Welcome to Flashback Friday: The MCU. In this series you’ll get a review and discussion on some of your favorite Pops and Dorbz from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here, we really appreciate the shared universe so the figures will come from film, television, and streaming.
The MCU is filled with a vast array of heroes who put their lives on the line fighting for what they believe is right and just. Most, if not all would consider Captain America the most patriotic in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Steve Rodgers normally showcases the red, white, and blue costume that most fans identify with his character. However, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier we see a different side to Cap’s costume. Steve has traded in his normal suit for a new darker blue tactical suit. The only traces of the iconic red, white, and blue can be found on his shield. The new suit takes precedence as he’s officially joined and working for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division or S.H.I.E.L.D.
With Steve officially working for a government organization a suit upgrade was bound to happen sooner rather than later. The new suit as mentioned above is very tactical in nature. It’s flexible enough to allow proper movement during close quarter combat (his specialty). The suit is dark, bordering on black in the film which is perfect for after dark missions. The suit color on the pop is a darker shade of blue. Much darker than we are used to seeing on Captain America. The upper half of the suit still has the familiar star in the middle of the chest with three faded white stripes stretching across the pectorals and moving just above the bicep on each arm. There are dark brown straps around his shoulders. This is his shield harness which secures the shield on his back to leave both hands free for combat or reconnaissance. Some form of magnet is used to secure the shield because you can hear it lock into place during the film. Cap also has a dark brown tactical belt and gloves. The belt carries anything small he may need on a mission such as a flash drive or small explosives. The suit is completed with black heavy duty tactical boots.
What’s legitimately interesting about this pop is the absence of Captain America’s mask. Most iterations of Cap pops include a mask and there’s a few others in this line that have a dark colored mask just like we see in the film. However, this specific pop is an exclusive and the thing that makes it exclusive is the missing mask. This is the only Captain America in the Winter Soldier line that’s unmasked. Later versions of unmasked Captain America are designed considerably better but for the time and being the first unmasked version of the character it’s adequate.
The first ever unmasked Captain America pop is only available through the website ToyMatrix. At one point the pops were $25.00 each. As more and more fans began purchasing the pop the price eventually started increasing. The highest I’ve see this pop on their site is $80.00. I wasn’t prepared to pay that much for a pop so I ended up waiting. Eventually, ToyMatrix said they received a large shipment of unmasked Captain America pops with box damage. They posted on their website that if you were comfortable with some box damage you could purchase Cap for a reduced price of $50.00 with no guarantee how damaged your box might be upon arrival. I did a quick check on the site and they have a 50% sale going on right now. If you’re interested in owning this pop it can be yours for $44.99 plus tax and shipping for damaged boxes only. If you happen to be an out of box (OOB) collector then this is a pretty good deal. For those that want a mint box you’ll have to shell out a bit more money. The site does have some mint boxed ones available for $95.00 plus tax and shipping. You can also find this pop on eBay with varied pricing and condition. Some are as low as $40.00 and others are as high as $120.00. You could also check our forums on Facebook and try to work out a trade if you’re lacking funds following the holidays.
What are your thoughts on the first ever unmasked Captain America pop? Leave a comment below and let us know you think.
Check back next week for more MCU awesomeness.
Matt Norris