Crocodiles are fascinating creatures; they feel more like logical successors to dinosaurs than birds do, what with their predatory nature being on-par with the carnivores as well as how similar they feel as far as scaly appearances are concerned. As for Skullcruncher, there's not much else to say about his character apart from the only other major appearance of his being from Cyberverse. Maybe this figure will make me like the character more? We'll see if this or the Cyberverse one is worth getting.
Here we have Skullcruncher in his beast mode. It's a crocodile/alligator with hot pink in some parts! He's definitely got that late-80s color scheme look to him that G1 toys used, but it works in his favor despite the layout being funky. Tbe front is predominantly green while his abdomen and tail are pink (his limbs switching colors is a bit of variety I appreciate). I like how organic and mean this mode looks, from the sculpted details to the anatomy of the beast mode. The articulation is also good, as the jaw opens while the head moves around on a ball joint; the fore legs move up and down while they swivel on biceps and hinge on elbows. The waist swivels, and the hind legs move around on ball joints.
Opening the cockpit is pretty awkward, as it's not only made of a rubber material but it also doesn't feel easy to open and close. This should have been fixed for this release, and sitting inside the cockpit is Grax! He's green and black with a red visor and a faceplate on his back. Not much else to say.
Making the Trio Formation is super easy! All you need to do is have the other two Decepticons and balance them in this order! No tabs or third party pieces needed! Hell, let's make an even cooler combination with Snapdragon and Apeface!
Transforming Skullcruncher is fairly easy, and it is similar to the way Weirdwolf transforms with forelegs becoming arms, tail partsforming, and the head goes on the back. At least his legs transform differently, but that's about it. The robot mode itself is perfectly fine, though now he looks like he's wearing gloves and lower boots in hot pink. I suppose the design is accurate to the character, but the bigger issues come from the lack of heel spurs. Because of how hollow the lower legs are combined with the big crocogater head, he's not an easy guy to have standing up. Weirdwolf at least had heels that were good to keep him standing. Also, while the white on his chest looks fine, it looks cheap on his claws and waist/thighs. And I see some other hollow parts I don't like.
Head sculpt is that of the Headmasters anime depiction, with a red visor and a blockier head. At least the gold and red add a bit of color variety. For the new points of articulation, his head is on a ball joint, shoulders are on ball joints, hips move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, and knee bends. He can hold his gun on one hand and mount his tail on his claw forearm.
If you want, you can combine the tail and sword so a Headmaster can pilot it and have a bit of mini artillery.
Let's go over the prior versions of the mold; this is Titans Return Skullsmasher, with a more desaturated color scheme and a toy-accurate head without red eyes. He's not that different from the new one apart from the loose hips and knees.
Here we have Skull (yes, his name is shortened), with a color scheme much closer to the anime on top of having the same head the Retro Headmasters version has. Included with him is a vehicle accessory named Butla, repainted from Crashbash.
And here we have one of the only repaints for the Decepticons to be reused for a different character, that being Krok with Gatorface. Originally an Action Master, this guy gets a proper toy with an even cooler head and deco compared to Skullcruncher/smasher! Best of all, his legs aren't loose!
For a comparison, here he is with his fellow Decepticons from the Retro Headmasters line. They all look great when they're present together, much like the Autobots are now that Highbrow is with them. But should you get Skullcruncher? Honestly, apart from the design flaws, I'd mainly recommend him to completionists and those who never owned the prior versions of the mold. If you already have the Titans Return version you're good to go.
And let's round things out with Apeface and Snapdragon, both of which are from the War for Cybertron line (Siege and Earthrise, respectively). Honestly, it's neat that Hasbro went back and made Retro Headmaster versions of the prominent characters from the show, but if you own the original versions of the molds, you may want to skip them in spite of the nostalgia; some new features like ankle pivots would make them go well with the WFC display.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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