Captain America: The First Avenger Action Figure Review Part 2!

THE RED SKULL:

   Every hero has an arch-enemy. For Cap, it's Johann Schmidt, AKA the Red Skull. An early member of Hydra, the Red Skull has a long history of genocide. I cannot wait to see how they handle his portrayal in this film! And the great Hugo Weaving plays him? All the sweeter! Come get your evil!

PACKAGING:

FIGURE/ACCESSORIES:

   With the looks of an Imperial official, I've read a few places that some people feel that this fig is a rehash of the Col Vogel figure from the sadly deceased Indiana Jones line and I'm inclined to agree. I'm not bashing the fig at all, I dug the Vogel look. Let's face it, evil or not, the Nazi party had style when it came to their uniform military look. This is about the best thing that I could say about them and their kind... they knew how to dress and look sharp. The Skull is basically a Nazi Officer with a Skull for a face. The red hands threw me off for a minute. I couldn't remember if he had them in the comic or not! I wish the Skull here had some more and cooler accessories to fit him out with like a mask of Hugo Weaving or an extra head would have rocked, but he has enough to start some trouble with!. He gets a pistol, a ridiculous rocket-launcher with shooting missile and what can only be the "Cosmic Cube" last seen in the film "Thor", the artifact that will tie all the threads of the Marvel films together in next year's "Avengers". Unfortunately, I think Hasbro wanted to try and save a few bucks and went with that cheap Chap Mei plastic.

   And the last thing is... no holster? He has to hold that crappy plastic gun all the time?

SCULPTING:

   Basically looks like a skull that is red. The outfit looks good and appropriately Nazi-esque! He's very thin, like a Clone Wars figure and feels frail, but he probably gave me the least trouble holding a decent stance. In my Joe-verse, the Skull isn't really going to be running around and flipping over hero's attacks anyway. He's basically Cobra Commander which means he is relegated to sitting on a throne or running things from a situation room.

   His left hand is sculpted into an open claw, so he can hold the Cube. Have fun getting that to stay in place! I'm sure not many kids will worry about it because, inside of 5 minutes, they'll eat it, shove it up their nose or lose it.

   He's got the weird shirt/skirt thing which is a cool look for characters in film, but if you ever wore it like that, you'd get some seriously weird looks.

PAINT:

   It seemed to be an easy paint job and being the ONLY Red Skull figure I saw all day, I was getting it regardless. The little bit of black over his non-nose looks a bit weird if you stare at it too long.

ARTICULATION:

   Has all your basic articulation for a figure that won't see much action! His waist swivels, which is nice.

FINAL VERDICT: B-

   It's a good figure for what it is! And the Red Skull doesn't get the toy treatment as often, so it will be a nice figure to round out your evil leaders collection.

CROSSBONES:

   We all dig big bad dudes who can get the job done. And the Skull has his Crossbones, a burly wrestling type with weapons.

PACKAGING:

FIGURE/ACCESSORIES:

   Crossbones is a mean looking merc and a great fig. He has a nice weight to him, too and seems sturdy. He comes with an M16, 2 SMGs (maybe that gun nut can help me with these) and a removable tactical vest. Again, the weapons are that bad plastic, but the SMGs seem a lot harder than the mike one six.

SCULPTING:

   The vest is superbly done on this fig and really makes it mean. I love the mask, as well. I'm a big fan of masks in costuming. If you have ever been in a crowd with a mask, as I have been on many a Halloween, you know the rush it can give you. He's got some City Strike Snake-Eyes kneepads going on, too.

PAINT:

   Again, the paint looked great and thankfully, because I only saw 1 Skull and 1 Crossbones all day and I had visited 5 stores!

ARTICULATION:

   The articulation is adequate for a bulkier figure. This guy may give Sgt Slaughter a fight (if I can find one for a good price)! That hip articulation really sucks and on this figure, it looked as if his mid-thigh swivel was going to pop off on both legs if I pulled the hip out any further! I may have to mod some of these figures and, while a lot of fun, it also is a lot of work. Hence, my workshop is jammed with half completed projects!

   The figure looks weird when he loses the tac-vest. His chest looks to small for his arms, but I don't think many of you will have him chillin' without his vest on.

FINAL VERDICT: B-