2021 was the year the MCU expanded beyond the movie format and into serial TV shows via the Disney+ streaming service. A Marvel Legends wave arrived in the Summer of 2021 to bring us figures from the first three Disney+ MCU shows with new figures from WandaVision, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, and Loki.
Sam Wilson in his Captain America suit was part of the wave along with figures of Bucky Barnes, Colonel Zemo, and John Walker as US Agent. As Sam's new wingsuit was too large to include in a standard Legends release, Hasbro mirrored the format they followed for the MCU Vulture and packed the wingsuit as the build-a-figure for the wave.
The Disney+ wave used the standard packaging with colour accents and backing cards adjusted for each of the three properties. The Falcon & Winter Soldier releases used a red character name box, and grey insert with an included Shield logo and a cracked plaster wall.
"Donning a brand new suit and wings from Wakanda, Sam Wilson proudly takes on the mantle, ready to unite people as the world's new Captain America"
Sam is a brand new Marvel Legends figure and is a pretty accurate recreation of the Wakandan suit that the new Captain America wears in the Series finale. We have the blue and white suit where the majority of the parts are cast in the base blue with the white painted over. This does lead to some murky areas around the edges or where the white paint is not applied fully - the trim on the legs and shoulders are the worse parts affected.
Other paint detail is added with silver on the boots and central chest star and stripes, and there is a use of bright red on the stomach section, arm gauntlets, and also on the boots. These are all applied neatly.
The head sculpt is a good likeness to Anthony Mackie, albeit with the eyes covered with the red lensed goggles which are sadly not removable. Like the other white elements of the costume, the white on the head is painted over the darker base colour and again suffers from some parts that are darker and where the base colour does show through.
If you are simply using the Sam figure without the wingsuit, then the set includes the folded backpack that is cast in silver with some darker grey silver trim. It sits into a hole on the back of the figure and sits snugly in place.
Sam comes with the Captain America shield, an MCU accessory that has been in circulation for some time. It uses the twin straps on the back for attaching it to Sam's forearms rather than the peg/clip format. This is more realistic to the prop, but without a peg you cant mount the shield on Sam's back in place of the wingsuit piece, or on the wingsuit itself.
The shield is bright red with silver trim and a more muted blue painted piece in the centre which shows signs of paint bleeding. It fits perfectly onto Sam's forearm and holds securely in place.
Moving onto the wingsuit BAF and this is assembled from parts included in the other 6 figures in the wave - Sam himself does not come with any BAF parts. Assembly is not overly difficult, you need to follow the numbered guide on the back of any of the Disney+ wave boxes as some of the parts can be placed the wrong way round which looks OK but does alter the hinges of the suit and how it folds and articulates.
The wings are supported on a clear sweeping stand that comes with the Loki figure and allows the suit to be displayed on its own if that floats your boat.
The majority of the parts are cast in a silver base plastic with painted blue and red on the inner segments of the panels. Both the blue and red are metallic in their finish to match the silver.
Also included in the Loki figure with the stand is a Red Wing piece that has its own smaller flight stand and can be positioned to sit hovering over Sam's shoulder. The Red Wing piece is detailed and painted in line with the wings, but the ball joint is tricky to engage and the piece falls off so easily I have already discarded it to the spare accessory box.
The wings attach to Sam in the same way the standard backpack does, via a single peg in the centre of Sam's back. The fit is snug and holds well enough, although the provided stand isn't a flight stand, and simply holds the wings for you with Sam in a standing position.
Aftermarket flight stands can be used to provide a flying pose but really should have been included in the set.
The wings are articulated in several hinged positions allowing the wings to be swept back or forward in-flight poses. You can even recreate the shielding pose by kneeling Sam down and wrapping the wings around him for protection.
Sam himself is articulated with 20 points of articulation and he has a full range of motion including the ability to kneel as we saw above as well as more dynamic action stances and in-flight poses.
All in all, our new Captain America is a very solid release with just a handful of paint niggles. It looks and articulates really well, and the wingsuit is well designed to complement and work with the figure. The issue is one of format of release, with the BAF format making it quite expensive unless you are collecting all the Disney+ figures. Sam may have been better as a Deluxe release with the wingsuit - something I am sure we will see in the future - and the unmasked head we are getting in the Captain America 2-pack in early 2022.
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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 (Action Force) 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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