John F. Walker is one of the new characters introduced to the MCU via the new DIsney+ route and was one of the key players in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. When we first saw him in the series he had been given the mantle of the 'new' Captain America.
The first figure from The Falcon & The Winter Soldier to be announced and released was the John Walker Captain America, released as a special standalone figure in June 2021.
In one of the early scenes of Falcon & The Winter Soldier, we see the newly appointed Captain America attend a Baseball game at which he signs an action figure of himself. This Special release was announced shortly afterwards and it not only gave us the John Walker figure, but the packaging was a direct replication of the toy we see on screen.
The size is essentially the same as the recent X-Men figures, but has a redesigned window that has a central 'stars and stripe' bar as well as a circular Shield emblem. The character name sits on the top rail with the Hasbro logo bottom right. The Falcon & The Winter Soldier logo is applied as a sticker on the lower segment of the figure window. I wondered if Hasbro would go down the route of an actual signature on the window, but they have decided against this.
The two side panels feature John in his uniform and this the first point the Marvel Legends logo is used. The images are not just mirrored as we usually see on Legends, with one a wider shot ahead of a US flag, while the other has John Walker behind a billowing flag.
The back of the box is a full image of John Walker with the shield against a red-hued city scene. There is no bio or background text included.
The figure is held in an inner tray as normal with the Shield to one side of the head and the alternative head sculpt to the other. The card back piece is the same deep red and black image of a cityscape.
The figure itself is a full new sculpt as far as I can tell, reflecting the revised Captain America suit we see on screen. The figure is cast predominantly in blue plastic with the red applied as paint apps. This does leave the red a little muted, and there are also some paint issues where red has bled into an adjacent area. This is worst around the belt and on the trim on the arms.
Other paint apps applied are done in black and silver including the star on his helmet, chest and the back of the figure. These too are a little messy with either the star not fully painted in the case of the back, or the paint has gone past the lines as seen on the chest. On each shoulder we have a decal of sorts with the US stars & stripes in a grey colour. Oddly, the right shoulder has had the layout mirrored so is essentially the wrong way round.
John Walker comes with two head options, the first being the helmet figure with the eyes and lower face visible. Even with the helmet mask in place, the likeness to Wyatt Russell is good including his trademark chin and the eyes and mouth still get a photo-decor treatment for realism.
The unmasked head is also very good from a likeness standpoint and photo-decor treated. The unmasked head does have the hair as an individual piece glued on top, this makes the transition from skin to hair neater but from some angles, the gap can is noticeable and the right sideburn is particularly thick.
The heads swap out easily enough with a ball joint connection in line with many other Marvel Legends.
Onto accessories, and of course, the main inclusion is the Captain America shield. This is the older format Shield from circa 2014 and the Winter Soldier figures. This means it doesn't have the strap handles but rather the clip that can be rotated to reveal a plug. The benefit of this setup is the plug corresponds to a hole in the figures back to allow the Shield to be mounted - although it does sit a little high. The downside is that the clip struggles to get over the armour bracers on John's forearms having been designed for another figure. I can already see stress marks in my shield clip.
John has a holster on his right hip, but when you look at it, it is a sculpted piece so the gun is not removable, and yet he comes with a right hand that is designed to hold a gun with a trigger finger. Considering that John does use a handgun in the show, a working version would have been beneficial.
The hands are also something that the pack needed to provide variation for. We have no extras so are stuck with the clenched fist left hand and the trigger right hand. This means a fistfight pose will still have John with a pointing pose on his right hand. We know alternative hands exist as they are coming with the US Agent version of this figure, and for £24.99 RRP, I'd expect to see them in this release also!
Articulation on John Walker is impressive, with 21 points of articulation in total. We get the usual double joint elbows and knees as well as both a T-joint torso crunch and a waist swivel. The extra couple of points of articulation can be found on the boot cut with an extra swivel and having the swivel here does allow some poses to not require the thigh swivel, holding the aesthetics of the leg lined up. John Walker has a full range of motion and every joint is tight and ratcheted.
In Summary, what Hasbro have given us here is a very well sculpted and good looking figure with just a few paint niggles that if fixed would have given a much sharper finish. The box is impressive and ties into the series nicely, but as a circa £25 exclusive the issue lies in the accessories. The Shield clip is not a great fit for the arms of the figure, the gun and holster are a cast piece and cant be used and the hands are an odd choice and needed the same spare options as will be included in the upcoming US Agent figure that uses the same body.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, Marvel, legends, falcon, the winter soldier, john f walker, us agent, captain america, hasbro, disney+,. mcu