Star-Spangled Man
Year after year I've observed the ascension of the HotToys (HT) product. It's amazing how adept companies have become at sculpting the likenesses of various movie stars, with varying degrees of success of course.
I've been a fan of 12" figures since my first GIJoe in the mid-60s, and I had been sorely tempted to lay down a considerable chunk of change for one of these HotToys figures...simply out of curiosity. For better or worse, I'm simply disinterested in most every "movie" version of comic book superhero characters (along with 99% of live action superhero movies).
The Chris Reeve Superman HT figure was alluring, but I always saw Chris more as Bruce Wayne, not as Supes...but at least the character was recognizable.
I considered a more-or-less familiar Iron Man figure...but aside from being way expensive, they looked way fragile.
It's a shame (or a good thing) that HT doesn't make a line of Silver Age Marvel figures, or I'd be in the poor house.
Aside from its rewriting of history (No, the Nazis weren't REALLY the bad guys in WWII. Hitler? Who's he?), not to mention Kirby's premise, the Captain America movie probably offended my delicate sensibilities the least. (I walked out on Thor!) At least there was one brief scene featuring the Star-Spangled Man (SSM)...a close(r) approximation of the way Cap was intended to look.
SSM was not THAT expensive, so I snagged him. Nice collector friendly packaging. Nice accessories (although 2 sets of hands seem almost identical...a Steve Rogers head might have been a better inclusion)...original shield, guns & gear. (If you get one of these SSMs, I'd suggest being VERY careful that the hooks on his "army belt," or his cartridge belt, don't snag his blue costume underneath! I decided not to risk it.)
The SSM headsculpt was ok...although his flesh tone seemed a bit grey to me. Of course I had to reposition his wings and paint them white, along with repainting the silver/grey "A" on his forehead. Ah! That looked much more like Cap to me! Too bad his mask's eye holes are too big and his ear holes, er...don't exist!
I even had a spare 1/6 round shield I rigged up with buckled straps that can be adjusted so that the shield can be worn on his back (to conceal zipper) or on his arm.
My biggest complaint was the articulation of the base, muscular figure itself. His shoulders simply do not have nearly enough range of back&forth motion, and the elbows are not double-jointed.
And that "stand" does not fit, er...between his legs very well. Fortunately, he stands well solo.
Now HERE is a superhero for you: http://www.legendtoys.jp/#
