Even though my passion for the KR line mostly lies with unique characters, throughout the course of this blog I've reviewed several variations of Masq-Lor. It makes sense, he's the hero of the story and shows several incarnations in the comics. So far I've enjoyed most of his variants and Combat Masq-Lor has probably been my favourite. But I just wasn't excited about reviewing Tornado Masq-LorTM.
One reason is probably his execution - the guys at PoliganToys are usually very accurate, sometimes at the cost of money saving. This Masq-Lor figure though, strangely, goes for heavy reuse over comic accuracy.
Another reason is that he comes with MeradosTM. Don't misunderstand me, this creature has been on my wishlist for long and I was really looking forward to him. But although it is true that he belongs to the Theriom army and most KR figures can ride him, in the comics he's mostly shown as Fai-Rha's ride. Then why did he come packed with Masq-Lor?
So, when opening this ninth multi-pack prototype from PoliganToys, I decided to look at it objectively. Not as a "Fire-Fists Masq-Lor reuse plus creature that doesn't belong to him" set, but as just the newest KR 2-pack. And in that regard, it’s really okay.
Tornado Masq-Lor
Details
Name: Tornado Masq-Lor
Real name: Desion
Subtitle: twisting-punch warrior
Classification: human-primivod hybrid (but he looks completely human)
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: leading warrior.
Background
Masq-Lor's first appearance with his Tornado equipment takes place in the fifth KR comic issue The factory of doom. Following two disastrous attacks to their stronghold, the Therioms are eager to stop their enemies by destroying a Rexodon key military target. Masq-Lor, who quickly recovered from a severe injury, rejoins forces with his fellows always in need of his aid. With even more will to tap into the deepest power unlocked by his helmet, Masq-Lor becomes equipped with incredible twisting weapons and is ready to rescue his twin brother Herrion, who hosts the evil spirit of Loghar.
Articulation
Description
Head: identical to the head that came with Fire-Fists Masq-Lor, characterised by the sabre-toothed visor, metal cat ears, fierce feline eyes, light brown skin around the mouth and a short black ponytail coming out from the base of the helmet. This is the first time we get a full reuse (i.e., with no sculpt nor paint differences) of a head in a Masq-Lor variant
Body: this is also a reuse of Fire-Fists Masq-Lor - the arms and part of the torso are exposed and show light brown skin with black-tawny ocelot stripes, while the legs are covered with tiger-striped trousers (which are repainted in a darker blue compared to FFM)
Wearables: a golden harness with dark-blue details, two golden bracelets, two golden boots, a golden belt and a dark-blue crotch piece. The harness features a vac-metal golden Theriom symbol on the chest plate, while the back piece is extremely detailed, with plenty of sculpted techy components and buttons. The bracelets, the boots and the belt are new, more futuristic reinterpretations of the clip-on elements seen in Masq-Lor's regular release.
 |
| Tornado Masq-Lor's stylised harness; the oval at the centre of the chest piece represents the Theriom symbol. |
Action feature
In the comics TM's bracelets transform into two large drilling tools capable of perforating any materials, which represent a spectacular evolution of the original claws. So, the figure comes with a pair of dark-blue snap-on rocket-like pieces equipped with golden rotating cutting tips. Each device can be connected to either TM's wrist guard via a peg and, despite being exceptionally large, the tight joints prevent the arm from falling under its weight. Also, since the drills can fictionally be fired like missiles or allow Masq-Lor to fly for a short distance, we get two propulsion-blast effects that can be connected to the butt of each tool.
Weapons and accessories
Besides the two drilling tools with their blast effects, TM comes with two more accessories. First, is his signature sword. Or should I say swords? Yes, because the cool feature about this new weapon is that, for the first time ever, it can transform from the not activated version to the enhanced one. The normal silver-bladed sword separates into two sides, which can then be attached to a third middle golden-bladed piece. Both versions have a bronze hilt for uniformity reasons, but only the augmented version can be stowed in a holster on the back of Masq-Lor's harness. The only downside is that the enhanced sword ends in having two handles due the "out-of-phase" overlap of the two silver halves, but it doesn't look too bad and Masq-Lor can hold it comfortably.
The second accessory is an alternative unhelmeted head, which is basically the same as regular Masq-Lor, except that part of his thick black hair is pulled back and arranged into a ponytail, in order to match the helmeted version.
Merados
Details
Name: Merados
Subtitle: valiant horselike steed
Classification: tarmotherid* mammal
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: steed.
*TarmotheridsTM are fictional ungulates.
Background
Merados makes his first appearance in the fourth KR comic issue A fateful secret, where he's presented as a mighty steed of the Theriom cavalry. Trained from birth to carry Tir-Hing's soldiers into combat, Merados served the Therioms with uppermost loyalty during many great battles on Tahron. He befriended Fai-Rha after she had learnt of her true identity and had joined her family. Enhanced by the power of Fai-Rha's newly acquired helmet, Merados remained with her to aid the Independent Warriors in the continued fight against the reptilian armies. After saving numerous lives thanks to his skillful moves on the ground during the siege of Erlokat, Merados followed Fai-Rha back to Theriom City, to fight heroically alongside his army once again.
Articulation
Merados is not quite as articulated as Ki-Wun, but I think it is still possible to get all of poses one may want. Thanks to the ball jointed upper neck and the hinged lower neck, his head has a great range of movement, which gives him a lot of expression. The tail is swivel-hinged, while each leg features three points of articulation: hinged shoulder/hip, swivel-hinged knee/hock and swivel-hinged fetlock.
Description
About the sculpt, I can say that Merados looks, well, like a horse. However, his coat pattern is rather peculiar - zebra-like in the front and more like a proper horse in the rear. He has black and silver stripes on the neck and part of the head (including a wide silver stripe down the middle of the face), reddish-brown upper parts and most of the head, white belly and legs, and black mane and tail. The stripes are boldest on the front and become gradually fainter further down the body, blending with the browner colour of the back and flanks, until disappearing along the hind quarters. His standing, mohawk-like mane fades into a broad dark dorsal stripe on his back.
There are lots of nice little details throughout his body, especially on the zebrine stripes, which seem to be composed of imbricate shiny silver plates (or scales) on a black background.
He has a removable bridle, consisting of an arrangement of purple straps to which the reins are attached, as well as a saddle, which has a button closure on the bottom, and is characterised by a purple leather texture and equipped with silver pommel, cantle and stirrups.
Action feature
Like Ki-Wun with Masq-Lor, Merados can also occasionally absorb part of the power of Fai-Rha's helmet via a sort of panther spirit, acquiring various features that are included with the figure as add-ons (it's necessary to remove the bridle/reins, the mane and the tail beforehand):
- A silver barding composed of a peytral that protects the chest (it fits around the neck and connects to the pommel), two flanchards that protect the flanks (they connect to the sides of the saddle, under the stirrups) and a croupiere that protects the hind quarters (it connects to the cantle)
- Two snap-on pieces, i.e., a criniere with a flaming mane and a short tail guard with a flaming tail, that replace the standard mane and tail
- A silver chanfron with purple details (including a gemstone between and above the eyes), which incorporates two ear guards and the reins (these are partially armoured with steel plates riveted to them), and replaces the standard bridle/reins piece
- Four clip-on purple hoof protectors, each with a number of badass golden studs screwed through the steel sole.
The armour components (many of which are held in place by magnets) give the ride a bit of a robotic feel and provide an effective substitute for the full body metallization seen in the comics, which I guess would have been too difficult to recreate in the action figure.
Weapons and accessories
Merados' peytral has two sockets over the shoulders, which allow to display the figure in different ways thanks to four plug-in pieces: two purple&gold Theriom escutcheons and two silver pivoting side guns. Each gun is shaped to resemble a vamplated lance with a small wing on the side, which are references to both medieval and mythological elements related to horses, and can optionally be displayed with a blasting effect.
Additionally, Merados comes with a glittering purple soft-plastic covering that can be placed under the saddle to protect his body from neck to tail. This kind of blanket has a silver hem, is adorned with a number of heraldic symbols (which are references to the Theriom Troopers' emblems and insignias) and is used to display Merados as an ordinary mount of the Theriom cavalry.
Finally, there are two fun accessories. The first is a silver brush for grooming Merados' coat, which can be held by most KR figures. The second is the small translucent purple (which should actually be red!) panther spirit that allows Merados' enhancement.
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised by the excellent quality and appeal of this 2-pack. Despite my initial hesitance to review him, I am pretty happy with Tornado Masq-Lor, I think he turned out to be a nice variant. Merados is also another great piece in the line and his vibrant design will certainly make him stand out on my shelf. I am very glad to finally have him and the great part of it is that we also get a nice base for a regular Theriom Trooper's mount. However, while Masq-Lor and the Troopers can certainly ride Merados (the saddle features a raised centre to accommodate for quite a few of the KR figures), I think I’ll most often have him carrying around Fai-Rha. Now I only hope to see more beast prototypes soon... Bi-Harr and Lor-Drek are still on foot!
No comments:
Post a Comment