Drakonnen
Well-Known Member
So I had recently purchased a Captain America shield from CapShieldCentral run by Alan Walker on Etsy. This is my third Cap shield, as I have the King Arts version and a Cattoys ABS one.
When it arrived, I was naturally very excited. Pulling it out of the box and looking at the front of it, I thought it looked fantastic. However, unfortunately, very quickly I started noticing problems with it.
First and foremost, on the back side of the shield the brackets had multiple very deep scratches in them. It looked almost like someone had taken a nail to them. I was shocked that a new shield could arrive in such fashion as I assume their had to be some form of quality control inspection before mailing it and they are impossible to miss.
Next. and probably the worst problem for me: When I held the shield and looked at it, I noticed the star was attached completely out of alignment. On every other shield I own, on two hot toys versions and two different statues as well, one of the star points is always centered directly in the forearm bracket, so that no matter which arm Cap holds the shield on, when the arm is straight down, the star is level and pointing up.
On this shield, the star wasn't even close, and was a good 20 degrees off (see the pictures in the chair where I show one side, then lean it back to show the star point).
Upon contacting the store owner, I was told that there is nothing that can be done about the scratches. He said the brackets are bought from a supplier and arrive like that. I could hardly believe that he expected that that was okay on what is supposed to resemble a near invulnerable shield.
With regard to the star issue, I was told that "The star is straight if you hold it down in your left arm". First, that doesn't make any sense because the angle would be level on a straight arm no matter which arm is holding if it is aligned right. Additionally, when you did hold it in the left arm, the star was leaning forward 20 degrees, and leaning backwards when held in the right, so his claim wasn't accurate.
Without much issue, the seller did send me a return label and said he would see if the star could be aligned better, and if so he would send it back to me, but that basically I would have to live with the scratches. They day after he got the shield back, he sent me a refund claiming he checked the alignment with a broom handle and it was perfect, which, as you can see with the photos clearly is not true.
Other problems: The straps are actually installed upside down compared to how they are in the movies, if you are concerned about accuracy, which is important to me. There is a hole in the back, which it appears the seller usually covers up with an SSR tag, but which I didn't want on it due to it not being on in the recent movies. Also, the rings on the back appear to be incorrectly size to the actual movie versions, and out of alignment with the front rings. Lastly there was a small gap between the center star circle and the shield, as it was attached after the fact.
Verdict: Although beautiful, the numerous problems and outright damage make it hard to recommend anyone buy from this seller when he makes it clear you could not expect an undamaged or accurate version. However, if you don't care about the back side, or accuracy, the front side of the shield was beautiful if you just wanted to get one to hang on your wall, but if you are going to spend $500 on one, to me you might as well get something that ticks all the boxes and comes in perfect condition.
I hope this helps anyone looking to purchase one. I have now ordered one from a different vendor and will do a comparison and review once I receive that as well.
When it arrived, I was naturally very excited. Pulling it out of the box and looking at the front of it, I thought it looked fantastic. However, unfortunately, very quickly I started noticing problems with it.
First and foremost, on the back side of the shield the brackets had multiple very deep scratches in them. It looked almost like someone had taken a nail to them. I was shocked that a new shield could arrive in such fashion as I assume their had to be some form of quality control inspection before mailing it and they are impossible to miss.
Next. and probably the worst problem for me: When I held the shield and looked at it, I noticed the star was attached completely out of alignment. On every other shield I own, on two hot toys versions and two different statues as well, one of the star points is always centered directly in the forearm bracket, so that no matter which arm Cap holds the shield on, when the arm is straight down, the star is level and pointing up.
On this shield, the star wasn't even close, and was a good 20 degrees off (see the pictures in the chair where I show one side, then lean it back to show the star point).
Upon contacting the store owner, I was told that there is nothing that can be done about the scratches. He said the brackets are bought from a supplier and arrive like that. I could hardly believe that he expected that that was okay on what is supposed to resemble a near invulnerable shield.
With regard to the star issue, I was told that "The star is straight if you hold it down in your left arm". First, that doesn't make any sense because the angle would be level on a straight arm no matter which arm is holding if it is aligned right. Additionally, when you did hold it in the left arm, the star was leaning forward 20 degrees, and leaning backwards when held in the right, so his claim wasn't accurate.
Without much issue, the seller did send me a return label and said he would see if the star could be aligned better, and if so he would send it back to me, but that basically I would have to live with the scratches. They day after he got the shield back, he sent me a refund claiming he checked the alignment with a broom handle and it was perfect, which, as you can see with the photos clearly is not true.
Other problems: The straps are actually installed upside down compared to how they are in the movies, if you are concerned about accuracy, which is important to me. There is a hole in the back, which it appears the seller usually covers up with an SSR tag, but which I didn't want on it due to it not being on in the recent movies. Also, the rings on the back appear to be incorrectly size to the actual movie versions, and out of alignment with the front rings. Lastly there was a small gap between the center star circle and the shield, as it was attached after the fact.
Verdict: Although beautiful, the numerous problems and outright damage make it hard to recommend anyone buy from this seller when he makes it clear you could not expect an undamaged or accurate version. However, if you don't care about the back side, or accuracy, the front side of the shield was beautiful if you just wanted to get one to hang on your wall, but if you are going to spend $500 on one, to me you might as well get something that ticks all the boxes and comes in perfect condition.
I hope this helps anyone looking to purchase one. I have now ordered one from a different vendor and will do a comparison and review once I receive that as well.
