Review > US Agent (Captain America: The First Avenger, Hasbro)

Today’s review is a bit unusual for me, as I haven’t reviewed a Marvel Comics toy in ages. I spent about a year loving Marvel when I was 13-14, then my second Transformers era took hold and I didn’t get interested in Marvel again until the era of Marvel Legends.

However, I did always have a certain fondness for the subject of today’s review, US Agent. I’m not sure why–maybe it was because I found the real Captain America a bit dorky. US Agent, to the young teenage Poe, was the “cool” version of Cap; plus he had a more interesting costume. If I’m being honest, I didn’t really know who US Agent was–I just liked the character concept, and the look. In retrospect, of course, the character was kind of Azrael to Captain American’s Batman–a more brutal, less idealistic, and generally darker replacement (though I should note that the Cap-replacement storyline took place in the late ’80s, years before Knightfall).

Anyway, it was that mild nostalgia that led me to make my first Marvel Universe purchase since my last and heretofore only one, brown costume Wolverine. We never got a Marvel Legends US Agent, so when I saw this one I just couldn’t resist.

Packaging: I don’t follow Marvel Universe or its movie-based sublines, but there appear to be two three types of figures in their Captain America: The First Avenger line: the “movie series” consisting of figures from and inspired by the upcoming film; the “comic series” featuring characters from Cap’s “extended family,” so to speak; and the “concept” line, which features Cap in outfits Super Dave Osborne wouldn’t be caught dead in, like X-treme Snowboard Cap or whatever.

The art on the packaging is eye-catching and the blue and red color scheme is always a winner. I can’t help but note the “Avengers Assemble” logo in the upper right corner–Marvel is pushing this Avengers thing hard, aren’t they?

The back of the package features a little bio for the uninitiated:

US Agent is armed with a Vibranium shield very similar to that of Captain America. He uses this for protection and as a weapon. Although he and Captain America have had their differences, both agree that any threat to justice and freedom must be stopped.

Design & Sculpt: I don’t own any other MU Captain America figures, but I can only assume this figure is built primarily from existing Cap parts. However, I assume the chest, with its banner and star, is new, as well as the head.

It’s a good sculpt for the scale. Hasbro has gotten about as good as they can get in the 3.75″ scale without becoming a Japanese company.

Plastic & Paint: Since I don’t collect a lot of 3.75″ scale stuff, I have a hard time judging the quality of the paint applications. I know it’s more difficult to get intricate details right on a figure this size, but I don’t think that excuses the uneven lines on the star on his chest. Even more disappointing is the lack of any sort of wash or detail on his gloves, boots, and belt, which are molded in bright red and as a result, look very toyish.

I know these are the “comic” based toys, but that doesn’t mean they have to be painted in four colors–they’re comic-based, but not cartoon-based. After what I’ve seen from Hasbro on other lines, including the mainstream Marvel Universe, there just seems to be a bit of a lack of effort here.

Articulation: US Agent has a ball jointed head, ball-and-hinge joints at the shoulders and elbows, a ball jointed abdomen, ball jointed hips, swivels at the top of the thighs, double-hinges at the knees and hinges at the ankles.

This is pretty good for the scale, though double-jointed elbows would be much more preferable to the much-maligned “elbrows.” As usual for MU, the “ball jointed” head has very little actual range of motion. It’s a shame the figure lacks swivels at the wrists. Also, note that despite the fact that it looks like the figure should have a swivel waist, it doesn’t.

Accessories: The accessories include a MAC-10–which fits US Agent’s more extreme brand of justice (right? or am I way out of the Marvel loop here?)–and an eagle-shaped shield. At first I wasn’t sure whether the character had actually ever wielded a shield like that, but apparently he has apparently he has (first pic was Photoshopped, evidently). The shield has a nice touch in that it has a swiveling attachment on the back that allows it to clip to his shoulder or project a peg that can be used to hold the weapon in his hand or stick to his back.

Given that Hasbro was able to build the figure largely from re-used parts, it’s not surprising they decided to spend the money to fabricate the unique shield. It’s a welcome addition.

Quality Control: No issues.

Overall: I don’t think this figure is going to convert me into a Marvel Universe collector, but it’s nice to finally get a proper US Agent figure.

In the interest of giving you the best information to make your purchase decision, I should note that Phil Reed of Battlegrip.com also reviewed this figure and absolutely hated it. While some of our differences are purely of opinion–he hates the eagle shield while I think it’s a lot more interesting than a repainted Cap shield, and he thinks the face is ugly, whereas I don’t really have a thought on that one way or the other–his comments about the figure’s paint work are significant. I didn’t judge the paints too harshly here because I have a pretty low opinion of what’s possible in this scale (again, unless you’re a $50 Japanese import), but Phil suggests MU can do and has done better.

With my strong preference for the 6″-7″ scale, I usually find all 3.75″ figures disappointing, so I didn’t judge it quite as harshly. But if you’re a diehard fan of the line or the scale, Phil’s review might be a more useful one to you.

[raven 2.5]

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17 Comments

  1. Alex

    The Batman figure next to it is cool. Where is that from?

    • It was from DC Infinite Heroes…it was a later version, and a bit harder to find than the first one. It's not that great a figure, honestly.

  2. Richard Grayson

    This seemed like as good a spot as any to give you a "thank you" shout out, Poe. I've recently been sucked into the Marvel Universe line and just got Modular Armor (or series 3) Iron Man and he had a stuck knee. An article of yours was near the top of my Bing search for "freezer solution" info and was super helpful! Ol' Shellhead is fully mobile now, thanks!

    I've been eyeing the comic version regular Cap but had the same complaint as you in terms of the paint. I hate overwashing, but it's just WAY too bright and flat.

    I am a huge DC fan and wish so bad they had a toy line comprable to this. DCUC is great, but so expensive and I'm preferencial to the smaller (à la Super Powers and Star Wars) scale.

    Thanks again!

  3. Fries Against

    That Phil guy is a whiny little bitch fest anyway.

  4. Andrew

    Poe wrote:

    Thanks. That’s…weird. Why would anyone Photoshop that?

    U.S.Agent's had a bunch of different costumes (he's even had a bunch of different versions of his black costume, in addition to costumes that are red, white, and blue Cap knock-offs with varying degrees of tacticool additions) and shields over the course of his career; it's probably a case that someone liked that particular shield and that particular costume.

  5. Braystreet

    Not really a fan of the character, due to my love of all things Steve Rogers, but it is really the only figure that works with the standard Captain America body Hasbro is using for the comic inspired figures. I don't really understand why they went so stocky and bruiser-like, it's not really a look Steve has ever had.

    The biggest problem with it from my opinion is that it actually goes against Captain America's powers. He was brought to peak physical condition, that means every muscle is functioning at the top of its game and there shouldn't be a fraction or a decimal point out of place, but this body type requires an extra layer of fat that he just shouldn't have.

  6. AFOS

    I'd like a figure of The Captain, the identity Steve Rogers took when he donned this costume. Granted the only difference between a figure of The Captain and and this one of US Agent would be a plain shield and a less pissy facial expression, so I don't expect Hasbro to go through the trouble.

  7. misterbigbo

    Now that I have looked more closely at his face sculpt, he has that pinchy look Kermit used to make when something bad happened.

  8. Henry

    While none of my cap figures have arrived yet, I'm confident I'll love them, so the review over at Battlegrip doesn't resonate with me.

    The lack of wrists is an unfortunate reversion, but compared to the 1/18 dc competition I'll live. I'm surprised that the Thor line managed to budget in full articulation across the board and the gimmick weapons but certain figures in this line lose wrist or ankle movement though.

    The new shield is a nice addition, though I wish it had the arm straps like the shield that comes with the movie figure. The clip system used for every other shield in the line just does not work. Shouldn't be too hard to pick up a few extra movie!Cap's closer to the release of the film for the better shields though.

  9. I've been considering picking up a regular Cap'n since first saw the new figures hit shelves. I kinda like the dorky red, white motif with the stars.

  10. Bigbot

    Can you really call this a Marvel Universe figure? It's always seemed to me that there's a team for Marvel Universe, and then there's a team for the movie lines. I guess you could in a scale sense, like calling a Spider-Man classics Demogoblin a Legends figure.

  11. Poe

    Josh wrote:

    Bad link for that shield reference; that’s just an old pic of USAgent with the shield Photoshopped on top.
    http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/thunderbolts/23
    Not that my link is all that much better but at least it’s unaltered art

    Thanks. That's…weird. Why would anyone Photoshop that?

    Will West wrote:

    I think there are actually *3* subsets to this line: movie series, comic series, and concept series. Super Snowboard Adventure Cap (or whatever they actually call him) hails from that latter series.

    Ah, I think you're right. D'oh.

  12. prem1x

    Don't judge MU on this figure. This movie line is not as articulated and this figure in particular seems to have paint qc issues.

  13. misterbigbo

    My youthful interest in USAgent exactly mirrors yours, and as such I have been looking around for one of these for the same reasons. I probably won't buy one, though; I have picked up a couple MU 3 3/4" figs and just don't like them very much.

    I appreciate the added articulation, but in some cases it's an illusion. The Colusses I have takes about three poses, and one of them is called "fell down from own weight".I find the plastic so rubbery and paint apps to be so terrible that I avoid most of them that I have been interested in. First appearance Wolverine would be awesone, but the few I've seen in the wild were aweful.

  14. I think there are actually *3* subsets to this line: movie series, comic series, and concept series. Super Snowboard Adventure Cap (or whatever they actually call him) hails from that latter series.

  15. Josh

    Bad link for that shield reference; that's just an old pic of USAgent with the shield Photoshopped on top.

    http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/thunderbolts/23

    Not that my link is all that much better but at least it's unaltered art 🙂

  16. I'd buy a proper, Marvel Legends USAgent like that; but I'm avoiding 3.75" figures right now.

    I hated the character when he was the replacement Cap, but as USAgent he has a certain dickish charm. Kind of like Green Lantern's Guy Gardner, he's really a jerk but not a bad guy. (He's in Thunderbolts right now, although his status quo has changed a bit.)

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