JesterGoblin: A permanent home of Absurdity

The fourth and final (excluding the Mobile Command Center) vehicle pack is upon us and is different for one reason: no wheels! Yes, this set takes to the skies with the Hero Helicopter piloted by Captain America and the Asgardian Thor! This set is more of the same but at least Captain America has a use for a helicopter.

Shield-slinging ultimate fighter!

Captain America is no stranger to the Superhero squad line and this is the third time we’ve gotten him in his Ultimate uniform, which means his head is wingless. But for as far as I can tell, he’s just a straight repack of the wave 5 release. Which is a good thing, because the paint scheme on the one that came with Black Widow was far too tan and didn’t have pants that made sense. This version of Cap does a great job show the difference between Ultimate Cap and 616-Cap, which is impressive given the scale.

For those that don’t have this figure, he’s on the high-end of average. His articulation is at the waist and both arms. The face is a good balance of cute and smiling that fits with the character. The paints are clean and crisp but beware of the A on his forehead. Some versions are horribly painted and have the A over his eyes. This version of Captain America is probably my favorite version released so far, good paint, solid articulation. Sure, there’s nothing ground breaking about the figure given that he’s just a repaint but he’s a good figure.

All-powerful storm god!

The other figure in this pack is Thor, all decked out in his Asgardian armor. Sure, if you think too hard about the continuity ramifications of these two characters meeting, your brain will melt it doesn’t really matter. It’s a guy in a beard holding a giant hammer over his head. What more do you need to know? This version of Thor was first released back in Wave 5 as well with an every-so-slightly different paint scheme. This Thor looks like he’s been in the sun a little bit more, which would make sense for a superhero who flies around during the day. But I always think of Thor as being more on the pale side.

Thor’s wearing his Asgardian armor after some contrived situation where he probably became ruler of Val Hallah after Odin died or took a nap or something absurd happened. As you can tell, I follow the Thor-verse closely (verily). The figure looks good when posed. He towers over other figures. From the top of Cap’s head to the top of Mjolnir (Thor’s Hammer) just about an inch, which is HUGE when the figures are only 2.5 inches to begin with. Thor feels in the right scale but suffers from a simple problem: he only looks good in a single pose. His cape renders his waist articulation useless, and the angle that his arms rotate at make them look broken or dislocated if you move them. I could see a child getting really annoyed by the limited movement. Sure, he looks good but this look isn’t what people associate with Thor. He’s just a bearded guy holding a hammer.

Patriot-piloted rescue chopper!

Know what Hasbro loves? Hyphens. All three blurbs use them. But enough about copy-editing (well played Hasbro, well played) and lets talk about the Hero Helicopter! I’m impressed that this vehicle almost makes sense. If any superhero needs a means of transportation, it’s Captain America. He can’t fly, doesn’t have super speed. He’s just really well trained. But the copter just feels flimsy in comparison to the other vehicles we’ve gotten. It weighs half as much as a car but it does include a an action feature: a retractable rescue hook!

Retractable seems to be stretching it because this hook is on a piece of string that isn’t even spring loaded. It can just be rolled up. That’s it. The helicopter doesn’t do much else, the top blades spin but that’s it. It’s an open cockpit that Cap can fit it (but Thor can’t. This is the THIRD set with this problem out of FOUR). At least Thor can fit on the pegs on the landing gear.

The package backdrop is the top of Avengers’ Tower with a view of Silver Surfer, Spider-Man and the Baxter Building against a cityscape. Nothing crazy exciting but it at least makes more sense then Spider-Man’s secret garage.

Of the four sets, this one feels like the biggest let down. The vehicle just feels small and cheap, even though it makes more sense then the Arachno Racer. If you’ve got a kid that loves Thor and Captain America, you can probably get them two or three two-packs that would be more fun then this. For collectors, there’s no real reason to own this unless you’re a completist. A tanner Thor isn’t enough for the price of admission.