Star-Spangled Marvel Movie Hero Stands Tall And Proud...
Captain America is a superhero who has been around an awfully
long time, ever since he first debuted in 1941 the pages of Captain
America Comics #1. Fans know the familiar story - puny wimp Steve
Rogers desperately wanted to join the war effort against the Nazis but
was denied until he volunteered for a secret “super solider” program.
Injected with a serum and exposed to specific “Vita-Rays” he was
transformed into the pinnacle of human physiology. Cap has served his
country in multiple time periods and alongside the Earth’s mightiest
heroes as an Avenger. Meanwhile, the character has never been more
popular thanks to his big screen appearances in the current Marvel
Studios films starting with 2011’s first Captain America movie. That
specific incarnation of Steve Rogers is the basis for one of Sideshow Collectibles’ most impressive Premium Format Figures to date, Captain America The First Avenger!
Just one of Sideshow’s multiple Captain America statues and figures,
the First Avenger is an excellent addition to any collection and the
perfect complement to the sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier that comes out April 4th.
Returning Cap to the public eye, Captain America: The First Avenger
starred Chris Evans as the titular character, and as his transforming
alter ego. Naturally they nailed the Steve Rogers look with the blond
and muscular actor, but that’s just part of the overall Captain America
package. Marvel Studios had the difficult task of creating a cool and
believable costume for the Avenger, and of course the iconic shield.
After a decidedly retro USO costume inspired by the classic comic book
look, Rogers donned what would become that film’s definitive outfit, a
rough and tumble jumpsuit with gloves, boots, belt with pouches, and
lots of straps. That’s the version captured in Sideshow’s PFF, and it’s
both film accurate and cool looking.
Before you get to the figure itself, you have to get through its
enormous box. And if anything screams “Captain America,” this is it.
Nearly two feet tall, the package features wraparound images of
overlapping Cap shields on a patriotic red, white, and blue background.
The front panel is dominated by a huge section of the shield right out
of the movie with its central star and concentric rings; at the top is
the figure’s name. The shield image on the front wraps around to both
sides, its curves revealing the star-spangled background along the top.
Those sections in turn give way to another shield on the back of the
box that’s displayed lower. It’s definitely an interesting and unique
package design, though it will probably appeal less to collectors who
aren’t going to open it as it doesn’t have any imagery of the awesome
figure inside it.
As usual, inside the massive box you’ll find a huge styrofoam brick that
holds the parts for you to assemble your Captain America. There are
only eight parts, though, and assembly couldn’t be more obvious. The
sturdy round base is your start, a rugged bit of terrain littered with
debris and piled high with sandbags. On the underside of the base
you’ll find a design not unlike the outer box with red, white, and blue
theme, the figure’s name, and its edition number out of 1500. While
most statues and Premium Format Figures feature a one-piece base, Cap’s
includes a secondary element in the form of crossed beams (one piece
that plugs into the base). The bulk of Steve’s body is one solid piece
with a post and magnet in the feet for secure assembly. Both arms and
the head (with two options I’ll discuss in a moment) attach via strong
magnets, though you’ll want to put on the figure’s real leather chest
sash-like harness with pouches first.
Once completed and mounted on his base, Captain America stands 21 inches
tall (and weighs a whopping 10 lbs)! The First Avenger stands in an
iconic pose, defiantly raising his fist at the forces of evil from atop a
pile of sandbags so he can rally the troops. With his left hand
upraised, Cap holds his right arm in front of him to present the front
of his mighty shield as a warning to his foes. One of the really cool
things about this figure is that it works in several different
positions, whether you want Cap face on or turned to the side. The
latter gives you a really good look at his costume, featuring the
traditional Premium Format Figure mixture of elements, textures, and
materials. While the figure itself is solid, there are tons of extras
in the form of cloth pants with tons of sewn sections and seams, red
cloth suspenders, and separate belt with moveable pouches and connecting
straps down to the pistol holster on his thigh. Meanwhile, just about
every brown strap on the figure is cloth/material including the ones on
his arms and shield!
As you’d expect from Sideshow, Captain America’s sculpt is excellent.
From top to bottom there’s so much going on, and the character’s
intricate battle gear really gave the sculptors a lot to work with in
terms of textures and shapes. One thing I really like about this figure
is that it’s realistic; Cap is heroic but not puffed up with
exaggerated musculature. His torso and arms look normal, with a subtle
physique under the reinforced costume. That, meanwhile, is absolutely
covered in tiny details including seams, stitching, layers, padding,
folds, creases, and so much more. It even works seamlessly with the
fabric elements like the areas that are bunched up on the arms from the
position of the straps! Cap’s gloves and boots maintain the leather
look while being solid, and again include tons of stitching and
realistic creases and movement.
And while drab compared to the figure, the base is also intricately
sculpted and full of things to look at and notice like the variegated
rubble, the lifelike molding of the sandbags under Rogers’ weight, and
of the fantastic crossed beams behind him with rivets, rust damage, and
more. As previously noted, the figure comes with two different
portraits that you can swap out at any time, masked and unmasked heads.
This is purely up to your preference, as both look great. The first
version wears the costume’s unique masked helmet with ear guards and
chinstrap, while the other features the full Chris Evans sculpt and
perfectly coiffed hair. Both versions resemble the actor strongly
without going the full scanned route and feature the same focused and
brave expression.
Most Captain America costumes from the comics are ultra-patriotic with
tons of bright red, white, and blue... and which would look fairly
garish if faithfully recreated in the real world. For the films Marvel
has gone with varying degrees of subtlety in the costumes, and this one
treads a nice fine line between realistic and patriotic with its colors
and hues. The blue of Cap’s pants nicely matches the paint on his
helmet and upper chest, which in turn contrasts with the whitish-gray of
his lower chest and upper arms. A somber brown is used on all
“leather” parts including the boots and gloves, which again matches the
real cloth elements. One of the most interesting tidbits about this
costume is the way they incorporated the traditional red and white
stripes on Cap’s midsection with unobtrusive and realistic red
suspenders over the white area. As befits a Sideshow product all of the
paint applications are crisp, and there are tons of added details like
the metallic silver of clasps and connectors, varying hues of gray on
the chest straps, star symbols on the upper arms, white “A” and wings on
the helmet, and more. And while the costume is nicely understated, the
shield is all bright metallic colors and looks awesome. Finally, both
facial portraits have excellent paint apps including soulful eyes.
Captain America fans have several options when it comes to great
collectibles from Sideshow including a comic book-inspired WWII Premium
Format Figure, upcoming Captain America The Winter Soldier Premium
Format Figure, the ridiculously awesome life-size Captain America bust,
and more. But if you’re a fan of the films, and so many of us are, the
Captain America The First Avenger Premium Format Figure is the go-to
version with a great screen accurate look, so much added value from the
different materials, and the swap out portraits. Get yours now, just in time for the April 4th release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier for $349.99 (or via payment plan) at Sideshow Collectibles.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, TheToySource.com, Toynk.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, MonkeyDepot.com, EntertainmentEarth.com, Amiami, HobbySearch and Hobbylink
For hobby miniatures and all your gaming needs, visit MiniatureMarket.com.
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