Introduction
One of my favorite movies last year was Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Marvel proved they knew how to do not just Cap right, but they added another terrific new hero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the introduction of Falcon.

Hot Toys has been hitting all the Marvel movies hard, so it's really no surprise to see them go after this guy as well. But he's a bit more complicated than the usual B-lister, with those oh so cool wings and flight pack. Could they pull that off in sixth scale, and at a reasonable price? It's time to find out.

This guy is currently shipping world wide, and should run you around $250 USD. There wasn't any limited editions or exclusive versions.

Packaging - ***1/2
There's nothing fancy here, with the usual shoe box style box, inner cardboard insert cover, and a couple plastic trays to hold the accessories. It's all collector friendly of course, with no need to damage anything in removing the figure. You will have to cut off the plastic booties though, so take some care with that blade around your expensive figure.

I also appreciate the use of the actual photo on the cover, rather than simply a shot of the figure. It allows you to better compare the final product with the on screen version, right out of the box.

Sculpting - ***1/2
First, let's discuss the one portrait factor that Hot Toys tends to nail every time - realism. And yes, this is an extremely realistic sculpt, with the slight skin texture, glassy eyes, and perfect hair sculpting that makes a sculpt go from toy to portrait. The short hair does pose a few problems for them - it's not quite as good as their work with normal length locks - but it's a very minor issue.

Then comes accuracy. The actor (Anthony Mackie) isn't hidden by makeup or special effects, so capturing his actual likeness is key. The majority of the sculpt looks solid, with a just a minor nit here and there. Looking at his face from more than one angle, it seems like they've got it just about perfect.

Finally, there's life-like. While they didn't go too dymamic, they did do a better job this time getting some life into the eyes, lips and musculature, giving him a stern but appropriate expression. This isn't a perfect head sculpt, but it's damn close.

Paint - ****
It's hard to complain about Hot Toys production paint, but occasionally I still find a way to do it. I looked hard, but couldn't find a reason to whine this time around.

The eyes are perfect, with just a slight amount of bleed into the whites. The skin tone is even and clean and the right shade. It matches pretty well between the face and the bare arms, as well. The hair line is clean and sharp, and even the lips, eyebrows and thin facial hair is spot on perfect.

This sort of excellent paint work allows an exceptional sculpt to come through, and will even improve on a weak sculpt, adding more realism to the look.

Articulation - ***1/2
The underlying body has all the terrific articulation you expect out of a TrueType. They did go with the slightly less articulated elbows, since they are exposed, but you can still get some great poses with the arms, particularly with the wings.

The outfit does interfere a little with the upper body articulation, particularly with the waist and the ab-crunch. You can still get them to move easily enough, but the slightly stiff material in the harness and vest push it back. Over time, this will loosen up a bit as you work with it.

The boots effect the ankle articulation as well, but you can get some pretty deep stances nonetheless. You won't be able to point the toes quite enough in some flying stances, but it's a minor nit.

The wings are articulated as well, with two joints on each that allow them to fold in and out - slightly. In the photo above (in front of the brick wall) they are folded in as far as they go, while in all the flying photos they are streched out fully.

Accessories - ***
There's not a ton of extras here, since the wings tend to override all else. And yes, they are very, very cool.

But let's discuss the rest of the extras first. There are eight hands in total, including the pair of fists he comes wearing. There is also a pair of tight grips, designed to hold the handles on the wings, as well as a set of gun grips. The final set is a relaxed grip. There's a couple extra wrist pegs too, just in case. I didn't have any problems though, and they hands swapped easily enough to avoid any breakage problems.

There are two sets of wrist bands, which he can use to hold the machine guns. The set he comes wearing are one piece and decorative, but the set included in the box have small posts to attach the guns at the handle. The attachment also slides in and out, so it can remain with the gun. In the photo above, you'll see the standard, non-moving version on the right, and the version that can hold the gun on the left. In the photos below, you'll see the version with the moving slide in use, both with the gun in his hand (and the slide removed) and with the gun in place on the wrist.

The guns themselves look great, right off the screen. They are Steyr machine guns, and the pair fit nicely on his wrists or in his hands.

Now to the wings, or more accurately, the overall flight pack. The pack itself comes with two folded in wings, barely exposed on either side. You can see them because of the silver tip color. This pack attaches to his back via several clips that snap into the harness. Be sure to remove the plastic tab from the battery compartment before snapping it on. It's not impossible to remove the pack of course, but the fewer times you do it the better.

The large wings can attach at the same spot as the tiny folded wings. You snap out the small wings, snap in the large wings - badda bing, badda boo. If you're unsure, check out the instructions, where there's a pretty clear graphic.

Once in place, the large wings look fantastic. While they are big, they are also quite light weight, allowing him to remain upright without over adjusting the stance.  And while they are lightweight, they aren't cheap or flimsy. I had no fears of snapping them or damaging them at any time.

There are two handles on the wings, and these are removable. Pop them off, get the arms extend properly and place the handles in the grippng hands, and pop them back in place for the final look. Check the last photo for an example.

Finally, he has one of the deluxe stands, designed for flying characters. The base has the movie logo, with his name on the front plate. The long, bendable metal post and tight clamp can hold his weight easily in just about any airborn position.

Outfit - ***1/2
Falcon is outfitted with his costume from late in the film, with the full upper body rigging and camo pants. The rigging looks fantastic, although the vest and harness are a little stiff. They are very screen accurate however, and all the zippers, snaps and buckles are properly in scale. There's a gray t-shirt underneat, with the shoulder armor as well.

You can't fly around at super sonic speeds without some eye protection, and he has his red lens goggles. Again, screen accuracy is excellent, and the sculpted head band is properly sized for either the forehead or over eye position. That's a big plus, since if it were made from a stretchy material instead, it would wear out or break over time.

The boot sculpt is excellent, although as I said it does restrict the ankles a bit. The camo pants are reasonable, although it's the one area where I felt the tailoring could have been improved. The upper thighs are pretty poofy, and can look odd at certain angles and in certain poses.

Light Feature - ***1/2
In the film, the flight pack lights up - you know Hot Toys isn't going to pass that up. They've included the three small watch batteries in the flight pack, and you simply remove the plastic tab. The switch is on the back, hidden under a plastic cap at the top. Check the instructions for the specific spot. This small cap seems a little too easy to remove, at least on mine, and I'm worried about losing it when handling him.

However, the lights look great, and are a very bright red. You really have to look at him from the bottom though to see them, so I'm not expecting them to be a big selling point for most collectors.

Fun Factor - ****
While he doesn't have a ton of extras, the uber cool wings make up for it. You're going to have a great time finding just the right flight pose for him, and with a costume that's less likely to have problems in extreme poses over time (unlike, say, Spider-man) you'll have less fear keeping him that way.

Value - **
I know that a big part of the $250 price point is the wings. I'm betting the light up feature is also adding to it. But it's still $30 or so over average, and that's a hefty chunk of change. While I really, really like the wings, I can't say that he's quite at an overall average value.

Things to Watch Out For -
If you are getting some weird looking elbows, make sure you turn the upper arm to match the lower arm. This is particularly true when you have the arms extended wide, holding the handles.

Overall - ***1/2
While it's great to have 5 different versions of Captain America, or 3 different versions of Black Widow, or 127 versions of Iron Man, I really like it best when you can add a new character to the display. And when they do them this well, it's almost a no-brainer.

The price point is distracting though. I suspect some collectors may have a hard time justifying the price point for a secondary character, but if you passed on Agent Coulson, or Nick Fury, and are kicking yourself now - don't make that same mistake here. If you're not into the B-listers though, this is $250 you can save.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Light Feature - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has him for $250, in stock.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
The most recent related review is the Captain America/Steve Rogers two pack, perfect to go with this Falcon. Also check out the Winter Soldier, Red Skull, Black Widow (I'll be checking out her latest version next week as well), Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Hulk, or Bruce Banner. There's about a million Iron Men choices, but I'd suggest the die cast MK42 that I'll be reviewing soon as well.

Hot Toys has also done a fair share of Captain America versions, but this is still one of my favorites.

Discussion:
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