Just got my Avengers figures ordered from TRU.com and boy am I disappointed. I was fully informed of the lesser articulation but I wasn't quite prepared for how bummed I would be about it once I had these in hand. I picked up Avengers uniform Cap, Gamma Smash Hulk, Ultimate Thor and Mark VII Iron Man. Aside from the Avengers Loki a buddy of mine picked up I won't be getting any more of these figures. I'll still be looking for Hawkeye and Black Widow but I'm going to hold out to see them in stores if at all possible. These first 4 figures I got have really bummed me out about the line. It's not just the loss of articulation points but the lack of range of motion in the POA we did get. Add to that the cheaper feeling plastic and softer sculpts (and yes they are softer than the previous Marvel movie lines) and these just don't feel like the toys I want to collect.
Avengers uniform Cap is okay. I like the new hip construction and the uniform doesn't look awful. But the lack of a torso joint and wrists really hurts. I can even live without ankles but that missing torso joint on all of these figures (aside from Hulk) really makes these more statue than action figure.
Mark VII Iron Man... probably the one I'm most disappointed in. I was really hoping for something equal to the IM2 figures and instead got something little more than a Fisher Price Adventure People figure. He'll look good in the back of the Hall of Armor but dammit I wanted a cool Iron Man figure and ...
Ultimate Thor is ugly and the hunched neck hurts him a bit in my eyes. The only things he really needs are wrist swivels and a torso or waist joint. And a hammer made of hard plastic, not this rubber crap that makes up a lot of these figures construction.
Gamma Smash Hulk is the one I was least disappointed in but considering I was expecting something close to Butt-Plug-Duke as far as the action feature integration was concerned he had the most to gain. I'm glad the shoulders are at least ratcheted so I can get a good "Hulk SMASH" pose out of him and the torso crunch joint really helps his score. Ankles and wrists would be nice just for posing stability and more options for posing respectively but considering he's the only one that got any torso articulation he gets points over the others just for that.
Honestly I'm glad I didn't pay full price for these (buy 2 get one free so with tax and shipping it was less than $40) because I'd be really pissed. I'm glad I got them so I can at least have something resembling the movie Avengers on my shelf but they won't be getting the front spot any time soon.