U.S. Agent

I went all out when I finally decided to get the Captain America line, getting not only the big draws like the Super Combat Captain America and the Heroic Age Captain America but also some of the less popular toys. Despite their status as peg-warmers right now, I really felt that Hasbro had put out some pretty great toys and wanted to collect the set (minus the silly concepts like the Jungle Trooper, Night Mission, Desert Ambush and  Winter Combat Captain Americas of course).

One of the first ones I picked out was U.S. Agent.

I’ve already gone over packaging so you can refer to either of the two figures in this line that I’ve already reviewed if you’re interested in that. The only difference between this figure and those is the blurbs on the cards:

"US AGENT is armed with a Vibranium shield very similar to that of CAPTAIN AMERICA. He uses this for protection and as a weapon. Although he and CAPTAIN AMERICA have had their differences, they both agree that any threat to justice and freedom must be stopped."

U.S. Agent is John Walker, a man who replaced Steve Rogers when he refused to follow the orders of the US Government. Steve took on the name “The Captain” and started wearing a black costume. Later, once Steve returned, John started wearing the black costume and began using the name U.S. Agent. He then joined the West Coast Avengers (remember them?). He’s basically a Captain America knockoff with looser morals and more brutal methods.

The bruiser aesthetics the line uses for its faces seems to fit Walker better than it does Rogers, since he’s more of a thug then the original ever was.I'm not sure if they simply re-painted the Captain America head in black, but the two are very similar.

Likewise, the bulky, muscular body goes well with the attitude that U.S. Agent is supposed to have. They definitely gave him a new torso as his front is covered by a slab of what must be body armor where his stripes are painted.

Even the accessories reflect his more belligerent tone with the inclusion of a sub-machine gun. It's really odd to see a gun on a Captain America, even if it isn't Steve Rogers.

The gun looks to be a MAC 10 (MAC is Military Armament Corporation), an Ingram machine pistol first developed in 1964 ^(source). It is one of the most most reliable sub-machine guns ever built ^(source) because of it was designed with fewer moving parts. I'm not sure why Walker gets the gun here, but it is a cool include. He still comes with the requisite shield though. This time it's what the card calls his "Star-Blade Shield":

I have no idea how this is supposed to function in combat. From the looks of it, you'd probably decapitate yourself before you'd do your enemy any damage at all. It's a completely retarded looking gimmick that should be forgotten forthwith.

Obliviate! 

There we go. Now back to that shield. It is canon if that’s something that you want in a toy. He started using it after Forceworks went kaput. It was apparently remote-controlled.

Obliviate!

What was I saying? Oh, yeah, the shield. It’s pretty awesome looking and sports the same kind of handle/post/clip feature as most of the other Captain America figures in the line. That little piece allows the shield to attach securely to either his arm or his back, and allows him to hold it in a variety of other poses as well. It’s a pretty great innovation and far beyond what we got in the Marvel Universe line.

It’s been said that the shape of the shield isn’t really useful since it doesn’t provide solid cover for him in combat, but we’re talking comics here. If we really want to get technical, Captain America’s shield is nowhere near big enough to provide adequate cover in the event of a firefight, let alone an explosion. There’s a reason that most riot shields are 3’ tall or taller. Don’t even get me started on bouncing a shield made of vibranium (a substance that supposedly has the ability to absorb all vibrations in the vicinity as well as any kinetic energy directed at it) off a wall and catching it on the rebound.

Obliviate!

The biggest problem with U.S. Agent is the same problem with all the figures in the Captain America movie line: Paint.

If you’re looking to get one of these figures, get one as soon as possible, because if you wait, you’re bound to get stuck with the dregs; figures with horribly obvious painting mistakes like missed applications, applications falling way outside of their register lines, jagged edges galore, and everything else you can think of.

Of all the figures I got when I picked these up, U.S. Agent was the one I had the hardest time picking out because ALL the samples available were messed up somewhere. Some had the skin tones of the face applied a quarter-inch off the mark so that a big chunk of the square of flesh was moved over on to his mask. Others had the red and white lines on his chest bleeding into each other. This one still has some of those problems, but it was the best of the lot.

While this figure may not be one for the books, it's getting a recommendation because it's exactly the kind of toy I love; a well-sculpted, well-articulated, playable figure with a couple of accessories that present several posing options. I've never been too particular on paint so the quality control issues are less of a deal-breaker for me. If you really get pissed at sloppy paint, your mileage may vary here.

The price is still steep, considering the issues. I wouldn't mind Php 500.00 so much if paint were at the very LEAST along the lines of NECA figures, but with it being the way it is, I'd expect the price point to fall more in line with Jazwares or Spin Master figures of this size, at about Php 400.00. Something to consider before you fork over your dough.