Marvel Legends 20th Anniversary Captain America Action Figure Review

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2022

WOW!!! It's been TWENTY YEARS since collectors were introduced to Marvel Legends! The initial roll out included Iron Man (which I still have!), The Incredible Hulk, Toad, and the Sentinel of Liberty himself, Captain America. Today Dan's ToyBox is excited to bring you our thoughts on the all-new 20th Anniversary Marvel Legends Captain America Action Figure release!

When young artist, Steve Rogers, learns of the devastation inflicted upon Europe by the Nazis during World War II, he hurries off to his local Army Recruitment office to volunteer. Unfortunately, Steve's frail body is deemed unacceptable for military service, and he's sent off with a "thank you, but no." Determined to do something, Rogers' resolve, and tenacity catches the eye of Army General Chester Phillips and the Project: Rebirth program. Phillips recruits Rogers to become a test subject for Dr. Abraham Erskine's new "Super Soldier Serum." The program is designed to create an army of enhanced men to fight off Hitler's advances across the European continent. The experiment is a success as Steve's frail body is transformed into the pinnacle of human condition. The recipient of peak human endurance, agility, strength, and intelligence, armed with an indestructible shield and clad in the red, white, and blue Patriotic uniform he designed, Steve Rogers battles evil under the guise of Captain America!

Sometimes I have as much fun writing those background blurbs as much as I do these reviews, and this was certainly one of those times! For those of you unfamiliar with our format, Dan's ToyBox ranks figures based on the Grand Slam: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. If a figure manages to earn an "A" in each category, it greatly increases their chances of earning an overall perfect grade on our final ToyBox scale. One to Five toyboxes with one being terrible and five being collector worthy. Now that the ground rules are established, let's jump into Accessories!!!

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2022

Hasbro didn't pull any punches with this figure. To celebrate their 20th anniversary, they packed several goodies in with Captain Rogers. He comes with 2 pairs of hands: 1 fisted, 1 open/grasping and then a saluting right hand and a finger pointing left hand. Captain America also comes with a removable set of black shoulder straps, a "pulled down" mask accessory, a fully masked head, and an unmasked Steve Rogers head which is incredible. Captain America also comes with his trusty shield with multiple effects that can be ported onto the shield itself. There is a blue electrical flare, a slashing/sparks effect, and three bullet ricochet effects. He also comes with a black display stand with a slot for the cardboard background which is designed to represent the original background accessory that came with the original figure. The reverse side of the card also has the replicated look of the comic book that came with the original figure. What I'm most grateful for is that they chose NOT to replicate the old, horrible, clamshell packaging. This modernized "retro" look is much, much more conducive to opening easily. As far as accessories go, this figure is packed with plenty, and the throwback touches are spot on and fun to look at. I'm very happy with the assortment and can give this section an "A" right out of the gate.

When I cracked open the 20th Anniversary Marvel Legends Captain America, I had so much fun posing him around and swapping the accessories, that it was difficult to finally put him down. The figure is built on the 80th Anniversary Captain America body, but with a new head sculpt and new paint details. Point of transparency, I am a HUGE fan of the 80th Anniversary figures and I will now admit that this Captain America is replacing that one on my primary Avengers display. I am so impressed with how well this figure is done. Starting with both head sculpts... the masked head isn't as long/narrow as the 80th Anniversary figure but looks absolutely perfect in proportion to this body. The wings stick out from his head, giving him a very Kirby-esque appearance. I was very pleased to see that the paint applications are all very clean, the facial tone is exceptional, and Steve's deep blue eyes are represented exquisitely on this figure. The ONLY thing that I think could have made it even better would have been a flash of Steve's blonde eyebrows showing through the eyeholes on the mask... and that's my only "issue" with the masked sculpt. The unmasked is even better with the hair sculpt, paint applications, and facial features that also look as if they leapt off the page and suddenly became three dimensional. The hair has a wash, and the design and layers give his hair a "feathered" look. Next to the photo-realistic look Hasbro uses for their MCU line, this is one of the most realistic looking faces I've seen. As mentioned earlier, the body is based on the 80th anniversary mold but the paint deco is out of this world. The blue on his costume is much lighter than the previous version and looks considerably closer to the comic book inspired design. What I thought was really cool was that the reds around his torso, on his gloves, and on his boots have darker shaded hues, giving the costume substance and depth. The free-floating belt is a soft black material with a silver buckle and the blue belt loops painted on. I'm very impressed with the sculpt of the belt as well.

If I have any complaints about the figure itself, it's that I have some scuffs on the right-hand glove, where the white beneath is showing through and on the bicep swivel where you can see the white on the top edge of the arm. They could have added blue to that small edge to better conceal the gaps. Additionally, where the thighs and quads meet at the upper thigh cut, you can see the blue on his lower legs is just a shade darker than his hips and lower torso. I did also notice that the hands are a bit darker than the rest of the glove piece as well... but you have to look closely to catch that. The shield is also beautifully painted on a silver base, giving the back side of the shield a nice metal look. I'm not in love with the fold down arm clip as I've seen far too many of these clips break during my lifetime of collecting, so I definitely advise care when attaching the shield to his wrist. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the red, white, and blue apps on the shield itself. Here is the most common complaint that every reviewer I've watched has and I'm right there with them. The accessories/effects for the shield port into three specifically shaped holes on the front of the shield. While this is nice to make sure you are putting the effects on correctly, when removed your shield has THREE VERY NOTICEABLE HOLES IN IT! Why didn't Hasbro consider creating three small plugs that could have ported in from the back to fill the holes for more posing opportunities? It's a shame to have that glaring deficiency on an otherwise incredible looking figure.

Lastly, as we finish discussing the appearance, the folded down mask is very nicely done and fits quite well around the figure's neck, when posed with the unmasked head. I am also a big fan of the shield effects. The blue lightning effect is a nice translucent shade and flexible enough to not worry about breaking when putting on or removing from the shield. The longer white and yellow slashing effect gives the appearance of a sword or claws rebounding off the vibranium alloy and leaving a trail of sparks. To me, though, the best accessories, which I will likely display the figure with, are the small translucent yellow and white painted bullet ricochets. As I mentioned, each hole on the shield has a specific shape, so you'll need to pay attention when plugging the effects in. Even with the holes in the shield, I am so pleased with how this figure looks that he easily earns an "A" for Appearance.

Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022

As we've seen this body mold used previously, we're familiar with the motion/articulation range, but covering it is still necessary so that buyers can understand what they are getting. The head is on a ball/hinge and the masked head moves relatively easily. It can look up to a degree, forward, turn side to side and has a bit of head tilt. The unmasked head has the same range, but is a much tighter fit on the peg, which means I have to work it a bit to get that side to side motion. You can heat the head up to get an easier fit on the ball peg, but I wouldn't recommend doing this too often, otherwise you run the risk of warping the sculpt. His shoulders are on a rotational joint without any butterfly movement. They will spin 360 degrees and his arms raise out to a better than "T" pose, even with the black shoulder straps. I was concerned they'd limit the range of motion, but haven't encountered any such problem. The bicep swivel works very well, but unfortunately reveals the white paint above the blue section. His double jointed elbows will bend in deep, even with the gloves. I discovered if you bend the bicep joint first and then the forearm, you can increase the range of motion. All hands will hinge and pivot easily. Cap has a nice diaphragm crunch, located in the upper joint but only has waist pivot, no bottom crunch. So, that being said, he'll bend forward very well and backward decently enough, but does leave a noticeable gap when bent too far back. The legs will split to about 45 degrees and can kick forward quite well, but not back so much. His upper thigh cut works well enough and the double-jointed knees will bend in deep, even with the boot cuffs. I was very pleased with the range of motion here. Cap also has that terrific ankle rocker and hinge that Marvel Legends are known for. Even with the few limitations, you can get this figure into some pretty dynamic poses and he looks great! Captain America definitely earns his "A" for Articulation.

That just leaves us with one final "A" to discuss... Affordability. Given that this is considered to be a "Deluxe" figure, with the display stand an accessories he will price out a bit higher than his regular Marvel Legend counterparts. I was able to get mine at the price point of $32.99. I think what is becoming discouraging though is seeing the average price of regular Legends starting to creep upward even worse than previously. Hopefully that particular trend will discontinue! All that being said, I believe that the price point compared with what you get makes this a very affordable addition to any collection and will say that it's worth the "A" for Affordability.

Overall, the Marvel Legends 20th Anniversary Captain America Action Figure is an excellent piece to own. He looks fantastic when displayed with other figures, the accessories and effects give the figure a lot of character and the appearance is just an incredible tribute to his comic book counterpart. The only real detriment to giving this figure a perfect score was the holes in the shield and lack of pegs to fill them in when you want to display him without any effects attached. So, I'm very happy, otherwise, to give this figure a total of:

4.5 ToyBoxes out of 5!

Thanks for spending your time in the ToyBox today. I hope you enjoyed our review of the Marvel Legends 20th Anniversary Captain America Action Figure. Remember, you can find him in your Local Stores and online at great retailers like BBTS . Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!