KR Review #74: Pleutron

The Xonatron was a fantastic entry into the KR line a few months ago. At the time, I knew he wouldn't remain a one-of-a-kind entity. He is, in fact, an amalgamation of two characters: Xonedar, an old acquaintance of ours, and Pleutron^TM, a most wanted specimen that is finally in my hands.

Pleutron was supposed to come in a three-pack, which would also include his fellows Seutron^TM and Deutron^TM. Instead, probably for cost-saving reasons, he's come all alone. Apart from some simple part-swapping, the companion-less figure doesn't offer as many possibilities as a three-pack would have given. However, we can finally mix and match Pleutron's and Xonatron's components, to create innumerable different display options.

Incidentally, this fourth large scale figure prototype from PoliganToys gets us at the end of the Destructomorph faction and one step closer to a complete Key Raiders line.

Details

Name: Pleutron

Subtitle: multiform warrior

Classification: poriferan

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: sergeant major.

Background

Pleutron's only appearance takes place in the 13^th and final KR comic issue The ultimate curse. A gruesome giant from the eastern swamps, Pleutron was gifted with shape-shifting powers, which allowed him to separate his body cells, each endowed with its own evil sentience, and to reassemble himself in numberless different ways. His skills were observed by Deptilion and eventually he was enlisted as a sergeant major for the reestablished Destructomorph army. Serving his newly enrolled chief marshal Tmohrr on his quest to vanquish the Therioms, Pleutron and his fellow sergeants led a horde of dreadful invaders into the city of Ra-Hal. There, however, he was finally overpowered by Xonedar and destroyed by Sei-Lha along with the rest of the invading giants.

Articulation

Standard, except that the connection points at the waist, shoulders, hips and tail are ball&socket (but the shoulders and hips are also hinged), and the neck features a double ball joint.

Description

Head: characterised by an irregular flame-like shape, porous yellowish skin, pointy ears (with a silver ring located on the helix portion of the left one), deep set purple glowing eyes, boar-like nose, several sharp-pointed white teeth that protrude from the diabolical mouth and a prominent pointy chin

Body: the figure is 23 cm tall (around 9'') and displays a richly porous yellowish skin. The arms and the legs bear few spiny translucent white appendages at the shoulders/biceps and the thighs respectively. The left hand has two white claws that form a sort of pincer, while the right hand has three of them. Each leg shows some dark wash towards the thigh and a four-toed foot with white claws. Finally, he has a short, thick segmented (i.e., formed of a longitudinal series of similar parts) tail emerging from his trunks, which is painted in a more greenish colour on the upper side

Wearables: a dark-green armour with segmented (i.e., made of overlapping metal plates) silver details, two dark-green bracelets, two dark-green calf protectors, a dark-green belt and a segmented silver crotch piece; all the dark-green components display a bumpy texture, suggesting that they are fictionally made of a multitude of pointed mineral structures. Additionally, both the wrist and the shin guards are equipped with spiky ray fin-shaped ornaments protruding from the forearms and the calves respectively.

Pleutron's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Pleutron is depicted as a shape-shifting giant who can rearrange his cells to acquire countless monstrous forms, as well as stretch, squeeze and tear apart his jelly-like body, and then recover his original form. In the figure, Pleutron's transforming abilities are well recreated by a modular action feature that involves several snap-on body parts, namely his head, neck (double ball jointed), torso, pelvis, arms, legs and tail. The figure is not only fully modular with itself, but it's also fully modular with the Xonatron. As they all share the same ball&socket joints, parts can be swapped back and forth between them at random, and they can be combined into a vast array of creatures, including a single crazy enormous monster. Yes, I know, theoretically the Xonatron already comprises Pleutron, but the two figures provide enough body parts to swap around for hours, as one can try to find all the possible combinations. Now, that's great fun to play with!

Weapons and accessories

Aside from his own several rearrangeable pieces, Pleutron includes a few accessories, the first of which is a silver handheld trebuchet. I had no idea that such a ballistic device could actually exist, until I've come across this video. Although the weapon has no spring-loaded mechanism, it possesses a pivoting throwing arm, whose end holds (and fictionally hurls) a separate six-pointed translucent white caltrop. The butt of the trebuchet bears two slots that allow the weapon to connect to Xonatron's blaster.

Also, we get a number of additional body parts: one extra leg, an alternative tail and three Y-connector joints. The third leg looks identical to the other two and, after removing the tail, can plug into the socket on the backside of the crotch piece, to produce a three-legged monster. The alternative tail has a mixed mecha-spongy look, which matches both Pleutron's and Xonatron's appearances, and carries two sockets on the sides to hold additional legs. This piece functions as an extension to create four- or even six-legged monstrosities. Finally, the organic-looking (i.e., with a porous and segmented texture) yellowish&black Y-connector joints make it possible to form double shoulders, hips and neck, and generate, for example, amazing double-headed, four-armed creatures.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the 13^th and final KR comic issue The ultimate curse. The new Destructomorph army led by Tmohrr invades the city of Ra-Hal, in order to get possession of a powerful machine owned by its inhabitants. The evil leader uses the prodigious instrument to cause fierce storms and create great disarray on Tahron. Following an unsuccessful first attempt to free the city, Masq-Lor and the Therioms endeavour to battle Tmohrr and his army at a newly built fortress within Ra-Hal, but are trapped in an underground prison. Meanwhile, a disguised Demo-Rha sways some nearby villagers to occupy Theriom City, in order to trap the governing body. After regaining their freedom together with the inhabitants of Ra-Hal, Masq-Lor and the others head back to the surface and fight the Destructomorphs again, retaking control of the machine. Tmohrr is revealed to be a robotic suit used to envelope the decaying body of Deptilion, who is confronted by Masq-Lor. The two rivals engage in a spectacular mental battle and the hero finally manages to destroy Deptilion once and far all, saving Tahron. Demo-Rha is captured, but after a brief period of detention she succeeds in escaping.

Overall, Pleutron is, to me, everything right about a figure that allows us to make different configurations by moving the various parts around. The sculpt on this guy is fantastic, with tons of great detail texture on all the different surfaces, and the engineering is really good for the most part. I’m just sad that he’s the only one of his kind in the package. When you’ve got a concept so brilliant as a fully modular monster, one (or two, if we also include the Xonatron) just doesn’t seem like it’s enough. Luckily, the folk at PoliganToys will understand this, so they will go back to the modular idea for another go-round.

About the comic, I just love this one! My synopsis is intentionally kinda quick and dirty, to preserve surprise and suspense for first-time readers, but I have really enjoyed the issue since opening it. The plot and the solid artwork are particularly satisfactory... too bad that it's the last episode.

KR Review #73: Destructomorph Rider

Here's the thing with this figure. While in the comics the Destructomorph Riders^TM have their own colour and design, this 56^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys is almost an exact replica of the Destructomorph Trooper, not very different in colour and, except for a few obvious additions, not much in design.

On the one hand, something like this is not a deal-breaker for me and I still put him on the shelf feeling happy. After all, he's an upgraded Trooper, so why not repeat the black-red-yellow colour scheme? On the other hand, the fact that many of his components are coloured in red and yellow rather than the comic-accurate black is just very, very odd to me.

I wonder which one of the two versions should be considered the standard. The illustration or the toy? This would certainly cause an uproar among collectors.

Details

Name: Destructomorph Rider

Real name: Destructomorph Trooper Mark II

Subtitle: motorised trooper

Classification: robot

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: drone.

Background

An army of Destructomorph Riders appears in the 13^th and final KR comic issue The ultimate curse. After Deptilion's defeat in the arena between the multiversal walls, the former robotic troopers of the Destructomorph forces were upgraded by their leader from simple androids to evil transforming pursuit machines. Now called Destructomorph Riders, these menacing drones in the service of Tmohrr can race at an incredible speed and threateningly chase their powerless victims.

Articulation

Standard, except that wrists and calves are ball jointed.

Description

Head: like with the regular Destructomorph Trooper, the black metallic head resembles an Ankylosaurus' skull, characterised by a wide and low shape, a few mechanical and electrical components (including new details on the nose that resemble a pair of gas mask filters), orange (instead of red) glowing eyes and the front part of the jaws ending in a beak. He also wears a horned yellow headgear, whose design is slightly different from the regular version and kinda recalls a motorcycle open-face helmet. Two additional horns project backwards and down from the back of the head, right below the helmet's silver horns

Body: the black metallic arms and legs are a reuse of the regular Destructomorph Trooper's electro-hydraulic limbs, which display lots of machinery/circuitry patterns. Under the removable armour, the torso is also the same tech-mech piece used for the original 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). Additionally, his arms and legs are equipped with four separate black&silver clip-on pieces, two elbow guards (each carrying a continuous track) and two thigh/knee guards (each carrying a fairly large wheel with a nicely patterned rubbery tyre) respectively

Wearables: a red armour with yellow details, two red gauntlets (instead of bracers), two red boots (instead of shin guards), a red belt and a yellow crotch piece; the last two elements show lots of cyber details. The armour is a slightly modified version of the original protective covering and bears, besides a Destructomorph symbol (i.e., a square-shaped blueish spider whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face) on the chest plate, two black hoses that stretch onto the back. Speaking of the back, the Rider wears a rocket pack equipped with a massive black&silver turbojet engine.

Destructomorph Rider's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents the Destructomorph symbol.

Action feature

In the comics, the Destructomorph Riders are able to transform into dreadful pursuit machines. So, let's sum up the way this figure converts from the robotic form to the motorised configuration:

1) the regular head is replaced by an alternative head, which is equipped with a glossy black visor and a neck extension (the former has a vertical keel-like ridge running centrally, the latter allows the figure to look forward when it lies down)

2) the two wheels are detached from the knee guards and joined together to form a single piece

3) the feet are replaced by a black swing arm that holds the wheel in a Gizmoduck fashion

4) the hands are replaced by two black guns.

Once the arms and the head are pulled up and the figure is set in a horizontal position, the Rider can race across smooth surfaces on his rear wheel and front tank treads (each equipped with a small wheel underneath).

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the alternative head, swing arm and wrist mounted guns, the Destructomorph Rider comes with a yellow laser pistol, whose design is very similar to the above-mentioned guns. As an additional display option for the pursuit mode, both the guns and the pistol can alternatively be connected to the rocket pack. Also, there are three plug-in blasting effects for the wrist mounted guns and the jet engine.

Overall, the Destructomorph Rider looks good and is a fine addition to my shelf. The articulation was kept intact despite the transformation feature and I'm glad that the head can be made to look up while he’s dashing around. Accessories are fun too and, yeah, I love that big spinning wheel! However, I still feel a bit torn. I like the colours and the sculpt choices to make him be in harmony with the older Troopers. At the same time, I would have liked a total-black biker look to make him more comic accurate. Even if the use of a much darker shade of red helps the figure to reach an intermediate state between the two alternatives, perhaps an army-builder two-pack including both the options would have been the optimal compromise.

KR Review #72: Zektax

Let’s face it, it has taken a looooong time for the Destructomorph troops to come together on my shelf, especially in comparison to the other factions. Over the course of the first year of the KR prototype reviews, I only got half of the characters and a handful of variants.

Well, fall 2016 is making up for some lost time and now I've been getting to fill out that roster in rapid succession. The insectoid Zektax^TM is the next entry!

The wait for this 55^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys has been pretty agonising, especially with how astounding the character looked in the comic panels.

Details

Name: Zektax

Subtitle: insectile warrior

Classification: insect

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: commandant of the Murmirians^TM, a barbarian clan.

Background

Zektax only appears in the 12^th KR comic issue Dawn of a new past, where he is presented as the chieftain of the Murmirians, an ancient clan of insectoid barbarians from the eastern quagmires. In olden times, Zektax and his squad of ferocious warriors were well known for roaming their territory as thieves and killers. Although he initially preferred to keep his people's independence, vows of riches and authority gave him more than enough reasons to ally himself with Deptilion, who was in need to bolster the ranks for his insane project of changing Tahron's history. Using his airborne vantage point for spying and reconnaissance missions, Zektax chases his foes unnoticed, then suddenly moves in on his prey, stings and drains them of their energy.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed extra neck piece, two ball hinged arms (each featuring two double hinges at about one-third and two-thirds of its length) and four ball hinged wings.

Description
Head: insect-like, characterised by a scaly greenish hood that surrounds and merges with a black snout. It displays a pair of long, thin lime-green antennae pointing backwards, a pair of fairly large bulbous glossy-black compound eyes, three smaller red eye spots on the forehead, a black mouth composed of an elongated coiled up tube (or proboscis) flanked by two short segmented appendages (or palps), and a jagged black chin

Body: all his limbs (including two main arms, two mantis-like arms and two legs) and the neck extension are protected by a segmented greenish chitinous exoskeleton and bear numerous details along their length, such as cracks, spines, small porous warts and tiny hair-shaped appendages. The main arms and the legs sport claw hands and feet, and look slenderer compared to most of the other figures. Both his head and neck extension are on ball joints, which gives him a hunched over look and an extended range

Wearables: a segmented black armour with yellow details, two scaly (with some of the scales developing a bit more into spines) black gloves, two scaly/spiny black boots, a large rhomboidal studded black belt and a yellow loincloth made of leaf-shaped leather elements. The armour shows a large hole on the front, which seems the result of a corrosion damage. Through this hole, it is possible to catch a glimpse of Zektax's internal organs, owing to the fact that his torso is fictionally transparent. The belt and the boots display a modified version of the Destructomorph symbol (i.e., a square-shaped blueish winged insect whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face) on the buckle and the shafts respectively.

Zektax's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Zektax is portrayed as an extremely evil warlord, who is capable of seizing his enemies and subjecting them to a terrifying energy-sucking action. The guys at PoliganToys did do a great job of sculpting an entirely new armour that fits over a regular body and helps recreate his ruthless preying abilities. First of all, an additional pair of mantis-like grasping arms projects from the top of the shoulder guards. Each gripping limb is composed of three equally long portions, the first (nearest to the body) of which is spiky, while the second shows a number of tooth-like structures that, together with a similar series of teeth along the third portion, give the arm its grasp on the unfortunate target. Each arm terminates in a large dark claw curved downward and an appendage (made of four segments and ending in a short two-toed claw) curved upward. Aside from catching and holding a foe securely, Zektax's raptorial arms can alternatively lift the prey using their terminal appendages as hooks.

The piercing feature that enables Zektax's sucking of vital force is achieved thanks to an alternative head. This head shows the straightened proboscis that folds away to reveal a slender pointed appendage formed by a pair of white fangs.

Once Zektax finishes gorging on his victim, some of his body parts, such as his heart, antennae and inner wings, start to emit coursing light patterns by bioluminescence. The effect has been mimicked in the figure by casting those elements in lime-green glow-in-the-dark plastic. The most interesting detail is the bulbous heart that is visible through his corroded armour and transparent chest. Since a real see-through torso would have stymied articulation in the figure, a different visual solution, which I believe is the simplest, has been adopted and I think it is rather effective - everything is enclosed in the breastplate covering the front of the torso. The chest cavity wall is actually a clear window that shows details, such as the heart, muscles and other organs, sculpted in low relief behind, with the addition of a bubbling liquid trapped between the two surfaces. The effect renders the hollow torso within and makes it look full of life. Some might be disappointed by the lack of true depth, but, personally, I think it looks really cool and convincing. On the other side, the backplate carries two sets of posable wings. The leaf-shaped greenish leathery outer wings function as a threatening display (due to multicoloured marks that resemble a pair of devilish eyes) and, when folded, as a shield for the inner membranous wings, which are clear and richly patterned with veins.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the alternative head, Zektax only comes with one accessory, which is his signature shield. This piece is very nicely designed and has a cool little blueish Murmirian logo right in the centre of the oval honeycomb-like yellow plate. In the comics, the shield has metal stingers along the side edges, which can activate and retract at Zektax's will. So, the shield comes with an additional silver ring that attaches via some pegs on the back, in order to display it with the spikes deployed.

Overall, how can I not say that this is another awesome figure in a line of awesome figures? Everything is great, from the sculpt, through the articulation, to the paintwork. I particularly love the crazy armour and how it integrates most of Zektax's selling points: the grasping arms, the fluttering wings and the heart glowing through the transparent chest. He is definitively a cool looking figure and another welcome addition to the Destructomorph troops.

KR Review #71: CoBoN 2.0

One of the most iconic characters from the KR line is undoubtedly CoBoN. Originally introduced as the Theriom transport equipped with a supercomputer intelligence, his futuristic four-wheeled design has appeared in several comic issues.

In the final episode, we meet a completely new version of CoBoN and this 12^th multi-pack from PoliganToys includes all three (or, to be correct, four) forms that represent his AI unit as it appears in the comic.

Details

Name: CoBoN 2.0

Real name: CoBoN Mark II AI module

Subtitle: robotic fighting unit

Classification: artificial intelligence module

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: transport component.

Background

CoBoN's only appearance in his new design takes place in the 13^th and final KR comic issue The ultimate curse. Perhaps the most advanced machine on Tahron, CoBoN assisted the Therioms for many years until a dreadful fight during the siege of Ra-Hal. It was there that CoBoN's nemesis, LoGoN, stolen by the Destructomorphs and reconfigured for being loyal only to evil, destroyed the heroic vehicle. After CoBoN's cybernetic processor unit had been miraculously retrieved, the Therioms, with the crucial contribution of Sei-Lha and Xonedar, succeeded in rebuilding CoBoN into a new, even more advanced version. To preserve his AI module in case of another wrecking, the processor was encased into a separable metallic sphere, an apparently simple configuration that in reality conceals three machines in one. CoBoN can now use his greatest abilities to protect justice also when he's not connected to the transport - fighting as an android, feline or bird form.

Description

In the comics, the basic configuration of CoBoN 2.0 is a steel hovering sphere that can transform into three different robotic forms. Besides the silver orb, the multi-pack includes the three figures that represent each alternative mode and that I'm going to describe in separate sections.

Android mode
I've to say, CoBoN looks awesome in this humanoid form! What I find interesting is how many design elements are similar to those found on the 1.0 version and also on Combat Sei-Lha's armoured suit. It is really cool to see this kind of design continuity between the various technological items created by the Therioms.

The figure's sculpt is solid, with lots of machinery details protected by armour plates on the outside. The most noticeable piece is his silver head, which resembles a cross between Robocop's and Iron Man's helmets. The upper part of the head displays the black scanner bar that characterises the nose of the original vehicle. However, its design (i.e., two linear patterns that sweep horizontally and a central pulsing "eye" that allows CoBoN to "see") is sculpted and painted in red and yellow, rather than recreated with a sticker. The lower part is composed of a hinged "mouth" shield; when this is closed, it partially covers the central eye and leaves a sort of black chin exposed, while when it's lowered, it reveals the voice display seen on the dashboard of the original vehicle, which fictionally shows coloured lights that diverge horizontally when CoBoN speaks.

Since this form, like the others, stems from the sphere configuration, all over the figure there are smooth and curved elements that derive from the sphere surface. These include six spherical lunes located on his back (running down the centre and flanked by two armour panels), shoulders, thighs and crotch.

Also, there's a lot more paint detail on this figure than on some of the more recent characters. The primary colours in this form are silver, black and metallic blue, with silver being the most heavily used. The metallic blue paint is used to wonderful effect for smaller details, such as few circuitry lines on the armour pieces and a stripe running centrally on the top of the head. The guys at PoliganToys did a great job in the paint application, with plenty of clean features and very few issues.

The articulation here is good too, similar to the standard scheme, but with some improvements that make me very satisfied, such as double hinges at the elbows and the knees, and a ball jointed chest.

Finally, except for two panels on the thighs (there will be more about this in the weapons section), no part of the armour is removable, which totally makes sense. However, the areas between the plates that form the armour show plenty of small tech-mech details, which makes me wish I could remove those components in order to see more.

Beast modes

The two beast forms are heavily mechanised representations of a feline and a bird of prey respectively, with lots of angles and robotic details that definitely capture the appearance and feel of the humanoid mode. Among my favourite features are the smooth, curved lunes that are mostly found near the shoulder and hip joints, looking sleek and elegant. Conversely, other details are more distinguishing, including the tail, neck and head designs, with the latter developing into a pointier shape in both forms.

Like the android mode, these configurations are still cast in silver, black and metallic blue. However, here we get a lot more black showing, thanks to the neck, feet and tail components. While black makes up most of their bodies, the silver colour is used for a number of eye-catching parts, such as the tail end, the lower hind legs, the hips, the front limbs and the middle of the back. Each of the four feline's paws and the two bird's feet is designed with fine embellishments, such as two large bladed, fierce looking claws in the front and two smaller claws in the back.

One of the joys of a well done beast mode is that we can get a lot of articulation. Each of these two forms has a great deal of POA, which include four points in each hind leg, two on the neck/head area and two on the tail alone.

In addition to a spherical lune running down the length of the back and another one on the abdomen, the feline form has a simple "mech-alive" feature that can be seen by swivelling the lower front legs; each one is attached to the upper leg by a silver piece with ridges on it, resembling a gear. As one turns it, it looks like the gear is turning. It's a simple, but nice touch.

The bird form's wings are spread wide across the body with blade-like structures that recall the spherical lunes. The wings are dramatic in sculpt and colour, with some metallic blue elements contrasting nicely against the silver and black colours. Each of the wings is articulated via a peg at half of its length and can move up and down as well as rotate on a ball-hinge at the base.

Weapons and accessories

CoBoN 2.0 comes with a clear hover stand for the sphere form and two black laser sub-machine guns. The weapons are very similar, but their barrels are not identical, since one resembles a small Gatling gun, while the other is more cannon-like. Both have a fair amount of detail to them, including several raised lines and armour sections. They can be handheld by the android form, as well as mounted on the hips in the rear of the feline form or on the upper side of the wings in the bird form.

Additionally, an amazing touch involves the android's mechanical holsters, which fictionally unfold and pop out of his legs, to dispense and receive the guns. The gimmick is recreated by means of two holster components that can replace the removable thigh armours.

Overall, I love this multi-pack very much. A lot of craft went into these figures, which are all solid and fairly accurate to the comics. In particular, the feline and bird forms are awesome beast-based high-tech figures... we don't get a lot of these in the KR line, so, when we do, it's cool to see what a great job the designers at PoliganToys can do with it. The feline is my favourite figure of the set, because it is in this form that CoBoN jumps through LoGoN's robotic body, destroying him, towards the end of the comic. Most of all, these items are fun toys and those are always welcome additions to my collection. If and when this pack is released, I will highly recommend it, even though I fear that folks might be a bit put off by its price.

Special thanks to Michael F. Nelson of Cobon Plastics Corp for allowing us to use the name CoBoN.

KR Review #70: Todahr

The character I'm reviewing today is one of those one-episode wonders that I didn’t know I've been looking forward to getting until I received the figure. For some reason, when Todahr^TM first appeared in the penultimate KR comic issue, I wasn’t overly impressed with the illustrations.

Now, I'm really glad to hold this 54^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys and to see one of the few remaining Destructomorph slots filled by a new monstrous member.

Details

Name: Todahr

Subtitle: tentacular warrior

Classification: mollusc

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: commandant of the Belemnians^TM, a barbarian clan.

Background

Todahr's only appearance is in the 12^th KR comic issue Dawn of a new past. The history of Tahron is flecked with many barbarian figures, few of which are more savage and devious than the Belemnian chief Todahr. This unsightly creature from the eastern quagmires worked his way up the ranks throughout his youth and eventually became the commandant of his clan. When Deptilion arrived on his quest to change Tahron's past, the promises of wealth and power were enough to persuade Todahr to serve the Destructomorph leader in his evil plans. Todahr is a cunning fighter who uses his thrashing tentacles to capture his foes and crush their bodies into defeat.

Articulation

Standard, with four additional tentacles and two valves, which are ball hinged separate pieces. Each tentacle features two swivels at about one-third and two-thirds of its length.

Description
Head: his head resembles the entirety of a Nautilus' body and is composed of a coiled pearlescent grey shell, from which the snout protrudes. The upper side of the shell is marked with irregular red stripes and equipped with a comb of shiny spikes running centrally. The snout is topped with an orange leathery hood marked with white spots and is characterised by two evil yellow glowing eyes with beady black pupils, as well as eight short grey arms and two fairly long outstretched grey tentacles (the latter ending in pads with suckers) arranged around his syphon-like mouth. Definitely this head has a lot of a Cthulhu feel!

Body: all his limbs, including two main arms, four tentacle-like arms and two legs, have a wrinkled grey skin and bear numerous suckers along their length. His anthropoid arms and legs carry webbed claw hands and feet, as well as fin-shaped extensions that project from the forearms and the calves through openings in his worn items. What really makes Todahr unique are the four large tentacles (each decorated with two studded golden armbands) and the two elongated, wing-like valves (smooth and painted in pearlescent grey on the underside, while cracked and of a darker colour on the upper side), all of which plug into six sockets in his back armour

Wearables: a yellow armour with silver details, two yellow leather gloves, two studded golden armbands around the biceps, two yellow leather boots, a large rhomboidal studded yellow belt and a scale armour (i.e., consisting of several overlapping silver plates laced together) loincloth (reused from Blomok). The belt and the boots display a modified version of the Destructomorph symbol (i.e., a square-shaped blueish octopus whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face... who copied who?) on the buckle and the shafts respectively.

Todahr's stylised armour.

Action feature

Although the tentacles aren’t bendable, Todahr's fictional ability to seize his enemies with a powerful grip has been recreated by providing each tentacle with three points of articulation, including two swivels at the armbands. Also, when in danger, Todahr can retract into his bivalve shell, which acts as a shield against his foes. This feature is mimicked by disconnecting the two large valves from the figure and joining them to form the closed shell.

As an additional display option, the four tentacles can also be removed, to transform Todahr into a simple two-armed, shell-less warrior.

Finally, Todahr is able to eject a dark sticky liquid from his mouth as a response to attack. So, the figure comes with a glossy black spitting effect that plugs into the end of the snout snugly. This attachment is the sixth repaint of the same effect we've already seen with other figures.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the ink attachment, Todahr only comes with one accessory, which is a whip modelled after the sticky tentacle-like scourge seen in the comics. This weapon has a silver handle and a slimy-looking yellowish bendy lash ending in a rigid pad with suckers sculpted on the underside.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the 12^th and penultimate KR comic issue Dawn of a new past. Due to an accident, Geel-Ber, the savage leader of the Gunlar^TM tribe, absorbs a residue of Alterok’s devilry and transforms into a clone of Deptilion. He meets Demo-Rha and is informed that during the night a rare astronomical alignment (which looks like a lunar eclipse) will allow him to travel through a temporal gate and change Tahron’s history. The Deity summons Masq-Lor and his fellows, and tells them that Deptilion is in the past, working alongside two barbarian clans in a plot to prevent the construction of the multiversal walls. Because of the risk this could alter history significantly, the heroes use the Antikythron to open a portal to the past and travel back in time. There, they immediately meet and save Leutra^TM, a young member of the Kimarhan^TM tribe, from a barbarian’s attack. Teaming up with the Kimarhans, the heroes storm Deptilion's new fortress, which has been built in the future site of the multiversal walls. After several battles, Masq-Lor confronts Deptilion and during the fight he discovers that Geel-Ber, acting under Deptilion’s influence, is part of the evil plan as well. Geel-Ber, now powerless, separates himself from the demonic entity within, against whom Masq-Lor can't defend himself easily. Eventually, tapping into the energy of Lor-Drek’s medallion, which magically strengthens him, the hero changes into a reptilian warrior and fights the demon back, finally destroying him with his sword. Even though the powers of good have won this fight and the damage to the time stream has been undone, the Kimarhans talk about their plan to join the newly formed Theriom faction and take part to the even fiercer war against the reptilian forces. Masq-Lor can't just travel back to the present and, instead, decides to stay and have a hand in the conflict. Elykta explains to Masq-Lor that although this will unlikely interfere with history, he must hide his real identity, in order to avoid creating a time paradox.

Overall, Todahr is a fantastic figure that really stands out on the shelf. It’s just a pity that the giant tentacles and shell pieces, despite being ball hinged, interfere with each other a bit. But few articulation constraints aside, he does not disappoint and his appendages still make for a striking look posed with the other Destructomorphs.
About the comic, this was supposed to be the start of a spin-off series, of which only few ideas have been developed so far. The formerly planned next issue (The beginning) is not even in the making. Instead, we’ll get a new issue, where Masq-Lor returns to his own time to end the war against Deptilion. However, from the interesting concepts set up in this comic, one can say for sure that the expansion of this ancient era would be a worthy successor to the KR saga.