{"id":21928,"date":"2012-11-21T00:05:57","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T06:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21928"},"modified":"2012-11-21T00:35:03","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T06:35:03","slug":"return-of-marvel-legends-u-s-agent-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21928","title":{"rendered":"“Return of” Marvel Legends
U.S. Agent Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> On Monday, I got to review a long-awaited DC Classics figure: Elasti-Girl. Today is a review of a figure I\u2019ve waited even longer for: a Marvel Legends U.S. Agent. I can\u2019t believe it took two companies, hundreds of figures, and ten years to get this guy. This is easy repaint territory albeit infinitely delayed. <\/p>\n

On a “programming” note, I\u2019m jumping ahead to review U.S. Agent here, but I\u2019m still not quite done with Return of Marvel Legends Wave 2 reviews. I know it\u2019s been awhile and some of you have been asking for quite a bit. I still plan on getting to the Wrecking Crew & Arnim Zola at least, so don\u2019t think I\u2019ve completely abandoned Wave 2 for Wave 3. However, I won\u2019t be reviewing all of Wave Three. I\u2019m in-between on a couple (I may waver when I see them in person), but I definitely don\u2019t \u201cneed them all\u201d for the next couple waves. We may hunt down some guest reviewers to round out the figures Vault & I won\u2019t be able to cover, we\u2019ll see. <\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, so U.S. Agent. If you\u2019re a long-time reader of this blog, then you should know of my perverse fascination with costume changes. Unlike many of my comic reading brethren, I get no sense of safety or an express train to my happy place when I see my costumed heroes wear the same \u201ciconic\u201d costume time after time. A little change will do you good (Note to DC: I said \u201clittle\u201d change). So, new, temporary costumes are often fun, cool little diversions. I enjoy \u2018em. Particularly when they paint it black. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019m not sure why I have a fascination with the darker hues of the regular costumes, but I really do. I will always rank Spidey\u2019s Symbiote suit as the coolest costume of all-time. I think Batman looks best in all-black. War Machine simply looks cooler than Iron Man. And, I have a bizarre fascination with U.S. Agent. (a Marvel Legends U.S. Agent received one of our first “Most Requested” figure nominations<\/a> back in February 2010!)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re unfamiliar, Captain America occasionally boils over and needs to go on walkabout. When that happens, you need a replacement Cap. Enter John Walker. Initially, John stepped into the ol\u2019 red, white, & blue while Steve Rogers donned the suit seen here, calling himself simply \u201cthe Captain\u201d. As is often the case, a lot of crazy stuff goes down, things explode, people die, and the march to the status quo charges on. Walker would ultimately insist that Rogers retake the mantle and then, wouldn\u2019t you know, there\u2019s this black version of the costume laying around, so\u2026 U.S. Agent sounds like a clever enough name, right? <\/p>\n

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U.S. Agent has pretty much been around in one form or another ever since. His costume has changed over the years, but nothing ever really quite captures the same appeal of the original look, so I\u2019m glad that Hasbro went with this version for the figure. I\u2019m not sure what he\u2019s up to these days, but hopefully he\u2019s out there taking names and kicking ass. <\/p>\n

The figure itself is largely a complete repaint of the Bucky Cap from Series Two. I\u2019m honestly completely fine with this \u2013 I actually wouldn\u2019t mind seeing Hasbro putting out a regular Cap on this same body. It does lack the chainmail details, but I think it could look pretty sharp. Unfortunately, based on the Wave 1 Steve Rogers and Wave 4 Ultimate Cap<\/a>, Hasbro feels that Steve needs to be a little larger than life. Those figures look good, but it leaves me wondering a bit about scale in the new ML. <\/p>\n

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But I digress. This body is a great basic sculpt. The guys could probably have a little more bulk for their stature, but I don\u2019t find it too lean at the same time. I think it works great. The only thing I don\u2019t like is that the flared out part of the gloves are glued on over the molded-black forearms. I managed to miss it in most of my pics, but in-hand the figure has black circles around the wrist peg and it\u2019s a nitpicky annoyance. <\/p>\n

On top of all that is a great sourpuss head sculpt. Yeah, Hasbro could technically reuse this as an angry Cap (or if they make a new, compatible Cap, we could swap in a call U.S. Agent), but I like U.S. Agent being cranky. I think it\u2019s fitting for the character and goes right along with the \u201cDark Cap\u201d theme. <\/p>\n

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As a reuse of the Bucky Cap, the articulation is exactly the same as what we\u2019ve seen before. Two-pice ball-joints in the neck, shoulders, wrists, and ankles, one-piece ball-joints at the hips, swivels at the biceps, waist, and thighs, double hinges at the elbows and knees, and the ab crunch. Everything works well. I still really love the new ankle articulation, but the limited one-piece ball hips could be better. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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I ran into problems when it comes to the paint. While I haven\u2019t seen Blade, Punisher, Mystique, Moonstar, or Deadpool, I have seen U.S. Agent three times. I couldn\u2019t buy the first two due to paint. Partly, that\u2019s on me because this is a figure that I wanted damn near perfect. I was less willing to accept messed up paint than normal, but both of the first two had remarkably bad paint on the chest detailing. So much so, I was shocked to find that anyone had bought them on subsequent visits to the store! This U.S. Agent is painted well in comparison \u2013 a little fuzz here and there \u2013 but well enough that I bought him even though he was missing an accessory. <\/p>\n

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U.S. Agent is supposed to include his trademark shield, a gun, and a trusty knife. This U.S. Agent did not include a knife. I went back-and-forth on buying it because of that missing accessory, but ultimately I did for a couple reasons. One, based on other reviews, I know he can\u2019t really hold it. He also has no place to stow it. Second, while I have a bad habit of trimming down and selling off my ML collection every couple years, I\u2019m not going to sell U.S. Agent. This is a figure I\u2019ll be keeping for the long haul \u2013 and that knife? That was going to likely get misplaced anyway. If it were up to me, I\u2019d have gone a little off-model and added a holster and sheath for the accessories. I don\u2019t think too many of us would\u2019ve stormed out over that, but then again, if there was a sheath on this figure, I probably wouldn\u2019t have bought this particular when. The empty sheath would\u2019ve bugged me. Anyway, I don’t mind the missing knife, but I might be alone in that respect. <\/p>\n

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I also wouldn\u2019t have bought this figure if he was missing his pistol. U.S. Agent needs a gun, see? And luckily, it fits his hand great (finger on the trigger and all) and he looks great posed with it. Yay. <\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the shield. The shield is easily the most important accessory… and Hasbro kinda got it right. I shouldn\u2019t say that. They did get it right. There\u2019s plenty of artwork out there with the star in the middle of the shield, but I always liked it better without. It made him a little less Captain America. But Hasbro has the star molded to the shield and, with that in mind, I\u2019m glad they painted it (even if the tampo is slightly crooked). It would\u2019ve looked dumb to have it molded there and blacked out. U.S. Agent already suffered (that indignity twenty years ago<\/a>. And, hey, its tons better than the shield they gave the 4\u201d figure. (I bought a deluxe Cap figure I didn\u2019t need just to get that man a proper shield). T <\/p>\n

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Finally, though I neglected to snap a photo of it, U.S. Agent includes those cool “Heroscape” stands that have been coming the movie-based figures. You can see a pic in Vault’s Doom review<\/a>. I lament the loss of a BAF for this (unless you count it as Build-A-Floor!), but I do love the stands. They snap together, they’re stackable<\/a>, and the more I get the better they are. Though, Hasbro could do me a favor and make sure they’re all the same shade of gray!<\/p>\n

Overall, I\u2019m trying not to gush here and keep it by the numbers, but I\u2019m ecstatic about this figure. This is the figure I\u2019ve wanted ever since I saw the character as a kid, since I saw the atrocity that is the ol\u2019 90s Toy Biz version, since the 5\u201d version (that sucked, really<\/a>) was cancelled, ever since he was removed from the Target exclusive Red Hulk wave, even when I bought the 4\u201d as a stand-in, and all the way up until last week when I thankfully found one that was painted well. I feel a little bad buying him knowing that he was missing as accessory, but I don\u2019t care while playing with the figure. The sculpt is good, the paint sharp, and the two accessories I do have are pretty cool. That part of me that loves dark versions of regular costumes is more than satisfied. <\/p>\n

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For more Marvel reviews, check out our Review Index<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, I got to review a long-awaited DC Classics figure: Elasti-Girl. Today is a review of a figure I\u2019ve waited even longer for: a Marvel Legends U.S. Agent. I can\u2019t believe it took two companies, hundreds of figures, and ten years to get this guy. This is easy repaint territory albeit infinitely delayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[122,34,10],"tags":[170,24,2579,2575,1421,442],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-5HG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26585,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26585","url_meta":{"origin":21928,"position":0},"title":"Vault Review: Marvel Legends Captain America 2 A.I.M. Agent","date":"January 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/aima4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29622,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=29622","url_meta":{"origin":21928,"position":1},"title":"Hasbro Releases Giant-Size Images of the Next Marvel Legends Wave!","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3883,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3883","url_meta":{"origin":21928,"position":2},"title":"Most Requested Figures: Marvel Legends U.S. Agent + Poll","date":"February 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Requests"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16513,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16513","url_meta":{"origin":21928,"position":3},"title":"Marvel Legends (Terrax Wave) Heroic Age Thor Review","date":"January 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s finally here! After being announced nearly a year-and-a-half ago at San Diego 2010, Marvel Legends is back on store shelves in all their 6\u201d glory and with BAF pieces in tow. Our local TRU opened a fresh case this weekend and I happily snapped up Hasbro\u2019s six-inch version of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26574,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26574","url_meta":{"origin":21928,"position":4},"title":"Marvel Legends Captain America 2 Red Skull Review","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17472,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17472","url_meta":{"origin":21928,"position":5},"title":"Marvel Legends Captain America Review (Arnim Zola Wave)","date":"March 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"You know what the plan was for 2012? Spend less money at retail. Limit the impulse purchases. Try to budget in a Hot Toys figure or two. You know what blew that to hell? Marvel Legends. One, cause they\u2019re awesome. Two, because they released two waves on top of one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21928"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21928"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21940,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21928\/revisions\/21940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}