







The X-men, even when compared to other Marvel teams or families of heroes, have an absolutely insane amount of complex history, spin offs, and hundreds of characters. While it's nearly impossible for Hasbro to produce every X-man or related figure, it's nice to see them cover more diverse areas of the line, such as in today's subjects, Forge and Skullbuster from the new Caliban wave.





Packaging:

The boxes are great, as to be expected from the Legends line. They're personalized with the X-men logo, come with brief bios, and show the figures and inclusions well. It is a shame that people are taking advantage of the collector friendly packages to steal pieces from stores, but thats a human error, no fault on Hasbro's part.





Sculpting:













Forge, based on the package bio and my vague memory, is a mutant with an incredible gift for technology. According to his figure, he also dresses like a Springsteen groupie. The mustache, ponytail, bandanna, and especially the fringe boots give him a very strong 80's vibe. Speaking of the boots, the fringe cuffs are a separate piece, and they can fall out of place while posing. I recommend gluing them in place if you plan on buying him. Forge's whole look is very cheesy and comic accurate, which helps him stand out in any mutant display.





He shares a lot of tooling with Baron Zemo, most evidently in the torso and gloves, which I feel fits the character well. Forge scales well with other figures, being appropriately average sized. Some of the best detail work is in his robotic right leg, which has a decent amount of texture.





Skullbuster, as a cyborg mercenary, has a few more details to mention. First, he's built on the Deathlok base, and as such he's a big boy. 'Buster is taller and wider than most bucks, and is accurately imposing and scary. Second, his vest and ammo belt are removeable, which is a very nice touch. Thirdly, his right arm, both hands, and both legs are mechanical, which gives him a neat, "Terminator"-esque look. I don't know much about Skullbuster or the Reavers, but I can appreciate a cool looking rouge, and this guy certainly fits the bill.





His head sculpt is also pretty great, doing a decent job of depicting a man with a partial skull tattooed on his head. I also want to give props for the detail on the shoulder pads, which are asymmetrical and pretty nifty. The right one is covered in spikes, and the left seems to be a converted hubcap. It's a cool "Mad Max" thing, and it's nice to see the level of detail at play.





Articulation:





As noted above, Forge is built on the Zemo body, and as such shares much of the same articulation. His POI's include: Ball jointed neck, ab crunch, ball shoulders, double elbows, bicep swivel, pin/swivel wrists, swivel waist, ball hips, thigh swivel, double knees, boot cut, and rocker ankles. All the joints came out tight, and he can hold poses pretty well. The large cuffs on his gloves do hinder the bottom elbow joint some, but it's not terrible.





Even as a bigger figure, Skullbuster has all the same joints as Forge, including ab crunch, double knees and elbows, and a swivel waist, albeit on a larger frame. He's still tons of fun to pose, and the vest is soft enough to not interfere with the torso joints.





Accessories:





Forge comes with a big slice of Caliban, and two personal inclusions. The first is a small handgun, which can be stored in his holster. It has a pretty neat metallic teal effect, and props to Hasbro for giving him what appears to be a unique gun and not just a reused pistol.





His second accessory is a much larger rifle, which fits in his hands pretty nicely. It too has a well done, weathered paint effect, and is very well sculpted, and also seems to be a new piece! Forge's bandoleer is also removeable, which I'm counting as another accessory.









Skullbuster comes with another big hunk of Caliban, and two, or technically four personal accessories. The first is an enormous hand cannon, which fits snuggly in his holster, and looks good in one handed poses, especially with his up-and-down wrist joint.





The second inclusion is one that's causing a minor stir, an alternate head of fellow Reaver, Reese. It's causing a stir since, like Lilandra before, it's a head from another character, so which body should collectors use to display him? Another Skullbuster? A different military figure like Nuke? Decisions, decisions.





The third accessory is his ammo belt. It's got great detail, and comes off and on easily. The fourth, debatably, is his nifty doom vest, which is removeable. It's got great details, and it's most certainly a new mold, so kudos to Hasbro.

Paint:





Forge has pretty excellent paint, with a few minor nits. He's mostly cast in dark blue, with yellow highlights, and some areas have the colors bleed over. The spillover isn't very noticeable in hand, but it's an issue that's been present in many recent Legends, and I hope it's addressed soon.









Skullbuster, considering how many parts his outfit has, has an outstanding paint job! The skull tattoo is excellent, having a neat faded effect, and the metal limbs look great. The military get up comes across very well, and the paint does a good job of differentiating between the parts of the figure. No complaints here!





Overall: These two have the level of quality we've come to expect from Marvel Legends. Comic accurate sculpts, great articulation, fun accessories, and pretty great paint. Between the two, I prefer Skullbuster, since his look appeals to me more. Forge is by no means a bad figure, but he's not terribly exciting visually, apart from the 80's head. I see no reason a collector shouldn't buy these if they're interested, I don't have any real issues with them.





Gallery:























