The What If... series on Disney+ took an indepth look at the concept of the Multiverse, namely how things familiar to us are slightly different because of conditions of effectively the Butterfly Effect. Captain Carter is the result of Peggy Carter being subjected to the Super Soldier procedure rather than Steve Rogers, and in the show she's kicks ass, much like our beloved Cap.. just it didn't take two movies for the action to finally start. She was also featured in the Multiverse of Madness movie, though it was more of a cameo than anything.
So naturally, Hot Toys made some figures from this IP, which so far consist of Captain Carter, Steve Rogers and Hydra Stomper, as well as the Zombie Hunter Spiderman. I was kind of hoping for a Black Widow, who for whatever reason hasn't shown up in any form whatsoever. But Carter went on sale, so I got myself one - I kind of knew out the gate that the figure wasn't the greatest, but I did enjoy the character.
It's fascinating how with or without powers, Peggy Carter always sees some form of action.
Being from What If... series, this Captain Carter is based on her animation look rather than her live action look. To be honest, while I appreciate the fact this is a 1/6 of a character that happens to be animated, there are people out there that refuse to pay Hot Toys prices for a non live action character. I suspect it was this particular quirk of the community that has effectively resulted in this figure not selling particularly well, even if the character herself was generally liked.
The contents of the set didn't do much to help sell her either:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 7 x Posing/Gripping Hands
- 1 x Dynamic Hair Effect
- 1 x Shield
- 1 x Strap for Shield
- 1 x Hook for Shield
- 1 x Sword
- 1 x Pistol
- 1 x Base/Stand
You'd think to try to sell the figure and the series as a whole, they'd try a bit harder. Maybe an extra head sculpt or something? Also, I was kind of expecting there to be some way to mount the sword to the body and a holster for the pistol.
Nope.
Captain Carter looks.. awkward. She's supposedly got the body of a super soldier, but Hot Toys definitely didn't give her that. I guess because she's taller or something, Hot Toys used the same body as the one for Nebula, which wasn't exactly great for its feminine wiles, nor was it great for it's hulking presence. I do appreciate the tall stature of the figure, but she's built like a Walmart greeter rather than the secret weapons of the Allies during WW2. She's basically got no muscle tone and her upper body isn't broad enough, while at the same time it's too tall.
Now, one of the things I really like about this figure is the sculpt. Again, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I do enjoy how things in animation may not be as detailed as live action, and how character designs can be much more varied. Back to the point - I like this sculpt. It's kind of funny though, what we have here is what I would say is an almost perfect caricature of Hayley Atwell, who is of course Peggy Carter herself, in the art style of the What If... series. This is especially true if you're using the relaxed hair like in the photo.
The funny thing, however, is I don't actually remember the character on the show looking like the actor, and was always off compared to say Chadwick Boswell or Chris Hemsworth. So good job on looking like something that make sense in one way, but not so much in the another. Hair is sculpted of course, and detailing is relatively low, but being from an animated source material, this isn't unexpected.
I've spoken to some people who have mentioned that the head seems a bit small. It makes sense what they're saying. This body is much larger and broader than a Black Widow, but the head is about the same size as your run of the mill Widow.
The discussion of articulation is of course tied into her outfit. The suit is made from the same nylon that is used on the Captain America outfits, which makes sense given they are both effectively combat fatigues. That and it wasn't exactly something Hot Toys would have been given a sample of to try to replicate. If you've handled a Captain America figure, you'll probably recall that the stiffness of the fabric made posing the figure somewhat of a challenge. Now, imagine that, but with tailoring that is more skin tight, and you can probably see where I'm going with this.
The articulation isn't great at all. Probably worse than Cap because she can't even reach over her head and behind her to do that shield grabbing pose. Ankles are mounted on pegs rather than ball joints, so that takes away some posing options, though admittedly this does make for a more stable figure.
While I'm on limits, I also learned that apparently despite being a Super Soldier, Carter is not ambidextrous, and only comes with a shooting hand for her right, but apparently can fight with a sword in either.
From a Paint Application perspective, it's not bad. The sheer quantity of paint, as compared to Harley Quinn, is clearly not there so it's not like their prowess is being tested. Paint work, is, however, found to be crisp and neat, as expected. What I am please about, however, is colour selection, and between the fabric uniform and paint on the various plastic pieces, the palette appears to be true to the animation model.
Build Quality wise, at least no horror stories to report here. Everything fits together nicely, joints hold positions properly, nothing is falling apart. So, nothing to report, but in a good way. I don't see anything being particularly fragile either, though naturally it's in your best interest not to haphazardly handle the figure. Besides, there's always the potential for paint chips.
Captain Carter isn't a bad figure, it just doesn't really get anything above "average", which is probably why this isn't exactly catching the attention of the casual fan, especially at these prices. For fans of the character though, the strong suit of this release is definitely the sculpt and who knows.. maybe one day we'll get a body or a third party release that corrects the proportion issues on this release and this could be the missing piece that makes it perfect.
Sadly, based on the interest in the line so far, I don't think I'm ever going to see that Black Widow.
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