While we are getting the umpteenth version of Spider-Man and Wolverine, there are still oh so many more or less popular characters out there that are still waiting impatiently for their Heroclix debut. In this edition of Unclixed, we spotlight a pair of mighty Marvel mutants named Rusty & Skids!

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In 1986, Marvel launched a new X-title: X-Factor. Where the original first class of X-Men went out looking for young Mutants in need of help. Numerous young characters were introduced as these new trainees. Two of them were Russel Collins and Sally Blevins, better known as Rusty & Skids. Rusty is a pyrokinetic whose powers initially made him a fugitive, while Skids was a runaway with force field powers who lived with the Morlocks.

When X-Factor took them in, they formed a bond and basically became inseparable. They joined the New Mutants together, defected to Mutant Liberation Front under apparent mental control together and once freed by Magneto, joined the Acolytes together. That's pretty much where their tenure as a pair came to an end as Rusty got killed by Holocaust Nemesis in 1995. After that, Skids faded into background character limbo until a 2007 story from Ed Brubaker in Uncanny X-Men brought Skids back as an undercover agent of SHIELD. Since then, back to character limbo.


Why clix them? Mainly because a lot of the groups these two were a part of back in their heyday are sorely underrepresented, which will get covered in the next section. And if you're going to wonder why make them as a duo instead of individual pieces. This game has been around for over a decade and getting one of these characters seems to be tough enough, let alone two. So just treat them like they were in the books; as a double-act.


Who would they play with? Just look at these keywords based on their affiliations: New Mutants, X-Terminators, X-Factor, Acolytes, Mutant Liberation Front, Morlocks, X-Corporation, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Soldier (Rusty was joining the Navy in his first appearance). A lot of those keywords don't have too many other pieces (specifically the MLF and Acolytes), so these two would be nice to add to those ranks.

What would their dial look like? Back in the day, a duo like this would have all their powers crammed together on the dial. But with the Shazam/Black Adam and the Misty Knight/Colleen Wing duos, we've seen that a dial can be split between characters, with a little extra nudge for when the two are played together. Same thing could be done here. Five clicks each for Rusty and Skids if played separately, and add on two more for when played together.

RUSTY
Flaming body (Poison)
Energy explosion
Pulse wave

SKIDS
Frictionless (Plasticity)
Barrier
Toughness

BOTH
Energy Shields/Deflection

They should also have both the X-Men and Brotherhood TA's. But if Skids is played on her own, she can use either the Morlocks or SHIELD TA.

So what would your idea of a dial for Rusty & Skids look like, folks? Feel free to reply as that's it for this edition of Unclixed! Be here next week for an all new Marvel edition of Comic Accurate! And in two weeks, Unclixed will be back with a *super*-villain!

More MLF and Acolytes in the game, please.

thirded.

definitely want them for my mutant collection but they'd probably be paired sparingly. nice write-up.

Skids would need some sort of trait to suggest her force-field was neigh-invulnerable. Just having barrier and toughness to represent her force-field would be too weak, IMO.

*Also, some some sort of trait that would prevent her from EVER taking knockback. I'm pretty sure she was immovable?

Wow, I remember these two. Always for having new figures clixed!

I remember Rusty and Skids. Maybe they'll come out with a X-affiliate set with only X-Factor, X-Force, Excaliber, Generation X, and New Mutants figures. We still don't have Feral, Skin, Husk, Tempo, Reaper, or Penance and we could use updated Chamber, Sunfire, and Pete Wisdom to name a few.

Pete Wisdom will be available as a fig for the in-store OP kit.

Actually, I think Skids chose her codename partially because her frictionless force field allowed her glide over surfaces. With that, I think that she could have a power that allows her to take knock back from any attack (like the older Combat Reflexes), but not take damage from the knock back itself.

i'd like to see them 'clicked to. the fact that they were on so many teams together means a with tons of KWs and that's a lot of fun. I designed this piece for them a couple years back. I opted for the "crammed" powers technique

Veteran Rusty Collins and Skids
Team: Brotherhood of Mutants,X-Men
Range: 6
Points: 73
Keywords: Acolytes, Mutant Liberation Front, New Mutants, X-Factor

8 9 16 2

7 9 16 2

7 9 15 2

7 9 15 1

6 8 15 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Rusty Collins: Rusty Collins & Skids can use Energy Explosion, Range Combat Expert and Poison
Skids: Rusty Collins & Skids can use Invulnerability, Energy Shield/Deflection and Leap/Climb

We have a husk from last x-men set.

That's almost too good for them.

I mainly remember them as the kids with powers that wouldn't be good enough to join the X-Men, but still would give human law enforcement fits. So they're kind of perfect as poster children for the mutants. The outcasts of outcasts.

I'll see
your unappreciated mutants (minus pete and husk) and raise you Random, maggot, marrow, Sync, Zero and AoA Horsemen (minus Holocaust), Weapon X and Sabre/Wildchild duo

While I would prefer to have them as separate figures who gave each other bonuses for being played together, a duo figure would be better than nothing at all. In the best possible scenario, they would be a switch clix duo figure that would also include individual bases, but that's just a crazy dream!