Legends Winter Soldier Capt. America

I've been reluctant to pick up many of the new Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America Legends series figures largely due to the recent price hike. I realize inflation of materials plays a large part in this, but twenty seems too much. While it may seem blasphemous to some action figure fans, I've always considered the Legends line second Marvel Select aesthetically in most instances, and the joints on some of the recent Hasbro Legends flimsy. Their bragging rights for best articulation even seems challenged by Diamond Select lately. And while Mattel's 6" DCUC line had a more obvious sameness to their buck, their quality seemed more consistent than Legends, at least after Hasbro took over for ToyBiz in 2007. That said, I sometimes can't resist a good Marvel Legends figure like this Winter Soldier Capt. America, which has a lot going for it. 

Like the Marvel NOW Legends Cap I reviewed in January, this Winter Soldier Cap has somewhat floppy/loose hinges in the double-jointed knees, but it doesn't hinder his stability significantly. The figure's articulation is really great, including hinged wrists, added swivels in the boot tops, rocker ankle joints, and a very expressive hinged ball-joint in the neck. In addition to a waist swivel, Cap enjoys an abdominal joint with exceptional range, leaving few poses he is incapable of.

The BAF part is one of Mandroid's legs, a figure I don't care about because I already have that basic figure in the much cooler Iron Man 3 BAF, Iron Monger...

His sculpt is outstanding, realistically proportioned as this is a movie series figure, and detailed down to the fabric weave in his uniform. The paint details are understated in a tasteful way, highlighting the sculpt in the chest emblem and armor sections and buckles in the belt & torso region. Printed diminutively on the right and left shoulders are the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and American flag, "Rogers" below. I've heard murmurs of Cap's shield being too large, and while it measures larger than the others at 2 1/2" in diameter, it looks great to me. Removing the hand is necessary in getting the wrist through the second one, which is still  tricky. There isn't an option for mounting the shield to this figure's back - I'd have preferred the peg & clip-flip setup that Steve Rogers & Marvel Now Cap were outfitted with, but this is still better than the clumsy adjustable straps the Avengers Cap came with.

This newest Cap came not only with an interchangeable head sculpt, but two unique alternate hands. Gripping hands would have been more useful in handling the edge of the shield or a gun, but I appreciate the need to change things up.

The Winter Soldier Cap's style was obviously inspired by the Super Soldier Steve Rogers outfit. I love the Steve Rogers figure, particularly the photon shield my variant came with, so having this Winter Soldier Capt. America figure was high on the priority list. I like the head sculpts on these immensely, and do feel they caught the likeness of actor Chris Evans decently in the new figure. Steve Rogers is still my favorite, but the Winter Soldier Cap has his own appeal- Hasbro didn't drop the ball here, but they charged us more for him.

Winter Soldier Capt. America with Marvel NOW and Avengers Captain America...

I'm looking forward to the movie this weekend, Marvel has been rockin' the big screen with these new movies, and it seems there's no end in sight! Check out my Boyish Wonder Pinterest for more action figure pics!

More Later-Make It FUN!