Dan's ToyBox is excited to bring you another Hasbro Marvel Legends Action Figure Review. Today, we're diving into the toybox to grab U.S. Agent from "The Controller" Build A Figure Wave. I didn't expect to have him this soon, given that my pre-order on Amazon initially said the release date wouldn't be until December. Imagine my surprise when U.S. Agent showed up at my door this past weekend. The only other John Walker figures in my collection are the SHFiguarts John Walker: Captain America and the Hasbro Marvel Legends U.S. Agent from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Disney + television program, so getting an original U.S. Agent was on my list of must have figures.
John Walker enlisted in the United States military because he admired his older brother, a soldier who died in the Vietnam War, but soon felt that he could never be as accomplished as his brother was. He undertook a dangerous procedure from the Power Broker, which enhanced his strength to a superhuman degree, and became the "Super-Patriot", coming into conflict with Captain America due to wanting to replace him as the country's new iconic hero. However, when Steve later resigns due to a secret plot by the Red Skull, John takes up the new identity of Captain America, but his far more brutal and misguided methods of fighting villainy result in him relinquishing the title back to Steve after the plot is exposed.
His death is then faked by the Commission on Superhuman Activities, who hypnotize him into living under new identities, both as the civilian "Jack Daniels" and the superhero U.S. Agent. John Walker first appeared as Super-Patriot in Captain America #323 (November 1986), replaced Steve Rogers as Captain America in Captain America #333 (September 1987)
and finally, as U.S. Agent in Captain America #354 (June 1989) The character was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary. Character summary provided by U.S. Agent | Character Level Wiki | Fandom.
As always, my goal when reviewing an action figure is to try to be as objective as possible when examining the Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. These factors combine to give the figure an overall rating of zero to five toyboxes, with five being the best. These are all my own opinions of the figures and I hope that in some small way it helps my readers decide if a figure is worth their hard-earned money, especially with prices climbing as badly as they've been recently. So, without further ado, let's dive into the review!
ACCESSORIES
The Hasbro Marvel Legends U.S. Agent Action Figure is part of The Controller Build a Figure wave and comes with a pair of fists, a weapon holding hand, an open, finger splayed hand, a shield and the Controller's right arm and an alternate fist. I thought the weapon holding hand was rather odd as it's not shaped to hold a pistol, but rather something along the lines of a sword or club, which does not come with the figure. I don't mind the splayed finger hand as it looks as though he's reaching for something, which makes for some more dramatic poses. The shield has the hinged clip/back peg which I advise being exceptionally careful with when attaching to the figure's arm. I've seen these clips break all too easily which is an endless source of frustration. When you boil it down, technically U.S. Agent comes with an extra pair of hands. The shield is pretty much a "gimme" and with that in mind, and the weird weapon holding hand without another weapon, and I just don't think this figure is worth a positive grade for Accessories.
Image © Dan's ToyBox 2022
APPEARANCE
Hasbro knocked it out of the park with this figure. I think, honestly my only complaint is on the shield which I'll discuss shortly. The figure is molded in a matte black with paint applications supplying the detail. This body sculpt is pretty much the standard mold we have come to *ahem* know and love. I will say though, that the detail applied to the paint is done exceptionally well. The facial skin is a really nice tone and is applied cleanly around the eyes and ears. Upon closer inspection I was kind of surprised to realize there appears to be a hint of pink on the lips to set them apart. I'm honestly not 100% certain, but it sure looks that way. The wings are painted nicely, and they stand out really well against the stark black of his mask. I'm really impressed with how clean the red and white stripes on his chest/abdomen look and the outline of the star is super tight. Even the white star on his back is clean and looks pretty solid, though maybe another coat of white might have brightened it up just a bit more. His red belt is a floating piece with silver detail on the buckle and the only real issue I had was that the gloves and boots are different shades of red, which I suspect has to do with possibly the gloves being molded in black and painted over. The shield is really clean and honestly my only complaint is the outer blue/gray ring. I get that the shield is molded in that blue/gray color (which you can easily see on the backside) but as far as I can recall, U.S. Agent's shield has always been black, white, and red. I would have felt it to be more comic accurate if the outer ring had been black as well. Other than that, though, I'm very happy with how this figure represents the character and can easily give him an A for Appearance.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
ARTICULATION
As mentioned earlier, we are not strangers to this body mold and though we are very familiar with the articulation, I will go through it anyhow. The head can look up and down quite well as the ball hinge allows for decent range of motion. It will turn side to side easy and has a degree of tilt as well. The shoulders do NOT have butterfly joints but will raise out to just a bit higher than a T pose and can rotate a full 360 easily enough. The upper bicep swivel allows for decent arm rotation and the double-jointed elbows will come in a bit better than 90 degrees. All hands hinge and pivot easily at the wrist. The diaphragm joint is just a hinge which will crunch forward poorly but has more backward range. Surprisingly, this doesn't give him a terrible "pregnant" look mainly due to the proper sculpt continuing up under the actual joint. The waist swivel is not impeded at all by the floating belt, which helps to hide the sides of the figure when turning the waist. Agent's legs will split about 45 degrees max, can kick forward nicely and have an upper thigh cut which works good enough. The knees are also double-jointed, but due to the shape of the boot sculpts won't bend back terribly far. The boot cut works well enough, allowing us to get some better simulated posing stances and the generous ankle hinge and pivot nearly always seem to work very nicely on Legends figures. Personally, though I do like this sculpt, I'm becoming more appreciative of the newer body molds, with butterfly joints and wouldn't mind seeing the Bucky/Cap mold retired at some point. Still and away, he does pretty much everything I ask of him, but the limited crunch and no butterfly joints brings the rating down to an A- for Articulation.
Image © Dan's ToyBox 2022
AFFORDABILITY
I mentioned earlier that I purchased this figure on Amazon and the initial retail price was listed at $24.99, but when I ordered it, the price was actually marked at $22.99 and when the order was fulfilled, I was only charged $17.24 so I'm not complaining at all. Looking at the initial retail price of $24.99, we are seeing the typical Marvel Legend retail pricing so getting the deal I received made it even more worthwhile to purchase. I'm actually going to give him an A for Affordability, simply because he's priced lower than average on Amazon!
The Hasbro Marvel Legends U.S. Agent figure is a really nice addition to my collection, even with the few minor issues I had. I like him enough to give a solid:
3 out of 5 toyboxes!
U.S. Agent is a solid addition to any Marvel Legends Collection and looks great alongside the other heroes and villains on my shelf! I am always grateful for you, my readers, and can't wait to bring you my next review. Until then... GEEK OUT!!!!