Ultimate Captain America (World War II) SDCC2010 Exclusive
During the last days of World War II, Captain America disappeared. The man who had inspired America's troops in their drive across Europe simply vanished, never to be sen again. Unknown to the world, he lay frozen in the deep, cold waters of the North Atlantic, kept alive by his super-human physiology. It would be decades before he was found and revived into a world he barely recognized. He is a man of the past, but he remains dedicated to the future of mankind - a future he sees in the shining promise of freedom for all people.
Well... not much different from 616 Cap, huh? I admit, I haven't read any of the Ultimate books. My only exposure to the Ultimate universe are the Ultimate Avengers DVDs. But this isn't a review of the character. It's about the SDCC 2010 exclusive MArvel Universe figure.
I don't usually include packaging in my reviews because I'm not an MOC/MIB collector. But exclusives such as these usually have better packaging than their retail counterparts. And this time, Hasbro seems to have gone one step further. The figure comes in a blue cardboard sleeve, with foil embossed letters proudly proclaiming "CAPTAIN AMERICA" along the edge on the front, and along one spine, and a huge foil embossed Marvel Universe logo at the back. The front also has the character art up front which has a gloss application over it. Wow. 90's gimmick covers all over again. Inside the sleeve is the regular Marvel Universe card. But it's not just your retail Marvel Universe card. It has foil logos and inserts and instead of the SHIELD or HAMMER logos, it has Cap's shield. The packaging isn't as extravagant as some of Mattel's exclusives but it's better than Hasbro's previous exclusives which just come in a plain white box (Nick Fury, iceberg Cap, Doc). One thing to note though: Cap was a pain in the ass to take out of the packaging. The head was covered by a plastic piece which was secured by inserting the edges through the tray and then taped to the back. With very thick and sticky tape. And the legs had rubber bands holding them to the tray.
As for the figure itself, this seems to be made completely from all new parts. The entire figure is sculpted exquisitely, with the appropriate textures on every surface. The "fabric" parts of Cap's uniform are sculpted to have the actual texture of a military unifrom. The boots also have the simulated texture of leather. So much detail is sculpted into this figure: the ribbed collar and cuffes underneath the jacket; all the buttons and buckles and straps; even the soles of his boots have the appropriate US Army prints. The harness is a separate (non-removable) piece with a functional holster. This figure captures the image of Ultimate WWII Cap perfectly.
The figure uses a new articulation model, closer in line to the old ToyBiz Legends model: hinged peg neck with a ball on the end; pseudo ball shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, peg wrists with a hinge at the other end to allow for two axis movement of the hands, two axis peg diaphragm, pseudo ball hips, swivel thighs, double hinged knees, cut swivel shins, and finally, two axis hinged ankles. Since the figure uses all new parts and a new articulation model, it's a little taller than the regular Marvel Universe figures, as shown in the side by side comparison photos with the other Cap versions. The figure isn't out of scale though, it's just right for a super soldier.
What would Cap be without his trademark shield? This figure comes with the WWII badge shaped shield which was originally included with the 616 WWII/first appearance Cap. It's exactly the same, right down tot he paint applications. Cap's WWII style helmet is also removable. Aside from the shield and helmet, Cap also comes with the standard Marvel Universe psitol. It's not WWII accurate, but it works. It fits in nicely into his holster.
Just like the 616 WWII Cap, this Ultimate WWII Cap is also colored with a very subdued palette, but made even darker by the gray paint washes, which, combined with the sculpted textures, really brings out all the details.
Most exclusives are usually just repaints or (not so) clever Frankensteined/kit bashed figures. It's very rare that we get a completely new figure for an exclusive and even rarer that we get a work of art such as this.
- JM
