Review : Marvel Legends Captain America (WW2), The First Avenger

Pros : The outfit is well sculpted with textured sections and some nice weathering

Cons : The figure is undersized vs the Legends line as a whole. The head is poor in both sculpt and paint

During the first few Marvel Cinematic Movies, the figures released were few and far between and sized at 3.75" in the main. Hasbro's Legends line began to look at MCU figures as of 2014 as it evolved to the Infinite Series and the first figures were released for Guardians of the Galaxy, followed soon after by a wave based on Captain America Winter Soldier.

Within that wave were figures from the movie, and then this little gem, a World War 2 Captain America.

While Cap did don the WW2 gear at the end of Winter Soldier courtesy of the Smithsonian, the outfit in the 2014 movie did have some differences to the one we saw in the First Avenger, most notably the red straps on the mid-drift. This figure therefore is accurate as the First Avenger appearance, although the difference is minor for those wanting to use it for a Winter Solder display.

The figure was packed in the same scooped sided packaging as the other Winter Soldier movie figures. The key difference was the logo on top of the box front which was just "Captain America" on this release and lost the "Winter Soldier" subtitle seen on the other figures.

The wave included build-a-figure parts for a comic book Mandroid, but WW2 cap was devoid of any parts and was not pictured on the rear within the BAF checklist. While here in the UK this figure landed alongside all the others, the packaging for this WW2 Cap seems to indicate he was released ahead of the reveal of the other MCU figures from the wave as they are blanked out on the package.

Looking first at the head sculpt, and this is certainly not a brilliant likeness to Chris Evans. It is also pretty messy with the chin strap paint covering a lot of the chin. We also have zero colouring on the lips and the eyes are a bit wonky under the mask.

While the face isn't up to much, the helmet is well proportioned and has neat decal application of the front "A" and the two side winged icons.

The rest of the outfit is much nicer than the head with a textured pattern within the sculpt of the outfit and loads of detail on the straps, buckles and the belt section. The paint here is crisper and there is weathering across the white areas in particular that does dirty Cap up nicely. The star in the centre of the chest is also neatly painted, and the two shoulder decals even more so.

That being said there are still paint errors on the costume. The most notable is the red strap on the stomach which is only partially painted on one side. We also have some bleeding between the grey trim and white sections in certain areas.

There is a bigger issue (there is a pun there) with the size of the figure, which actually comes in a touch under 6". While in true 1/12 scale this is precisely where Chris Evans would be, the figure is woefully small vs the other MCU figures - both of the time and those released since. And the most notable issue is that this figure is nearly half an inch smaller than the Winter Soldier figure from the same wave.

Cap has 18 points of articulation, starting with a ball jointed and pivot head that can be leaned forward and backward by some distance. There is then a chest joint built into the figure where the costume translates from the blue to the white. This has limited forward movement, but allows rotation to either side and Cap can also lean back quite a way and it is nice to see the paint continues under the joint so this lean doesn't expose any unpainted areas.

Arm are ball jointed at the shoulder with a bicep swivel underneath. Elbows are double jointed and wrists jointed. The legs are the same principle with ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knees and ankle rockers. Cap is relatively easy to stand, and unlike a lot of Legends none of the joints feel loose or wobbly.

Cap wouldn't be Cap without his shield. And in this release it is the traditional version with the red, blue and silver colour scheme. It is cast out of a softer plastic which can mean some misshapen shields out of the box depending on how it was packed in the factory. Two straps, also in soft plastic, are glued into the back - one loop being larger than the other.

The finish to the shield is quite dull and I'd have liked to have seen a glossier finish, or flip the other way to a dirty weathered version. There are also visible mould marks on the front which are frustrating.

The shield fits over either hand, with the hands gripping the smaller loop after the first has been taken over the arm and up towards the elbow. The fit is tighter on the right hand, but you will want to keep this clear if you want Cap to be wielding his pistol at the same time.

The handgun is a very basic sculpt of a WW2 revolver with very limited detail. It is silver in colour with a black grip. It fits in the right hand neatly, with a flexible trigger finger that can slot into the trigger. It can be forced into the left hand if you wish - although it doesn't look and feel as natural here.

If you want the handgun out of the hands, then it does fit into the working holster on the right thigh. The fit is tight but snug and once in place a soft strap goes over the top and clips into place. Thanks to the arm articulation you can even get Cap into a pose where he is drawing the weapon.

It is great to have a First Avenger Cap in the Legends line, but this figure does have some shortcomings (another Pun), the height being the main one. The head is also sloppy and looks like it is from an inferior / cheaper figure. The two accessories are OK, but not brilliant as the shield would be better if it was glossier and the gun lacks any detail.

The costume is really well sculpted with texture built into the sections in blue, with the straps and buckles also very nice and the white sections nicely weathered. But there are still paint errors such as a half painted red strap and some bleeding around the trims.

I score the WW2 Captain America a 2 out of 5 and I hope at some stage in the future we can get an update to this figure in better scale and with a digital print head sculpt.