How apt, that the review of Hot Toys' Captain America follows that of Christopher Reeve Superman, both American symbols of justice and freedom in their respective comic universes. While HT's headsculpt of Superman is spot on, it's clear that they did not concern themselves with creating a figure with the likeness of Chris Evans. The face beneath the helmet looks like a generic caucasian, possibly Evan's stuntman. Perhaps since half of his face is already covered by the helmet, which is not removable, it is not so important to pay tribute to the actor that played the character in The First Avenger movie.
If we were to compare Captain America to another Marvel Character by Hot Toys, say... Spider-man 3 New Goblin, one of the distinct difference would be in the inclusion of an unmasked head for the latter, which included the New Goblin masked head with visor, and an alternate head with the likeness of James Franco. Bear in mind that the costs for the two figures are similar. This pattern repeats itself with an upcoming release by HT, the Red Skull from the First Avenger franchise, where we have a Red Skull head, packed together with a Hugo Weaving head. Again, the price difference isn't significant. Another example would be Black Spider-man, which has both the Spidey and Tobey Maguire head included.
Why is that so? My guess is that Hot Toys, being the merchants that they are, judges the popularity of characters before deciding whether or not the alternate-unmasked head is included. If it is the main character of the movie and a very popular superhero, you can be sure that the alternate head will not be included. It will, however, be packed with a subsequent release, so as to entice the collector to purchase another separate figure just for the sake of having the unmasked head. This is what is happening for the Captain America, which I kinda despise. Obscure character who is not the protagonist in a movie? Let's include the human head so as to boost our sales a little. Of course, these are just speculations on my part, for how could a collector truly understand what goes into the calculation for the cost of an action figure by the manufacturer? They probably know best. But in short, I do feel that the cost of this figure should include a Chris Evans headsculpt to better increase the figure's playbility and value.
Captain America comes packed with his main weapon, the vibranium shield, as well as a rifle and a pistol. I like the fact that all these accessories can be holstered / hung on to the main figure, so that apart from the alternate hands, no other accessories need to be kept in the box. HT did include a small rectilinear S-hook to hang his shield on his back, much like how he carries the shield in the movies or in the comics.
The design of Captain America movie is very much akin to that of the Ultimates universe, with a World War II inspired helmet design complete with chin straps. Photographed below is a figure of the modern Captain America costume produced by Toybiz in their Marvel Legends Icons line. Comparing the two, the movie Cap's design has transformed what was cartoony and comic-ish into something almost believable, but at the same time paying tribute to the comic costume. For example, instead of painting red and white stripes across the abdomen padding, the armour is painted white with red coloured harness straps running across it. Instead of planting the Wings of Liberty above the character's ears, the wings have been spray painted on to the helmet. The star on the chest remains though. One complain that I have about the costume design is the shoulder armour, that hugely restrict the upward movement of the figure's arms. Some brute force is needed to extend the arm into a horizontal position, but take care not to stretch and tear the fabric.
I imagined that the figure would be somewhat taller, seeing how Chris Evans bulked himself up so much to play the character. Remember the scene with him running in a skin tight shirt down the street chasing down Docter Erskine's murderer? That hunky mass is lost in this figure as he appears to be somewhat short standing next to other 12" figures. Still, the attention to details is as high as Hot Toys have been delivering for all their other figures, and the weapons included are great additions. However (I've said it before and wish to re-emphasize), without the Chris Evans head, the package simply doesn't justify the high cost of this figure, bringing its playability and value down drastically...
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