Showing posts with label avenger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avenger. Show all posts
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Captain America The First Avenger 6 Captain America
Ive had this guy for months now but hadnt gotten round to opening him for some reason or other. Along with 6" Movie Thor and 6" Nick Fury from The First Avenger movie line, the trio would form the base of what would form my 6-inch movie Avengers collection.But it wasnt until I started seeing the Avengers 3.75" stuff in stores that I felt motivated to open this bad boy.
The Rangerlord deserves yet another special mention for snagging me Movie Cap from Malaysia for about half of what it would cost at retail here in Singapore. And with this figure and the recent release of Waves 1 and 2 of Marvel Legends all I can say is this: when it comes to making 6" figures, Hasbro has got down to a T.
No, the "T" doesnt stand for Turkey any more than the A on Caps forehead stands for France! ;P
Like: The paint apps are simply superb.The afore-mentioned straps and their buckles, the grey wash on the white parts of his costume, the stars on his shoulders and the tampographed one on his chest, and the "A" on his forehead are all really sharp. Special mention goes to the head and face, which are molded in brown plastic and painted in. Just look at those eyes!
Like: His double-jointed elbows and knees! The elbows bend all the way like a human elbow and you get about 120 degrees for his knees. Nice!
Like: Swivel/hinge wrists. These are essential for gripping his guns as realistically as possible. Id say it helps with the shield as well except that the two straps for the thing are made of stiff plastic, so when you have his forearm through it, his wrist is sort of locked.
Dislike: His height. Or lack thereof, rather. I didnt even notice this until I was lining Cap up with a shot next to Nick Fury and Thor. Actually, Cap is smack dab at 6-inches tall. Fury stands at 6.7 inches and Thor is at a whopping 7".
While Im fine with Thor being a big un, hes actually not 7 feet tall in the movie. Its even forgivable because he comes from his own movie toy line.
Nick Fury on the other hand, is from the movie Cap line and yet is way too tall! Having said that though, Cap still needs to be a bit taller. Funny thing is that the Cap 3.75" line also suffers from being too short next to the Thor line and Marvel Universe figures.
Like: Super flexible ball/hinge head! This was the first thing that caught my eye right after the great detail of his sculpt. His chin can touch his chest and the back of his helmet tilts back to near the top of his rear harness buckle.
Even without this awesome hinge joint, his head can already tilt side to side and look up and down pretty well on its ball joint. And he can do all this without looking like hes got a broken or weird looking neck
Dislike: The slightly warped shield out of packaging. The shield is made of a softer plastic with two stiffer straps. And I have no issue with the firmness of the material theyve used except that its susceptible to becoming misshapen. The bright side is that a little hot water will get it back into shape. :)
Dislike: That hes given an old school machine gun. Well, I guess hes not quite modern Cap yet. But he cant hold onto the gun properly anyway because the stock is in the way. But give him an assault rifle with a shorter stock and it looks magnificent!
Like: The usable holster for his sidearm. Its glued on to the side of his leg with matching sculpted straps. But the best part is that it doesnt get in the way of his leg articulation. :)RATINGS
Aesthetics: 9/10 - Hed easily be a 10 but for being too short. The lack of height is really just too stark to ignore. Everything else about him is close to perfect, with a superb sculpt and all of the necessary detail picked out with little to no paint spills. Heck, he even looks a lot like Chris Evans. Its just a real pity he falls a little well, short. Heres hoping the Avengers movie version of him doesnt suffer from the same problem.
Poseability: 9.5/10 - His overall poseability is simply astounding. Other special mentions that didnt make the "like" list but are also outstanding: chest pivot, swivel/hinge ball legs with thigh cuts, and the swivel/hinge ankles.
The chest ball joint is especially pleasing because it tilts an pivots seamlessly while giving maximum movement, so that he doesnt miss not having a waist swivel.Fun: 10/10 - With the poses he can achieve and how good he looks even just standing there, its hard not to have fun with this guy in your hand (thats what she said!). And thats without his accessories!
Really, its hard to beat an action figure of a character who uses a shield, especially when said character is known to use it for all sorts of things from deflecting bullets to throwing it to using it to bounce off walls and such.
While this figure of Cap cant literally do those things, it certainly feels like he can with the way he can move!Value: 8.5/10 - Hed be rated lower if I didnt manage to get him via the Rangerlord at just under S$30 (US$23 in the current climate). Thats a whole S$20 less than what hes retailing for right now. I dont recall the major department stores putting the Cap movie line figures under clearance, but they definitely wont be doing that till after The Avengers hits theatres in less than a month.
With the new Marvel Legends figures going for S$39.90 in this neck of the woods, S49.90 is a lot to pay for a figure thats about a year old.But if you can get a discount on him then hes more than worth it. When he goes on clearance a month or two after the movie hits the screens hell be even more value for money.
Its seldom I find a figure this close to perfect except for his one major flaw--his height.
Cap was so good that I didnt even notice how short he was till the end of shooting his photos. And I still couldnt believe it when I lined him up next to Fury and Thor. I was so taken by surprise that I had to go look for measuring tape--and Ive never been bothered by measuring tape.
All in all, the only way Ill want another version of a big-screen Cap is if the Avengers one turns out better. And that means having all the good stuff this figure packs and having decent height as well. Now that would be the perfect movie Captain America.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Thor The Mighty Avenger 3 75 Secret Strike Loki
What can I say? Its been 9 days since I first caught the movie, and 5 days since I saw it a second time and Im still buzzing. And as I write this, Im plotting a 3rd and possibly a 4th viewing. (One of these schemes involves sneaking in on free tickets to What to expect When You Are Expecting and then peeling away to catch The Avengers. Heheh.) |
| Hes no coward all right-he called the Hulk a "Dull Creature." |
Hes made me wanna go back and review every single Marvel Universe, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and and Marvel action figure I havent put in front of the camera and blabbered about. And I just might. So who better to start with than with Loki, the ultimate deceiver, played by a man who just steals the scene when hes in it?
When Secret Strike Loki was originally released a year back, there were already pictures of a King Loki to come, so I held back, thinking that Id be able to easily pick this figure up on clearance. And its turned out to be true! I got Loki here for S$10!--only for the price to be slashed to almost half that a week later. -__-But heres no regrets, because after all the lack of PoAs from the Avengers line, this Thor movie figure has turned out to be quite a gem!
Like: That this is Loki before he fashioned himself king of Asgard. Reminds me very much of the rogue in a Dungeons & Dragons party, which Im sure was a idea for Loki in the beginning.Like: That though the likeness of Tom Hiddlestone isnt spot on, it does capture the spirit of him. Slicked back hair, deviously sharp and thin eyebrows, pointed chin, and sneaky eyes, sharp nose, and just a hint of a smirk in his mouth.
Dislike: That the neck hinge is left an unpainted dark green. It makes him look like he has a soul patch from certain angles. Ive seen other Hasbro 3.75" figures use beige hinges, so they dont get away with this at all. :(
Like: The articulation. Hindsight is always 20/20 and at this point where it looks that Avengers toy line wont be as spry as most Hasbro 3.75" brands, I fully appreciate the PoAs this guy has.The head especially deserves special mention for its ball-hinge assembly and flexibility.
Like: The throwing daggers. hes got of them and they fit nice and tight in both of his gripping hands.
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| Each is a different design! |
Like: The paint on his face. The eyes are soooo deviously scheming! As mentioned above, the eyebrows are very well done, neat and sharp. But heres the clincher for me--the painted mouth! Its just a hint of beige on the lower lip. Its a little detail but one that just grabs you, just like Hiddlestones on screen wide-eyed intense look to eerie laugh. Gosh, it just send shivers down my spine!
Like: The detail on his clothes theyve picked out in paint. Theres the gold on his belt and coat buckle just above it, the buckles on the back, the shoulder and waist trimmings, and a lighter gold under his collar.
Theres a lighter green theyve used for his sleeves, collar and parts of the upper torso, and theres the lighter brown of his shin guards. Im glad they made the effort to paint these parts. It shows what a little paint can do to bring out the best in a sculpt!RATINGS
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| Told you he was a great actor! |
Poseability: 8.5/10 - Hes got everything you need in a 3.75" figure minus the frills, like rocker ankles, an extra waist swivel, and additional wrist hinges. But yes, those are bonus PoAs and hence more on the "wants list" rather than the "needs."
Also, the coat tail piece on my Loki isnt glued on or has come loose. The downside is that Ive got to reposition it every time I pose him. The upside? He doesnt get in the way of me posing him first, then repositioning it to fit the pose. ;) |
| Night at the opera, anyone? |
Fun: 9/10 - You could pop the head off this guy and put him on a body with a suit, creating Loki in "disguise" or King Loki without helmet or even Loki as any other hero in the Marvel Universe!All this even before you actually get down to playing/posing him. Being highly articulated, Loki can handle the "scheming" posing easily. But if youre looking for a scrap, be it in an ill-advised foray into Jotunheim or a toe-to-toe with his half/adopted brother, Loki can handle it. Well, at least until he runs out of trickery and ends up getting pounded like a pancake.
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| Loki magics himself to look like Thor. Really. |
Great tooling, great articulation, very few unpainted/bare parts, and the right amount of the right accessories (daggers) means great value. He even comes with a dud "triple bladed" sword with a split-blade gimmick.
Theres very few figures in the Thor movie line that arent great value, big friggin weapons or no. Its a pity they stopped at three waves. :(
Overall: 8.4/10 - |
| With Ultimate Thors "spear" and Heimdalls Sword |
But even if my wish doesnt come true, at least theres this guy on clearance--and hell be useful in multiples because thats Loki 101: mirror images FTW! (At least initially till he gets roasted by Thor or blasted by Iron Man.)Suddenly I have an itch to go clear out those last few Lokis I saw on clearance...
Oh and guys, go watch The Avengers if you havent! You have? Then watch it again!!! :)
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| Like I said, watch The Avengers already! ;) |
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