Marvel Legends Captain
America 2 Baron Zemo Review

NoisyDvL5

Zemo is accomplished mostly through repaint. I first got this buck on the US Agent, and I’m not sure if it’s older or parts of it are older, but the body is 100% US Agent with only the softer plastic belt and shoulder harness added. Paint it up in the right colors, add the Zemo head and *BOOM*, you’re done. It totally works though. The base body is a strong, basic sculpt. The boots & gloves are great and the range of motion in the joints is great from the ball-jointed neck on down to the inverted ball-joints in the ankles.

That also means the figure relies heavily on the paint job and the figure is pretty well done thankfully. There are a few areas of concern like the upper forearms, molded yellow and not quite covered well enough by the purple paint. This is odd because the forearm is a separate piece from the glove. On USAgent that did mean there was a little black circle around the wrist peg, but it looked fine. Not sure why the change here. The lines on the chest are mostly sharp while some of the lines on the head miss the sculpted lines, but it still manages to come together for a nice presentation.

Zemo is packaged with three accessories including the other arm of the Mandroid BAF. I’ll end up with two of this particular piece when I buy the A.I.M. Agent, but I’m not sure if there was a better way for the Mandroid pieces to be packed out. I do kinda wish that other figures in the wave had duplicates so that building two Mandroids was a little worthwhile, but that’s a topic for another day.

The other two accessories are a pretty slick sword and a pistol. The sword is a lot of fun. It looks sharp. It’s molded yellow like the gloves and boots, so the colors match up perfectly, and there is a slot on the belt for it. I love weapons storage.

Speaking of, there’s this pistol. By itself. It’s fun. It looks good. It’s got a giraffe-print handle because Zemo buys all his stuff from Kraven apparently, and it fits great in Zemo’s hand with the trigger finger. In all, it’s good. But there’s nowhere to put it. And that’s because Zemo’s figure commits the cardinal sin of action figures with weapons – molded-in weapons. Zemo’s already packing two pistols, molded into his shoulder harness. Doh. It’s not the biggest deal in the world, but one more holster would’ve been nice, particularly when Red Skull had an extra. And while I tease in the pic, I don’t want to give Zemo the holster from Red Skull, because I love those little monogrammed Z’s on Zemo’s. Can’t give that up.

Overall though, I love this figure. I knew I would when I saw the SDCC pics and I’m excited to finally have him. Sure, there are a few things I’d change – a harness that can hold the pistol and maybe an extra accessory in the form of that ol’ 70s championship belt he used to sport (the one included is not removable though). Yeah, one or two things could take this guy over the top, but he’s pretty close already. This is one of the better ML bucks, the colors work great on it, the head sculpt is top notch and, his accessories are fun even if I can’t store both. This Baron Zemo was long overdue for Marvel Legends. And I promise I will keep him Zemo. He doesn’t have to be King Spidey anymore. Though, uh, Hasbro, I do still kinda need Secret Wars Doom, okay?

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35 thoughts on “Marvel Legends Captain
America 2 Baron Zemo Review”

  1. The mold dates back at least to the Bucky Cap from the first wave of the relaunched Legends.

    I’ve never been a huge Zemo fan, but I am a big fan of Cap, especially the Brubaker run, so if I ever do happen across this guy (so far the only Cap Legend I’ve seen has been the WW2 reissue), I’d probably grab him. I have the older Legends Zemo, but I don’t think I ever even opened it (I’d pretty well run out of display space by that point, and that wave was full of clunkers, like Zemo and Longshot. It’s packed away in storage, still in its original package).

    1. Oh, and technically there was a variant of the older ML Zemo meant to represent Helmut, only it was unmasked (with a disfigured face) and still wearing his daddy’s outfit.

      1. was the variant supposed to be Helmut or Heinrich? I always thought it was still Heinrich, just unmasked.

    2. I love Cap’s villains, so I’m happy to see them finally getting some love: Zola, Zemo, & the upcoming Batroc alone have made me a pretty happy camper.

  2. I have some nice memories of Secret Wars, including getting my first ever Iron Man and Daredevil figures. I love Wolverine’s brown costume best of all, too. And I think I first knew of Baron Zemo thanks to the figure since I hadn’t read his comic appearances during the Mike Zeck era in Cap’s book.

    I’ve been mostly on the fence with this guy though, since I prefer the Secret Wars/80’s version. Hasbro has already made two for its Marvel Universe line, so it’s not so far-fetched to assume that we might get a better Zemo in the Legends scale later on. But I was very disappointed when Toy Biz gave us his daddy some years back since it just wasn’t the same. So, if this is my only shot at Zemo II, I’d rather get him now even if he’s wearing his most recent costume from T-Bolts and the Born Better mini.

    In any case, I still want a proper SW/80’s Zemo as much as you!

    1. I was thinking the same thing. It honestly wouldn’t take much – a new belt and a shoulder harness for the fur (though he could be much brighter). The good thing is this figure pretty awesome even with the modern outfit!

  3. Well like said not seen any villians yet in this wave. Really like all four. I had only a Spiderman (red & blue) and Cap from Secret Wars and both gone now. Still find the character disks though.

    I dig this Zemo and do recall an old tale with him in a mansion and a dough boy that almost smothered Cap and Thor and then a Lady Zemo story. Still to get the heads of these groups plus soldiers/cannon fodder (and maybe Zombie fodder) is a fun thing.

    This looks to be a fun fig that had a fun review. Agree though molded weapons, NEVAH SHOULD HAPPEN, why theybdo it I dunno.

    Hope to find these guys. (Given notices to fam to watch for A.I.M. and Hydra soldiers, one way to get an army) >:)

    1. I think my Secret Wars are in the handful of figures still at my parents house. I’m not always sure who survived the “The Great Flood”. The only one I have here is the Black Spider-Man costume as it is the Greatest Costume Ever. 🙂

      Good luck in your search! I keep going back to TGT for restocks too, but haven’t had any luck!

  4. So which BAF do you like better, Mandroid or Iron Monger? I know this is purely subjective, so I’m just curious.

    1. no one can complete the Mandroid yet, as we only have the head and arms available, right now.

        1. Ha! I will probably lean towards Iron Monger though just because of the colors. If the Mandroid were more silver than grey, he’d have a better chance.

  5. so, quick story… zemo was my final “get out of the hospital” gift after the femoral derotation. i was stuck in a body cast from the waist down for 6 months, so over that time, i got to meet and bind with my toys that likely is the emotional killswitch that is why i collect today. i loved this fig. he was easily the fig that got the most play after he-man, and he trumped even mighty skeletor for the title of top bad guy. mostly because of the secret wars lenticular shields, where mr zemo was, amongst other things, melting the statue of liberty. you just don’t top that. he was my go-to great baddie, the general to magneto’s field captain…

    then came the purge. it was several years later, but my dad, deciding we boys didn’t need action figures anymore, threw out all our toys. every went. i managed to sneak a precious few of my original figs back out of the trash can, but alas, despite my searching, i couldn’t find zemo. found mags though, and it’s certainly one of the reasons he became so precious to me, being one of only two survivors of that cataclysm. (dad was kind of irrational prick at this point in his life, but i’m not bitter)

    slowly, over the next couple decades, i rebuilt. once i was working and making my own money, he really couldn’t stop me, and there came a point where he just gave up trying to discourage me. but i never rebought zemo. his memory was still a raw spot for me, so while i bought a ton of he-man stuff and castle grayskull and snake mountain, some of the cool stuff i had lost or never had before, i kept passing on zemo.

    then marvel legends comes out. it’s everything i’d ever wanted in a marvel line, and the line i’d been waiting to get during the entire 90s run, which never released “my zemo,” but i kept the faith. i kept the faith after they released heinrich, and i passed, cuz helmut was my zemo. then i saw the proto for this fig during con converage last year, and i squealed like a little girl. he wasn’t exactly my zemo, but he was an UPGRADE, and he was HELMUT!!!!! i’ve been dying for this fig for the better part of 30 years now, and at long friggin last, i have him!! (having no luck locally, i resorted to TRU.com… bastards) i love this friggin figure, he IS the nostalgia nail i hang my hat on, brought into the modern era. whatever else happens, if i decide to quit the game and become a playa in the himalayas, this zemo is coming with me. not till i’m wrapped in the mushroom suit and long ago sauteed in butter alongside a ribeye will this figure leave my side. and with diligence, i can avoid emotionally scarring my children so much that they get to experience this kind of joy from an inanimate object. 🙂 not that there are many faults to find, but thank you for not nitpicking him to death.

    1. my parents didn’t throw them out, but our dads sounded a LOT alike. What may have been worse was twice they made me throw them all -Joes, TFs, and assorted others- in a trash bag and then left it in the corner of my room with orders not to touch it.

      so yeah, I began sneaking them out, one by one. Then my cat Tyger peed on it and ripped the bag open trying to cover it up. THEN I got in trouble by trying to wash them off in the tub! but by then, they knew it was a waste of time trying to make me give them up.

      of course, most of those are lost now, thanks to putting them all in storage and having no help in trying to get them out. >_>
      I basically stole/”borrowed” dad’s truck while he was in hospital for a few days in an attempt to get some stuff out. surprised he didn’t have me arrested after the fact!
      but then they were “out of sight, out of mind” and I stopped paying the rent….
      found a few later at the local flea market, at 44/50. I still lost THOUSANDS in toys and esp comics. 🙁

      1. Sad thing to commiserate over, isn’t it? The thing about the trashing of the toys that I never got was how frugal dad always was, until it was stuff he bought my brother and I, then it had no meaning at all. Maybe one day we’ll get exactly the secret wars costume redone, but this version is so cool, I won’t be holding my breath.

    2. The emotional state of your Dad doing that to you personally aside, it does remind me of “The Great Flood” that swept through my home when I was nine and washed out almost every figure I owned. The house was refurbished, the furniture and appliances were replaced with better versions, and, yes, I did get one hell of an insurance-based toy spending spree for reinforcements, but you couldn’t replace the actual toys, of course. That massive loss surely had an impact on my collecting habit, on my attitude towards enjoying what you have, and not to mention my meticulousness about always leaving my room clean… I often wonder, even though they were well-loved and far from mint condition, how many thousands of G1 Transformers, original Joes, Super Powers, and other 80s great I realy lost that day.

  6. so, technically, we FINALLY have the Secret Wars line-up revisited in ML!
    granted, it’s across a decade and two different companies, but the line is finally updated with the recent Constrictor and now Zemo.
    (suck it, ToyGuru! 😉 )

    our SW figs: Cap, Spidey (r/b), Wolvie, IM, Mags, Zemo, Kang, Ock.
    Zemo was the oddball we knew nothing about, other than he was a bad guy.
    We also didn’t know much about several SP figures like J’onn (who had yet to return to JLA at that point) and Dr Fate, as everyone else we had had appeared on SuperFriends or was regularly appearing in comics. (we didn’t have Tornado/Miracle/Orion, and I still regret passing up Cyborg for a Twisted Sister tape to this day!)

    ML Helmut’s a good figure, and fairly accurate to one of his looks. I’m partial to the shoulder ruffle and gold belt, myself. http://www.leaderslair.com/thunderbolts/zemo.gif
    I do hope to score a second one for his black latter T-bolts costume, which is also a favorite. http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel//universe3zx/images/thumb/4/41/HelmutZemo_Head.jpg/406px-HelmutZemo_Head.jpg
    and yes, I know I’ll probably have to swap the head onto a Ronin to get a better torso for that look.

    I do find the shoulder holsters a bit bulky and annoying, but then his hips look too wide with just the belt on. sigh…. I do wish they had made this belt/tabard combo removable and given us the yellow belt and shoulder ruffle to swap out, but that’s just me.

    as for the duplicate BAF arms, I’m now thinking they could have swapped the newer pieces around (barring cost of new weapons sculpts), so we can have two sword/shield arms or two gatling arms or whatever we wanted. but that’s just me. 😉
    Maybe they can revisit this when they re-use the mold for the eventual Apocalypse in the next X-movie line?

    1. The SPs I knew nothing about often ended up as my favorites since they opened the door to finding the character in old comics!

      I agree that a few pieces would put Zemo over the top. It’s a shame Hasbro couldn’t cost out a 2nd harness and belt to give him the classic look.

      And great idea about swapping the armament on the arms between variants!

  7. I have pretty much given up collecting but with all these new ML figures I think I will make a return. Secret Wars was the first action figure toys I ever got. Captain America, Hobgoblin, Turbo Cycle and the Doom Roller…..sadly all I have now is Hobgoblin with no accessories. I always liked Zemo as he was in the first Spider-Man comic I bought.

      1. I was only 2 or 3 when I got them. I lost the wheel and the canopy but had the main bit for many years….I think I eventually gave it to my cousins with some other stuff. One day I might buy one again. 🙂

    1. cool. you’re right, it’s between 2d and 3d pouch back on hip!

      I also tried the Mandroid arms on Monger torso and it does look a bit cool with dark grey/met.blue mix. IM3a were on clearance, so I picked up another set, but the legs won’t go on. :/ still haven’t opened Cap for the head, yet.

      2. Ha! The reason My Monger won’t wear the Mandroid arms is because they will absolutely not come back off! I tried!

        I still haven’t snagged a Now! Cap. All four I’ve seen have atrocious paint.

  9. Hey it look like zemos right upper boot is on,backwards. I think the top of the boot comes to a point on the front and round on the back,not vice versa

  10. They make a secret wars Doom and my years of collecting will finally be complete! I will store all my toys in a great tomb, leave a cool treasure map to it, then lie down in my sarcophigas with SW Doom in hand.

      1. Ha, well I do exaggerate, but SW Doom was my MAIN Doom back in the day. I had no other Doom figure while growing up. I still see ’em as an important look because of that, so I’m really hoping for someone to focus on the look at some point!

  11. I GOT ONE! Talk about lucky but man I shoulda took some.extra spending money. Coulda got Seth Rollins for my wrestling fan.cuz in elite at a cheaper than wal-mart price.

  12. When I was a kid, my friend owned Secret Wars Baron Zemo, and told me that he was Spider-Man’s girlfriend (presumably based on the pink).

    He also told me that Dr. Fate was a guy named Axe-Face.

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