Was it worth it? We'll see.
Captain America (Movie Version)
This is Cap in his World War II era costume design from the film. Included with the figure are his trademark shield, a .9mm handgun, and a removeable helmet. First of all, the design itself is the highlight of the figure. It's very militaristic as opposed to the comic book tights and scale armor. The sculpt is pretty good as it conveys the design well.
But the biggest drawback to the figure is the paint application. The paint is half-assed and barely detailed all across the board on this figure. I searched through the racks, and believe it or not this was the nicest one I could find. Luckily it has it where it count, such as on the stars and the wings on his hat. But the belts, harnesses, and straps are all pretty poorly painted.
From a distance it's not too bad, but just inspecting it up close you see the shoddy paint aps. But enough on that, what about playability and articulation? Well, first off, they gave his shield the two straps instead of a clamp or handle. It's a little difficult opening his hand to get it around the strap, but it holds great and looks natural. But what is really poor design on Hasbro's part is the plastic on most of his body. It is a soft rubber type of plastic that bends way too easily. This is the biggest problem on the legs, because these rubber legs don't lend themselves to easy standing or posing.Articulation-wise you've got the standard Hasbro 3.75 inch amount. Can be posed in a number of ways, but because of the soft rubber legs it's difficult to stand him in any of those. The double knees are nicely done and the only two joints that really aren't stiff at all. However, again Hasbro can't commit to a decent crotch/thigh joint across any of their lines. It's sort of a ball joint/y-crotch joint, but it's not even a decent ball like the Iron Man 2 line had. The joints are sculpted to match the rest of the leg, which works if you don't ever want to move the legs forward. Otherwise, you get a wierd-looking exposed joint like the pic below. I don't care for them. They should have stuck with the MU style ball joints, or hell, even the G.I. Joe style ball joints would have fit the war tone of the character perfectly.
With poor plastic and paint aps, I would think twice before getting this guy. Unfortunately, the nice design, articulation, and accessories really don't make up for the shortcommings.
Red Skull (Movie Version)
I only specify that he's the film version because who knows if they'll make a comic version of the character. There is a variant to this figure with comic-accurate Hydra colors though. Anywho, Red Skull here is the villain for the film, naturally. His accessories include his luger pistol, a energy missile-firing rifle, and the Tesseract (cosmic cube).
The sculpt on this figure is as nice as Cap's was. The actual "skull" part, however, is oddly lacking. It seems more rounded than how he was in the film. It's not bad at all though, it's just not as detailed as it could have been. The painting on this figure is much better than that on the Captain. This may be because there are just plain fewer small details or even colors to focus on. His uniform is clean, save for a few silver buttons, and his skull is vibrant.
Red Skull has some decent poseability, even if they're less "action-y" and more "evil dictator overlooking a doomed world" poses. He has a few less points than Cap, notably in the legs. He has no ankle joints to speak of, and his thighs are near immobile because of his uniforms hard plastic "skirt" (I dunno what it's called). So his legs get very few stances. Otherwise he's got the standard arms and torso, able to raise his hands (or his gun) in anger. He can also hold the cosmic cube very well thanks to the molded holes in the cube to match the placement of his fingers. Figuring out the perfect fit though may be a little tedious, but it works.
I had to get Skull because he's not the easiest to find. So since I actually found him I had to get Cap and a few others as well. While Red Skull is a very pleasing figure visually, he lacks in poseability. Not that Red Skull really needs it based on the character, but it would have been nice to make a soft rubber skirt at the least.
Deluxe Hydra Soldier (Movie)
I really liked this guy. The design is pretty cool for a WWII-era futurism look. The whole movie uses this asthetic which I loved to death. The sculpt realizes this nicely, and it just looks cool. The paint is also fine, in the same way Red Skull's was. There's not too many colors to mess up, even if this guy had a little more mess in some tiny parts. Not too noticeable though.
The Bottom Line
At a few dollars more than the regular figures, give him some thought before you buy him. I actually liked this guy a lot, even with the limited movement. It's a cool design and nice for any army builder collectors out there. If it was the same price as the regular figures it would be totally worth it.
Bucky Captain America (Comics)
This is part of the figures styled after the comic books instead of the film. This is the newer Heroic Age Captain America when Steve's old partner Bucky Barnes takes the name. Bucky comes with a pistol, a knife, and a gimicky shield with retractable saw blades (what?).
But, again, I had to find the best painted one of the lot. Although it is much better than movie Cap, he's still got some slop around the mask. Oh well, because the paint itself makes up for it. The colors on the uniform are all metallic and they look fantastic. The shield is also well painted. Annoyingly, the weapons are just in a molded grey, with the knife having a painted handle. This just makes them look fake with the rest of the figure. But I'll give it a pass because the rest of the figure is so good.I prefer him with the movie Cap shield though. If I display any of them, it'll be this guy. There is another version of this figure included in a Target exclusive comic pack with the villain Crossbones. However this version skips the metallic paint job for a matte finish, but on the flip side it comes with a regular shield. I opted for the comic-accurate metallic paint because I figured I already had a decent shield to give him.
The Bottom Line
This figure is far and away my favorite of the bunch. You can decide if you want this version or the two-pack version though. Depends on what kind of shield you want. I'm not much for gimicks, but I don't use that shield anyway. Just a good figure all around.
Overall this line probably won't get any more money from me unless they release something cool later. This line seems to be very hit-or-miss quality wise though, so just be on the lookout for the best paint job you can find. Of the three movie lines (Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America), this line seems to be of the poorest quality overall. I mostly got these figures for my Avengers completion though.
