Egads! This should have been published last week! Alas, life happens–or rather viruses happen. Being sick is always horrible, but it’s especially tough when you battle something like Adrenal Insufficiency. Viruses and low cortisol don’t mix well. Because of this, I avoid crowds once flu season hits or wear a surgical mask when I go out. Unfortunately, my precautions didn’t stop this sucker, and I’ve been sidelined for the last week?.
But enough about me and my health status (so boring). Let’s get to the topic of today: Captain America and Crossbones from the Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years series!
The toy stores in our area are ridiculously slow and have taken their sweet time getting new merchandise, which is probably a good thing. I’m less likely to buy when I can’t see the real product (it’s so much easier to say no when shopping online than it is when you’re holding the box). But that didn’t last long. A few weeks ago, our Walmart filled their shelves with Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years boxes.
Oh, the temptations! Obviously, I couldn’t leave empty-handed, so I decided to pick between the Civil War set and Ant-Man set. In the end, I chose Captain America and Crossbones.
The Box:
As I’ve said before, these Marvel Studios figures are a special line created to honor Marvel’s tenth anniversary. Each set contains characters from our favorite films, like Tony Stark and Mark 1 from Iron Man, Mark VII from Avengers, etc.
The Captain America and Crossbones set is from Captain America: Civil War.
Since all the Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years figures come in the same type of premium packaging, I’m not going to waste time describing the box. We’ve seen it before.
Instead, let’s skip ahead to the good stuff: Captain America and Crossbones!
Meet Captain America:
Marvel Legends collectors are raving over this set for many reasons, and one of them is Captain America’s improved face. The figures released for Infinity War were made with Hasbro’s Photo Real technology; however, those versions are of Cap with his beard. This is our first realistic looking Marvel Legends Captain America in his traditional, non-bearded look.
Captain America comes with his shield, a masked and unmasked head, and is wearing his uniform from Captain America: Civil War.
His Civil War outfit has:
- A navy mask with a silver A at the front and silver wings on the sides.
- A navy suit with a silver star at the front and red and gray stripes around the torso and arms.
- The Avengers logo on the arms.
- Brown gloves and a brown belt.
- Large, brown, army style boots.
Captain America looks incredible. His face looks amazing. I especially love how his eyes show through the holes in his mask.
Besides Infinity War, Cap’s suits always bear the colors of the American flag. The only difference is his Civil War outfit is darker than previous ones. It’s navy, maroon, and light grey instead of bright blue, red, and white. What makes this figure pop, though, are the little details. I love the touch of brown around the edges of the star giving the idea it’s slightly rusted, the lines of stitching printed into the leather parts of the outfit, and the little pouches molded to his belt look like they have flaps. Even his boots have straps and buckles molded around them.
I’m not sure what the leather straps and silver plate on his back are for, but I think it might be an electromagnet for holding the shield. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Cap calls his shield to him (like how Thor calls Mjolnir) using electromagnetic gloves that connect to another electromagnet on the back of his shield. So, I’m guessing the plate is something similar?
Now, let’s see Captain America without his mask, and this is where you really see his resemblance to the actor.
I’ve never been enthusiastic about Captain America action figures because, in my opinion, none of them come close to looking like Chris Evans. This guy, though, has earned my approval. From his blue eyes (which, according to Zemo, are flawed with a hint of green) to his blondish-brown hair, you can tell that this is Captain Rodgers from the MCU.
How Well Does He Pose?
Captain America is 6-inches tall, and I believe he has 25 points of articulation (that’s counting his double-jointed elbows and knees as being 2 points each).
- His head turns and tilts (1 point).
- His shoulders lift and rotate (2 points).
- He as an upper arm swivel (2 points).
- Double-jointed elbows (4 points).
- Jointed wrists (2 points).
- Ab-crunch at his chest (1 point).
- Waist swivel at his belt (1 point).
- He can do the splits and rotate his legs (2 points).
- Thigh swivel (2 points).
- Double-jointed knees (4 points).
- Swivel at his boot (2 points).
- Ankles tilt and pivot (2 points).
Out of all the Marvel Studios figures I’ve reviewed so far, Cap has the best articulation. He is easy to pose for action shots, and his wide boots allow him to balance on his own.
The Shield:
Of course, Captain America comes with his trusty shield (he’s kinda attached to it you know?).
The shield looks just like you’d expect. It’s red, silver, and blue with a silver star in the center. On the back are two leather-looking straps.
There are stitching lines and buckles printed on the straps. To make Cap hold the shield, just slip his arm through the straps making sure to put his arm through the larger loop first and then the smaller one.
Now let’s check out the villain in this set, Crossbones.
Who is Crossbones?
We first meet Crossbones in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. His real name is Brock Rumlow and is the guy in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D’s STRIKE team.
When Captain America: The Winter Soldier begins, Rumlow is introduced as a good guy who works alongside Captain America and Black Widow; however, we quickly find out that is not the case. In reality, he is an undercover Hydra agent who has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.
After Nick Fury’s faked death, Alexander Pierce tells Rumlow to arrest Steve Rodgers, which he does, but Steve escapes thanks to Maria Hill.
As Pierce is being confronted by Fury and Natasha Romanoff about Project Insight, Rumlow and other undercover Hydra operatives fight the true S.H.I.E.L.D (including Sharon Carter) at the Triskelion.
Before he is ambushed by Sam Wilson (Falcon), Rumlow manages to launch the helicarriers destined to kill potential Hydra threats (Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, etc.). The two begin fighting and Rumlow almost kills Sam, but a damaged helicarrier crashes into the Triskelion ending their battle. Sam escapes unharmed, but Rumlow is trapped by the debris. However, he survives and is carried away by medics at the end of the movie.
Rumlow pops up again at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War. At this point, he has already taken on the name Crossbones and wears a heavily armored suit with a mask to hide his horribly scarred face. Blaming Rodgers for his injuries, he plans to draw out the Avengers by stealing a biological agent from a Nigerian laboratory.
While Black Widow and Falcon work to retrieve the biological weapon, Captain America fights and defeats Crossbones.
With Crossbones subdued, Cap rips off his mask (revealing Crossbones’s battered face) and demands to know who Crossbones is working for.
Crossbones refuses to answer and instead tells Steve that Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier) remembered him–that is before Hydra brainwashed him again.
This information distracts Steve giving Crossbones the chance to activate a bomb in an attempt to kill Rodgers.
Wanda (Scarlet Witch) sees this from a distance and saves Cap by using her powers to toss Crossbones away. Unfortunately, she throws him into a building filled with relief aid workers and the blast kills several people, some of whom are from Wakanda. This incident leads to the Sokovia Accords which leads to Steve and Tony’s falling out and dissolving of the Avengers.
Now that we know more about the character, let’s check out the figure!
Meet Crossbones:
Like Captain America, Crossbones comes with a masked and unmasked head sculpt.
Again, Hasbro has outdone themselves with the level of accuracy. If you compare the figure with a picture of Crossbones, you’ll see that the scars look identical to those in the movie.
Besides his prominent burns and bruises, Crossbones’s unmasked head has a light beard painted around his chin and cheeks, and his black hair is sculpted into a military style cut.
Even though he’s not the most handsome figure, I’m impressed with the paint application on both the masked and unmasked heads. The makers didn’t use his wounds as an excuse to ignore intricate areas, like his eyes or facial features. For example, his helmeted head would be an easy place to cut corners, but no. You can see his burned eyes through the openings in the helmet. That’s what I like–attention to detail!
Crossbones body armor very much resembles the one we see him wearing in Captain America: Civil War.
He comes with:
- A helmet with a white skull painted on the front (aka his masked head).
- A vest with the Crossbones symbol (a white X) painted across it.
- Shells and tools on his left arm.
- A variety of weapons (knives?) on his right arm.
- Silver Gauntlets.
- A belt loaded with pouches and weapons.
- A pistol in a holster molded to his left leg.
- Knee and shin guards on his legs.
- Tall, black boots.
Even though his outfit is mostly black, it’s far from dull. His vest, belts, and pouches range from jet black to grungy brown, and his pants are a dark camouflage colored. Crossbones’s vest is soft rubber and is removable, but he looks better with it on as there’s nothing underneath except his smooth, dark torso.
Except for his gauntlets, all of Crossbones’s weapons are molded to his body and are not removable. The gauntlets, though, are soft and slide on and off his arms.
They are shiny silver with black and leather looking details and have a bar across the middle for Crossbones’s hand. The gauntlets slide over Crossbones’s arms and his hands grip the bars to keep them from falling off.
How Well Does He Pose?
I’m not going to go over every point of Crossbones’s articulation because it is exactly the same as Captain America. The only difference between the two is that Crossbones doesn’t crunch forward as well due to his thick vest. Besides that, he poses and stands as well as Cap.
Final Thoughts:
To tell you the truth, I didn’t intend to buy every Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years figures, however, Mark VII, Tony Stark, and now Captain America and Crossbones have changed my mind.
Besides Ever After High and a couple of Disney doll sets, I’ve never bought an entire line of dolls or figures because I usually don’t love every character created. So, the fact that I’m slowly picking up each set is a testament to their quality. Either that or proof I’m a crazy geek who can’t control herself!
So, my opinion about this line hasn’t changed. I love it and have my fingers crossed for future waves.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the review, and don’t forget to drop a comment saying what you think of Captain America and Crossbones. Do you like Cap’s new sculpt? What Crossbones? Are you excited to see new Marvel baddies?
