Captain Amazing 8" Action Figure

Kudos to you if you recognize this figure without having me explain it to you. If you are one of the uninitiated, this is Captain Amazing from the classic film Mystery Men. Make sure that when you read the next sentence that you are aware that I am not joking and that I mean every word of it. Mystery Men is one of the greatest movies ever made. Yeah, I understand why people gravitate toward Citizen Kane and other such widely-acclaimed classics. I appreciate such high-minded highly artistic work. Umbrellas of Cherbourg is also one of my favorite films, so I'm not entirely without taste. There's just something about Mystery Men that never stops being awesome. I know that there are very few who feel the same about it. Mystery Men was seen as a critical and financial flop, but I love it. I dig it in the same way that certain types of people really dig Cable Guy (a movie I like. I wouldn't say I love it, but I've happily watched it a few times). Some movies just reach certain people and no amount of thumbs down, bombs, or rotten tomatoes can make them think otherwise. I need to write a review of Mystery Men someday. Anyway, this is supposed to be about the Captain Amazing action figure, not the movie.

My wife found this figure in its original packaging at Bookman's in Mesa. I immediately asked her if they had Blue Raja or The Shoveler, but they didn't. I'm okay with Captain Amazing, but he's not my favorite character from the movie (although knowing Captain Amazing made me enjoy Booster Gold's story in 52 so much more). We proudly brought this figure home, took it out of the packaging, and gave it a honored place in our home (my wife is also a big Mystery Men fan. It's one of the reasons I love her).

This figure is made by Playing Mantis and is 8" tall and reasonably articulated (I don't know what you consider full articulation. The DC Universe Classics figures have more joints than actual human beings. This figure has head, shoulder, elbow, waist, and knee joints, which is all I would ever want). The picture I took made him look like a drunken Tim Allen, but he looks really close to the Captain Amazing from the film. He's missing some of the endorsements from the movie, but that's understandable. It would be hard to get clearance from all the companies Captain Amazing represents. He comes just as a bare figure with no accessories whatsoever. That's how he appears in the film, so I can't fault them too much there.

Anyway, if you're a fan of Mystery Men (and really, you should be) this is a figure you might enjoy. You'd probably enjoy Blue Raja or The Shoveler more, but that's neither here nor there. This is a large finely-crafted fully-articulated figure. It's a proud piece of my collection, even if I wish it was almost any of the other characters from the movie (but not The Spleen).