Now that major pop-culture icons like Star Wars and Marvel’s Avengers have cemented themselves into many of our lives, the ability to express yourself through your gaming gear is invaluable. AndaSeat’s Captain America Collaboration Series Gaming Chair is one of four Marvel-inspired gaming chairs designed to appeal to the Marvel fans out there. Some companies sacrifice quality and comfort to prey upon your need for self-expression. AndaSeat is not one of those companies.
When it’s finally time to invest in the right gaming chair, some forethought is required. Comfort, durability, features and style are all major factors in deciding what kind of chair will last those long laborious hours of battling villains and saving the day. AndaSeat has been rock-solid through the years, with popular designs, and one of, if not the, best warranty in the business. That isn’t to say that AndaSeat’s Captain America Collaboration Gaming Chair is perfect, but it makes a strong case against using any other chair. Before we get deeper into the pros and cons, let’s start with the specifications:
Specifications
- Current Price: $473.99 (Amazon - currently running a $53 coupon in checkout as of publication)
- Model Name: Captain America Edition
- Foam Type and Density: High-Density Mould Shaping Foam / 60-65 Kg/M3
- Chair Cover Material: Carbon Fiber/BMW Leather (Leather - PVC)
- Adjustable Back Angle: 160 Degrees
- Mechanism: Multi-Function Tilt
- Frame Construction: Metal
- Base Type and Caster Size / Material: 5-Star Metal Base 3” Caster/PU
- Arm Rest Size: 10.3”L x 3.9”W
- Gross Weight: 73.85Lbs
- Gas Lift Class/Specification: 4 65/50
- Seat Size: 16.14”W (front) x 14.96”W (back) x 19.29”D
- (Sizes given are maximum)
- Seat Depth: 21.65” Seat Width: 22.83”
- Arm Height: 15.63”
- Backrest Height: 34.21” Backrest Shoulder Width: 23.82”
- Accessories: Back/Lumbar Pillow, Neck Pillow, Floor Mat
Avengers Assemble
Having put together several gaming chairs in the past, AndaSeat is on par with many other gaming chair brands by providing all of the necessary equipment required to assemble the chair. The chair itself weighs upwards of 70 Lbs, so getting some assistance in moving it to an open area that can accommodate more than one person may be helpful, as there will be times when lifting and steadying parts of the chair with a second set of hands would be very useful. The chair is sectioned into 12 parts, including the hardware, and the manual is easy to follow. All tools, minus your own two hands, are provided, in the form of a long, double-sided Allen Wrench.
During the assembly, one issue you may run into, as I did, is deciding how far apart you want your armrests to be. The armrests can be customized by moving them closer or further away from you and screwing them in, but during your assembly, you may not know what feels right. I decided to move the armrests the furthest out they would go, under the impression that more space is better. When I finally completed the assembly, I learned that wasn’t the case, but loosening the 8 screws to slide the armrests to my desired position was a hassle.
Time to Suit Up
With assembly in the rearview mirror, taking the new seat for a test drive with a critical eye took a few moments. It’s hard not to compare this chair to my daily driver, last year’s Secret Labs Omega model, but comparisons are important, as they help distinguish what aspects of a chair really matter. My first impression was that this chair felt much larger than I expected. I would describe myself as average height and weight at 5’9 and 190 lbs, and when the chair was raised all the way and I sat back comfortably, my toes would brush the ground. That “toddler” feeling of sitting in a big chair, I would come to realize, generated some strife after several hours of use. You may ask, well why didn’t you just lower the chair – here’s why.
I’ll save you the specific measurements and mathematics of scaling my chair and my desk, and explain it as simply as possible. The AndaSeat Captain America model’s armrests are 4-D which means they can shift their location angle, slide left or right, forwards or backward, and up and down. The problem I ran into is that the armrests didn’t raise high enough to be above my desk when my chair was lowered to the most comfortable setting.
In essence, I like my armrests above my desktop because I write a lot, and the only way that was possible with this chair would be to lower my desk (not one of those kinds of desks though) or raise the chair to the point where I assume the toddler pose. I opted for the latter. This is a problem I did not come across with my previous chair. It's also somewhat of a frivolous issue to knock AndaSeat for, but personal preference is important when picking a seat you tend to spend hundreds of hours in.
Additionally, the 4-D armrests swivel horizontally at an angle. This is a fantastic feature, but unlike all the other 4-D armrest features on this Collaboration Chair, the swivel does *not* require a button press to change the angle. This makes it very easy to accidentally push the armrests into an angle you didn’t intend, despite the modest resistance intended to prevent that from happening.
I Can (And Actually Will) Do This All Day
AndaSeat excels at a few things that I didn’t expect. The feel of the chair itself is superb. Most high-end gaming chairs use density foam, this one included, and it’s not uncommon for that foam to be stiff so that it holds up to countless hours of sitting. It was surprising to find that the seat was softer than my previous chair but still managed to be supportive and not flatten out like it would have if they just stuffed a cushion on top of the foam, and then covered it with faux leather.
Chairs often take abuse over time. Jeans, and pants with buttons on the back pockets can often grate against leather over time, and sweat or spilled liquids can deteriorate PU (Polyurethane) leather pretty quickly. AndaSeat utilizes PVC (Polyvinyl) leather rather than the PU leather that many other chair companies use. PVC is generally a sturdier, more resilient faux leather. It’s also thicker, which is something I was able to tell right away. The additional durability of the PVC is welcome for a chair that’s going to see a lot of hours of use, and if you’re worried about tears, or stains, you have much less of a chance of that on PVC over PU leather.
In the photo on AndaSeat’s website of the Captain America chair, they also show the lumbar pillow sitting neatly at the base of the backrest. The lumbar pillow actually has straps on the back of it, and the instructions don’t really explain the use of them clearly. The straps can be fed through the back of the seat, and the top of the headrest, so that you can adjust where exactly the lumbar pillow feels the most comfortable. It’s also kind of cool that the straps across the back somewhat enhance the Captain America theme of the chair. The proper positioning of the lumbar pillow was instrumental in making the chair comfortable. Without it, the Collaborative Chair felt too rigid, and with it sitting at the base, it was downright uncomfortable. The straps were a nice, and necessary, addition.
That brings me to the neck pillow. The lumbar pillow made exceptional use of the straps to raise the chair's comfort level immensely, but the neck pillow was uncomfortable no matter what position it was in. The pillow itself looks great, but it’s as hard as a vibranium shield. I know that AndaSeat started their business making race car seats, but I’m not trying to protect myself from the rumble of the road, laying my head back on something softer should be a no-brainer, even if it may not hold its aesthetics over time.
Costume Variants Available
The last thing, and probably the most apparent is the stark visuals this chair presents. The Captain America chair is one stylish seat that radiates self-expression. As a Marvel fan, it’s hard not to geek out a little every time I see it. The visual style, including the color, follows far more closely to the more modern MCU Captain America costume than his original light blue costume from the comics. The darker blue actually works out better for a chair, as anything too bright would take away from the sleek red and white accouterments that define Captain America’s look.
Another neat bonus is the floor mat which perfectly complements the spirit of Cap, as the chair essentially sits on Captain America’s Shield. The mat, functionally, isn’t all that useful. Despite the chair mat being backed by rubber, it doesn’t stop it from slipping around on the carpet, and more than once the mat would get stuck in front of a wheel and I would have to reposition it, but it looks great.
Out of the four chairs available, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and Captain America, I actually liked the Ant-Man chair the most. The colors, Black and Red, went much better with my style, and Ant-Man is one of my all-time favorite characters, but Captain America’s Collaborative Chair just seemed far more iconic. While all chairs are currently sold-out on AndaSeat’s site, it’s easy to know why. Each chair looks great, and AndaSeat has proven they can make, not just a comfortable seat, but a durable and stylish one as well. Expressing myself through the comic characters I love was more than enough for AndaSeat to get my attention, but I’ll continue using it because – it’s just a really comfortable chair.
This product was provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.