If anyone had asked me to make a list of the top 500 characters I thought we were likely to see a Marvel Legends action figure of in 2019, Skullbuster of the Reavers would not have been on that list. He probably wouldn’t have even been in my top 1000. But he came anyway, and as expected, X-Men Marvel Legends Skullbuster is already discounted online. But being a slow seller doesn’t necessarily correlate to being a bad action figure! Is the first of the Hasbro Marvel Legends Reavers worth snagging while he’s cheap? Here’s my review…

While the X-Men family of comics and characters is the love of my comic book life, I have to admit: I have never felt a burning desire to own action figures of the mutant-hating team of cyborgs, the Reavers.

The Toybiz Lady Deathstrike is a rare Toybiz Legends figure that I skipped, and I hadn’t really given the team much thought after that… right up until Hasbro announced that Skullbuster would be the sole single-packed villain in the 2019 X-Men Legends Caliban Series. I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about doing so, but I bought Skullbuster to complete Caliban.

But now that I’ve had him a few months, how do I feel about Skullbuster? To my astonishment, I gotta say: I like him. As a character, my affection and attachment for Skullbuster is literally zero. But as a toy? Marvel Legends Skullbuster is straight-up badass.

Make no mistake: the reason we’re getting this character as a toy is because so much of the Deathlok tooling could be repurposed for him. But in this instance, the cyborg legs, hands and arm are all ideally suited for this Reaver and look perfect used for him. I wish they had a wash to add some grittiness and realism to their feeling, but the parts themselves are wholly appropriate.

What really makes this figure shine, though, is all of the add-on costume bits added to the mold. The belt with holster fits tightly without any wobble to drive me nuts; the painted ammo belt adds an extra dimension to the costume’s feeling of depth, and the detailed and sculpted jacket with spiked right shoulder pauldron gives a real feeling of deadliness and intimidation.

The face-painted head sculpt looks more fierce and terrifying than I ever felt Skullbuster looked in the comic books, and may ultimately end up on my list of favorite heads Hasbro did this year. If Hasbro wants to sell me on this character as a legit threat, this highly-detailed head sculpt is a damn effective method of doing so.

But that’s not the only head we get with this figure: fellow Reavers team member Reese gets a pack-in head as well! The helmeted head sculpt for Reese has a clear likeness to the character, and I think plenty of fans who don’t actually know the name of the Reavers’ Reese will recognize who this guy is.

Now, the Skullbuster body isn’t really a match for Reese, but for those who still have a Nuke from the Civil War Legends series lying around (I threw mine into one of many ML bins years ago, sadly), the Reese head is far more suitable. I love when Hasbro gives us whole extra character heads as a bonus, so this is a big thumbs up for this release.

One other accessory is included: a gun that can be smoothly holstered or gripped tightly with trigger finger on the trigger. It hurts the realism badly that the gun is just molded in green with zero paint deco, but the gun does fulfill its utility function at least.

And the articulation scheme is the usual level of male ML six inch figure excellence:

• Ball-Hinge Neck and Shoulders
• Upper Torso Ab Crunch
• Double-Jointed Knees and Elbows
• Swivel-Hinge Wrists
• Ball Hips
• Swivel Biceps, Thighs and Boots
• Hinged Ankles with Rockers

I never really fantasized about posing a Skullbuster action figure, but if I had…? I’m pretty sure this toy would be able to pull off whatever poses I had envisioned in my mind.

Overall: If you’re one of the legions of fans of this character, you NEED to snap this action figure up, because there’s zero chance of any other company ever doing a Skullbuster action figure. But for everyone else, is he worthwhile…?

Well—yeah. If you just want a cool cyborg soldier figure, this one is pretty badass, no questions asked. The parts chosen work terrific with the jacket and ammo clip, and both included head are top-notch (and the Reese head is especially useful if you have an old ML Nuke lying around).

While I think paint deco on the gun and a wash on the cyborg limbs would have really completed this figure visually, as it is Skullbuster is cool enough that he actually piques my interest in seeing more Marvel Legends Reavers figures—something I would not have thought possible. And if that’s not a win for Hasbro, I don’t know what is.

GRADE: B+

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