Captain America vs. Green Lantern

WWII era Captain America and Sinestro

For Father’s day this year, my kids got me a figure from both of the late-summer comic book movies of 2011: Captain America the First Avenger and Green Lantern. Specifically, they got me the Comic Version of WWII Cap from Captain America and Sinestro from Green Lantern. I thought it would be fun to pit them against each other and see how they stack up.

One thing to note is that this is really my first time trying to take a bunch of pictures of figures in the 3 3/4 inch size. It’s frickin’ harder than doing the larger figures and my pics kind of suck because of it. I started to get the hang of it towards the end of my shoot, so hopefully future entries will be better.

WWII era Captain America and Sinestro

SCULPT and PAINT:

They are both pretty evenly matched here. The textures on both outfits is great, the little details are there for both Cap and Sinestro. Cap is based off his “Ultimates” World War 2 appearance, no there is no movie likeness to compare it to. He looks very similar to the larger Hasbro Marvel Legends version from a few years back, but they are clearly different sculpts and it’s not just a re-sized version. The paint is nice with no glaring issues that I noticed, besides Cap’s shield. What the hell happened to the stars on that thing? The “aspect ratio” is off and they look all skewed. That bugs me a little, but I’ll get over it someday after long sessions in therapy and a bottle of Jack.

WWII Cap close up from the Captain America Movie LineWWII Captain America from the Captain America the First Avenger toy lineMarvel Legends WW2 Captain America and Captain America the First Avenger WW2 Cap ComparisonMarvel Legends WWII Cap and Marvel Universe WWII Captain America

Sinestro is from the movie, and based off his appearance there. The GL suit has nice texture and you can see Mark Strong’s creepy likeness in there. It’s not the best, but it’s not terrible either. The paint is minimal but it works.

Sinestro from Green Lantern Toy LineGreen Lantern Sinestro With Constructs

 

So far, things look pretty even right? Both look like decent figures? Oh wait, now we get to:

ARTICULATION:

Did Mattel just give up? Was it like the end of the day and they had to get the GL figure designs out the door and so they quickly added some POA and tossed it to the next guy? Sinestro has 6 points of articulation. SIX.

Swivel head

Ball arms x2

Waist

Peg hips x2

WHAT?

That means your Sinestro figure can do this:

Oh, and this:

Sinestro arms out

And don’t forget this!

Sinestro loses because Mattel sucks.

Mattel, stop being lazy. McDonalds HAPPY MEAL toys have at least the same points of articulation, and those come free with a crappy cheeseburger and fries. There is really no excuse in today’s market to justify this. You use one body for the majority of the Green Lanterns, so tooling is shared across multiple figures. You can at least add pin elbows and knees so that the figures can sit down in other 3 3/4 inch-scaled vehicles!

WW2 era Captain America

Cap has 5 points of articulation.

IN HIS ARM.

I’m not going to associate POA with quality, but a modern action figure should have enough to be playable and to make some cool poses with, which Cap does. If you are going to limit your articulation, at least put the figure in a cool pose! Poor Sinestro looks like he’s nervously waiting for the proctologist to enter the room.

For the record, Cap has:

Ball neck

Ball shoulder x2

Shoulder/arm swivel x2

Double elbow x2

Wrist swivel x2

Waist/chest

Ball hips x2

Hip/thigh swivel

Double knee x2

Boot swivel x2

Ankle pin/disc x2

ACCESSORIES:

At least Sinestro comes with some accessories!

He has two sword constructs, cast in a translucent green plastic that actually look pretty neat. One can fit in his hand and the other snaps over his fist. He also comes with a plastic replica Green Lantern ring which is actually pretty cool, even though it doesn’t light up or anything. I don’t have pictures of it because my kids took it to play with and I’m pretty sure it has vanished into their stuff.

Sinestro Figure Green Lantern Constructs

Captain America comes with his Helmet, his Shield, a rifle and a pistol. His pistol can slide into a side holster and the Shield can either clip to his arm or you can flick the clip over and peg it into a hole on his back. You need to make sure his straps are pushed out of the way of the hole for it to fit all the way in. Otherwise it keeps falling off, which is slightly annoying.

Cap's AccessoriesCap's shield peg

 

Value:

Both figures will run you about $8 bucks right now. I predict this price will remain consistent with the Captain America figures for the next year or so. Iron Man figures are still on the shelf at that price, all this time later. It’s an OK value. I remember when Marvel Legends ran 8 bucks, had a base or Build-A-Figure part and a comic.  That was a good deal. This is an OK deal.

The Green Lantern figures will soon go on clearance, and in some places already have. I told my kids they can get some of them when they hit a dollar, which they most likely will. That is about all I’m willing to pay for them. Mattel deserves to lose money on these sub-par figures.

Final Verdict:

Well, I think both toylines reflect their respective movies quite well.

Green Lantern is behind the curve with a couple cool things but just ultimately disappointing in the end.

You can also use the decent accessories for your other more well-liked toys.

10mfH Green Lantern Constructs

Captain America is nothing groundbreaking, but is solid, it works and is well-rounded and fun. He fits in well with the other Hasbro lines like G.I. Joe, Marvel Universe and Star Wars.

Captain America: The First Avenger WWII Cap and Marvel Legends WWII Cap

 

Like our Minimate mascot? He is fresh from Luke’s Toy Store, where you can get your own custom Minimates, learn how to customize your own Minimates, or get Luke to make you a 10mfH one just like the one here!

They also sell standard Minimates and LOADS of awesome Minimate accessories and  Minimate dioramas!

 

About Dug (Wugmanmax) 241 Articles
(AKA – Wug, Dug, Foug) Hailing from the Twin Cities, Wugmanmax is an avid toy collector, graphic designer, video producer, firefighter, and podcast co-host.

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