Captain America Marvel Legends Infinite: Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Mandroid action figure review

Sorry for the long delay between reviews but here's part 2 of the Marvel Legends Infinite Captain America series. This is the second (and third) wave of the figures that complete your Mandroid Build-a-Figure. Aside from Mandroid the last three figures are all movie figures which is probably why they were released later as not to spoil anything.


Sculpting for Black Widow, Cap, and Winter Soldier are brand new bodies with no re-used parts. Widow is the big draw for collectors as she completes your movie Avengers team and she's well worth the wait. Her suit looks accurate with plenty of seams, straps, buckles, and wrist stingers. Her headsculpts are attractive if not a slightly bored expression but with very nicely sculpted hair. You can definitely tell this is Johansson's likness. Black Widow has holsters but the guns are permanently sculpted there so you'll need to supply your own pistols. Both sets of hands look great, trigger and open-palm.

Captain America and Winter Soldier's sculpts are equally as detailed with some neat looking boots and suit designs sharply defined. The sculpt really works with the articulation here and any pose looks dynamic with very little gapping. Steve and Bucky's unmasked heads only barely resemble the actors they're based upon and like the Electro head from the ASM2 figures are more of a generic look. The masked heads work more for the movie look here. Bucky's cyber arm is wicked cool and Cap's alternate pointing/chop hands work for saluting, combat moves, there's a lot of posing possibilities!

When it comes to articulation these figures are absolutely gold. Widow's range of motion is great even with her single elbow joint. The long hair alt head is limited because of the sculpt but her torso joint helps with that. Her open palms aren't jointed however so she can't do the hands-flat-on-floor pose which is what I suspect they were there for. Tho heeled like Black Cat's, Black Widow's ankle joints are done better and are pretty useful tho they will take some effort to balance.

Steve and Bucky's articulation and range of motion have me overjoyed. They can reach out, lean back, forwards, side-step, and everything looks natural. Their wrists are jointed too so Cap can salute or open-palm strike. Interestingly enough these figures don't have cut calf joints, their boots are separately molded in plastic and glued on. I'm not a big fan of calf motion and the ankles give you all the motion you need here.

Paint apps are surprisingly detailed all the way around. Black Widow has multiple suit tones, straps and buckles painted galore. Winter Soldier's body has a great dark wash that brings out the detail and Captain America's suit has definition. Even Widow and Bucky's hair has a light shading wash done. Uh, Bucky shouldn't be staring into exhaust pipes of cars. What's mean to look like the eye shading is too spread out on his face and looks downright strange. Widow's SHIELD logo tampos are sharp looking as is Winter Soldier's star.

There are accessories a plenty here in this wave with everyone getting an extra head and Steve and Widow with an extra set of hands. Bucky's sniper rifle is a remold of the weapon that came with the Hydra solider but Cap's shield is a brand new sculpt...and...it's huge. The shield was either accidentally flattened out or scaled for a 7" figure because this sucker covers more than just his torso. The big letdown is that Black Widow doesn't come with any guns yet has trigger-hands to hold them. The upside is that you can complete your SHIELD Mandroid and let me tell you, this thing is a beast!

The Mandroid battle suit is a partial remold of the Iron Monger BAF with a new torso, head, and forearm weapons. The whole thing is cast in a very nice metallic silver plastic and the giant SHIELD logo on its chest looks sharp. The head is on a full ball joint but the shoulder cannon can only swivel, not tilt. Basically it's a free giant robot and who can turn those down? It has the same great range of leg articulation with a bit of elbow restriction that was present with Monger.

So what's the verdict on these last figures? They're some of the best movie Marvel Legends yet and you're going to need them to complete Mandroid. Snag them at our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store in singles or sets so you can get Black Widow at retail price or camp Amazon for deals when they restock. Either way you won't be sorry especially if you loved Captain America: Winter Soldier movie and want to recreate some of those fight scenes. Now where's our 6" Batroc?

Captain America Marvel Legends Infinite: Hydra/AIM Soldier, Baron Zemo, Marvel Now Cap figure review

Marvel Legends is officially dead, all hail Marvel Legends Infinite! According to Hasbro the 'Marvel Legends' series will no longer ship as a stand-alone line. Instead they will be released as movie tie-in lines that will feature both movie characters as well as comic versions related to the movie. Case in point, the Captain America Legends line out now. It's working out quite well and we're getting a slew of new characters along with variants. Here we look at the AIM and Hydra soldiers, Marvel Now Captain America, and Baron Zemo. The build-a-figure is the SHIELD Mandroid, an armored robot looking thing which will be covered as a separate figure in part 2 of this review.

We start off with the AIM Soldier, an excellent brand new sculpt that's actually going to be the base body of a future comic Starlord figure. The unpainted stars on the gloves and buttons down the front are a dead giveaway. The body has lots of leathery detail, folds, and creases. AIM Soldier's headsculpt is what we've been waiting for, the Beekeeper look! It looks awesome moving around at the inset collar. The boots are molded separately in black and attached to the lower knees which is a nice touch. Add the classic AIM belt and you have a great looking figure.

The Hydra Agent uses the familiar medium build body and this works great for him. A new headsculpt looks far more menacing than the last Hydra Agent and his gear is removable as well leaving you with a perfect base body for customizing (tho you probably won't want to, he's only one per case). Baron Zemo shares the same general body using the US Agent mold with a new headsculpt, holsters and belt. Both bodies are excellent in design and proportion for the characters they're used for. Zemo's head is brand new and has awesome looking sculpted seams running down it.

The Marvel Now Captain America is a completely new sculpt from head to toe and is filled with detail like the honeycomb pattern on his armor and armor straps along his lower arms/legs.The right hand is a sculpted fist so he won't be holding anything but his left hand can. I'm a big fan of the headsculpt and the belt, tho his upper torso nicks the top of the belt when you turn his waist. Other than that his sculpt is great.

Articulation for the AIM soldier is top notch with a huge range of motion in all the limbs. There is a bit of a gap in the shoulder but it allows clearance for the raised sections of the shoulders not to rub. Side-swivel boots make for great running poses and the head motion allows him to look around in lots of direction thanks to a high set ball joint inside. The Hydra Agent's articulation has been covered many times before with the basic medium body build and needless to say is perfect with no issues.

Baron Zemo shares the same body as the Hydra Soldier and has the same excellent range of motion. The loincloth isn't hindering (it can be removed too) and he can even sit if you work with it a bit. However the sword gets in the way if you tuck it in the front sheathing. Instead put his gun in there and slip the sword behind his back webgear strap 'Blade style' for an easier time. Captain America's articulation is wonderful with one small exception, his biceps are so large the upper hinge joint barely moves at all, acting like a single hinge instead of a double. Other than that he can leap, dive, and crouch like anyone else.


Paint apps are clean through the whole wave thankfully. The AIM soldier is primarily cast in yellow and black plastic and the Hydea Soldier in green and yellow. There's some orange shading on Hydra but none on AIM tho he doesn't suffer from it. Zemo sports great paint work with orange shading, linework on his mask and chest, even his accessories are fully painted! Cap A has nice bright colors without any shading but there's enough breaks in the design to look detailed. A bit of an issue tho, his ab crunch is so flush to the hinge the paint can scrape off if you're not careful. Same with the grey under his arms, there's almost no clearance against the shoulder socket. A bit of carving with an X-acto knife can fix this, just be careful.

Accessories are plentiful here! Cap gets his standard folding clip-peg shield which is cast in a nice metallic red plastic and stores on his back. He also comes with a piece of the Mandroid, as does everyone. Hydra agent has removable webgear/belt and two brand new weapons, a crazy looking long-rifle and large ray gun. Both sport great paint apps and the Hydra symbol! AIM Soldier has similar weapons that are new designs and sport the AIM logo/colors along with a removable bandoleer. They're great and could be repainted to work with anyone. Zemo comes with a leopard-handled pistol, hard plastic broadsword, and removable webgear. The pistols aren't removable from their holsters, tho they do sport two emblazoned 'Z's.

So what's the verdict on these figures? If you're a Marvel Legends collector or even an Avengers fan you can't pass up these 'army builder' troops. Captain America's new mold and Zemo's modern look are great additions. You'll have trouble finding these in stores as they're one per case aside from Cap so your best bet is to head over to our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store and snag a set. Alternately you can camp Amazon and try to catch them when they're restocked or purchase your favorites separately.

There are 'variants' too, Red Skull and Baron Zemo being stand-ins for the AIM and Hydra goons and both have Mandroid Arm parts but ship in the same assortment. The second wave will contain the last three figures needed to make Mandroid, movie Black Widow (one per case), Winter Soldier, and Steve Rogers. This wave only has Red Skull and Zemo in it. The third and perhaps final assortment contains Black Widow (two per case so don't pay scalper prices), Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers, and the Marvel Now Captain America. Hasbro spread it out so you'll get an equal number of Mandroid heads, torsos, and limbs, just not in the same wave.

Marvel's The Avengers Movie Review 2012

Where is your usual toy review? Not here because in this entry you are going to be treated to a movie review. It does however have a figure line on the shelves. Marvel's The Avengers movie doesn't come out until May 4th 2012 but I was treated to an advance screening the other night. It was both written and directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire slayer, Firefly tv series) and has in all respects has set the bar for all superhero movies from here on out. Scratch that. The Avengers has redefined the 'superhero movie' into something greater because that until now that term has generally denoted a single individual in which a movie is based around. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Green Lantern, Blade. But here we have many, some who were the star of their own movies and some who were secondary characters in them.

No one character is the star of the Avengers. This is not Thor 2, Iron Man 3, or Black Widow 1. The lens is drawn back to show them as a group but each character is still profoundly explored by Whedon to an even deeper extent than in their own title films. Whedon has done the remarkable here and created a movie where no actor shines brightest and each role is an integral one. Leave one of the superheros out and the whole movie would collapse. There is no filler here, no last minute additions or studio exec ideas thrown in. What you see is a group of individuals brought together in a time of crisis and discovering how to work not just as a team, but as friends.

You heard me say superheroes right? Some of the internet trolls have already jumped on the but-no-super-powers bandwagon. How can Black Widow, a regular human female (tho top of her class assassin/spy) and expert marksman Hawkeye who can probably only bench what the average body builder can, be thrown into the mix with the likes of lightning-wielding Thor and repulsor-ray blasting Iron Man? Easily, because they are Avengers. Whedon reaches into the comic books and pulls from it the characters as you remember reading them. He doesn't add any bells and whistles that weren't there before. You don't get 'altered powers' to fit a movie-verse style. What worked in the comics works here and perfectly.

That being said Avengers pulls no punches. There is no 'Cloud-lactus' instead of a giant purple man wearing a giant purple helmet. I'm looking at you, Fox Studios. No attempt is made to ease the audience into understanding who or what is going on because the fans are watching. From the very beginning you are hurled into outer space amidst razor-edged floating asteroids with beings conversing there. How are they not floating off? Is there a forcefield dome around them with air? Well this is the Marvel Universe and that is exactly what happens in the comics. We took the leap into Marvel's unexplained cosmic forces with Thor and Captain America. Now you had better learn to swim.

Back to the characters without 'powers' Black Widow and Hawkeye. They have their own special abilities that make them part of the team. Combat abilities that suddenly become very clear and very deadly. Black Widow doesn't need a mystical hammer to kill you, she just needs to get behind you. Hawkeye doesn't need to slam his fists into cars or throw buildings to win, he just needs a single arrow and you will not be walking away from the fight. These perfectly matched character traits are apparent in all the superheros from Captain America to the Hulk.

Ah yes, the Hulk. He is a fan favorite to many. But this is not the hulk from either previous films. This is not Ang's or Norton's Hulk. This is Comic Avengers Hulk as if Whedon has peeled him up from the page and placed him on film..and he will be everyone's favorite. Having a different Hulk required a different Banner this time around, not a decision made lightly. Mark Ruffalo's David Banner is as perfect as can be and as the Hulk he is as much of an actor as his real-life actors. I will spoil one thing for you because it needs to be. We have been lied to, Hawkeye never shoots him with a gas arrow as mentioned in interviews. Hulk is not a mindless beast or a tool. Because that's not what the Avengers need. They need a teammate and this is Comic Hulk through and through.

You're also going to laugh throughout this movie and laugh hard. Whedon brings his quirky charm through the midst of battles and downtime. From Hulk's schoolyard-style grudges to Captain America's naivety of modern life, it's the humor that adds a special sparkle to the Avengers and creates the movie's truly most memorable scenes, one in particular. I know this because leaving the theater I continually overhead people talking about the exact scene which brought a smile to my face. People are going to talk and they are already comparing Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises to The Avengers. They're choosing sides and arguing which is better. But a comparison implies that two things have similar aspects to be compared, that they are in the same league as each other.

The Avengers is not a superhero movie. It is not a summer action flick. It is not a dark and gritty origin rewrite. No, the Avengers is the first glimpse of a comic book universe that you remember reading about and writes a whole new tale for you. Whedon takes the best of each character and weaves an incredible story in your mind that brightens the dulling comic page memories of Hulk fighting on city streets, of Captain America teaming up with Iron Man, and you will be shown that the God of Thunder is truly a force to be reckoned with. Make sure you sit through the first half of the eye-candy credits, before the scrolling full credits. You will be treated to something that opens up frightening new possibilities for our heroes. That being said, GO SEE THE AVENGERS!

Marvel Legends 2012 Ghost Rider & Steve Rogers figure review

When it comes to action figures Toy Biz's Marvel Legends set the bar for the 6" standard we enjoy now. Now produced under Hasbro Marvel Legends enjoys a grand, triumphant return in 2012. It's a little confusing at first because in the upper corner of the card they say "Marvel Universe" and many retailers have them listed under that search. Then again it says "Marvel Legends" at the bottom. You may need to explain this when you call to ask whether they're in stock somewhere.

The card art and design are really sharp. It's almost like they used the artist who did the Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 ingame 'comic page' art. Each package is individualized for the character and on the back a quick description and splash page. Normally I don't cover packaging but this was an exception. It's a lot sturdier than the earlier cardstock/bubbles too, folded tabs and tape sealed on the back. You're also told what part of Terrax comes with the figure in a diagram on the side as per the norm.

Sculpting on Steve Rogers and Ghost Rider is top notch. Yes the bodies are partial re-uses. Cap's body is the Nick Fury 2-pack/Face off Punisher and Ghost Rider's is Ronin/Hand Ninja. But you get completely new heads, lower arms, and lower legs. All the bodies in this series are also some of the best ones to come out of Hasbro so there's no worry here.

The detail on GR's armor, skull, and blue flames is great. These figures borrow from the Marvel Universe design as well, their 'clothing' as you would being cast-off. You can unlatch GR's upper attire and heat the belt to get that off too if you wanted. Underneath are base bodies perfect for customizing. Steve's belt could be removed and his webgear, tho glued down, is still separate. Included with each figure is a "Tales of Terrax" pamphlet featuring his interaction with another Marvel character. It's a great little backstory bonus.

Articulation for Ghost Rider is pretty nice. If you have the Hand Ninja you know what to expect. Yes, series 1 here are missing the ankle rockers but Hasbro promised to include them on future assortments. That's really the only thing missing. Everything else is ball jointed or double jointed and works great. GR can't raise his arms straight up but that's because of his shoulder armor design. His skirt is soft plastic and doesn't hinder his legs movement at all.

Steve has some of the best artic/range of movement from the Nick Fury body and can achieve all sorts of aiming positions. His accessories are great as well, two pistols and his shield which can be stored on his back via a flip-down peg (like the smaller movie Caps) or attach to his wrist. Ghost Rider unfortunately has no accessories save for the Terrax part he comes with. I expected his chain but haven't read the current comic this version is based on so perhaps he doesn't use one anymore.

Paint apps are downright amazing this time around. From the fade-to-blue clear flame, the airbrushed blue aura on his armor, down to the hammered look of metal on it, Ghost Rider sports some serious paint work. Steve is also nicely done with dark blue airbrushed highlights, clean red/white decos, and even his hairline is shaded a different color. This marks some serious improvement from the 2-packs released last year. Some people mention Steve's head is a bit large. Not for his body, but compared to other characters heads yes. However the body stands a good head taller than most current ML figures and Cap was always a big boy. You won't even notice.

So what's the verdict? Buy these figures. If you're a fan of Marvel Legends then this is the return you've been waiting for. You get great articulated sculpts, great CLEAN paint apps, and removable parts if you want to customize them later. I'll be reviewing the rest of the figures in daily installments. There's variants of Cap, GR, and Iron Man. Head over to our sponsors Big Bad Toy Store or Past Generation Toys and pick up a set. Thor doesn't come with a piece of Terrax but you'll need Hope, Steve, Klaw, Ghostie, Iron man, and Constrictor to complete him.

Hydra Armored Soldier; Captain America Movie action figure review

With all the HAIL HYDRA action going on in the Captain America movie it's easy to see why being a goon is so fun. You get a cool costume and a gun that disintegrates things. The 3 3/4" Hydra Armored Soldier (not the deluxe) gets exactly that. He looks pretty close to the movie characters, though I think they may have had dark brown gloves/boots not black. There's also a variant of this figure in lighter green and yellow like in the comics.

The Hydra Soldier is really articulated well with ball jointed everything and double jointed knees. The skirt only partially hampers the leg articulation thanks to the split in it. He has cut upper thighs like the new MU bodies and I was able to get plenty of poses out of him. The sculpt is really detailed right down to his shades and nifty buckles on his shirt and boots. Hydra went all out here.

But what about weaponry? You can look spiffy but without equally spiffy guns you'll just be a twang off some guy's shield. Fortunately Hydra Soldier has that covered with two weapons, a rifle and an even BIGGER version of the same rifle that shoots a missile. Yeah, it's pretty much the exact same sculpt but larger. His H-harness is also removable and counts as an accessory I suppose.

So what's the big deal about this guy? Army building! Get three. Get twenty. Get some of the yellow/green variants, they have blue goggles. The Hydra Soldier is a really nicely sculpted and articulated figure. You could make some nifty customs from this guy if your army gets too big. He's in the assortment with the desert camo colored Captain America. Don't forget there's a deluxe version with the flamethrower units too. Enlist in Hydra army today! You'll be glad you have two heads when one gets cut off! Eh...or something like that.