Captain America: Civil War is the best superhero movie of 2016 (as of the time of this writing), and Bandai has new S.H. Figuarts figures to go with it. First up is Captain America with a new maskless head sculpt featuring the likeness of Chris Evans!
In fact, the whole sculpt is new. I was expecting a simple repaint with a new head, but this is an all-new figure. Yeah, sure, Bandai puts out press images and we look at them and examine them, but it wasn’t until I had this figure in hand that I realized that it was all new. Except the crotch. And shoulder pads. But everything else seems to be new! Shoes, boots, knee pads, thighs, belt, abs, chest, biceps, forearms, hands, shield, and, of course, the head. I mean, wow! The whole figure is a new sculpt. They really went all-out, unlike Hasbro (don’t get me wrong — I love their Cap). This is a real treat and the sculpt is an improvement over the previous Age of Ultron figure. I still think the thighs look tubular (and not in the good way) in that they look like tubes. I’d love to see a bit of bagginess in the thighs; they look really thin.
The head sculpt is the real selling point of this figure, and let’s just agree that it is a phenomenal face scan. It looks like Chris Evans . . . but it could use a different paint app. I think sometimes Bandai’s paints don’t bring out the best in these face scans, but I have to say, like with Obi Wan, I like it the more I look at it. The helmeted version is a little off, which is a shame, but it isn’t a deal-breaker. This version will be on display without the helmet.
Articulation is, well, S.H. Figuarts standard. In our haste to take some pictures, we didn’t set the salute right, but he can do a proper salute — fingertips to eyebrow. That’s pretty cool, specially for Cap. In general, there were no problems posing Cap out of the box, but I did experience one stuck and one tight joint. The right ankle was squeaky tight, and, once again, silicone spray fixed that. The right rocker was also tight, and, once again, boiling water or a hair dryer can fix that. The foot is PVC material, by the way. You can see a full demonstration of the articulation and range in Robo’s video review:
Cap has about as many accessories as the previous version, and that’s a ton. Hands, shield, shield parts, and then the new head (the maskless Chris Evans one). All these accessories are a ton of fun and make for some amazing poses and play. I love the updated shield; the Age of Ultron version had a segmented star, while the Civil War version does not. Also, the inside of the shield is different, specifically the straps. The Civil War version has thinner raised straps. Bandai also simplified the shield-holding mechanism.
All in all, this is another great entry from Bandai. As mentioned, I was surprised by how much new sculpt was on the figure and the head sculpt. Captain America has a ton of great detail and an abundant amount of articulation, making him a blast for any collection.
You can still pick this figure up at:
