Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War role play toys review

These toys may be for the boys on the big screen, but little girls can join the action too with these nifty Captain America and Iron Man role play accessories.

After explaining to my 4-year-old daughter about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, how all the stories are linked, she decided she wanted to see them in order.

So a little earlier (by some years) than I had planned, we set about watching all of them from Iron Man to the latest Captain America: Civil War. After that one she said “I hope Iron Man and Captain America can be friends again?”

But she ended up being a big fan of both of these key members of the Avengers, so the timing was perfect when we received these toys from Hasbro to review – Captain America’s Shield and the Iron Man Slide Armour.

Role play is an important part of childhood development, and my daughter is always very keen to reenact stories. Props like these are a key part of that.

Both toys feature moving parts that slide/reveal at the touch of a button. Both also have a double Nerf Elite Blasters, a Hasbro owned brand that they often put into their other toys (e.g. our Millennium Falcon has one).

So what did we make of these toys?

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War Blaster Reveal Shield

Captain America’s shield is a Marvel icon in itself. Made from an indestructible alloy, it’s circular representation of the American flag has remained unchanged for 75 years.

But how to make this into an interesting toy? It’s basically just a disc. Hasbro have created various versions in recent years, and the latest is the Captain America: Civil War Blaster Reveal Shield.

At the touch of a button (the star at the center of the shield) 2/3 of the shield retracts to reveal a Nerf blaster inside, that can be cocked by a lever and fired by large button on the handle.

With no batteries required, this comes with 2 Nerf Elite darts and is ready to go.

It seems pretty sturdy, though I doubt it would last long being thrown around like cap does.

My daughter thinks it’s cool, and loves playing with the retracting mechanism more than the Nerf blaster. She has also been know to pair the shield with a sword.

 

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War – Iron Man Slide Armour

Unlike Captain America, Iron Man doesn’t have an accessory as such – his whole armour IS his accessory.

But Tony Stark Does have the occasional gadget, and in Captain America: Civil War, he has a pretty cool one – a wrist watch which converts into an Iron Man gauntlet (For all those cynics out there who think this stuff is in these movies just to create new toys – this was actually Robert Downey Jrs. idea).

Tony Stark wrist watch Iron Man Gauntlet reveal Captain America Civil War
Tony Stark’s wrist watch Iron Man Gauntlet (from Captain America: Civil War)

Now, as cool as this is, recreating this digital marvel for an affordable kids toy requires a bit of imagination – from the toy designer and the child playing with this Iron Man Slide Armour.

This is basically a twin-barrel Nerf blaster (in Iron Man colours), but at the push of a button the blaster armour telescopes out to cover the wearer’s forearm. Like the shield, the Nerf blaster is fired by another button.

The unlocking is of less interest to my daughter in this toy than the shield.

marvel-captain-america-civil-war-blaster-reveal-shield-ron-man-slide-armour

Comparing the two? Let’s face it, neither toy is particularly authentic. Cap’s shield should have no moving parts, the Iron Man toy is a very broad approximation of Stark’s gadget in the movie.

But the least authentic – the shield – is my daughter’s favourite and probably the most successful of the two toys, as it basically looks cooler. The Iron Man one is more akin to the kind of improvised gadget Stark would have created in the Afghan cave in the first movie.

But we’ve had great fun playing with these – and we haven’t lost any of the Nerf darts… yet.

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The Marvel Captain America: Civil War Blaster Reveal Shield and Marvel Captain America: Civil War – Iron Man Slide Armour both have an RRP of £24.99. We were provided with both free of charge from Hasbro for the purposes of this review.

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