a Classic Cap to go with my Classic Avengers. That's the problem with collecting, one thing leads to another...)


The Figure

To distinguish BuckyCap from the original Captain America, Marvel brought in painter Alex Ross, who went with what is apparently a favorite pattern of his for costume redesigns: triangle of color with matching short gloves, and everything else is black. It evokes the original Captain America costume- probably more than The Captain/US Agent's costume did -but is definitely its own thing. The color part is metallic, as it's supposed to be laced with adamantium. It's always colored metallic as well, which is why I chose this version with the goofy shield over the sensibly-shielded flat-color two-pack version with Crossbones. (Not giving much of a damn about Crossbones helped too!) His ears are covered as well, unlike the traditional Captain America mask, to change the silhouette. And of course because it's a post-`90s costume there are pouches, along with a holster and sheath for BuckyCap's gun and knife. He does have the cuffed boots of the original Cap costume, but being in black they blend into the legs a bit. I like the look, all together.

The head tilts about as well as a ball-joint can; the Marvel Universe universal joints do a much better job. Shoulders swivel fine and the arms lift higher than shoulder level. The elbows get 90 degrees, and swivel works well enough for one of the arms with a defined elbow in back. I usually prefer them not to do that. Wrist swivels are fine, and the hands hold weapons without problems. The torso joint tilts acceptibly- better than Super Combat Cap's -and swivels fine, though you'll need to raise the arms to clear the knife. There's a hole for stowing the goofy shield dead-center in the star on his back. It's a little noticeable, but not awful. The hips are still the movie series style, but don't offer too much difficulty in swiveling. Thigh swivels are also fine, and the knees get a tight V. But be warned: the knees on my BuckyCap are a bit rubbery in that way Hasbro movie figures sometimes get. The ankles also are a bit loose which limits the use you can get out of their decent tilt range. All in all it's a decent figure, and falls directly between the modern equivalents of Thor and Iron Man from Marvel Universe in terms of articulation.

The paint is good overall, with some light mismatching on the torso where the upper half has black parts painted on blue plastic, and the lower torso has the opposite. My biggest complaint, and a fairly notable one at that? Hasbro put its ID number, in bright white lettering, on the side of the black cuff of Cap's black boot. Very noticeable- should've been on the back, possibly on the thigh. Or maybe on the big dumb shield where nobody would care.


Accessories

-Handgun

I'm not good with identifying guns, but I think that this is a slightly off-model Desert Eagle. If anyone more familiar with firearms would care to correct me, please do! But until then that's my official guess, because the shape of the handgrip is off but it's otherwise a fair match. And it's pretty damn big, as Desert Eagles fire .357 Magnum rounds and up. It fits in Bucky's hand securely and stays in the holster well.

-Knife

...it's a knife! That's all I can say about it- not enough detail to be of much use. It doesn't fit in his stabbing hand as securely as the gun fits in his shooting hand.

-Shield

Ah, action features. I don't know whether you'd find this better or worse than superfluous missile launchers; those you can at least ignore. But here, Captain America's shield- one of the most identifying aspects of the character -winds up with a potentially inappropriate action feature. Push on the star in the center of the shield, and four giant blades pop out, turning a defensive weapon into a giant, whirling shuriken of death. I do understand the demands of movie lines: the Hydra dudes all end up with missile launchers, and even Heavy Artillery Cap, which is the standard Steve Rogers comic version of the character, has a missile launcher added. (Which might've fit BuckyCap a bit better since his bio lists him as a great marksman.) Unless you have another Captain America who doesn't need his shield(I nominate the Snow Pants Captain America from the Target 2-pack), you're kinda stuck with it.

It does, though, have a nifty 2-part mount that allows you to clamp it around his wrist or peg it to his back. The downside there is that the clamp is softer plastic, so it may warp and slip on the wrist. I've seen worse accessories, but I wish he'd come with a normal shield too. I guess it wouldn't cost out with his gun and knife.


Closing Remarks

I'm pretty happy with it, though he needs a replacement shield badly. Articulation and paint are decent, and since I bothered to get a Modern Thor and Bleeding Edge Iron Man, I wanted to complete the Heroic Age version of the core Avengers. It definitely looks better than the version that came with Skrull Giant Man, so if you want the shiny finish, this is the version of the figure to get. He's Good.

-RAC