KR|Origin Review #7: Lor-Drek (Origin Edition)

After a quite long absence from the Origin lineup, Lor-Drek^TM is finally here!

This time, in the form of the sixth action figure prototype of the KR|Origin series, the hideous dragon warrior is showing a surprising new winged nature.

Details

Name: Lor-Drek (Origin Edition)

Subtitle: dreadful deputy

Classification: reptile of uncertain group

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

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

Affiliation: Reptonoid

Rank: vice-marshal.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: the last member of a race of magical dragon-like reptiles possessed by an ambivalent nature, Lor-Drek was enticed through manipulation to follow Bi-Harr's endeavours to rule Tahron, eventually becoming a prominent officer of the Reptonoid army. Together, they fought in many epic battles during the war against the mammalian enemies and killed several Theriom leaders, including King Tah-Ron^TM and his son Khon-Uhr^TM. Unwilling to share power with Bi-Harr, Lor-Drek gradually developed the desire to become a marshal himself, ultimately swearing to lead his own faction and dominate Tahron.

Articulation

Standard, plus a hinged lower jaw, a ball jointed extra neck piece, a pair of ball hinged wings and a tail that features a swivel at its base.

Description

Head: similar to regular Lor-Drek's dragon/Spinosaurus head, characterised by evil large dark eyes (with vertical glow-in-the-dark yellow pupils) that are surrounded by ochre (i.e., light brownish-yellow) feathers, a long and narrow scaly snout, a large dark-green feather mohawk, long pointy ears (each covered in hair-like ochre feathers and ending in a rather long, curved whitish horn), large sharp teeth along the edges of the jaws and a faintly forked tongue sculpted on the inside of the mouth. A long bendy neck extension (which bears ochre scales on the underside and dark-green feathers on the upper side) connects the head to the body

Body: ochre scaly skin, claw hands and feet; unlike his regular counterpart, his limbs display large dark-green ridges that run down the sides. On the back, a dark-green neural spine sail and a pair of large bat-like wings (without tears and holes) project through openings in the armour. Also, a long, thick bandy tail emerges from the bottom edge of the armour and extends downwards; this tail ends with a large tuft of ochre feathers at the tip. Both the wings and the tail bear ochre scales on the underside and dark-green quills on the upper side

Wearables: a silver armour with brown details (the chest plate displays the Reptonoid symbol, i.e., a reptile red eye, at its centre), two silver gauntlets, a brown leather armband around the right biceps (where the ridge presents a trough), a pair of silver thong sandals with shin guards, a silver belt and a brown scaly loincloth. Both the gauntlets and the belt buckle (which holds a long strip of dark-green fabric) are shaped to resemble Lor-Drek's head slightly.

Lor-Drek's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents the Reptonoid symbol.

Action feature

This figure's appearance is a mash-up of two alternative forms that Lor-Drek is able to acquire in the comics of the Origin series. To obtain the anthropomorphic form, which is the most frequent, it's necessary to detach the head (together with the neck extension) and the tail, and replace them with the head and tail from the regular figure.

The second form is a diabolical feathered serpent, into which Lor-Drek occasionally transforms in order to combine the ability to reach the sky and to creep on the ground against his foes. This configuration can be obtained by connecting the previously detached neck&head and tail components to an additional elongated legless central body piece, which is rubbery but not as bendable as the other two. This piece also looks ochre and scaly on the underside, and dark-green and feathery on the upper side. Moreover, it carries two sockets on the back, into which the figure's feathered wings can be plugged. It's a pity that the two forms cannot be displayed in their completeness side by side (unless we add the torn wings from the regular figure, which are inconsistent with the Origin era), but after all, since they are two alternative appearances of the same character, it kind of makes sense.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from his snaky feathered alternative body, Lor-Drek comes with a great weapon - a three-bladed spinning sabre. This sword has a wooden hilt (shaped like a short side-viewed snake with the mouth wide open) and a broad silver machete blade, to the middle of which a Y-shaped rotating system of three additional curved silver blades is mounted. There is even what looks like a tiny silvery electrical cable that connects the machete blade to the hilt.

Overall, while certainly I wasn't clamouring for the feathered wings (I’m not much of a quill guy, I prefer scales), this is a really well sculpted figure that does a great job of bringing a new version of a significant character onto my KR shelf. I also like the fact that the feathered head can be used on the figure without the neck, allowing for even more display options.

KR|Origin Review #6: Theriom Knights

I always like to add some cool variety to my legion of KR troops and knights have been big wants of mine for a long time. So, I'm glad to welcome the Theriom Knights^TM!

There are several similarities between this first multi-pack prototype of the KR|Origin series (although most of the previous prototypes were technically multi-packs) and the regular Theriom Troopers. So, if you have missed their review, I'd suggest to take a look.

Details

Name: Theriom Knights

Subtitle: heroic sentries

Classification: various mammals

Sex: male and female

Home: Tahron

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

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: horsemen.

Background

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

Brief bio: across the kingdom of Tahron, the mightiest warriors were enlisted by King Khon-Uhr^TM to fight for the causes of the Therioms as masters of capture weapons and cavalry tactics. Together with their steeds, the Theriom Knights wore powered suits of armour, which enhanced their strength and let them skilfully handle their powerful armaments. Trained in ancient battle techniques, these life-long military men and women had a strong sense of honour and fought courageously for justice and freedom against the Reptonoids.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen for the female figure.

Description

Heads: both figures' standard heads have human features, showing cream white skin and dark eyes, and wear silver helmets with gold details, whose size and shape are adapted to the type of head. Each helmet has a mixed medieval/sci-fi vibe, and is equipped with a plume at the top (comb-shaped and dark-green for the male character, similar to a ponytail and dark-blue for the female) and what looks like a laser sighting device at the right side (I wish this were pivoting)

Bodies: the figures' sculpts use the same proportions seen in other KR human male and female figures; in addition, both wear a whole-body protective clothing of brown leather, which is also visible in the form of gloves and boots on the hands and feet

Wearables: both characters wear gold armours with silver details, golden wrist guards with knuckle protectors, golden knee/shin guards and silver groin protectors. Each armour has a nicely shaped piece of plate protecting the throat, which also seems to be a microphone, and carries a translucent red cape that allows us too see a bright circle at the centre of the back (fictionally a reactor engineered to power the suit of armour). The wrist guards and shin guards are clip-on removable pieces that, apart from displaying a silver Theriom emblem each, show some electro-mechanical details, which give the knights an interesting retro-tech character. Additionally, the heroic sentries are equipped with laminar grey arm and thigh armours, each decorated with a diagonal blue stripe, that are also removable.

Theriom Knight's stylised armour with a generic breastplate. Size and shape vary according to the body structure of the characters.

Action feature

Like with the regular Theriom Troopers, the main feature of the Theriom Knights is their expertise in the use of capture weapons. That's why I'm going to describe their weapons in this section. Unlike the grabber, bolas launcher and net gun that were associated with specific Troopers, the weapons packaged with the Knights are interchangeable, meaning that they may be used by either character. First up is a set of twin silver pistols, one of which can shoot a blue laser net, while the other can hurl a pair of red laser bolas. The design of the pistols is really cool, rendering an antique look that matches the medieval theme very well. They come with two translucent plug-in shooting effects, which are shaped like the above-mentioned energy net and bolas. We also get a golden removable belt, which can fit either figure and bears two brown leather holsters at the sides for stowing the pistols. The buckle of the belt is a seven-pointed star with the two bottom points elongated, which is a nice variation of the Theriom symbol.

The second (or, rather, third) weapon is a silver lance, which is a perfect addition. A lance is a very characteristic weapon for a knight and I love that it is large enough to be convincing. Also, its pointed head can be disconnected and replaced with a silver tool that is slightly reminiscent of Grabtrak's grabber. This is fictionally produced by the lance head itself and, despite lacking any articulation, can clamp an opponent by means of a laser beam that runs from one jaw to the other. The laser effect is recreated with a curved, stick-shaped translucent green piece that snaps securely between the ends of the two jaws.

Weapons and accessories

Apart form their capture weapons, the Theriom Knights come with a plethora of accessories. Each helmet is equipped with a set of clip-on pieces, namely two interchangeable silver visors and a golden mouth guard. While the mouth shields for the two figures are very similar, the visors are pretty unique in their respective designs: the male Knight's ones have either two eye-holes or pairs of horizontal slits, whereas the female Knight's ones are either solid silver (almost like a mirror) or with an array of vertical slits.

The helmets are also removable and allow the heads to be replaced with two alternative types for each figure: Asian/olive brown-skinned and ape-looking/dark brown-furred for the male, African/black-skinned and feline-looking/light brown-furred for the female. The top of each head looks kind of odd, due to the shape that has been given to accommodate the helmet. However, to display the Knights unhelmeted, each figure comes with an extra piece that incorporates black hair and a steel cap that is fictionally worn underneath the helmet. These pieces work best with the human heads, but they can be used with the animal ones too, they will just look funny.

The armours also have swappable parts and work in a similar fashion to Combat Masq-Lor's covering. Each front armour is actually a shell that can accommodate two interchangeable breastplates: one plain (undamaged for the female and with some subtle battle marks for the male) and one decorated with the Theriom emblem in relief at its centre (in silver for the male and made of a translucent red gemstone for the female). The plates, which probably indicate different ranks, snap in tightly from the inside of the armour, which must be removed in order to change them.

The last "accessory" is a pretty great way to finish out - a half steed/half war machine that can carry a Theriom Knight! Despite this mount looks very similar to a horse, it's actually a tarmotherid, a fictional ungulate like Merados. Indeed, this steed shares several components with Merados, but also appears enhanced by a powered exoskeleton composed of a technological barding (i.e., chanfron, criniere, peytral, saddle, flanchards, croupiere, tail guard and hoof protectors) and a set of robotic devices that allow for limb movement with increased strength and endurance. The sculpt is fantastic, showing some great curves and lines, and the techno embellishments, such as circuits, pistons and cogs, look really nice and sharp. The detail I especially like is the saddle, which bears a pair of badass stirrups, and a handlebar that replaces the reins and has a sculpted&painted dash board. The articulation is pretty cool too: it has ball joints between all five neck pieces that compose the criniere (giving the head and neck a great range of movement), a ball joint at the tail, and hinges at the shoulders/hips (it can hold a rearing-up pose without assistance), at the knees/hocks and at the fetlocks. The paint is also very nicely executed, showing a mostly reddish-brown coat (except for the cannons and the tail that are white) where visible, and lots of gold, which shines well when hit by the light, with silver details. The cyber chanfron (with glowing eye-holes) can be removed to reveal the reddish-brown head with a silver stripe down the middle of the face. The peytral is equipped with a circular bright reactor combined with a purple&gold Theriom escutcheon on the chest area and a pair of twin forward-facing silver pivoting laser guns at the sides, while the croupiere has a rear-mounted silver rotating laser turret.

Theriom Knight's stylised helmet with a generic visor. The grey triangle at the top indicates the presence of a plume.

Overall, I personally dig the idea of tech-knights from Tahron's past, so I’m really pleased with this multi-pack. At any rate, both the figures are done well and I think their accessories are a hit. I really hope we can get an additional mount at some point in the future, so that both of them can ride to victory.

KR|Origin Review #5: Tah-Ron

The KR|Origin series continues to deliver this month with two variants of a much-needed "furry" character - Tah-Ron^TM!

This fifth dual-action figure prototype of the Origin lineup represents a lot of important things when it comes to the KR mythos. According to his details and bio, Tah-Ron is the ancestor of Tir-Hing and Masq-Lor, the first king of Tahron (before this land is named after him) and the neutral deity preceding Kai-Xi.

Details

Name: Tah-Ron

Subtitle: sage arbiter

Classification: spirit (formerly primivod mammal)

Sex: male

Relationships: ancestor of the Amhalgaard family

Home: the land eventually named Tahron

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

Affiliation: neutral (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)

Rank: divinity (formerly first king of the Therioms and, by extension, of the land they strive to protect).

Background

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

Brief bio: after being forced out of his home in the Northern Forest by the Reptonoids, the Kimarhan tribesman named Tah-Ron joined up with the Therioms, a newly formed mammalian defensive alliance, and thanks to his charisma was soon proclaimed as their king. King Tah-Ron fought the reptilian forces led by Bi-Harr for many years during his reign and, while still relatively young, was ultimately killed in front of his son's eyes during a bloody battle. After his death, Tah-Ron raised to an ageless divine form and, through this act, he was able to watch over his descendants and advising his heirs. Eventually, his motherland and theatre of the war between Therioms and Reptonoids became known as Tahron in his honour.

Articulation

Standard.

In the comics, Tah-Ron is mostly featured in his divine form, while his royal look is only shown in a flashback. Despite the two figures represent the same character, they render the two alternative forms and appear relatively different. Since these figures will be released individually, I'm going to describe them separately.

King Tah-Ron

Description

Head: predominantly ursine (even if he's a primivod, a fictional anthropomorphic marsupial), characterised by a thick whitish fur (with two braids at the sides of the head and two in his "beard") that surrounds a light brown-skinned face. The bare face includes a pair of subtly pointy ears, fierce blue eyes with jagged eyebrows, a large dark nose and a slightly open mouth that exposes a number of sharp whitish teeth. He wears a silver crown decorated with eight curved ivory-coloured horns all the way around

Body: thick whitish fur, claw hands and feet

Wearables: a chest harness composed of a metallic light-blue breast plate with silver details and four silver&leather straps, two metallic light-blue bracelets (the right one is narrow and spiked, while the left one is a large studded wrist guard and has four small metal claws projecting forward), two removable armbands around the biceps (each with a curved ivory-coloured spike sticking out of a metallic light-blue plate), two metallic light-blue knee/calf protectors (each with a curved ivory-coloured spike sticking out of the knee guard), a studded metallic light-blue belt with a diamond-shaped buckle (retooled from Steel-Monster Loghar) and a scale armour loincloth consisting of several overlapping silver plates laced together (reused from Bi-Harr). Additionally, he wears a light-blue cape, characterised by tattered edges and a substantial furry collar that is fixed to the breast plate via a peg. The large collar is flocked with a black-striped white (synthetic) fur and bulges on the back similarly to a mane, giving the figure a hunched over look; it also has two curved ivory-coloured spikes that project forward from near the shoulders and are pierced in order to hold two big silver chains, from which a shiny silver Theriom symbol (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated) hangs at the centre.

Tah-Ron's stylised harness; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents a socket, to which the furry collar connects.

Action feature

Apart from his fangs and claws that make him a powerful adversary for the Reptonoid, King Tah-Ron has no action feature, although in the comics it is mentioned that he has the ability to control animals.

Weapons and accessories

King Tah-Ron comes with a silver double-purpose staff. One end of the pole is four-pronged and holds a translucent light-blue hemisphere, while the other end bears a pointed tip. So, depending on its orientation, the staff works either as a royal sceptre or a spear.

In addition, the figure includes an alternative head that allows us to transform Tah-Ron into Li-Khon^TM, Tir-Hing's father, as he was shown in the regular series. This head is predominantly ursine (even though he's a primivod too) and is characterised by a thick whitish fur that, unlike with Tah-Ron, covers most of the face, including the subtly pointy ears. It also displays a dark-brown bony cranial crest, a pair of blue eyes with purplish under-eye bags, a large dark nose, and a slightly open mouth that has a purplish upper lip and exposes a number of sharp yellowish teeth. Compared to Tah-Ron's one, Li-Khon's head definitely shows an older look and a less combative attitude. To complete the conversion, it's necessary to remove Tah-Ron's head, cape (by disconnecting the front of the collar from the breast plate) and armbands. After replacing the head, it's enough to attach an additional golden Theriom emblem to the breast plate. To be honest, I don't think the overall look of the figure resembles Li-Khon's appearance faithfully, but it's always good to have two figures in one, so I'm ok with it.

Spirit of Tah-Ron (aka The Deity)

I’m not going to get into the specifics of this figure, since it's just the King version with a few differences that I'm going to list below:

- The whole figure has been cast in a cool glow-in-the-dark green and given a nice dark-green wash (most heavily on his eyes, teeth, claws, clawed wrist guard and Theriom emblem) to simulate weathering

- His cape, harness and armbands are not removable

- The furry collar is unflocked

- The only accessory is his sceptre, which is also cast in GITD green

- A number of pretty rare and pricey deluxe variations of this figure will come in a fancy packaging that will transform into a cardboard playset (likely resembling the multiversal walls site, complete with opening portals) and will feature light&sound effects.

Overall, Tah-Ron is a really good figure that captures the Origin vibe fairly well. Both the King and the Spirit versions make for essential additions to the line, and I am particularly fond of the former - he looks very cool in full colour. In any case, this is going to be one of my favourite prototypes so far this year. Honestly, whether it’s getting a whole GITD figure or just coming with an awesome Li-Khon's head as an accessory, this guy is worth it.