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Dark Threat Hydra Soldier

April 21, 2014 | By Errex More

Also known as the Deluxe Set Hydra Soldier, this figure was part of the toy line made by Hasbro for the movie Captain America: The First Avenger.

Around this point in time, Hasbro started cutting costs on several of their movie related lines, explaining why the design of this particular figure was not really up to par with the single carded figures from the same line.

The Dark Threat Hydra Soldier is a depiction of the heavier shock troopers we saw in the movie, carrying extra armor and the advanced weaponry systems developed by Dr. Arnim Zola for Hydra. Both the belt and the rubber harness are removable pieces, leaving a fairly generic trooper body underneath.

The base body sculpt is rather simple in it’s depiction of an olive green jumpsuit with boots, gloves and a full face shield. There is not a lot of detail, other than perfunctory wrinkles and a small pack on his back, with the more interesting element being closed-face helmet, although it is nice to see a taller, bulkier body type in the Hydra ranks.
The aspect where this figure falls a bit short is in articulation, as he was designed with only:

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• Ball jointed neck.

• Pegged hinge shoulders.

• Pegged hinge elbows.

• Pegged hinge hips.

• Upper thigh swivels.

• Pegged hinge knees.

And that is it. Even though even the neck works as a simple swivel joint, I have to concede that this articulation spread works particularly well for this figure, as it trades poseability for stability, something he definitely needs with all the gear he carries around.

Speaking of which, this Hydra goon comes armed with two bulky, action feature-laden weapons loosely based on the designs seen on the screen. These weapons lack a proper handle, and are held simply by jamming the forearms of the figure inside their frame.

Also included with this figure are two sets of projectiles: a pair of translucent blue plasma-like bolts and a couple of translucent orange fans painted to simulate a fire effect. Both types of projectiles fit in the launchers and can be shot from them, although the orange ones don’t fly near as far as the blue ones

The removable harness is quite detailed and nicely sculpted, looking like a mix of protective gear and a heavy-duty generator.

The paint operations are nothing too complicated, as the Soldier and his gear were molded in the correct color of plastic.

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Most of the leather gear was painted in solid black, with a little silver and blue applied to the arm conduits and small red accents for the goggle lenses and the Hydra crests at the sides of his helmet.

Even though I actually liked this Hydra Soldier, I don’t really see why it had to be sold as a Deluxe set, since the articulation cuts would certainly balance the cost incurred by adding a second action accessory with this figure.

Don’t get me wrong, the Dark Threat Hydra Soldier is still a nice figure to have some variety in a Hydra strike team, but I certainly would not have paid the full retail price for him.

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