Lego Superheroes: Avenjet Space Mission (76049)

Set: 76049
Pieces: 523
Build Time: 1.5-2 hrs 

Now I've mentioned elsewhere that I'm more of a DC fan than Marvel, but Marvel has been absolutely crushing it in the cinematic stakes since 2008. So I've ended up reading a few more Marvel books over the last couple of years than I might have previously, and I've gained a newfound appreciation for offbeat characters like She-Hulk, Spider-Woman and the soon-to-be-the-big-bad-in- the-movies, Thanos. So when I saw this set, it instantly became a must-have. Was it a good investment? Read on to find out more...

THE MINFIGURES

The set includes an impressive five figures -- Thanos, Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel and Hyperion. Thanos is of course a bigfig, not a minifigure per se. He's been rendered in a pretty impressive style, though I'm definitely in two minds about his floaty boot attachments with missile launchers. Sometimes characters don't need silly accessories to force a play pattern. But the only real disappointment is that he doesn't have the Infinity Gauntlet, though with the impending release of Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 & 2, I suspect we'll see more of the self-proclaimed ultimate nihilist in Lego form -- and the Infinity Gauntlet will probably be released as a clip-on piece to avoid molding an entirely new arm or hand.  

Iron Man is an Iron Man figure. The astronaut-style colour scheme is novel, but I already ended up with a regular Iron Man minifig when I bought the Hulkbuster last year. He's fine, but I'm not a major Iron Man fan -- I would have preferred to see another character instead, but considering it already includes the impressively obscure Hyperion  (see below) I should probably quit my whinging. He's got two Tony Stark faces beneath his mask, one with a smug smirk and the other angry.


Similarly, Captain America sure is another Captain America, but I didn't have this character in collection as yet, so he's a welcome addition. The movies have really made me a fan of ol' Cap. He was never a big presence in my comic-reading youth, but the Ultimates and the movies both helped put a more...ah...human(?) face on him for me. Non-essential if you already have a Cap, though the addition of a space air-tank is pretty fun.

Captain Marvel comes with two heads, both masked and unmasked. I like both about equally, but when I bought the Marvel Legends figure about a year ago, I ended up primarily going with the unmasked face. Here I've gone the opposite route, possibly because her unmasked face is identical to Wonder Woman's. The paint app works well, but it would be nice to see Lego mix it up a little more.

  

Hyperion is a character I know virtually nothing about, save that he seems to be some kind of evil Superman parody (in fact, I'm pretty sure the tampos on his faces are taken from Superman) -- but in some continuities he's a good guy, heading up Squadron Supreme. The box art depicts him as a villain, but is he under Thanos' control against his will? The fact that he also has a sedate face in addition to his "laser eyes" one would seems to suggest so. It's your set, so play as you wish -- Thanos is certainly a match for these guys combined. If nothing else, it's impressive that Lego have delivered such an obscure character in such a mainstream format.  

 

THE SET

Lego's space-based sets have been a major contributor to its international success, though they have let them fall of the radar a little bit over the last few years. But it's good to see them return to it here, even if it is in a somewhat roundabout way. Y'see, this is a classic 80s Lego spaceship that just happens to have been released under a Marvel Comics theme. The shape sort of reminds me of a Klingon Bird of Prey, though it's obviously a lot smaller in size. The front cockpit can be angled in a variety of different ways, but the correct way is to have it pointing downwards just slightly. The wings are similar, giving it a very modern and cool -- if perhaps not entirely aerodynamic -- look. Though of course in space you don't have the same issues affecting drag, wind resistance, etc.


The upper cockpit is detachable, and can turn into a nicely swooshable spacecraft on its own merits. It's reminiscent of the Galaxy Squad sets from a couple of years ago, which were almost entirely based around having a core build, which then had removable elements. It was a a decent theme, but the villain sets were pretty weak, which may have been part of the reason it didn't turn into Ninjago 2.0 success-wise. It's good to see the mechanic revisited here though.


Iron Man can be stashed underneath this cockpit, by clicking him onto a stand that swivels down. It works slightly better in theory that practice; some protruding bars mean that he bangs his head when you swivel him up, which could lead to some paint or figure damage in the long run. But as a longer-term storage position, it's not a bad idea.

AVAILABILITY

This set came out quite a few months ago -- I think I picked it up around March or April, but didn't actually get around to building it until now. However, it still seems to be reasonably readily available from Kmart, Target and Big W.

OVERALL

The Avenjet really is a thing of beauty. It's not terribly complex in design or execution, but these shouldn't be seen as strikes against it -- rather, it's a great way to introduce younger kids to Lego, while still providing them with a challenge. And the final result is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. I wish Lego would build Space sets along these lines again -- and perhaps they will someday -- but in the meantime, this is a great substitute. Builders more capable than I could no doubt replicate the set in more traditional Space colours too, which would be fantastic. 
 
For adult collectors, it's well worth purchasing for the impressive selection of characters -- Thanos in particular is a must-own -- and the retro feel of the Avenjet itself is great. Hopefully we'll soon see Adam Warlock make his Lego debut too!  

Marvel Legends: Captain America (Red Skull Onslaught BAF)

As some regular readers will know, I recently paid a visit to the good ol’ U.S.A., and had an absolutely fantastic time while I was there. It’s a wonderful country. And when you visit a new place, you should bring back a souvenir. I have two tiki mugs from my time in Hawaii, and scotch glasses from Tasmania, for instance. But America was trickier – U.S.A. shirts/mugs/pint glasses/hip flasks/flags were all in abundance, but I don’t tend to go for something so obvious. But it just didn’t feel right leaving America without buying something patriotic. And then I stumbled across this gem in Gamestop. 

But why a Captain America figure? Sure, it’s overtly American, but what makes it stand out more than any other one? Read on to discover more…

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

This is a comics-based Cap, complete with pirate boots. It’s much more spandex superhero than military tactician, and could be from virtually any Cap comic from the 1970s through to the 1990s. I’m sure the face is based on someone’s art, but I’m pretty sure it’s also reused from an earlier figure – maybe one of the Captain America: Winter Soldier waves? I only own a handful of ML figures, so I can’t pinpoint it with accuracy. More familiar readers should feel free to chime in the comments section.

Articulation is what you’d expect from an ML figure – ball-jointed and hinged neck, swivel-hinge biceps, ab crunch, double elbows, swivel-hinge wrists, cut waist, ball-jointed hips, cut thighs, souble-jointed knees, cut calves (for the boots) and rocker ankles. I believe this is slightly more than some figures get – I don’t think everyone has the double elbows, but everything else seems pretty consistent with the other ML figures I’ve bought. Some of the joints will be a little stiff at first, but if you;re careful you shouldn't have any issues. Though speaking of the double elbows – I know some people love them, but I don’t think it works as well as it should here. The forearms are cast in white, in a softer plastic than the rest of the body. I assume this is to accommodate the slightly-flared gloves, but it makes the joints a little trickier to move. I’ve also had a little of the red paint rub off on one of the gloves too, though fortunately it can be covered with the shield.    

             

ACCESSORIES

Accessories that aren’t crappy oversized missile launchers are becoming an increasingly rarity in the action figure world, so it’s nice to get some at all. There are:

*Two additional hands, including a pointing one: Cap sure does love to point, especially in the movies, so it’s a good inclusion. Jon at Preternia suggests that this is the first time a comics-based Cap has had this hand, which just seems crazy to me! Oh well; the toy industry works in mysterious ways. He's also got one that allows him to salute too, as seen at right.  

*His signature shield: Naturally. I suspect it’s more reuse from another figure, and can be clipped to his forearm or stored in the plughole on his back. Both look pretty good.

*One other accessory: which I’ll get to in just a moment…

*He also comes with a BAF piece: Onslaught’s cape. I don’t have any real desire to complete the BAF (though it does look cool) so I think this will go be going on eBay shortly.

There’s one other thing I should mention, too – I’m not sure if they’re meant to be accessories, but he does also come with two shoulder straps. They’re attached to him in the packaging, and they look really cool in place – I assumed they’d be a conjoined piece, with a strap running across the back. However, they're separate pieces, so as soon as you move him, they fall off. There doesn’t appear to be any sensible way to keep them on, short of gluing them, and then you might even manage to ruin the articulation of the shoulders in the process. It’s a bit of a misfire, which is a shame – had it worked properly it would have been a nice bit of detailing. As it is, they’ll just go in the accessories box.  

Totally useless

PAINT

Paint is very…adequate. As you can probably see in the photos, they did his eyes properly, but everything else leaves a bit to be desired – the wings, his chin, the skin lines around his mask – it could probably be fixed by someone with a dream and a paintbrush, but it does seem unusually sloppy. There was only one on the shelf, so I didn’t have multiple options to pick from – if you do, I’d suggest you weigh up some different ones before picking it up. As to the rest of him – well, Cap’s costume in the comics is all about extreme contrasts, mimicking the colours of the American flag. It works very well on the printed page, but as anyone who’s ever done any painting knows, red paint over white paint can run into some issues. I’m already mentioned some rub on one of the gloves above, but I can see this being an issue for anyone who fiddles around with the ab-crunch too much as well. I had some very (admittedly minor) chipping, so just be careful.   

THE BIG REVEAL

So, I’ve told you a lot about the figure, but I haven’t revealed the real reason I bought it. After all, it’s a pretty standard Cap figure so far, isn’t it? Well, remember I mentioned there was one another accessory? Here it is!

Possibly the best thing you'll see this year

That’s right, it’s a Capwolf head.

Many of you will no doubt be asking what the hell this is, and that’s a fair question. Well, to grossly simplify, comics were crazy in the 1990s. Marvel and DC were selling gangbusters, but younger players like Image were a real sales threat – so Marvel and DC threw everything they could to compete; the EDGIER the better. Hence why Superman died, Green Lantern became evil, Wolverine was in every Marvel (and some DC ones) and Captain America became a werewolf. CAPWOLF.  

I’ve never read the relevant issues, but I don’t need to. All I need to know is that Captain America became a werewolf. In fact, reading it would probably ruin everything – comics tend to date pretty quickly, and I strongly suspect time has not been kind to the 90s-tasticness of this concept.

Taken as a whole, the figure is not accurate to the comic – the neck looks a little thin, there’s no torn up boots or costume, and no clawed gloves. But the fact that Hasbro gave a nod to this relatively forgotten and ridiculous piece of Cap’s history in action figure form was just too good an American souvenir to pass up – and hey, I love wolves. In case you hadn’t noticed, the blog is called the Lupine Book Club. Even better, there is no reference to Capwolf on the packaging. The head just sits there in the box as an accessory, no doubt leaving many to just ponder on what it all means.

OVERALL

Thanks to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there have now been almost as many Captain America figures on the shelves as Spider-Man and Batman ones – no small accomplishment. This is a good, solid standard Cap for a kid who’s never had a figure of him before, but the true strength of the figure for more long-term collectors lies in the Capwolf head and the pointing hand accessory. With such heavy reliance on variations of Captain America (and Iron Man for that matter), Hasbro and Marvel alike are going to have to get pretty creative to hold the interest of consumers and retailers alike. Figures like this are definite steps in the right direction.   

POP! Marvel -- Captain America (Unmasked)

Year: 2015

Company: Funko

Series: POP! Marvel

I didn’t really come round to Cap until I read The Ultimates 1 & 2 miniseries, back in about 2006. He went from being (in my mind) a one-note jingoistic caricature to being a well-rounded character. The first series gave a really impressive showcase of how powerful the character was, while the fight between him and Colonel Abdul al-Rahman in the second series was genuinely affecting – well done, on both counts, Mr Mark Millar.

Chris Evans’ take on the character is fairly distinct from the Ultimates version (definitely not as violent), but he’s still pretty cool. So today we take look at the most recent POP release of Captain America. It’s the unmasked version, which is a Funko Convention Exclusive for 2015. Cap here is on active duty – I threw out the box, which is anathema to some collectors. But the box was dinged up and so was the plastic tray inside, so I’m sure you can forgive me.

As far as I can tell, the body and shield is identical to the regular masked release, with the difference coming in the head – it looks like a unique piece to me, though I suspect we’ll see it reused again next year, for reasons I’ll reveal a bit later. 

The paint is mostly clean, but you can see that the blue the body’s cast in is difficult to paint over. The reds and whites on his uniform aren’t quite as bright as they should be as a result, but you could kind of just pretend this is battle wear and tear if you’re bothered by it. 

On the downside, the shield was slightly warped on closer inspection; it’s a slightly softer plastic than the rest of him. It’s not major though; I didn’t notice it in the box, so it's not a deal-breaker.   

Overall, is this one as good as the regular version? Well, given that Cap spends about the same amount of time with his mask/helmet off as on, the answer is yes. But I wouldn’t recommend paying the convention premium on eBay. With Captain America: Civil War coming next year, there are likely to be a whole bunch of new Cap POPs on the way – and I’ll be very surprised if at least one of them isn’t an unmasked one, reusing this head. So maybe wait a few months and see how things go.      

On a side note, I’ve noticed POPs have been rising in price of late. I started collecting them in early 2013 and I believe they were still retailing for $15AUD at the time. Now they’ve just hit the $18AUD mark, which is getting a little too pricey for my tastes. This guy cost me slightly more than that, as he’s a convention exclusive. To my mind, though, the price should either be going down or holding steady. I’m sure that some aspect of the economics is getting past me here, but Funko POPs are far more readily available now than they were even a year ago – this suggests to me that they are selling gangbusters, which would presumably drive production costs down. However, it’s possible that the cost on new moulds and licenses is driving things up overall. Fair enough, but I think I will have to get out of the game if they go up much more.