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When you’re bringing a toy of a relativrly unknown character to retail stores, said toy needs to be really cool to earn buys and avoid rotting off the shelves (or worse, ending up at Ollie’s). Hasbro delivered such a figure with Crystar earlier this year, and (spoilers for the rest of this review) they do so again with this terrific X-Men 97 Marvel Legends X-Cutioner figure that’s shipping out this month as part of wave 2 of the line. Here’s my review…
X-Cutioner, a 1993-created human villain known primarily by die-hard X-Men fans, is probably not a character that many had on their 2024 Marvel Legends prediction lists prior to his announcement, but he is a welcome new addition to the line as a 90s X-Men villain that has never been done in 6” form before by either Hasbro or Toybiz.
The sole X-Cutioner toy ever made previously was a 5” Toybiz figure 29 years ago in 1995, so this was a character long, long overdue for an upgrade. Luckily, this rarely-utilized villain is getting new life as part of the X-Men 97 series on Disney+, and also as a part of this Hasbro Marvel Legends 6” series.
I love the blister card packaging for this Marvel Legends X-Men 97 line, as large character art next to the bubble has been a guaranteed crowd pleaser for over 4 decades now. The X-Cutioner looks killer on the packaging artwork and makes me want to know more about him, which is mission accomplished.
I’m less enamored with the card backs—while they do show all the characters in the wave and feature a big photo of the specific figure being held, they don’t have any character-specific bio information whatsoever. That type of descriptive information is really helpful to jumpstart imaginations when a kiddo picks up an obscure character like this one in a store.
While the X-Men 97 Legends series as a whole has been a bit light on accessories, the X-Cutioner gets the best spread of extras so far, with a whopping four weapons included: an arm cannon, a rifle (with clear cap), a staff and a spear.
The spear, rifle and staff all have little pegs on them so that they can be attached to the X-Cutioner action figure’s back, and the spear/staff can also attach directly to the rifle to make a crazy sort of “triple threat” super-weapon (that’s what’s going on in my imagination, anyway). X-Cutioner’s hands work well to grip the handles and trigger of the various weapons, and he can easily take on dual-wielding poses.
My favorite accessory, however, is the attachable arm cannon. It slides easily over either forearm and stays on fine. With arm canon attached and stylish half-cape flowing, this guy gives off an awesome Mega Man vibe(specifically reminding me of anti-hero Proto Man).
Fans’ prime complaint about this X-Men. 97 toy line has been the “soft” look of the faces, but that’s a non-issue here since we don’t see X-Cutioner’s face at all. Instead, he’s permanently wearing his slick (but totally evil) hooded helmet. This feels like it would be at home in Star Wars, and I think the style has a lot of flair. The cartoony “FOH” (Friends of Humanity) belt buckle even feels natural here, though it could have easily looked ridiculous.
With the cost and half-cape covering the basic body here, many collectors had concerns about the articulation being hindered. That fear was for naught—the rubbery plastic is soft enough to be nudged out of the way and take on virtually any pose fans want.
The complete articulation scheme includes:
—Ball Jointed Head, Hips and Waist
—Ball-Hinge Shoulders
—Pin-less Double-Hinge Knees and Elbows
—Swivel Biceps, Wrists and Thighs
—Hinged Feet with Rockers
All the joints move smoothly and hold their positions without issue. The deco is equally pristine. I’m really pleased with the quality of this figure as a whole.
Overall: Admittedly, I was not clamoring for a 6” Marvel Legends X-Cutioner figure. But Hasbro has surprised and won me over with a toy that looks cool and is loads of fun to play with and display. Great design, lots of multi-use accessories, solid articulation set and quality control. An exceptional addition to what’s becoming the strongest current branch of Marvel Legends.