{"id":27308,"date":"2014-03-12T00:57:19","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T05:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27308"},"modified":"2014-03-12T07:04:24","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T12:04:24","slug":"marvel-legends-captain-america-infinite-black-widow-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27308","title":{"rendered":"Marvel Legends Captain America
Infinite Black Widow Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Outdated thinking is all around us. I\u2019ve talked before about what one person sees as true does not necessarily apply to the next person, but when time is thrown is a factor things get even more complicated. What\u2019s true for a person on Monday may not be true for them Tuesday, or a year, or a lifetime from now. We kind of suck at realizing that. Once we get a truth that we consider universal in our head, we hold on to it. It\u2019s stabilizing. It\u2019s reassuring. It\u2019s terrible. <\/p>\n

The outdated thinking I\u2019m talking about today, of course, is that girl action figures don\u2019t sell. I\u2019m not going to get into a history lesson and talk about the G.I. Joe Nurse. Obviously, there was a time that you couldn\u2019t throw a girl figure at a boy \u2013 that\u2019s fine. But the Nurse thing happened over a decade before I was born (And I\u2019m getting pretty damn long in the tooth myself). I\u2019m too young to understand that thinking. I loved having Wonder Woman in Super Powers, the first of many Diana figures I own. April O\u2019Neil. Janine Melnitz. Lady Jaye. Jinx. Zaranna. Teela. She-Ra. Ripley. Princess Leia. I had \u2018em all. And I wanted more. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

My problem isn\u2019t with the notion that \u201cgirls don\u2019t sell\u201d in general, it\u2019s that so many toy companies backed down and ran from it. If it really was true, or really is true. It shouldn\u2019t be a warning to be heeded. It should be a challenge to be answered. Make the women figures worthwhile. How often have we seen a girl figure look terrible or phoned in compared to the men in the same line? That\u2019s self-fulfilling right there. What are the examples of a toy company putting out top notch girl figures and getting their butts handed to them? \u201cGirls don\u2019t sell\u201d is deterministic thinking when it\u2019s really a call for problem solving. Drives me nuts. <\/p>\n

Luckily, modern collectors have had it a little better. G.I. Joe got back to having girls in their rosters. Hasbro & Mattel put a lot of the ladies in their comic lines (though tons more are still needed). She-Ra & her Princesses of Power are thankfully being included as full-fledged members of MOTU Classics. The biggest recent issue where this stupidity raised its head, though, was Avengers. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Hasbro put out this relatively great line of 6\u201d figures for the movie. There are a few things I would\u2019ve liked differently. A better Thor & Cap for one. But the worst thing about that toy line was it only made five members of the six member team. Cap, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye\u2026 and that\u2019s it. (A great, but too small, Loki figure rounded out the assortment). No Black Widow. <\/p>\n

Maybe the folks at Hasbro had a great reason to not include her that was based on tooling, budget, etc. Maybe they could only have six figures and just desperately wanted to get Loki in there. I don\u2019t know and I\u2019m not really interested. The only thing I was interested in after picking up those figures was \u201cfix it\u201d. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

And, finally, they did. Black Widow, appearing alongside Cap in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was also included as one of the three movie-based figures in the Marvel Legends: Captain America: Infinite Series (they really need a better name for these toy lines). I was ecstatic to see her included. My Avengers and I have been sitting around for nearly two years waiting for this day. <\/p>\n

Even better than Hasbro finally making her, Hasbro knocked her out of the park. I\u2019m going to nitpick it to death in the various sections my review covers, but I love this figure. This is two figures in a row where I feel like Hasbro really had stepped up to the plate and delivered a girl figure on par or better than the guys. Both Black Cat & Black Widow are amazing and I\u2019m hopeful to see what they have coming up. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Black Widow is an all-new figure. The new body is covered in movie-accurate details. The now-familiar movie multi-texturing, the various belts, strap, and buckles. It all looks sharp. Some of the details make her a more definitive CA:WS figure than an Avengers figure, but only the most diehard among use are likely still waiting for a proper Avengers figure after this release. Another interesting thing about this sculpt is that Widow\u2019s body isn\u2019t overly\u2026 Barbiefied? The proportions are much more realistic than I\u2019m used to getting and I think that\u2019s pretty cool. I think the figure is actually closer to Scarlett Johansson than some of the Photoshopped movie posters. That\u2019s pretty funny and something I love about the figure. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

On top of all that is a killer head sculpt. Hot Toys unveiled their newest Black Widow yesterday and, while good, it was a criticized for having a blank stare. Ironically, this figure kinda has that too, but I might characterize it more as she\u2019s not interested. It\u2019s like she\u2019s staring through you. The likeness is dead-on though, can\u2019t argue that. I mentioned in the previous paragraph that the figure is a little too Cap movie to be Avengers and that only matters because Hasbro did an awesome thing: there are two heads! Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In Cap2, Widow sports her more traditional long, straight hair instead of the short cut from Avengers. Hasbro took the opportunity to give us both versions for our displaying pleasure. I love it. I was planning on using the shorter, Avengers head, but I\u2019ve found that I actually like the long, straight hair better in person. (Though to be fair, I need to peel for the short hair and re-glue it a little lower on her forehead; that may change my perception). With the great head sculpt, cool details, and more realistic proportions, this figure actually feels more like a little Hot Toys than a run of the mill Marvel Legends. Just great sculpting work \u2013 so much so that I might be asking for Hasbro to redo a few of those Avengers figure this well. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to say the figure could use a just a tad more articulation, but there is a lot of good stuff going on in here too. The one-piece ball on the neck has decent range (though it works better with the shorter hair. There\u2019s also ball shoulders, elbows, hips, and inverted ankles, double-hinged knees, the ab crunch, and swivels at the wrists & thighs. Everything works great and there are a lot of good poses to be had thanks to the leg articulation (though the smaller, heeled feet had her falling over more than a few times during the shoot). I would like a little more in the arms. I could love without bicep swivels, though I love them so, but the swivel wrists did take away from the figure a bit. As a martial artist and gun user, Widow would really benefit from having some injection-molded ball-joints on those wrists. I love that they\u2019re swappable, but I\u2019m not sure I like the tradeoff. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

The paintwork was sharp on my Widow. There\u2019s a lot of plastic molded in the right color (thankfully including the head), but the painted on details are nicely done throughout. The zippers, belts, logos, and the face details are all crisp and that really helps sell the figure and its realistic sculpt. <\/p>\n

In addition to the alternate head, Widow also included the aforementioned second set of hands. You get two open hands and two gripping hands. I like all four, so it\u2019s hard to choose, but I\u2019ve found it\u2019s fun to lace the fingers of the two open hands together and let her stand that like she\u2019s not listening and waiting to talk. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

We also get this funky gun. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the Cap movie or not. Either way, it just doesn\u2019t look right with the figure, so it\u2019s off to the extras box. Edit: Duh! It’s for the Mandroid!<\/em>The crummy thing is that I have to track down two pistols for Widow as Hasbro chose to mold her pistols into their holsters. Ugh! Hasbro, you were so close to locking down a great figure all around, but molded weapons are a cardinal sin of toymaking. So close! The other weird, but interesting thing on the figure also includes those holsters They should be connected to the belt, but that\u2019s problematic on an articulated figure, so Hasbro chose to have the straps for the connection there, loose, and pointing straight up. It looks a little weird at first, but I quickly just got over it as I\u2019d rather have the hip articulation functioning well. <\/p>\n

Finally, we also get the big hunk of Mandroid torso. I like it. I didn\u2019t want to drop $60 at Target today, but I will likely, eventually, pick up Cap & the Winter Solder from the film to complete the Mandroid. I might wait til I actually get to see the movie though and make sure I want to be reminded of it every time I take in my Marvel Collection (I probably do). Ultimate Green Goblin isn\u2019t going to be so lucky. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Overall, this is what I\u2019m talking about when I want to see toy companies rise to the challenge of making awesome girl figures. It\u2019s been tough in recent years, Mattel has made a mockery of the female MOTU buck (I hope those ankles are fixed before Entrapta and her giant hair comes out) and some of the worst DCUCs were the ladies, but things are looking up if you look elsewhere. DCC has always been better about making the Women of DC. The Joes put out some great ladies in their last few releases. And Hasbro \u2013 Hasbro has killed it this year with Black Widow & Black Cat. \u2013 In totally different ways, Black Cat is a great comic-based figure while Black Widow is a great mini-representation of the film character. That\u2019s a great sign. Maybe if figures like these don’t sell, can’t sell, than maybe I’ll take back what I said about outdated thinking. As for me though, I\u2019m not sure what Guardians of the Galaxy figures I\u2019m getting, but if Hasbro keeps hitting this level? If Gamora is this good? She\u2019s a lock. And I can\u2019t wait to see who Hasbro tackles next. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

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

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":27319,"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":[169,122,34,10],"tags":[427,769,170,24,2212,2575,770],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/wido001.jpg?fit=480%2C195","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-76s","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27643,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27643","url_meta":{"origin":27308,"position":0},"title":"Marvel Legends Infinite BAF Mandroid Review","date":"April 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26574,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26574","url_meta":{"origin":27308,"position":1},"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":27579,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27579","url_meta":{"origin":27308,"position":2},"title":"Marvel Legends Infinite Series Captain America Review","date":"April 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9997,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9997","url_meta":{"origin":27308,"position":3},"title":"ItsAllTrue Review: Marvel Legends Black Widow & Winter Soldier","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Marvel Legends. For many collectors, it's a hallowed line. Even if you're not a fan, you can't deny the influence its had on the toy industry. Hasbro hasn't always lived up to the bar Toy Biz set for the line, but I keep hoping they'll get there. This week, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26585,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26585","url_meta":{"origin":27308,"position":4},"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":31053,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=31053","url_meta":{"origin":27308,"position":5},"title":"Marvel Legends Avengers: Captain America Review (Thanos Series)","date":"May 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27308"}],"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=27308"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27324,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27308\/revisions\/27324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}