Key Raiders: 2017 Wish List – Part I

Over the past year and a half, I’ve done a lot of (enjoyable) work writing reviews pertinent to the Key Raiders toy line, describing in detail the prototypes produced by PoliganToys to potential fans.

At the end of last year, even before I could wonder which prototypes I would want or need in 2017, I was informed that PoliganToys had already embarked on a new adventure called Key Raiders: Origin. But before this new series develops further, let’s take a moment to discuss character selection.

It is my conviction that the regular series will and should continue. I don't think that the character selection we are left with is too obscure to keep the series going.

So, in this article I’ve put together a list to present, from the mildly wanted to the strongly demanded, the action figures that in my opinion should complement the regular series and why they should be included. My decisions were mostly based on an effort to finish incomplete team rosters.

15 - Private Uhlu^TM

Affiliation: Theriom

First appearance: issue #1 - "The hidden halberd"

Facts: this Theriom Trooper would be an amazing figure and likely would not cost much to produce - only the bear-like head would be newly tooled, while the bulky body could be re-used from Grabtrak (who, by the way, has got fewer appearances than Uhlu).

Accessories: any one of the capture weapons that came with the Theriom Troopers; including a taser stick would be fun.

14 - Leutra^TM GOT IT!

Affiliation: Theriom

First appearance: issue #12 - "Dawn of a new past"

Facts: featured in one of the best episodes in the series, this heroic female figure could easily be considered the perfect representative of the Kimarhans^TM, and that’s something that could be used to further ground this tribe in the KR canon.

Accessories: backbone sling.

13 - Holopodian^TM Mutants GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #11 - "Herrion's ordeal"

Facts: yes, I know, thanks to a few additional pieces Kinod can also be displayed as one of his soldiers. But a pair of holopodian mutants as separate figures would be a great choice for an army builder multi-pack.

Accessories: selection of plug-in weapons.

12 - Belemnian^TM Warriors GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #12 - "Dawn of a new past"

Facts: potential army builders are my mania. Included in those concept designs are Todahr's fighting men. The guys at PoliganToys could take some liberties with this particular characters, and I'm sure I'd like what they would come up with.

Accessories: crystal spear, pearl-shooting gun.

11 - Ramalik^TM GOT IT!

Affiliation: Theriom

First appearance: issue #7 - "The siege of Erlokat"

Facts: this dude has become one of my most wanted characters. He has an orangutan look, his colour scheme is vibrant and he can take down an enemy in hand to hand combat almost as rapidly as Masq-Lor. In addition, by making use of Grabtrak's body, he wouldn’t be too expensive to produce.

Accessories: back-mounted trebuchet.

10 - Flashback Nemhisto

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #1 - "The hidden halberd"

Facts: the "alive" version of Demo-Rha's father would be a great addition to the KR characters lineup, especially since he’d infuse the line with some elements set in a time earlier than the main story.

Accessories: silver-blade/greenish-hilt sabre (the same that crosses Nemhisto's head from side to side in the regular figure).

09 - Gax-Uhr^TM GOT IT!

Affiliation: Theriom

First appearance: issue #1 - "The hidden halberd"

Facts: the missing member of the Amhalgaard family, father of Mor-Rak as well as brother of Tir-Hing and Deptilion! He's also Auxiliary Minister of the Republic of Tahron... it’s odd that we don’t have this figure. The rumour was that he was going to be part of the lineup at the end of last year, but was bumped when the KR|Origin series was started, in order to make room for other prototypes. In any case, he is still a much needed character.

Accessories: whip/lasso.

08 - Combat Training Robot GOT IT!

Affiliation: Theriom

First appearance: issue #6 - "Reptiles reunited"

Facts: this was a concept character developed by PoliganToys but never made in prototype form. It didn’t appear too often in the KR comics, but when it did, it made a strong impression on me. Regarding its transforming action feature, the designers at PoliganToys could create a snap-on body parts option.

Accessories: selection of plug-in weapons.

07 - Murmirian^TM Warriors GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #12 - "Dawn of a new past"

Facts: talking about army building potential! The Murmirians are another militia from the same episode featuring the Belemnians. Zektax's foot soldiers would further expand the monsters lineup in the line and also provide us with figures whose design is really badass.

Accessories: clip-on wings/double blade.

06 - Seutron^TM & Deutron^TM GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #13 - "The ultimate curse"

Facts: another wonderful potential addition to the line would be a 2-pack including Pleutron's fellow sergeants. Frankly, these big guys, together with Pleutron and the Xonatron, look like they could lead their own toy line. What I love about the modular action feature is that it actually allows us to explore countless display combinations. These two would be a great way to extend that concept from "countless" to "limitless".

Accessories: blade-shooting shield, drill-shooting gun.

05 - Mal-Ah-Krill^TM Warriors GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #10 - "Evanescing act"

Facts: another winning concept-design, Mal-Ah-Kros' minions have been on my personal most-wanted list for some time already. As I said, there really weren’t enough army building prototypes produced in the KR line and these ones would not only give the Destructomorphs a new soldiery amongst their ranks, but also further expand the Cereutian community.

Accessories: pincer sticks.

04 - Old Lady Demo-Rha GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearance: issue #13 - "The ultimate curse"

Facts: the Destructomorphs are always in need of interesting affiliates and this original character from the last KR comic issue is the perfect candidate. In that episode, Demo-Rha is shown to have devious shape-shifting abilities and to take the form of an old lady, who sways some nearby villagers to occupy Theriom City, in order to trap the governing body. This character would be an amazing addition to Demo-Rha's multiple forms.

Accessories: walking staff.

03 - Combat Sei-Lha (black repaint) GOT IT!

Affiliation: Theriom

First appearance: issue #13 - "The ultimate curse"

Facts: some may like Combat Sei-Lha as she appeared in the "Herrion's ordeal" and "Dawn of a new past" episodes. Some might want to see her as she's shown in the last KR comic issue, sporting a total black armoured suit. I prefer this look, because it is so much cooler in my opinion.

Accessories: selection of plug-in guns.

02 - Deptilion's Legacy Demons (from Alterok & Geel-Ber) GOT IT! and GOT IT!

Affiliation: Destructomorph

First appearances: issue #11 - "Herrion's ordeal" and issue #12 - "Dawn of a new past"

Facts: the third and second last KR comic issues are legendary and this highly demanded 2-pack from those episodes seems an obvious choice for production. It would satisfy those KR fans who, like me, love the sword and sorcery atmosphere so beautifully represented in the final chapters of the saga.

Accessories: including specific accessories, like the broken horn of Alterok's demon, would only make this potential 2-pack that much more exciting.

01 - Cereutian Menace Creatures GOT IT!

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

First appearance: issue #8 - "The Cereutian menace: Part I – Downfall"

Facts: over the past several months of KR, not one variant of Denortos was produced... kinda odd. We have the regular version, which is great, but we don’t have either the beast form or his Cereutian fellows. Included would be a set of interchangeable parts and accessories (e.g., wings) to make the various versions of Denortos' buddies that have appeared in the comics.

Accessories: petrifaction-beam gun in silver, alternative tail piece(s) for the beast form.

Stay tuned for the upcoming sequel of this article about vehicles and creatures!

KR|Origin Review #1: Kai-Xi

We are BACK! And the fact that a new lineup of prototypes is ready to haunt my shelf only proves that the spirit of Key Raiders is certainly alive and well.

This is the first review of a bunch of figures that belong to a new Key Raiders series. Precisely, it's a prequel series titled Key Raiders: Origin (stylised as KR|Origin), which concerns events happening more than 500 years before Masq-Lor's adventures. So, this universe, which is characterised by a sort of medieval vibe, is the point of origin of the regular series that we have all come to know and love during the past two years.

Kai-Xi^TM, the future Deity, opens this new series of the KR line in the form of a dual-action figure, which makes me pretty excited. In the regular series, The Deity is quite a big deal - she is the one responsible for maintaining balance between the different factions. I have to say, with these figures the folk at PoliganToys really did her justice.

I have waited for long to know more about this rather obscure character that originated some time in the past of Tahron. Now, we learn that she actually comes from present China... and that Tahron is on Earth! This is the kind of cool backstory that we are getting with this line and makes it all the more rich.

Details

Name: Kai-Xi

Real name: Wēn Kǎi xī

Subtitle: phoenix amazon

Classification: human

Sex: female

Home: China

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: service warrior.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #1 - An arduous venture

Brief bio: before she was The Deity, Wen Kai xi was a talented archaeologist and scientist from our time. Along with the heroic Cereutian knight Galamars^TM, she used the power of the Antikythron to travel back in time, in an attempt to give her home-world a peaceful history. Arriving on Tahron, the present continent of Antarctica, Kai-Xi became instrumental in trapping Bi-Harr's mental powers beyond the multiversal walls. After the death of her beloved king Khon-Uhr^TM, she took up the duty of guarding the remaining halberds and helmets she helped create, knowing that those prodigious artefacts were the key to unleash Bi-Harr's powers once again. Raising to a powerful divine form shortly after her own demise, Kai-Xi recognised in the renegade reptilian soldier Elykta a new guardian and passed on her role of seeking out brave warriors who can prevent the halberds from being combined by the hands of evil.

Articulation

Both figures have the standard articulation, excluding the hinged abdomen and with the addition of a swivel joint at each elbow in the enhanced form.

In the comics, as I'll explain later, Kai-Xi wears a magic helmet that in certain situations gives her incredible abilities and changes her look. Despite the two figures represent the same character, they render the two alternative forms and appear very different. Although it's not clear whether these figures will be released individually or in a 2-pack, I'm going to describe them separately.

Normal form

Description

Head: Asian features, cream white skin, long unbound black hair (with a small crown braid), hazel eyes. She wears two jade drop earrings

Body: cream white skin, exposed arms and legs

Wearables: a basque-like corset consisting of several square greenish pieces of jade laced together, two narrow dark-green jade bracelets, two studded light-green bronze (obviously oxidised) armbands around the biceps, a dark-green leather garter (decorated with light-green bronze studs) around the right thigh, two dark-green leather boots with white furry tops and a belt made of several light-green bronze discs laced together. The sleeveless jade bodysuit extends past the waistline over the hips and leaves the upper back exposed; it is characterised by a contoured fit, brassiere cups and shoulder straps, and features decorative front and back lace-up details and a series of light-green bronze discs laced together along each shoulder strap. The uneven hue of the jade pieces creates an arabesque pattern of dark and light green all over the bodice.

Action feature

Similarly to what we have seen with Apprentice Minister Masq-Lor, Apprentice Advisor Fai-Rha and Herrion, despite the figure doesn't have any real action feature, we still get something to complement Kai-Xi's look, presumably for highly formal occasions. This comes in the form of a set of extra pieces, which includes:

- An alternative head characterised by the face more heavily coated with cosmetics (i.e., eye shadow and dark-red lipstick), chandelier earrings, and the hair drawn back into a chignon and adorned with a simple studded light-green bronze headband that extends towards the forehead with a jade jewel

- A dress add-on consisting of a long strip of cloth and a cape, which are both red with decorative serrated leaf gold patterns (derived from Chinese styles) and are linked via a high standing collar made of a golden fabric in the upper part and dark-brown fur in the lower part. The strip of cloth covers the front of the body down to the knees and fastens round the waist thanks to a permanently attached golden belt embellished with a jade jewel

- A headdress/face mask that includes two additional geisha-style hair buns at the sides, a showy jewelled ornamental golden headband worn on the front of the hair and a dark-brown furry adornment that connects to the front of the dress collar by means of a big gold brooch topped with a jade jewel

- An additional long pliable red shawl with decorative serrated leaf gold patterns that can be worn under the cape and over the arms.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from her outfit add-ons, Kai-Xi comes with a few more accessories: a sword (plus a scabbard), a shield and a staff. The sword has a leaf-shaped light-green bronze hilt and a silver blade that can be inserted in a dark-green leather scabbard adorned with decorative light-green patterns and attached to a loose fitting belt (the scabbard can additionally connect to the garter on Kai-Xi's right leg).

The round light-green bronze shield is also decorated with dark-green arabesque patterns and clips on Kai-Xi's wrist.

Finally, the light-green wooden staff, topped with a pattern that resembles the Chinese character 凤 (phoenix), is a non-burning version of The Deity's staff and has a sharpened tip on the lower end, so it can also be used as a spear.

Enhanced form

Description

Head: similarly to the three siblings in the original series, Kai-Xi wears one of the silver magic helmets, which in certain circumstances produces a golden half mask (or visor) and gives her incredible physical and mental powers, changing her appearance significantly. The figure comes with an helmeted head, characterised by the golden visor activated, fierce eyes and vermilion scaly skin around the mouth. The helmet also features some subtle bird of prey-themed details (such as two eyes, a beak and a frontal golden decoration resembling a pair of "phoenix rising" wings) and a fairly long nape protector

Body: the exposed parts of her body (i.e., arms, legs and stomach) are covered with vermilion feathers

Wearables: a dark-green armour with light-green details (which bears a high neck and shoulder pads), two large dark-green bronze bracelets (with knuckle protectors, and decorated with light-green arabesque patterns and white jade jewels), two dark-green bronze calf protectors (with knee and instep guards, positioned over the regular boot shafts), a studded dark-green bronze belt and three light-green leather tassets (the central one of which is shaped like a large feather). Unlike the normal form, this version of Kai-Xi is barefoot.

Kai-Xi's stylised helmet with side and top crests.

Kai-Xi's stylised armour.

Action feature

Like with the three siblings of the regular series, a pair of brownish claws (or, rather, talons) can snap into each bracelet, to simulate the retractile claws seen in the comics.

Additionally, Kai-Xi has a pair of wings, made of orange and yellow feathers, attached to her triceps. A system of pegs allows for these wings to spread like fans when her arms are raised. The feature itself works really well, as the wings fall easily into place, and she can move her arms pretty freely. It is worth noting that in the comics these wings seem to have a cosmetic function only and don't give Kai-Xi the ability to fly.

Finally, the figure comes with two sets of accessories that can plug into the back of the shoulder pads. The first set is a pair of long sawtoothed golden "tail" feathers, which are made of a pliable plastic. In the comics, each of these feathers is composed of 15 sharp metal elements, which can be detached individually and used as weapons similar to shuriken. The second set includes two jagged golden "phoenix rising" wings, which are fictionally produced by the above mentioned tails and work as an adjunct to the arm wings.

Weapons and accessories

In addition to the snap-on talons, tail feathers and supplementary wings, Kai-Xi comes with a silver halberd, which is one of the four components of the Key (the one with the S-shaped blade) and a shinier version of the halberd that belongs to Lor-Drek in the regular series.

Moreover, there is an alternative head that displays a daring expression and wears the inactive helmet, i.e., with neither the gold visor activated nor bird eyes/beak/wings details. This head works as the necessary bridge between the unhelmeted and the helmeted-with-visor heads.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the first comic issue An arduous venture. The heroic Cereutian knight Galamars is tasked to protect Wen Kai xi, a talented archaeologist and scientist destined to become the Deity, and persuade her to journey to Tahron, a mythical land set in Earth’s past. After following them on their expedition to retrieve the Antikythron from a long-sealed chamber, Denortos, in a desperate attempt to impede Kai xi’s destiny, jumps at the two heroes and they all travel back in time. Galamars fights his Cereutian enemy tenaciously, deciding the battle in his favour, while the spirit of the former king of Tahron advises Kai xi about how to give their home-world a peaceful history.

Overall, Kai-Xi opens this new lineup as a great dual-figure and a character that is really essential to the Key Raiders mythology. I find both versions to be extremely intriguing... and the halberd is looking good in her capable hands! The respected role of Theriom warrior got its start with a feminine touch and I think it is good to begin the Origin display in this way.
About the comic, this is the beginning of the Origin story. Not much good to say – the connection with Earth’s present makes little sense to me, but at least they tried with the few scenes set on Tahron.
This series goes miles to help diversify the KR-verse and, comic issue apart, with this start the odds seem to be favourable altogether.