Review: 76258 Captain America Construction Figure
Posted by CapnRex101,LEGO develops new buildable characters quite regularly, launching another range with 76206 Iron Man Figure last year. The series has already grown to include Ant-Man, Batman, Wolverine and now 76258 Captain America Construction Figure as well.
This figure definitely benefits from the revised mask element and Captain America's costume looks good. However, the other Construction Figures have suffered from proportional issues and I am not convinced those problems will be avoided with Captain America, unfortunately.
Summary
76258 Captain America Construction Figure, 310 pieces.
£31.99 / $32.99 / €37.99 | 10.3p/10.6c/12.3c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
I think the Construction Figures have potential, but Captain America is a weaker example
- Excellent torso and shield
- Great articulation
- Disproportionately skinny legs
- Odd facial expression
- Very expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The Completed Model
As expected, the construction of Captain America is similar to the other figures, so this model measures 24cm in height and shares the same building techniques. The upper body therefore looks realistic, but the legs seem disproportionately narrow. This is particularly problematic on a Captain America figure, as the character is known for his physical strength.
However, the articulation continues to impress, as it has on the previous Construction Figures. Ball joints are situated at the neck, shoulders, wrists, knees and ankles, while the hips offer an outstanding range of motion too. I like how the shoulder armour moves to accommodate the ball joints underneath and the waist rotation is also superb, but the hinged elbows could be better.
The head incorporates the new mask component, which includes a moulded nose. This piece is essential for characters without full helmets and it looks reasonable, but I dislike the expression selected for Captain America. I understand that this is a toy, but the age recommendation is 8+ and this smile looks strangely childish, not to mention peculiar with action poses. A more neutral grimace would have been ideal.
On the other hand, the chest looks excellent. Captain America's trademark star is printed on a 3x3 round tile and its metallic silver colour stands out brilliantly, while the reddish brown pieces representing straps look nice as well. The red and white stripes above the waist are undoubtedly the highlight though, corresponding with the Avenger's most famous costumes.
A white Technic pin is found on Cap's back, where his iconic shield is attached. This feature is very welcome and the stowed shield looks great, especially because the Technic pin matches the printed star in the middle. The shield itself is represented by a 9x9 dish, which came as a surprise because this part has not appeared since 70738 Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty was released in 2015!
The shield is correctly sized for Captain America's back, but seems too small when attached to the back of his hand, in my opinion. The hands are well-designed though, including 1x2 double corner panels to cover the ball joints at the wrists. As mentioned already though, the legs seem less effective. The reddish brown boots are appropriate, but the thighs should be bulkier.
Additionally, a couple of unsightly red pieces are found at the ankles and two more are visible from behind. The Technic pin looks awkward as well, without the shield attached, but that was unavoidable. Otherwise, the figure is quite nicely finished on the back, although the skinny legs remain impossible to ignore.
Overall
These large-scale characters have not proven particularly popular thus far and I doubt 76258 Captain America Construction Figure will do much to change the prevailing opinion. There are some well-executed features, including the torso, the shield and the superb articulation, but the legs are much too thin and detract from other areas of the figure.
Certain poses can disguise the proportional issues to some degree, but that is not good enough for a price of £31.99, $32.99 or €37.99, which feels very expensive. LEGO obviously considers large-scale figures something to pursue, as the concept is attempted frequently, but the Super Heroes characters produced so far require definite improvement.
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51 comments on this article
These construction Figures feel like a scam.
That is certainly not America's ass!
Nightmare fuel, especially head and hands.
Captain America is secretly three badgers in a trenchcoat.
SlenderCap.
The fingers legitimately feel uncomfortable.
This is just Steve trying on the costume before he took the serum.
With this face and hands it's just nightmare fuel...
Wow, I thought the chewie figure was ugly but this really corners the ugly market. Easy pass for me.
38€?? What??
Okay but for real when are these coming out in the states? I'm starting to think that these aren't getting an NA release like the second year of Chima constraction, but doing so with a wave featuring Captain *America* makes absolutely no sense.
I love these figures I dont know what you want with 310 peaces?
@Alia_of_AGL said:
"Okay but for real when are these coming out in the states? I'm starting to think that these aren't getting an NA release like the second year of Chima constraction, but doing so with a wave featuring Captain *America* makes absolutely no sense."
August 1st for City, Ninjago, Marvel, and everything else already out in the rest of the world.
@Ridgeheart said:
"According to https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts , pork (assuming that's the closest equivalent to human flesh) can safely be kept frozen for 4-12 months.
In the comics, he was frozen for some 20 years and in the movies for some 70 years. Either way, that's way too long. I think we can all agree on this one: Cap came back wrong."
Super soldier serum does weird things to a guy.
Personally, I don't think LEGO is the right medium for figures like these. There are just too many compromises and thus the final model ends up deep into uncanny valley, or just straight up bad-looking. LEGO probably knows what they are doing, but I kind of whish they would limit themselves to stuff they can do well with the product they have, rather than trying to expand in every direction. Having only seen this one in pictures and not in person, I don't think the legs are any problem at all compared to the outright creepy looking face and scarecrow hands. Not a product for me.
Captain Otto the autopilot
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Alia_of_AGL said:
"Okay but for real when are these coming out in the states? I'm starting to think that these aren't getting an NA release like the second year of Chima constraction, but doing so with a wave featuring Captain *America* makes absolutely no sense."
August 1st for City, Ninjago, Marvel, and everything else already out in the rest of the world."
We Americans always get stuff late (ninjago sets did come out here on June 1st though)
Dude those fingers…
I’m not even sure this makes a good parts pack.
But those fingers!!! I can’t stop looking. It’s like a train wreck.
@ao_ka said:
"Captain Otto the autopilot"
Steve: "I understood that reference."
@Alia_of_AGL said:
"Okay but for real when are these coming out in the states? I'm starting to think that these aren't getting an NA release like the second year of Chima constraction, but doing so with a wave featuring Captain *America* makes absolutely no sense."
I saw the Wolverine figure in a hobby store on Friday. (The store often has Lego sets on the shelf early.)
It would appear TLG has reached their floundering stage.
@slvrlksrfr said:
"It would appear TLG has reached their floundering stage."
An important part of The Corporate Lifecycle.
Has anyone seen Young Sherlock Holmes? It’s a film that was released 38 years ago, and was notable for featuring the first fully-3D CGI character inserted into a live-action background. This character was a knight in a stained glass window, who jumps down and starts walking across the floor. As it does, the camera pans around behind it, and you see the knight design in reverse, because it’s stained glass. I half-expected this to work the same way. Also that it would try to murder you.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iB9KoJ79tGY&pp=ygUqeW91bmcgc2hlcmxvY2sgaG9sbWVzIHN0YWluZWQgZ2xhc3Mga25pZ2h0
Who buys this?
@lordofdragonss said:
"Who buys this?"
Boys aged 7 to 10. I reckon that’s why its face is so child-like and physique so slender, to make it appeal to that demographic by making it look like that segment. It doesn’t look like Captain America; it looks like a kid in cosplay as Captain America. I’m not saying I necessarily agree with that strategy, but suspect that’s LEGO’s thinking.
Ugly even for kids.
@Zander said:
" @lordofdragonss said:
"Who buys this?"
Boys aged 7 to 10. I reckon that’s why its face is so child-like and physique so slender, to make it appeal to that demographic by making it look like that segment. It doesn’t look like Captain America; it looks like a kid in cosplay as Captain America. I’m not saying I necessarily agree with that strategy, but suspect that’s LEGO’s thinking.
"
"Who buys this??"
"The target audience..."
Really they should just make giant minifigs of the popular ones…
I think they would sell better. I know I would buy that, not this thing.
Just saying.
@Ridgeheart said:
"According to https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts , pork (assuming that's the closest equivalent to human flesh) can safely be kept frozen for 4-12 months.
In the comics, he was frozen for some 20 years and in the movies for some 70 years. Either way, that's way too long. I think we can all agree on this one: Cap came back wrong."
With everything that goes on in Marvel comics, I never thought that the science they we be picked up on would be the length of time something can be safely frozen.
Salad fingers!
I don't read the expression as a smile so much as a smirk, so it doesn't look that bad to me. Also, I think the shield looks undersized regardless of where it's attached, but I understand why they didn't want to make a new mold, even if they did bring one out of apparent retirement instead.
@Ridgeheart:
@CCC:
I had once read that The Explorer's Club in NYC had once served up wooly mammoth that had been extracted from the permafrost. Reports said that it was safe to consume, but tasted rancid, having been on ice for some hundred thousand years. Well, apparently someone went and DNA-tested a sample that had been preserved in a museum, and it ended up being green sea turtle (which was also being served that night as a soup).
Not sure how much stock they had but this was sold out extremely quickly at SDCC, certainly relative to everything else
I guess I just don't really understand these. It's not like Lego is going to release an entire subtheme of toys for these big-figures. Ant-Man having a giant form (compared to minifigs) makes sense given his powers, but these just seem very strange, and they don't look good, like, at all.
If you want to spend your money on them, by all means, but it's an easy pass for me.
@Mahenry926 said:
"Not sure how much stock they had but this was sold out extremely quickly at SDCC, certainly relative to everything else "
That is interesting. Beyond the obvious target market of children, I have often wondered whether these buildable figures have a novelty value for action figure collectors. Maybe a good sales performance at SDCC suggests they do.
@Zordboy:
Except Antman doesn't match the look of minifigs, so he looks like an action figure transplanted into a minifig's world.
Cap'n Iguanodon...?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-mysterious-thumb-12453139/
Strangely creepy. The 3 (3!?!) sausage fingers and dislocated thumb are odd.
AFOLs are the worst with these salty comments
@RTS013 said:
"Personally, I don't think LEGO is the right medium for figures like these. There are just too many compromises and thus the final model ends up deep into uncanny valley, or just straight up bad-looking. LEGO probably knows what they are doing, but I kind of whish they would limit themselves to stuff they can do well with the product they have, rather than trying to expand in every direction. Having only seen this one in pictures and not in person, I don't think the legs are any problem at all compared to the outright creepy looking face and scarecrow hands. Not a product for me."
I agree - the legs don’t bother me at all.
The thighs might be a little narrow, but not much.
The face is weird and childlike, but the worst feature by far are those hideous fingers and misplaced thumbs!!!!….
The hands remind me of a mole. They look like claws instead of fingers.
Some stuff is unavoidable, if you want an action figure, then buy an action figure. But for LEGO purposes, I think it does what it needs to.
The head on him and the price of turnips.
@GenericLegoFan said:
"The fingers legitimately feel uncomfortable."
Yes, the fingers are very odd looking, especially the thumbs! With the price they are charging for him and the others, I don't see why they could not have made a specialized hand piece to avoid the very unhuman looking fingers.
Looks like an April Fools set.
@Ridgeheart said:
" @Cabko said:
"AFOLs are the worst with these salty comments"
Oh. Oh, sweet friend, just wait until you see the next big thing - a K-Pop constraction-figure using Galidor-pieces. As a GWP, available exclusively in Denmark.
AND THERE SHALL BE MUCH WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH."
Haha, that's amazing! All that's missing is the inclusion of a descriptive plaque with a typo and a transparent windshield, both milky and scratched.
@sir_vasco said:
" @Ridgeheart said:
" @Cabko said:
"AFOLs are the worst with these salty comments"
Oh. Oh, sweet friend, just wait until you see the next big thing - a K-Pop constraction-figure using Galidor-pieces. As a GWP, available exclusively in Denmark.
AND THERE SHALL BE MUCH WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH."
Haha, that's amazing! All that's missing is the inclusion of a descriptive plaque with a typo and a transparent windshield, both milky and scratched."
And... a wonky-print astromech head.
Why does Cap have Wolverine claws?
Cap needs the hammer, Mjolnir, as he is worthy.
Monkey hands.
Reviewer mentions the problems w/the face (which does remind one of "Otto" from "Airplane"), and legs...but those hands...look like Wolvie's 'spare claws' were used as part of the 'super soldier program' ala "RoboCop"...:)
Just 4 fingers on each hand looks and feels wrong.