Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure Zabu action figure review (2024)
Zabu is the faithful sabretooth tiger companion to Ka-Zar, a long-time associate of the X-Men and any other hero who travels to the Savage Land. Hasbro previously released a Savage Land three-pack of Ka-Zar, Shanna and Zabu as San Diego Comic Con exclusive.
The best figure in the set was Shanna as their animal companion was a re-use of GI Joe tiger. While better than nothing, it left a lot to be desired especially with so many other figures getting a glam-over and thankfully, Hasbro decided it was time to not just knock out Ka-Zar, but Zabu as the Build-A-Figure wave including his pal.
I waited to finish completing mine until the ML Red Widow went down to a reasonable price, but Hasbro released Shanna as part of a SDCC 3-pack, which meant his value was only going to skyrocket if I didn’t complete him ASAP.
Now that he’s fully assembled, what did I think? Let’s see if Zabu is ready to roar or just needs to sit under a tree and whimper.
Packaging: He’s a Build-A-Figure so there’s no packaging here. It would be cool if the ML team set up a bio card for BAFs in a manner similar to the other figures in a BAF wave.
Likeness: Zabu is a sabretooth tiger Smilodon, but he’s not some mutated one. The main difference from him and a tiger are his big saber teeth. The GI Joe Classified Series line has been the Hasbro pioneer brand for crafting excellent animals, and it seems clear some lessons at least were passed on to the sculptors for Zabu.
He’s got an impressively detailed fur coat. It’s not just a few clumps, but individually sculpted strands that turned out very nice. His head sculpt has good intensity with his eyes slightly narrowed as if he’s sizing up someone.
Scale: Some character’s height and size vary simply on the artist. For the most part, Zabu has consistently been drawn around the same size. John Byrne drew Zabu to be about as tall — when on all fours — to come up to around Ka-Zar’s abs. By that measure, he’s fairly well scaled to the ML Ka-Zar figure. Sure, he could be just a smidge taller, but he doesn’t look out of scale, which is the important thing.
He is large enough that Ka-Zar can sit on his back without having his feet touch the ground.
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Paint: The paintwork here is nicely done as his brownish orange has some variations to make the fur look more realistic instead of one flat shade. There’s a mix of yellow orange as well as the brown wash.
There’s some tan around his nose and muzzle His pads and nails are cleanly painted. Zabu’s gum line and teeth are very well executed without any slop.
Articulation: As one of the fiercest fighters in the Savage Land, Zabu needs high level articulation. He’s got plenty of good range and can strike some solid attacking poses.
He’s too top-heavy to balance on his hind legs, but you can balance him against another character for more of a mauling pose.
Zabu has:
- neck (barbell)
- jaw
- ball-jointed front and hind legs
- mid-torso (ball-jointed)
- paw (swivel with hinge)
- elbows/knees (swivel with hinge)
- tail (swivel with hinge)
Accessories: Like most Build-A-Figures, Zabu doesn’t get anything in terms of accessories. That’s understandable given that he’s got a new sculpt and there isn’t really a lot of obvious accessory options save maybe an alternate head sculpt.
Worth it? For Zabu, you just needed to buy five figures. With the exception of Red Widow, this wave had a great lineup of figures, so he really felt like a bonus more than paying for a bunch of worthless figures just to complete Zabu. Over on eBay, you’ll be looking at around $110 to $125 to build him.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Zabu is a high-quality Build-A-Figure well worth the time to build while adding an essential member to the Savage Land display.
Where to Get It? You can still get a few of the figures from this BAF wave over at Amazon.
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