Cap finally gets his dance, and we finally get Peggy Carter in Marvel Legends.
As we reflect on the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe run with the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, Hasbro and Marvel are taking us all the way back to where the First Avenger, Captain America got his start. The celebration of Marvel’s 80th Anniversary has been an absolute home run for Hasbro, and while I do not have all of the 80th sets just yet, those that I have gotten thus far have all been winners. That goes for this new Amazon-exclusive set featuring Captain America: The First Avenger, and as I said, getting Peggy Carter into Legends after all this time is a great thing.
I will admit, when it comes to these Anniversary sets, and Marvel Legends in general, I am more of a fan, and an avid collector of, the comic-based figures. However, as ML has a way of doing, I am really in love with the MCU sets I have gotten, and there is an awful lot to love about this new offering. Aside from finally getting us a Peggy figure in general, Legends was not really full swing into the Cinematic offerings with The First Avenger was released, so going back to fill in the missing pieces is really nice, and also appropriate for celebratory execution.
Overall, I would say this set is very much in the A-/B+, and there is a lot to like about both figures. I feel that Cap ended up being the stronger offering in the end, but Peggy works well for the character design the ML team was working with. Appropriately, this is Peggy as she appeared in the Cap film, but I REALLY hope we eventually get a figure of he based off of the all-too-short-lived Agent Carter series, because that look is just dynamite.
Anyway, this is Peggy in her military uniform, and the figure matches the outfit well. Inherently, the dress limits some of the leg articulation, but for this look, it doesn’t bother me too much, and you should have expected that it would limit the hips. The material of the dress is also pretty rigid, so I do wish they would have used a softer plastic (like that used for the 80th Hulk figure), but that is not a make or break for me.
Peggy’s likeness (using the wonderful Photo Real process) is pretty good, but not quite as nice as some of the more recent MCU offerings. Hayley Atwell has very distinct features, and while I feel that the sculpt and print get most of it right, her eyes don’t really resonate with me. I don’t know what it is exactly, they should be bigger or something, but they don’t have that sultry quality to them, and that is bummer. As I said, though, that certainly does not ruin the figure, and I very glad to have Peggy in the ML ranks.
That said, where Peggy doesn’t hit 100% true for me, I think that Cap does. Let’s face it, we have gotten a LOT of MCU Captain America figures in Legends, but this one offers a lot of uniqueness, and the first Cap movie likeness is really strong on both of the offered portraits. I kinda love that they went with the fatigues look for this figure, and you can see that prototype Cap suit just peeking up out of the collar.
There is a lot of sculpted detail in the base body, and the color palette is not only appropriate to the movie, but the historical era as well. The straps are a nice touch, and the functional pistol holster and knife boot sheath are appreciated for accessory storage. Now, I believe this base body will be shared with the Ultimate Captain America that is coming with his WWII bike later in the year, so that makes me even more excited for that figure, because this base looks great and is really functional.
I mentioned it above, but the likenesses on the two heads are really, really great. I heard some initial grumbling about the faces being the same, but I think the point of including two heads was to facilitate the wearing of the included helmet. It definitely fits better on the head with the flattened hair, and the end result is really nice as most helmets like this are usually too big or sit too high on the head. Plus, if you feel the expressions are too similar, since the bodies are the same, you can use one of these for that upcoming Ultimate Cap.
Cap also gets the bulk of the accessories, but Peggy can totally use any of them, too, especially the silver shield. The pistol and knife are both reuses (I think), but the machine gun is a nice touch, as are the two shields. With the recent release of the Wal-Mart exclusive “Worthy” Captain America, this figure makes a nice bookend with that figure, and is a cool way to celebrate Cap’s epic run through the MCU.
This is a great set, so I HIGHLY recommend you pick it up at Amazon. It is funny, I have almost all of the MCU 80th Anniversary sets (and only one of the comic offerings), and all of them have been really great. Marvel Legends is simply CRUSHING it right now, so it is nice to get a celebration of the First Avenger during this run.
