Captain America The First Avenger 3.75" Ultimate Captain America

 (**Just a short message for you loyal readers: if you missed it, I'm running the first ever contest on Chase Variant to commemorate my 200th post.  Mosey on over to join in the fun if you haven't already!  If you have, then on to the Ultimate Cap review!  ;])

Comic Series, of course!

The Captain America First Avenger Movie Line continues the tradition started with Iron Man 2 figures with sub-series categories: Movie Series, Comic Series, and Concept Series.

I personally love these because you can tell whether you're getting something from the movie (especially if the flick hasn't hit the cinemas yet), or you're getting something that's been in the comics and has now come to (plastic) life.  It's also especially cool when they label a figure a "concept" because that means the toy makers took it upon themselves to imagine something beyond both film and print and deliver it to us.

It's just like when we were kids and we would imagine something up, whether it's a new hidden laser on Iron Man's armor or Green Hulk with Banner's intellect, or Spiderman not needing web cartridges and growing four more arms (since the 80s the latter two have happened, of course! ;P)

Ultimate Captain America is far from being just a concept figure.  In fact, he probably single-handedly revived the original Cap's reputation by being as kickass as he is in the Ultimates Comic book series when Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch started the ball rolling.  How cool is he?  He's actually taken down the Hulk in one one one combat (more or less)!

He's also so cool that he's got his awesome theme song.

Needless to say, the Ultimates Cap character is my favourite Cap!  Will he be capable of becoming my fave figure as well?  Let's see! ;)

That's not the shield he comes with...

Feet closed! Awesome!

Like: Best leg articulation I've seen since the Iron Man 2 swivel/hinge balls.  It's a brand new joint for a brand new line!  The difference is in swivel/hinge post and thigh cut combo vs IM2's swivel/hinge Ball.  They both work similarly, though.  Check it out (from left to right):

Aesthetically, thigh cuts look better on human legs, balls work or power armor.  Just look at how awesome the sculpting on the leg above the thigh cut is!

This is the "shield" he comes with

That's black widow's gun!

Like: Brilliant chest pivot.  Great range of motion yet but fits like a glove over lower torso, almost seamless!  Speaking of seamless, his ankles are so well hidden that I had to double check with the Rangerlord if he had them.  The text conversation went like this:

Me: He looks like he's got no ankles.  You still keen (on getting him)?  I'm gonna pass.

RL: No way.  He's got them. Thx bro.

Me: Well, ok.  Dammit I'm buying him too.

So much for willpower.

 
Like: His face sculpt.  even beneath the mask, you can see his brow ridges and cheek bones. He's also got that Steve Rogers square jaw and a pursed lips worthy of any soldier.  With the eyes, it all comes together very nicely in a perfectly determined expression.

If there's an issue at all it's that his eyes are set a little bit wide apart.  Though that's not a real problem, it makes him less handsome and more thuggish.  I want Handsome Cap and not Brute Cap, dammit!  But Hulk say no puny human as handsome as Hulk though, so all good. (What the? - How did Hulk get a comment in here? - Ewan ;P)

Dislike: The Meat Pie Shield.  Yeah, don't be fooled.  It ain't made out of Vibranium, like they say.  Word on the street says it's minced pork.  ;P

 As far as I know, Cap doesn't use these in the Ultimates series.  And what good is a shield that is so thick and yet can split into two?  It's supposed to be a shield, dammit, not a pocket knife pretending to be a shield pretending to be a meat pie.

Like: That they tried to make the best out of the pie shield with retractable blades, a peg to put to on his back two clips for wrists, and a nice mini-posts/slots mechanism that keeps the shield together.  I have to admit, I actually like the concept of a bladed shield but this one's just too thick and should never have been able to split. The shield also does have another post which allows him to carry it on his back.  Now that is pretty neat. :)  The silver and blue paint on the red-molded shield is also excellent.

Dislike: Lack of other accessories.  Considering that he does use guns in the Ultimates series and will be using them in the movie from what we see in the trailers, where is the gun for this figure?  Any gun, even the smallest of pea shooters, would've offset some disappointment from the meat pie of a shield.

Dislike: No wrist joints!  Did they think they could get away with this??  Did they think the kids wouldn't notice?  Well, us big kids do!  Aaaaaaaaaaargh!!!  How is Cap ever gonna throw his shield now?  It's gonna fly of into the sunset and never come back now, never I tell you!!!

Like: His shoulder stars. Hell yeah!  No self-respecting Ultimate Cap fan would accept Cap without them!  Well he's got one on each shoulder and they're both sculpted as part of his suit and then painted white with the red star transferred on.  Too cool. :)

Like: His textured suit with all it's sculpted scales and the sculpted chest star, which are all done to perfection.  The white of the star is a transfer like the two on his shoulder.  There's lots of detail to be happy with, like his sculpted abs, his belt and pouches, his glove pouches and straps, and his boots done right down to his smartly tied laces.

Dislike: That his left arm has been attached too high onto his shoulder hinge plate, resulting in the arm being unable to come fully down by his side because the hinge at the armpit gets in the way of itself!  Let's just hope this is one off on my Cap.  Perhaps you can probably ensure yours doesn't have the same problem by trying to spot a slight gap on top of the left arm between shoulder.  Those would be the ones to avoid if it's just a defect in mine.

Like: That I'll have no shortage of weaponry from my GI Joe figures to deck him out with!  Of course, he'll have to borrow a "real" shield from one of my other Caps, but that's no problem at all!

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 8/10 - Very comic book accurate.  His jaw may be a little too square, his nose a little broad and his eyes a little far apart, but the look is unmistakably Captain America!

Cap's also got some excellent detail work put into him from the suit scales to his gloves, boots, and even the folds of his pants.  The costume is also comic book accurate so it's all good in this department. :) 

Poseability: 7.5/10 - The best legs in the business excepting the exceptional SDCC 2010 WWII Ultimate Captain America, which was a one-off exclusive which had the works! But the loss of wrist swivels means a loss of poseability.  Also, he's missing the latest swivel/hinge neck articulation that most of the Thor figures have.  And it seems the line won't have many figures with it, if at all.  That's a bummer.  But as long at they make proper working ball joints for the heads, all will be well. :)

Fun: 9/10 - First came Ultimate Iron Man, then came Nick Fury (thanks to the movies).  Now there's a modern Ultimate Cap.  It's already fun knowing the 1st 3 of the original Ultimates exist.  But can anyone say Ultimate Thor?  Can anyone feel the earth shudder as you think of Ultimate Hulk?  I can!  And here's one for all Ultimates fans: "You think this 'A' on my forehead stands for France?"

Now give us an Ultimate Hulk why don't you, Hasbro! ;P

Value: 7/10 - Prices of Hasbro 3.75-inch figures have gone up by quite a bit. From the reduced 16.90 of Iron Man 2 last year to the new retail price of S$19.90 (US$15.30) of Thor and now Captain America.  That's quite a bit of an increase.  I'm glad I got mine from a specialty store and thank goodness Hasbro delivers the quality, otherwise it'd be much tougher to justify wanting these figures.

Overall: 7.9/10 - It's a keeper with some flaws

Ultimately the loss of wrists hurts Ultimate Cap as does the lack of "proper" accessories.  He's ultimate in name but not truly ultimate in nature.  That honor still belongs to his WWII counterpart.  But if you're an Ultimates fan, this figure is a no-brainer.  If not, Ultimate Cap is still fun and a good buy, except that you could easily snag a better Cap from this line, say like the movie costume Super Combat Captain America or even the re-release (with some re-tool) WWII Cap (Battlefield Cap)!