“To perish in the fire of battle and be cleansed from the galaxy.”
The Ultramarines Reiver Space Marine was released in 2022 as part of the 4th full wave of Warhammer 40k figures from McFarlane. It marks the debut of the rapid strike close combat Marines in the line which to this point had been focused on standard Primaris Intercessor Marines only. The Revier arrives in the established window box packaging with dark blue colouring and gothic side art taken from the pages of the WH40k source materials. The figure is set against a deep yellow card back and is sat in an inner plastic tray. The circular display base, a standard for nearly all McFarlane releases, is glued to this display card meaning you either leave it in the box if you ever want to repack your figure - or have to rip it free. This stand features the WK40k logo and will plug into either of the figure's feet. It is too small to offer any practical use.
The Reiver uses the same established Marine body components with blue cast armoured parts on top of black jointed undersections such as the waist, thighs, knees and elbows. Much of the Revier’s armour is new, but you can see some carry-over parts like the thighs and forearms from previous releases. The chest piece is slimmed down and carries a smaller central crest of a skull with crossed knives painted in gold. To reflect the Reiver’s specific role we have added on combat pouches around the thighs, and a pair of silver shock grenades sitting to one side of the chest.
The helmet is a new piece with a skull design to the face plate enhanced further by painting this white with red eyes against the remainder of the blue helmet. The final details are found in the usual Space Marine iconography with the Ultramarines Chapter badge on the left shoulder and left knee, and a smaller 'Close Support' four-pointed symbol on the smaller right pauldron overlaid with a black III symbol indicating our Reiver is from the Ultramarines 3rd company.
The backpack is tweaked to include the Revier’s Grav-Chutes which are then articulated and can be angled up or down at the side of the backpack. The rest of the figure's articulation is a bit more than has been established for the Marines with 23 points (25 with the Grav-Chutes) in total including the addition of articulated toes on the feet. The slimmer armour makes the Reiver particularly wide-ranging in posing options and both legs and arms have a good range of motion with the arms enhanced with the articulated shoulder pads that move independently of the shoulder joints to support arm movement. The Revier is a pleasure to pose either as he stands or with the included accessory.
Considering the close combat Assault nature of the Reivers, the weapon choice is that of a single Bolt Carbine which is cast in grey and painted with a gunmetal grey with black painted central shaft. While this is appropriate to the figure, the lack of any combat knife is a bit of a shame. Fitting the Bolt Carbine into the hands is - as has been an issue on all the Marines to date - difficult. The plastic used has no give in it and by using a standard set of hands, the grip is not shaped for different weapons. The solution is warm water or gently applied heat from a hairdryer - but this still resulted in my figure's right hand popping off its joint while trying to engage the Bolt Pistol into a two-handed pose using the front grip bar.
The Reiver is another impressive release in a WH40k series and complements the existing Ultramarine figures on display, including the brand new 2024 release of the Ultramarines Terminator. These older releases retain a good weight and solid feel to the plastic and joints and are fun to pose, although engaging the weapons into the hands is frustrating. The main issue is the weapon choice and I’d have preferred the Reiver to also have access to a combat knife, particularly as other Marines to date have featured two weapons
Each new Marine release brings us new parts and decor with the Revier having a crisp finish to the decor, and this can be enhanced further with weathering and washes for those who have the skill to execute it - very much in keeping with the spirit of the hobby.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...