For better or for worse, PoliganToys has accomplished something that I couldn't have imagined possible when this blog started all the way back in August 2015 - the KR prototype lineup is now complete.
Yes, lurking out of the darkness from the Downfall episode, the Spectral variant of SphenoratTM joins the ranks of KR large scale figures as the last item of this amazing line. What is the future of Key Raiders, though, will be explained (or, rather, speculated) in an upcoming post.
As an added bonus, the Spektrosaur sorcerer comes in a multi-pack (the 14th I have received) that includes an incredible, evil flying machine - the SerporcraftTM. Wow!
Spectral Sphenorat
Details
Name: Spectral Sphenorat
Subtitle: dark-magical spectre
Classification: spirit of a lepidosauromorph reptile
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Affiliation: Spektrosaur
Rank: sorcerer.
Since the background story of the character has been covered before, this review is mainly focused on the appearance of the figure and the accessories that come with it.
Articulation
Standard for the neck and the arms; the rest of the body only features a ball joint at about half of its height.
Description
Head: similar to the regular Sphenorat's head with the completely exposed face, although bigger and with a much more detailed skeletal appearance. The face is supposed to resemble a tuatara, but it is flattened in order to acquire a more humanoid look. It has a blue-green skin, three yellow eyes with vertical slit-shaped red pupils (the third eye is on the forehead) and a wide open mouth that displays a number of sharp white teeth. He wears a large loose ragged cowl seemingly made of a coarse, rough dark-brown fabric. On the top, this hood bears three red lines forming an array of crescent-shaped markings, while on the back it tapers to a comb of tips that slightly resembles a spiny crest
Body: the figure is 23 cm tall (around 9'') and is cloaked from neck to toe. His arms are covered by long, wide torn dark-brown sleeves, while his hands, which are posed to cast spells, show a sickly clawed, skeletal appearance, blue-green skin and long black nails
Wearables: a long, loose torn dark-brown robe, a large red pendant (resembling the triple-crescent symbol on the hood) on a chain around the neck and a long, thick light-brown cord with a red tassel at either end (which in the regular figure is used to fit the garment around the waist, but here is untied and held by two loops on the back). The robe does a great job of blending in with the cowl and especially the hanging sleeves, under which we can clearly see two red bracelets. He also wears a tattered burgundy cape, which has a high standing collar, is fixed to the front by a light-brown string and is attached to the arms above the elbows via two pegs (it is soft enough not to hamper the arms movement too much). Unlike with the regular figure, this mantle is pretty short, doesn't fade to translucent towards the jagged bottom and is not removable.
Action feature
In this figure, Sphenorat's ghostly appearance has been significantly enhanced thanks to the bigger size and to the highly detailed cadaverous head, raw-boned hands and tattered robes. Furthermore, the cloak is open and pulled back, to reveal what lays beneath - an intricately sculpted nightmarish scene of ghost-snakes swirling as if in a vortex. All his exposed body parts, i.e., the face, hands and swirl of snakes, are cast in a translucent blue-green plastic that can glow in the dark (of course there are a few painted bits, such as the eyes, teeth, nails and some of the snakes' features), giving him an even eerier spectral feel.
Weapons and accessories
Spectral Sphenorat comes with a few accessories: two ghost-snake attachments and a clear stand. The snakes are cast in the same translucent blue-green GITD plastic used for his body and can be plugged into two sockets hidden inside the hanging sleeves, to look as though he is casting these creepy snaky weapons towards the enemies.
The stand, which has a ball joint on the end, helps render Sphenorat's ghost-like nature farther, so he can be displayed in a floating pose.
Serporcraft
Details
Name: Serporcraft
Subtitle: serpentine helicopter
Classification: aircraft
Home: Tahron
Affiliation: Spektrosaur
Rank: transport.
Description
The Serporcraft is a super-fast, armoured (and armed) snake-faced helicopter. This stealthy chopper is painted dark-green on top and pearl-grey on the bottom in a countershaded pattern, and has lots of tech-mech details all over the main body. Thanks to such features as twin auxiliary jet engines (visible at the roots of the landing gear sponsons and fitted with large air intakes), rotor blades that can be disengaged and a lifting body fuselage, it can fictionally perform incredible manoeuvres, including travelling at supersonic speeds and flying upside down or at very high altitudes. The cockpit resembles the head of a cobra, with a clear windscreen in place of the eyes. The canopy is hinged at the back, so it can open by folding up and backward. The interior is of a high-tech nature and shows tons of sculpted controls, including a joystick on each side of the single seat (in the comics the aircraft is proportionally bigger and can carry up to ten characters, while this toy version only fits one figure). The three rotor blades are slightly curved, have serrated edges and are topped with what looks like a radar dome. The tail boom is shaped like a ridged spine and includes horizontal and vertical stabilisers, but no tail rotor. The sponsons have seemingly retractable landing skids that are similar to monstrous feet.
Action feature
In the comics, the Serporcraft's giant propeller can be launched at the touch of a trigger by its pilot, spinning horribly in the face of the enemy. Thanks to the powerful jet engines, shooting the rip-rotor projectile doesn't affect the helicopter's flying ability at all. In the toy, the rotor can simply spin and detach, but not shoot, which is quite enough in my opinion. Furthermore, the craft is fitted with two spring-loaded missile launchers carried by pylons at the wingtips, which are mounted on the side of the landing skid sponsons. I really like the missiles, which are shaped like bundles of serpents. Plus, the snake's lower jaw (which is the underside of the cockpit) can open menacingly, revealing a retractable pilot's night vision device (which actually looks like a headlight and glows in the dark) coupled with a quick-firing, single-tube cannon.
Weapons and accessories
The Serporcraft comes with a small set of plug-in accessories, which unfortunately doesn't include a flight stand. First, we get three nicely sculpted blasting effects, which can be used for the nose cannon and the jet engines.
Additionally, there is a flexible hose with a nozzle at one end that is fictionally used for in-air refuel of other similar rotorcrafts. This is a reference to a comic strip in which Masq-Lor is shown to climb into a flying Serporcraft using the exact same hose. Nice touch.
Overall, I can only be happy with this 2-pack. Spectral Sphenorat is a cool reinterpretation of the regular figure, infused with a look that perfectly recreates the creepiest nature of the character. The end result is a figure which I believe would surely join the shelves of many collectors. I'm definitely impressed by the incredible level of detail on all sides of his ghostly "body", but I'm also a bit disappointed that an updated version of his sceptre hasn't been included.
About the Serporcraft, this ship's got it all... except for a flight stand! Thing is that the Aviotak's stand just made itself requisite and one would expect all the following flying machines to come with a flight stand. However, this vehicle left a mark on me when I placed Noctylius in the pilot seat and had the chopper "stare" at me. Really, it crept me out after a while.
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