Captain America Series Red Skull

I started working on this post late in 2011, and am finally getting around to posting it! I'd posted about a few of the other Captain America Series figures around that time, and was partially underwhelmed by this one, moving onto other things. I liked his paint and sculpt okay, but was somewhat frustrated by his articulation, stiff in a lot of the joints, and severely limited in the legs due to his long coat. He does have a cut waist joint that eases the pain somewhat though, and that's nice. Another thing that seemed off was his size, which may be to scale with the other figures in the series, but seemed...  frail on his own. I poke fun at Hasbro for a lot of the action accessories that have been included with the 3 3/4" movie figures, but I kinda like this rocket launcher. At least it fires a projectile, and what's not fun about that?  :D

My favorite included accessory is really this Cosmic Cube, and the reason I took a chance on Red Skull here. For whatever reason, I associate the cube with Thanos, who is associated with the reality-warping matrix along with Doctor Doom and Red Skull. The frequently appearing, fictional object has a long-standing place in the Marvel Universe, going through several reincarnations since it's creation by King of Comics, Jack Kirby. Red Skull's left palm is cupped to hold it, but it merely sits loosely in it.  His right hand grips the German Luger pretty well. I'm not the biggest fan of those hinge/swivel elbows, but they do work.

 The paint apps on this guy are pretty good, particularly the eyes, which look pretty real for being so small. And the tiny buttons and belt buckle are expertly painted as well... a pretty clean overall job, overall. The military green is fine, but I'd have preferred all black with a trenchcoat like Hugo Weaving in the Captain America movie, or even the SDCC Invaders Red Skull for that matter. That said, he's not such a bad action figure- I may have been too opinionated about him at first. See Ewan's fun post on this figure over at Chase Variant!

Let's face it though,  I really wanted the Cosmic Cube for my Marvel Universe Thanos  :D

Let's see how Red Skull and Crossbones fare against Captain America:

Looks like the star-spangled sheild slinger has things well in hand!

What a perfect opportunity for BIGTOY/littletoy! My ToyBiz 9" Famous Covers Red Skull with 3 3/4" Red Skull:

More Later- Make It FUN!

Captain America Series: Crossbones, Heroic Age Capt. America, & Super Combat Capt. America

I picked up these Hasbro Captain America action figures awhile back during a buy-two-get-on-free deal at Toys 'R Us. In spite of the quality control issues associated with this series, I was happy with the Paratrooper Dive Capt. America I got  back in July. After seeing that GREAT movie, I could no longer ignore the Super Combat Capt. America from this series, featuring the outfit he wore battling Red Skull & Hydra!

I also couldn't ignore this very cool Heroic Age Capt. America!  This version of America's First Avenger is Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers' old sidekick who had seemingly been killed in the war. To make a long story short, Bucky's frozen body had been picked up by the Soviets and programmed as an assassin named Winter Soldier. When Steve Rogers former lover Sharon Carter  is rescued from the Winter Soldier, she tells him the assassin looked a lot like Bucky, long thought dead by everyone. Captain America seeks him out and confronts him with the truth, and Bucky's amnesia is wiped away. When Rogers takes a leave of absence later, Bucky is chosen to carry on the mantle of Captain America!

I gave the kids at Hasbro a lot of grief over the stupid action accessories included with their 3 3/4" Thor movie figures for good reason- they were pretty stupid! While I'd have preferred a standard shield, I like the button on the front of this which engages the blades- additionally, the functional arm grip on back folds in to expose a peg that can be mounted to the adjoining hole in back of the figure.

You can also put Cap's gun IN it's holster, and his knife IN his sheath, all of which seems mildly oversized at this scale, but still nice. He holds his pistol well, finger in the trigger guard and all! The metallic paint makes this figure seem really deluxe, too. I'd seen a two-pack from this series with a Heroic Age Captain that had flat paint and it did not compare to this. The joints were relatively tight on this, which I prefer, and the articulation of the figure is perfectly serviceable. Cap has a ball-jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders & elbows, & an upper abdominal joint for side to side movement.  His hips are ball-jointed, he has cut/swivel joints in his upper thighs & wrists, some nice hinged ankles with a wide range, and double hinged knees that were mildly cranky.

I would recommend this figure- just choose carefully concerning the paint, watch out for the slop associated with this manufacturer/line. Very cool!

I chose Crossbones over the Red Skull due to his large size & gruesome looks- while I knew nothing of him, the mask was irresistible to me! Brock Rumlow appeared at the end of the 80's, a henchman of Red Skull who was eventually involved in the assassination of Captain America. One of the most powerful hand-to-hand combatants in the world, Crossbones can hold is own against Captain America aptly, and can kill lesser superheroes and villains easily. Trained by Taskmaster while on the run for murder, the young criminal was eventually enlisted as mercenary for Red Skull.

Crossbones comes equipped with some really cool accessories/weapons. The twin hand-helds are great, and an assault rifle is also included. The left hand has a better, more useful trigger finger than the right, however. His flak jacket is made of a thick, rubbery material different than the base figure, most abdominal joint posing is mostly hindered by it. Makes him look extra big though. Crossbones has standard articulation for this line, but nothing unusual. I would have liked a ball-joint on the head. I wish he could aim that rifle like a sniper, but there's only so much they can do with a 3 3/4" figure, and that flak jacket is kinda thick...  The sculpt on this guy is amazingly good.

As stated above, I couldn't ignore the Super Combat Capt. America from this series featuring the outfit he wore in the motion picture after seeing the film! I admired what they did with the costume in this movie, simultaneously updating it, while adding a certain retro feel to it- whoever designed that did an outstanding job, and Hasbro nailed it here as far as I'm concerned. The textures & clothing folds are all so intricate on these, like the Thor movie figures Hasbro also produced. The removable combat helmet was a nice touch, and his pistol fits in the leg holster, albeit tightly. The shield was warped by the packaging as all these accessories are made of a softer plastic so they won't snap. He's a beautiful little action figure though, and a lot of fun!

I had a fun time playing around with these & photographing them! I'm seriously considering some Hydra soldiers and a Red Skull from this series  :)

More Later- Make It FUN!