Red Guardian from the Black Widow MCU movie was part of the first Black Widow movie based figures from Hasbro arriving in March 2020. The wave also included Black Widow, Yelena Belova and Taskmaster. Comic book figures of The Winter Soldier, Crossbones and Spymaster rounded out the wave. The build a figure was a comic book based Crimson Dynamo
Packaging 5/5
While the Red Guardian packaging retains the usual layout and design of Marvel Legends, the design is very specific with a red, white and black theme and very stylised imagery harkening to the Cold War era Russia and the designs used on propaganda posters of the time. The Black Widow movie logo sits at the base of the figure window above the character name. The new illustrations sweep round on either side showing a masked Red Guardian. The same image sits on the back alongside the briefest of non-spoilery background text.
"Alexei Shostakov is a super soldier and spy who has lived a lifetime of triumph during the Cold War"
The checklist of other figures in the line is also presented in this stylised format with red highlighted on items like Widow's hair and Taskmasters shield. The checklist shows a masked Red Guardian.
When you open the figure you will see Hasbro have dropped the loose window panel and this is now fixed back to the box again, rather than sitting over the inner tray. The card back for Red Guardian carries the Black Widow logo.
Paint & Sculpt 2/5
It is worth getting it out of the way, there is no alternative head with the Red Guardian. Despite showing a masked Alexai on the box art and the checklist of releases - you only get an unmasked head in the pack.
This unmasked head is a very soft sculpt and there is little in terms of likeness to David Harbour. The whole head could be someone else as they have given him a very well combed hair cut - when on screen it is much wilder. As is the beard which is neat and trimmed on the figure, while Alexei has a bushier dishevelled beard on screen with grey within it.
Sadly this is potentially the usual case of Hasbro using concept art and designs and not what we will see on screen. In fact the hairstyle and some of the beard seems to be based more on Hopper from Stranger Things, Season 2.
The Red Guardian outfit is good and a good replication of the onscreen look. It is red and textured - much like a Captain America suit - with grey straps and large central star. There are panels of black around the suit and also on the hands and boots. The paint apps are OK, but there is a lot of paint bleed and shoddy colouring round the back of the figure where the straps are pink in places where the grey hasn't covered the base red underneath.
Accessories 4/5
Guardian comes with his shield, and I was initially disappointed to see it had got the very old school wrist clip handle underneath and not the straps we get on more modern Captain America figures. I then realised this clip and the whole on his back meant Alexei can actually wear the shield on his back - something Hasbro haven't managed to do with an MCU Cap so far?
The shield is a new design and cast in silver with red paint. Again the paint is not hit and miss with some edge lines a bit rough. The clip goes over the wrist sections on either arm and holds well in place. The fit to the back is secure, and it is actually very tight to remove so be careful.
I won't mention the alternative head again at this point, but I will say that Alexei is also short an alternative pair of fist hands considering we see him squaring up in a fighting stance quite a lot on screen.
Articulation
Red Guardian comes with a full suite of articulation, 19 in total. We get a torso joint as well as double jointed elbows and knees. As a larger build there are a few restrictions in posing, but overall Alexei is pretty mobile.
Head : ball joint pivot neck
Body : T-Joint Chest, waist swivel
Arm : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, double elbow joint, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knees, ankle rocker
All the joints are tight and move easily. Red Guardian stands perfectly well. Shield poses look great and even though we don't have any alternative fist hands, the ones we do get can be posed for fight ready poses.
Summary
Sadly, Red Guardian suffers with the first wave syndrome for Marvel Legends MCU figures. Because he was developed and is released ahead of the film, he has a number of inaccuracies particulalr the head sculpt. And an odd decision not to include the helmet - unless that wasn't revealed to Hasbro?
The face print is not up to the usual standard, regardless of what the concept art was, and is very generic and soft and not a good likeness to David Harbour.
I do love the costume, although it would benefit from some crisper painting on the shied and round the back of the figure. The shield works, even if it does use an old design, and I do like the look of it being worn on the figures back. Articulation is good and the design of the box art is very striking.
I score the Red Guardian a just above average 3 out of 5. And even if it does mean a second purchase, I hope Hasbro will do a revised version with helmet at some point in the future. It feels like a good 2-pack opportunity similar to how they dealt with Killmonger in Black Panther.
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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