The last Gamerverse 2-pack we got so far gives us another version of Classic Cap to go over and probably the first time we ever got a blue Venom in the Marvel Legends line. There have been some blue versions of the OG symbiote dude in the past, but none for the Legends line as far as I can tell. As for my thoughts on the subline so far, it's one of the better offerings Hasbro made in the last half of a decade, especially since it's not dealing with too many problems at hand like the proportions not being very comic booky or the severe lack of accessories. I don't have confidence on how the quality to price ratio will go with Hasbro raising up the amount they'll charge, but the 2-packs have been better than the single carded figures we got of late. These two may be blue, but let's see if they're still just as good as the other offerings.
Here we have Captain America in-hand. Near as I can tell, this figure isn't a retool of the Grim Reaper body, though with how limiting some Marvel Legends guides can be, he could be one with heavy modifications for all we know. I think this is the first time a classic Cap.has butterfly joints, and one with a horizontally stretched star on his chest. The former works well for added articulation, but I don't like the latter given how abnormal it looks on him. I guess it makes sense if he's wearing spandex stretched over him, but it's worse than the stretched logo on Action Comics 1000 Superman from McFarlane Toys. I appreciate that the rest of the paint apps are applied on properly, though the lighting in my set up combined with the backdrop makes the whites appear yellowed. Otherwise, the figure looks generally good apart from maybe needing larger shoulders. Either that or raising them up higher.
As for Venom, he is a reuse of the prior version we got back in Walmart, though he is obviously cast in blue and has pinless arms...that contrast the ones used for the legs. As I always say, if you're going to commit to something, go all the way or don't try at all. At the very least, the physique is close enough to how Venom looked in the game, though not to the same extent of being a bulkier character in the sprite work. It works well if you want a less stylized version of him in a more comic aesthetic, but with how specific MvC is, he's only going to fit if Spider-Man never had the symbiote bonded to him. After all, with Venom being blue in the crossover games, how will that affect Spider-Man's history with that brief outfit he had?
Both of their head sculpts look great, though Cap's eyes are going to be a bit hard to decipher without any good lighting. As for Venom, his head sculpt is designed to match the game's take on Venom, with more stylized eyes as well as an animalistic tongue with molded, green slime oozing around him.
Their articulation is mostly the same with what we previously got, with ball and disk hinge necks, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, butterfly joints, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, wrist rotation and inward hinges, a diaphragm joint as well as ab crunches, ball jointed hips (better range on Cap than Venom for the splits), thigh rotation, double jointed knees, boot rotation for Cap only, and ankles that hinge as well as pivot.
You saw Venom with open claw hands, but their additional accessories include Captain America with not just a shield, but also an effect piece that simulates his Charging Star attack in the game. For anyone wondering, the shield is all tampograph and is a more average size. Venom doesn't have any attack-related effect parts, but he has an alternate head showing him with the half-exposed face of Eddie Brock. It's definitely a reuse from the symbiote 3-pack version that came with Riot and Agony, and the remaining eye from Venom does not match the one on the fully revealed face. I would have rather gone for a more fully revealed Eddie Brock face since we usually see him with his face exposed whenever he is ready to fight or wins the battle. A grinning "Give up, spoilsport?" head would be perfect, Hasbro!
For a figure comparison, here they are in-between the 20th anniversary version of Cap and the Walmart version of Venom. Obviously, the latter will be straightforward with the colors and heads, but the logos are painted differently in terms of the width and the line thickness that separates the white legs. The forearms may not look different at first glance, but Walmart Venom has his with veins added on to give it that symbiotic look compared to the smoother ones on the MvC version. Captain America is a far different story, with the 20th version having a chainmail texture applied as well as a different shape for his belt. The upper legs and hips are sculpted differently but the boots and gloves are the same. The biceps are also retooled to be entirely smooth. While I like the 20th anniversary version for a Cap with more tooling than having a smoother torso, I still don't like how stretched the star turned out on the new version; at least the shoulders aren't left with gaps that make the arms appear disconnected, but I'm left feeling conflicted on which Cap I like better.
The shields are another thing worth mentioning; the 20th anniversary version has a larger one in addition to a more opaque white ring, and the bright blue goes with his costume's shade. It should be worth mentioning that it is also molded grey plastic to make the colors appear less biased towards the more prominent red usually used when molding the shields. That being said, three holds are punched in for three different effect parts. Meanwhile, the MvC version has a smaller shield and is molded in red plastic, meaning the white white looks worse than the star smack dab in the middle of the blue circle, and the red plastic loses some finesse compared to the red paint on the grey plastic. But hey, at least his shield has no holes punched in, which lets him approve of that with one of his thumbs up hands.
Overall, this set turned out better than I expected, though it feels closer to the War Machine vs Omega Red 2-pack in terms of my final thoughts. There is a good amount of love put into the figures, though Cap feels more distinct than what we got with the last few classic Caps using the engineering of the 80 Years version. Venom, however, is a palette swap with some cosmetic differences. Both are still good for what you're getting, and I'd rather buy two flawed yet still good figures based on a game I like a whole lot over a single Maximum figure that is the same price as an import figure yet features half of the quality. With how samey these two sort of feel, you might want to get them on clearance compared to the other sets.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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