PoliganToys is doing a fantastic job of injecting variety into KR main figures, by creating more and more inventive variants. I was particularly excited to see what Steel-Monster DeptilionTM would look like.
Unfortunately I think my expectations were a bit too high, since this 27th action figure prototype looks more like a Destructomorph Trooper's variant than Deptilion's.
Details
Name: Steel-Monster Deptilion
Real name: Unit ГЗЂ
Subtitle: monstrous war machine
Classification: robot
Home: Tahron
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: drone.
Background
Steel-Monster Deptilion's only appearance takes place in the third KR comic issue Clash of the leaders, where it is revealed that, following his rescue from the Bay of Sortok and just before escaping to a secret location, the real Deptilion was replaced by a robotic double. Forced into a war against both Therioms and Rexodons, this droid is equipped with a deadly acid thrower, which gives him the power to destroy his enemies at an incredibly fast speed.
Articulation
Description
Head: silver reptile skull, showing a few mechanical and electrical components, the eyes emit a red glow. This head is a reuse/repaint of the robot-mode Rexodon Trooper's head, which is also a helmet-less Destructomorph Trooper's head. Its structure resembles an Ankylosaurus' skull, characterised by a wide and low shape, the front part of the jaws ending in a beak, two horns projecting backwards from the back of the head and two additional horns below those pointing backwards and down
Body: silver arms and legs, displaying lots of machinery/circuitry patterns; these are definitely a reuse/repaint of the Destructomorph Trooper's electro-hydraulic limbs. Under the removable armour, the torso is also a silver version of the tech-mech piece used for both Destructomorph and Rexodon Troopers, with identical dials, sliders, buttons, knobs and rectangular lenticular sticker at the centre of the chest (which gives an illusion of coursing sound waves)
Wearables: armour, cuffs, shin protectors, belt and loincloth are all completely painted silver, although the shade is a bit darker compared to the body. The belt, which exhibits lots of cyber details, is the only reuse of the Destructomorph Trooper, while the armour is a slightly modified version of the original protective covering and bears, besides studs all the way around, two vents on the chest piece. The loincloth is the scaly type seen on Combat Deptilion and the new cuffs and shin protectors show a similar texture, though some of the "scales" develop a bit more into spikes. The surprising thing about this figure is that, despite being all-silver, I don't feel it's too silvery at all!
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| Steel-Monster Deptilion's stylised armour. |
Action feature
In the comic SMD possesses a monstrous weapon, which he uses to spray out corrosive acid towards his enemies. The figure's armour back piece is equipped with a massive acid thrower mounted on an adjustable armature, so that it can be set in either a vertical rest position or a horizontal (just over the figure's right shoulder) attack position, plus a large cylinder that fictionally holds the acid supply.
The weapon is for sure the highlight. If you are familiar with the video game League of Legends, you should know that the champion Jinx wields a shark-shaped rocket launcher called Fishbones. Well, SMD's weapon reminds me of Fishbones a lot, except for being all silver and more similar to a lizard than to a shark. The "head" is actually a ball jointed separate piece, characterised by sharp-toothed hinged jaws (there is a connection that transfers movement from the upper to the lower jaws, in order to open simultaneously and reveal the barrel) and evil eyes that emit a red glow. The "body" presents some interesting details, such as several intertwined flexible metal hoses and a number of curved spikes.
A joystick-looking device, presumably working as a trigger, can be held in SMD's right hand; this trigger is connected to the right vent on the chest piece by a hose. A similar hose emerges from the left vent, which is linked to the bottom of the cylinder on the back. The cylinder is connected to the weapon's "neck" via an additional hose departing from its top.
The figure also comes with an acidic jet attachment that plugs into the barrel of the thrower. This is a green repaint of Nibeon's blue spurting water effect.
Weapons and accessories
Aside from his acid thrower, SMD comes with a number of accessories. His halberd is a fake version of Deptilion's standard weapon and looks pretty intriguing; the general shape, including the inward-curved blade, and the colour are identical to the original halberd, but the structure carries a few gaps and missing parts that expose some kind of tech-mech structure underneath.
Also, the acid thrower can be detached from the armour and hose, and replaced by a smaller component that represents its shrunk, inactive configuration. The disconnected weapon can be complemented with one pair of electro-hydraulic legs, which plug into the sides, and a leather collar linked to a wrist clip via a chain-leash, becoming a sort of robotic pet. This is the extra-touch that makes me like the figure better and justifies the presence of the ball joint (both for allowing the collar to be worn and adjusting the position of the head to the slanting body).
Finally, since this character is basically a Destructomorph Trooper that can acquire Deptilion's resemblance, PoliganToys has decided to add two more accessories related to this feature: a sheet of small three-dimensional glow-in-the-dark stickers, which add the illusion of holographic projectors embedded in the figure, and Combat Deptilion's repainted head. The head, which works best on a Deptilion figure, is similar to the original on the right side, but shows bluish worn-out flesh (with hints of a silver skull underneath) and reddish living snakes on the left side, almost to suggest that the holo-projectors are not working properly in that spot.
Overall, the figure itself isn’t bad and is fun to play with. It's the kind of figure that keeps me interested in the KR line. I’m impressed by the acid thrower piece transforming into a robot-pet, and the acidic spit attachment makes me really happy. However, Steel-Monster Deptilion is still a figure heavily based on a previous release, which is not Deptilion! Of course this is how the character appears in the comics, but, except for the alternative head, the figure lacks the personality that its name suggests.
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