When I bought a few sets of the Marvel Universe Greatest Battles Comic Packs several months back, I was so disappointed with the products that the thought of selling the figs on eBay actually crossed my mind. The super-soft plastic used in making the figures definitely ruined the experience for me to the extent that I almost vowed never to buy another 1:18 Marvel figure again. I mean, I've been a G.I. Joe collector for quite some time and never have I encountered a single Joe figure as flimsy as the figures from those dreaded MU comic packs are. Though I would later buy two more 1:18 Marvel figures in the form of Super Combat Captain America and Hammer Smash Thor (collection essentials), I remained skeptical about Hasbro's 1:18 Marvel offerings until I got this U.S. Agent figure.
I just could never pass up on a U.S. Agent figure simply because the character's one of my fave members of the Avengers West Coast, along with War Machine. As a kid, those two characters were introduced to me during Marvel Comics' Bloodties story arc, a 5-issue X-Men-Avengers crossover that revolved around Fabian Cortez's abduction of Luna (Quicksilver's and Crystal's daughter). I firmly believe that U.S. Agent is not just another Captain America, just as War Machine is not just another Iron Man, and that's why the character remains to be one of my all-time favorite Avengers. In fact, I still cannot fathom why ToyBiz/Hasbro failed to produce a Marvel Legends U.S. Agent figure when it seemed so easy for them to make one with most of the needed parts already available for use.
Before snagging this figure though, I had to thoroughly check several figures out as the Captain America: The First Avenger line is notorious for terrible paint apps. In the end, I had to settle for the one with the least paint spills as I was unable to find a perfectly-painted one. I was very delighted to know that the figure doesn't suffer from the aforementioned super-soft plastic syndrome, but I was somehow miffed upon discovering that the figure doesn't have the standard wrist swivel that I have come to expect from all modern action figures. I also feel that the figure is kind of short compared to my other 1:18 figures (especially Joes), and that's something I have to deal with when creating a common universe for my figs. The included accessories (an uzi, and a shield) are awesome, even though the shield is different from what I used to see the character sport back in 1993, but that's just a minor nitpick. A U.S. Agent figure is still a U.S. Agent figure, and all that matters to me is that I have one now.
Note: In case you're wondering why I didn't mention the Luke Cage fig (and its awesomeness) when I was talking about my complaints against the Marvel Universe figs, let me just clear the air by saying that this figure was purchased several hours ahead of the said Luke Cage figure. ^^,
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