Sooo, what is this all about?

Three years ago I was clearing the basement at my mother’s home and at some point I came across a metal box covered with a thick layer of dust. I had no idea of what that box could contain. Of course I had to take a look and what I found inside was a big surprise. The content was a pile of yellowed-foxed sheets of paper presenting tons of notes handwritten by my mother’s father, who prematurely passed away 50 years ago.

My grandfather was an accountant for a living and an artist and engineer in his spare time. The notes are about a project he developed as a hobby, something at the borderline between a board-game and a fantasy/sci-fi story: Key Raiders^TM. Suddenly, a very faint memory about this venture of my granddad’s became clearer in my mind and I could remember some cards and comic strips related to it, which had been conserved by my mother after her father’s loss and I used to love as a child.

In fact, my grandfather succeeded to bring the project Key Raiders to life for a brief time, thanks to the publication of the board-game and few comic issues by a small publisher. Unfortunately the little material once in my possession seems now lost (where the heck did I put it???!!!). All I have is the content of the retrieved metal box. The notes are mostly text with a handful of simple drawings and include the rules of the game, a detailed description of all characters and contextual elements, and the synopsis of the story.

The Key Raiders^TM logo. The letters KR are placed between the four stylised blades (two at the top and two at the bottom) that characterise "The Key". © 2015 by X-Fader.

As far as I can guess, the whole thing started with my grandfather’s wish to create a chess variant, which became more and more complex over time, absorbing rules from other games. Eventually, each piece of the game acquired an exclusive identity, becoming a character with precise features, abilities and life history. All these characters became parts of a story, which got more and more convoluted and spun off prequels and sequels.

Immediately after I’d found those notes, I tried to get some info about the publisher who printed the material in the past. With big surprise, I discovered that it still exists and has actually become a toy manufacturer - PoliganToys^TM. So, I contacted the company and told them the whole story… it didn’t take long to both of us for having the same idea: let’s bring Key Raiders back to life! But let’s do it in a new way, not as a game or comic strips (not yet, at least), but in a “Mattel MOTUC” fashion… with amazing collector-oriented action figures!!

After three years of wonderful collaboration between PoliganToys’ designers and me as a consultant, I finally have the chance to see and test the first prototypes of those action figures, and, of course, comment on them through this blog. The agreement between the company and me, though, includes one limitation - I cannot post images of the prototypes. Thus, my description must be as detailed as possible, to give you the clearest idea of how the characters look like. If everything goes smooth, also with the help of your feedback, the first action figures should be released at the end of 2016.

I hope you enjoy this blog!