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-

Captain America: The First Avenger Action Figure Review # 1

   Ever since I was a little boy in the 70's, I have loved Marvel comics. I remember the first comic book I ever was given and read. It was "Amazing Spider-Man # 121" AKA "The Night Gwen Stacy Died". A good friend of my mother's gave it to me during a family visit. I still remember each page of that comic as I used to read it over and over and over. I loved the art, I loved the story. . . I was a True Believer from that point on.


   As the days went on, I read many comics from different companies. I loved the superhero genre, as all children do, watching scantily clad men with capes, bulging muscles (and genitals) beat up evildoers in the name of justice! I read Marvel, DC Comics, Charlton... anything I could find! But I couldn't find a hero that I identified with, that I loved with all my heart and soul... until I met Captain America in the pages of Secret Wars.


   I started reading Captain America & was reintroduced to Nick Fury/SHIELD (whom I remembered from the old Marvel Godzilla comic). I became an instant Nick Fury/SHIELD fan. For the record, Nick, the old warhorse, is my FAVORITE non-super powered hero (yes, even more than Batman). He rarely shaves, he smokes cigars, he talks smack to anyone AND any Snake Plissken fan'll tell ya... eyepatches are cool! PLUS, he's got the gimmicks and gadgets that all super spies need to compensate for the fact that he's got no mutant powers!


   Anyway, I read Cap for years and even suffered through the old 80's movie with the writer JD Salinger's son, Matt, as Captain America and an italian Red Skull. WTF? Even Ronny Cox couldn't save that one! I never thought there would be a real Captain A film... I'm SO glad I was wrong!!

LET'S GET TO THE TOYS, DAMN IT!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BATTLEFIELD:

   Captain America in all his glorious, vintage looking goodness! He mainly resembles the Ultimate Avengers version of Classic Cap. The original Captain America serving in WWII with his original Shield.


PACKAGING:


   The figure packaging is adequate, but it seems pretty plain to me. I'm not sure what i would have done different, but it just looks very generic and blah. It doesn't POP or stand out in anyway and is hard to notice on a toy rack full of action figures. The face on the art does resemble the actor from the film, so that's a plus. Maybe they could have made it look a little more WWII era, since the film mainly takes place in the past.

FIGURE/ACCESSORIES:   Captain America is a decent, sturdy figure... until we get to his legs. His upper body seems fine, but his legs are very flimsy and soft. His knee joints seem very weak and shaky, too. He's not that hard to stand, but it appears that his joints MAY get loose quickly.

   The Cap has a Thompson Machine gun, a .45, his original Shield, a removable helmet and removable webgear (with holster). The guns are molded out of the CHEAPEST plastic I have ever seen. This cheap plastic makes a Chap Mei weapon feel like it was made out of solid iron. No joke, they are flimsy and bend so easily that they are heading right in the garbage bin, most likely (Unless one of you guys email me and want them) I am going straight to Marauder for better replacement weapons ASAP!

SCULPTING:


   I think the sculpting is very good. The figure LOOKS dynamic and has a lot of detail. I'm very glad to see that Hasbro has been stepping it up lately. this figure PWNS any Cap figure made thus far. Those Marvel Universe 3 3/4 figure Captains can now be sold or thrown away!

PAINT:


   I had to look through several figures in the toy aisle before I found one with decent paint apps. Most of the figures paint apps were horrible. Skin color on the mask, the eyes painted too big, dots on his face, etc... After passing up about4 figures, I found the one with the best paint and snagged it.

ARTICULATION:


   The figure has decent articulation in all of the areas you would expect. The wrists swivel and pivot, too! These are the wrist joints we've begged for for years! They turn left and right AND up and down. I'm sure I will get some great poses out of this bad boy! His ankles have good movement, too!


   However, as awesome as that is, the hip joints suffer badly from crappy articulation. They turn, but you have to make sure the joint is pointing the right way or it is impossible to get a good running leg pose on this guy. Add that to the fact that the plastic is super flimsy around his knees and you can surmise that this hero is going to be shelf diving quite often. Thankfully, there is a peghole under his feet so I can put him on a stand!


FINAL VERDICT: B-


   My only real issue with this figure are his flimsy legs and the cheap plastic used for the weapons. He looks great, so for those collectors who keep their figs in their plastic prisons, he'll be fine. But if you're like me and love to actually PLAY with your toys, I suggest replacing the weapons.


Maisto 1928 JDH Twin Cam Harley Davidson: Series 24:


   As I was walking around the toy aisle, I stopped in the diecast car aisle and much to my surprise, found a WWII era Harley Davidson in OD Green that I quickly snapped up! I never liked the idea of Cap riding around on a red, white & blue motorcycle. It's kinda corny to make EVERYTHING this guy owns in the USA colors. I mean, I'm a patriot, but come one! Does he wear red, white and blue underoos, too?!


   But this Harley's OD Green color matches Cap's webgear PERFECTLY and I think they are a great match for some motorized Nazi butt-kicking! Cap's Shield even snaps onto the front of the bike (with some effort). I think it's the only time I was glad they used that flimsy plastic!

Winter Soldier:


   We all thought Bucky was dead for ages, until the retcon gods dredged up the cheesiest looking character and turned him into the coolest badass in recent history. What a revamp! Can something like this finally happen to Rick Jones?!

PACKAGING:


   The same blah packaging is used for the whole line. Does anyone agree that it just does nothing?!

FIGURE/ACCESSORIES:


   Winter Soldier is a great figure. Sturdy plastic is used on him, but not the weapons. He comes with a Mauser (that fits into a holster), a sniper rifle and a backpack that turns into a flight pack. Kinda corny looking and the backside is open, which makes it look pretty cheap and cheesy.

SCULPTING:


   The sculpt on this figure is dynamite. Great work here by Hasbro. We get the long-haired version of Bucky and the Straps & Buckles style is well defined here. I always attribute this type of look to Steranko, because that's immediately what I think of when I see it. But someone on the Hisstank boards said that Steranko may have lifted it from someone else. I can't remember who it was, but thankfully, the look looks good!! If I had ONE gripe... it's that the gun molded to his chest is not removable.

PAINT:


   As usual, I had to dig through tons of Winter Soldier figures before I found one with decent paint apps i could live with. MOST of the figs had horrendous applications. I was starting to lose hope in finding a good one, but i did. I was happy because this was the figure i wanted MOST.


ARTICULATION:


   The Winter Soldier figure could ALMOST be a GI Joe: Pursuit of Cobra figure, it's so cool. He moves in every way that a Joe does, but this dreaded new hip articulation makes him a bit less of a figure. So far, he is my favorite fig in the line and i will be picking up one or two more, just in case I need a spare!

FINAL VERDICT: A-


   This is THE best figure in the Captain America line so far, so I am glad I got him. he would have been graded an A if he had the pivot/swivel wrists that Battlefield Cap has. He would have gotten an A+ if he had better hip articulation. But all in all, if you want a cool looking figure that looks like it can take what you and the kids can dish out, grab this one up FAST!

COMING UP NEXT: Bring on the Bad Guys!! The Red Skull & Crossbones!

Blame it on my Dad!

   My ultimate devotion to the realm of cinema began when I was a child. My stepfather  (hereafter referred to as Dad) , Walter, was an avid film fan, but his favorites consisted of westerns with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and... *GASP* Randolph Scott. I grew up watching "The Searchers", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "High Noon" and my favorite film at the time, "Big Jake" (which was on cable last night).

   Whenever a great film was going to be on TV, it was an exciting event. A large Pizza was ordered, snacks were bought (chips, cheese & crackers) and the soda flowed like fine wine. (You have to understand, this was a simpler time... in the days before cable TV and most of the fast food crap that we take for granted today). The only other such grandiose event was the Super Bowl and that only came around once a year.

   My Mom & Dad would relax on the couch, while my 2 sisters and I would elbow each other for floor space in front of our family unit's only TV. I can't even remember the screen size, but it was probably not even a 19" screen. At least it was color. I miss that tv, an ancient relic now that had rabbit-ears sticking out of the top and a UHF dial! We would have to tune to UHF Channel 50 every night at 7:53 no matter what, so Dad could watch Helly Young tells us what the NJ Lotto Pick 3 number was for that evening. Dad played his Lotto religiously every day of the week. I still remember the number - 601 - straight & box.

   We would watch the movie, enraptured by the stories, the characters and the gunfights. My sisters would promptly forget them, I'm sure, but I never did.

EARLY THEATER MEMORIES:

   Being such a film fan, Dad would take us out to dinner at a diner and a movie frequently. My earliest movie-going memory is of the wonderful Steven Spielberg film, Jaws (1975). I vaguely remember the shark eating that guy and the camera shot of his leg drifting down in the water. Spooky shit for a kid to see! But I loved it, regardless. We didn't get to the beach much anyway!

   My next movie memory is of one of my all time favorite movies, Star Wars (1977). I remember being thrilled at the Creature Cantina scene and the Millenium Falcon blasting out of Docking Bay #94 in Mos Eisley. This film definitely changed my life... for the better. So, my whole cinematic loving future was shaped by two of Hollywood most enormous legends, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. But it didn't end there for me... in fact, as the Carpenters said,  it had "Only Just Begun".

   The next films I truly remember seeing in theaters were (in no specific order):

Superman: I primarily remember when he first changes into Superman to save Lois from falling out of the helicopter and an african-american dude sees him and goes "Man, that's a bad outfit!"

Grease : One of my favorites for it's pure fun cheesiness. And who doesn't dig JT?

Halloween: I mainly remember the scene where Michael escapes from the mental hospital and jumps on the hood of a car, breaking the window with his hand.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers: The ending when Donald Sutherland points and screeches is a great scary moment. I also vaguely remember Kevin McCarthy running by, doing a cameo and homage to the original film.

Thank God It's Friday: I owe this "classic" to my sister Lisa's obsession with then disco-diva-supreme Donna Summer. But I remember "The Leatherman" dancing around on cars through the parking lot, ultimately falling through a soft-top convertible.

Dawn of the Dead: This one left me with nightmares for years! I remember "Miguelito" chewing his wife's neck and arm before the cops blow him away. Mostly, I remember feeling bad for Roger as he's dying and promising to try and not come back as a zombie.

Phantasm: I freely admit that Angus Scrimm's chilling portrayal of "The Tall Man" caused me to lose sleep that night and I remember having to pee so bad, but being to afraid to go myself and not wanting to bother anyone by waking them up. So, what did I do? No way was I going to put my foot on the floor only to have the Tall Man grab my ankle and yank me under the bed into his dimension. So I did what any other kid would do, I wet the bed!

Alien: I remember Harry Dean Stanton's death scene, Yaphet Koto sweating his ass off and Ripley in her panties!

The Black Hole: Mostly, I remember the robots - VinCENT, Old Bob and Maximillian.

The Jerk: I remember Steve Martin getting his rythm and the duet he sings with Bernadette Peters.

C.H.O.M.P.S.: I remember only the robotic dog, nothing else about this film (I never saw it again).

Just You and Me, Kid: A fun flick with George Burns as an aging magician and Brooke Shields.

Love at First Bite: George Hamilton as Dracula? Funniest scene is when he drinks the blood of a wino and flies around as a bat, drunk. He ends up in a poverty stricken african-american household and they try to kill him for food. "A black chicken!"

Meatballs: All I remember about this one is when they suspend the main counselor's bed from ropes! And the song "We are the C.I.T.s so pity us. The kids are brats; the food is hideous. We're gonna smoke and drink and fool around. We are the North Star C.I.T.s!" and the chant... "It just doesn't matter!"
Moonraker: I love the nemesis Jaws and he hooks up with an ugly, pig-tailed girl!

   I could go on and on and on (and ON), but you get the idea!

Truly,
D

Next Time on Mythical Microcosms: THE film that changed my life!

Smegheads! Red Dwarf MASSIVE DVD Savings Sale!

   Sci fi nerds rejoice! Red Dwarf is one of my favorite britcoms EVER! And now you can own over 20 years of episodes for the LOWEST prices in the universe!

   Set in the late 22nd century, an on-board radiation leak of Cadmium II kills everyone except for low-ranking technician Dave Lister, who is in stasis at the time, and his pregnant cat, Frankenstein, who is safely sealed in the cargo hold.

Dave Lister: Last Human in the Universe

Following the accident, the ship's computer, known as Holly, keeps Lister in suspended animation until the background radiation dies down—a process that takes three million years. Lister therefore emerges as the last human being in the universe—but not alone on-board the ship. His former bunkmate and immediate superior Arnold Rimmer is resurrected by Holly as a hologram to keep Lister sane.

Holly & Arnold J. Rimmer:

At the same time, a creature known only as Cat is the last member on board of Felis Sapiens, a race of humanoid felines that evolved in the ship's hold from Lister's cat, Frankenstein, and her kittens during the 3 million years that Lister was in stasis.

The Cat:

   The main dramatic thrust is Lister's desire to return home to Earth. As their journey begins, the not-so-intrepid crew encounters such phenomena as time distortions, faster-than-light travel, mutant diseases and strange lifeforms that have developed in the intervening millions of years. Before long, the crew finds a stranded Service Mechanoid, Kryten, and invites him to join the crew. Hilarity ensues!

Kryten 2X4B-523P:

Seasons 1 -6 are only $11.99! (Usually sells for $19.98)
Season 7 is only $18.99 (Usually sells for $44.98)
Season 8 is only $20.49 (Usually sells for $34.98)
The entire series set is ONLY $77.49! (Usually sells for $199.99).
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth is only $14.99 (Usually sells for $24.99).

Click this link for some smeggin' goodness - http://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=Red+Dwarf&x=0&y=0

If you've never seen Red Dwarf before, pick up Series One for a steal. Guaranteed to be the best $11.99 you've ever spent on a DVD set!

Evil Dead 2 is on IFC Tonight @ 11:35pm!

One of my favorite low-budget films of all time is on tv tonight! Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn directed by Sam Raimi and starring B Movie icon, Bruce Campbell.

Be there or set your DVR! "Stay Groovy!"

thanks,
Dino

Palisades Army of Darkness Pit Battle Ash & S-Mart Ash for sale .

   Several years ago, a toy company called Palisades made my life a little happier by releasing 1/18th scale figures of one of my favorite movies of all time "Army of Darkness". I picked up the first wave immediately and the second wave was blind boxed, which was a pain in the ass to get the figures you wanted. Well, MOST I wanted the Pit Battle Ash and luckily bought 8 figures the first day they were released at Suncoast motion Picture Company (a venue that I sorely miss). I got 3 Pit Battle Ash's, an S-Mart Ash, 2 Winged Deadites and Arthur's Knight.

   Palisades is long gone and so is Suncoast. The only thing that remains are trhese figures... and they are now up for sale! if you look around eBay, you will see that Pit battle Ash commands $200.00 alone and S-Mart Ash goes for around $70.00. Well, check out MY auction and Buy It Now (Free Shipping)!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220739633537&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT]Palisades Army of Darkness Pit Battle Ash & S Mart Ash - eBay (item 220739633537 end time Feb-21-11 06:57:56 PST)

truly,
Dino, The Supreme Backward

Coming in January 2011 - a New and Improved Microcosms!!

It's been crazy during the silly season so far and it's gonna get crazier, but STAY TUNED!!
Coming next month is the unveiling of a sweet new blog directive!

MULTIPLE POSTS per week! Actual in-depth articles! And maybe, just maybe... a guest review or two!

See you on One/1/eleven!!