#67: Captain America The First Avenger - Captain America Paratrooper Dive

My birthday was a few days ago, and this was a gift from A.J. This was one of the figures I wanted, but not quite enough to actually buy, so it makes for a good gift. I don't have a classic comic version of Captain America, which this figure is, and figures with functional parachutes are always cool, so this is a good combination. The Cap figure is pretty decent (and he has articulated wrists, which some of the figures in the regular line are oddly lacking). I'm not sure if the harness is removable, as I haven't tried too hard to get it off, but I suspect that it is. Naturally, his shield is included as is a machine gun. The parachute itself can disconnect from the harness. And of course, the parachute is round and decorated like the Captain's shield. It's very James Bond from The Spy Who Loved Me. I haven't yet taken it out for a test in the open, but I definitely intend to, as parachuting figures are naturally loads of fun. When else do you get to throw your toys around without worrying (as much) about breaking them?

#62: Captain America The First Avenger Comic Series - Crossbones

While I was surprised to find the Red Skull on the pegs, I was also surprised to see Crossbones directly behind him. I can't say that I'm familiar with the character at all, but I figured it might be my only chance to pick up the figure. Also, he looks pretty damn cool, so I went for it. Note to self: I should finally get around to buying a luchador mask.

Even though I've only got two other figures from this line, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is probably the best figure for the line. He even has ankle articulation! He's got a cool look, and what I consider to be the necessary articulation, and he feels well put together. I think the biggest complaint I could make is that he can't hold all his guns. There's a machine gun and a couple of machine pistols, but nowhere to store them, so there's always one extra. They also look kind of plain since they're just unpainted green plastic.

It's not often that I pick up the toy of a character I'm not familiar with, but I am definitely glad that I did in this case.

#61: Captain America The First Avenger Movie Series - Red Skull

Having finally made up my mind that I do in fact want to buy the movie Shockwave, I went to Target, and noticed a Captain America figure sitting in the Transformers section. I noticed that it was a figure from the second wave, so I immediately went over to the Captain America section of the aisle on the off chance that the Red Skull figure would be there. From checking out the case assortments online beforehand, I knew that Red Skull is inexplicably shortpacked, there being only one per case. Because the kids and collectors don't want the main villain of the movie, right? They all just want various versions of Captain America (at least most of them make sense), of course. Fortunately, there actually was a Red Skull on the pegs. Naturally it was the only one.

So he's pretty cool looking. I'm not really sure what he looks like in the movie, having only glimpsed him in the trailer, so I'll assume that's what he looks like. It looks like something the Red Skull would wear, there is a definite military feel to it. He feels like he's more solidly put together than my other figure from the line, so that is good. His leg articulation is a bit hindered by the lower portion of his jacket, and he lacks ankle articulation. For accessories, there is the big goofy rocket launcher, a pistol, and the Cosmic Cube. The Cube is pretty cool, it's translucent and has energy streaming out of it. Neat.

#58: Captain America The First Avenger Comic Series - Captain America Battlefield

Captain America Battlefield? Okay, who's in charge of naming these things? That's just terrible. Battlefield Captain America would be much better, although something along the lines of World War II Captain America would be preferable (or maybe even Ultimate World War II Captain America, to be more specific). Anyway, like the Wolvering and Iron Man lines before it, the Captain America line is divided into movie and comic series, which I continue to wholeheartedly agree with. I already have a six inch version of this figure (which I got mainly because it came with the Samuel L Jacksonesque version of Nick Fury), and it's a good figure, but I'm mainly into the four inch scale, so I figured I'd pick up this version too.

So, the good news is that it looks good. The sculpt is detailed and textured, and the paint is pretty good. The helmet is removable, and Cap is well armed with a machine gun, a holsterable pistol, and of course his trusty shield. Unfortunately the articulation doesn't work as well as one might hope. The main problem I have is with the arms. They don't go down far enough to the side, and from what I can tell that's an engineering issue rather than a production issue.

So it may not be the best figure out there for your Captain America needs, but it looks cool. Either way, unless I can find Red Skull, I think I've got all the Captain America movie figures that I want. Although, there is a paratrooper Captain America figure that would be a good birthday gift for someone's birthday next month. His parachute is shaped like his shield, and it's the classic non-Ultimate version which I don't have a toy of yet.