Fidel Castro: El Comandante is a 12" action figure manufactured by In The Past Toys. The box has a slipcase with the same photo of Castro on both sides. The window box features a full page biography of Castro on the back cover. The front of the box exhibits the figure with an inset photo of Castro pointing his finger during a speech.
Headsculpt: The Fidel Castro headsculpt is not bad, but it is not great either. The figure does not have the distinctive nose sculpted accurately. The most glaring defect is the beard. Castro has always had a scruffy beard that never looks very well groomed, and yet the action figure version has a neatly trimmed beard that gives this Castro figure the look of a Chassidic Rabbi or an Amish Elder. Castro has a ruddy skin tone, and yet the action figure version has a very pale Gaelic look. The only part of the face that looks very accurate is the forehead and the wavy hair. While the headsculpt is not a dead-on likeness of Fidel Castro, it can be customized with a little acrylic paint to make the beard a bit more realistic. From some angles it looks very much like Fidel Castro.
Articulation: The body is a Dragon-style knock-off. The hands have bendy fingers which do not have any detailing, unlike other manufacturers that sculpt veins and finger nails on the hands. Worse yet, the wire on the index finger of the left hand popped out after posing it once or twice.
Gear: No AK-47 or other weapon is included. Not even a miniature copy of his famous Granma newspaper.
Clothing: The cap is pretty cool. It is the exact style of those caps that Castro often wears when he is wearing combat fatigues. The web-belt has a metal buckle and it is also nicely done. The brown shirt he is wearing under the fatigues is also well tailored and made out of cloth. However, the actual olive-green fatigues are made of some kind of vinyl polyester material similar to a disposable windbreaker.
Overall: This figure originally was being sold at $59.99 to action figure collectors by In the Past Toys. ITPT is no longer manufacturing any new historical action figures. I bought this on e-bay for $10. At that price, Fidel Castro is a good value for kitbashing with some real cloth fatigues and an AK-47. What collection of Villains could be complete without Castro, a mentor to terrorists all over the world? Is it ironic that one of the most hard-core Communists in history is being bought and sold on the action figure market? Castro is being exploited by capitalists, as he is not getting any royalties from the use of his image.
Grade: C
