Finally a toy-related post from me! (Captain Action)
I'm excited about this...
You may have seen the new Captain Action figure & his silver age Marvel costume sets. Cap Action was my first super hero figure when I was a kid in the 60s. The line was not without its problems, but it beat wrapping tin foil around a 12" GIJoe and calling him Iron Man.
The new Cap Action base figure itself has serious limitations, however, IMO. In many ways I prefer the original or Playing Mantis repro, "monkey arms" and all.
The new Cap Action figure has weird proportions and poor articulation for a 21st Century base figure. I can only surmise that they decided to "cheap out" with some knock-off 12" figure from China. Nice, new headsculpt, but that's about the best that could be said. The Cap base figure does come with a few nice, updated accessories. The base figure's Cap Action costume I got had some serious sewing issues. I gave the whole mess away to a friend's first grade son. He loved it. My advice is to skip buying the base figure all together.
The Captain America costume set was a different matter. It's probably THE NICEST Captain America costume set ever. It's the "right blue," is 100% on model (it comes with belt pouches but you don't have to use them), comes with 2 pairs of gloved hands, 2 shields (the buckled straps work well). (The red vinyl boots do seem a tad sticky.) The tailoring/sewing is extremely well executed. My biggest complaint was that they managed to use some sort of lycra with very restricted elasticity. I had been planning to put the suit on some muscle body 12" figure, but had to opt for a slimmer Dragon instead.
Sadly, the company decided to forego interchangeable HEADS and went with the "original concept"...masks to fit over the base figure's head. This was very poorly handled, IMO, resulting in a gigantic, BOBBLEHEAD noggin! (Even the aforementioned first grader thought Cap looked goofy.) BTW, the original Cap Action from the 60s didn't exhibit such inhuman proportions.
The new Captain America set comes with a Steve Rogers & a Captain America "mask." The less said about Steve's goofy face & googly eyes, the better. The masked Cap matches the blue of the costume, but ignoring the large cranium, his wings point straight up. Needless to say I was very disappointed. I found a suitable blond Dragon head, and displayed the Cap uniform "unmasked."
This morning I decided there was little left to lose. I retrieved the Cap mask from my parts bin, gingerly trimmed away the ears, and the bottom of his face (I left the eyes intact), and created an actual, removable Captain America mask. I slipped this over the Dragon head...and it was a perfect fit! It no longer looks oversized at all! I still have to do a bit of trimming, thinning & painting...but I believe the end result will be very satisfactory. I'll post pix when I'm done...
This gives me some hope that the Spiderman, Thor & Iron Man costume sets may be salvageable. Hope springs eternal!
