KR|Origin Review #21: Sphenorat (Origin Edition)

The Origin Edition of Sphenorat^TM was one of my most anticipated prototypes of the year after the KR|Origin series got announced last January.

This 18^th action figure prototype in the line has a ghostly counterpart (plus a variant) in the regular series and I think he is another character that truly benefits from having his backstory explored a bit further. Because until we read the final comic issue, we probably don't have a clear idea about his spectral origin.

Details

Name: Sphenorat

Subtitle: dark-magical sorcerer

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

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

Affiliation: Reptonoid

Rank: deputy marshal.

Background

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

Brief bio: once a valuable preceptor of dark magic in an ancient monastery, where troubled reptilian youngsters were recruited to learn the ways of the black arts, Sphenorat broke faith with his compeers and pledged his devotion to Bi-Harr when he embarked on assembling his army to challenge the mammalian people. Serving as a wizard-priest to his master for many years, he created deadly snake-charming spells, with the aim of helping the Reptonoids defeat the Therioms and rise to power on Tahron. When his fellow sorcerer Loghar began mastering technomancy instead of old magic, the fierce competition between the two warlocks led to Sphenorat's death, but his powers were great enough to raise to a bursting spectral form that would spread fear for a long time to come.

Articulation

Standard, except that the elbows and the knees are ball hinged, and the lower body, between the waist and the knees, is one big skirt piece (i.e., there are no hips and thighs).

Description

Head: his face is supposed to resemble a tuatara, but it is flattened in order to acquire a more humanoid look. It has blue-green skin, a pair of small pointy ears with bronze earrings, three yellow eyes with vertical slit-shaped red pupils (the third eye is on the forehead) and a slightly open mouth that displays a number of sharp white teeth. He wears a bronze crowned helmet, i.e., a helmet with a crown riveted on. On the front, this headdress is decorated with a figure representing a stylised standing Egyptian cobra and bearing a number of red gemstones (one resembling the Reptonoid eye symbol on the front of its hood and three forming an array of crescent-shaped markings over its head), while on the back it tapers to a comb of tips similar to a spiny crest. At first, I thought the snake head ornament mounted on his helmet was a button for an action feature, but no. Maybe the guys at PoliganToys originally intended it to be so?

Body: wrinkled blue-green skin, claw hands and feet with black nails. He has a short, thick spiny-plated tail emerging from under his skirt (and actually attached to it)

Wearables: a long dark-brown robe made of a coarse, rough fabric, which is open on the chest and tied at the waist with a red sash. Its sleeves are embroidered with snake-shaped red embellishments and are short enough to expose the forearms equipped with two spiked metallic red bracelets (reused from Origin Loghar), while the hem, also with snake-themed red adornments, falls approximately to the ankles revealing a pair of metallic red thong sandals with shin guards (reused from Origin Lor-Drek). Over his robe, he wears a separate armour that includes a chest plate, a pair of shoulder pads, a long, narrow piece hanging down on the front and a cape. The shoulder/chest armour is mostly metallic red with a few bronze details, including the triple-crescent symbol seen on the headdress, the Reptonoid eye emblem (with a red gemstone at the centre) and several fang-shaped decorations. The attached burgundy cape has a high standing collar (which is split into two parts and looks like a pair of dragon wings), a jagged bottom (whose points resemble small snake heads) and two strips (also resembling snakes) seemingly wafting forward.

Sphenorat's stylised shoulder/chest armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Sphenorat is portrayed as a skilled snake charmer, who magically tames a throng of evil snakes. So, the figure comes with a brown basket that has a removable lid. The inside of the basket shows a beautifully sculpted tangle of multicoloured snakes with a hollow at the centre, into which an additional emerging purple&yellow mamba can be plugged. I can't spoil it now, but keep this snake in mind, because it'll come back in some other reviews.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from his mamba and basket of snakes, Sphenorat comes with a new all-bronze mystical sceptre - a staff equipped with a cupped handle and tipped with an ogival redented ornament. The bud-like decoration on the top recalls the towers of Rokang Tar and features some great detail work (with some difficulties, you can make out a reptile skull in its pattern). The end of the long shaft (which looks like a bottle-shaped tube with a few holes, echoing the appearance of a pungi, i.e., a wind instrument typically played by snake charmers) is connected to Sphenorat's wrist via a real metal chain and a removable cuff, while the top part of the ogival ornament can be detached to reveal a small reddish snake inside. The staff can "shoot" (I guess similarly to a crossbow) the snake thanks to a spring-loaded mechanism.

In addition, Sphenorat comes with an alternative head for his dark-magic teacher days, which differs from the standard head in that it shows a dark-brown covering similar to both a hood and a turban, and two long locks of grey hair emerging from the sides.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the third comic issue Battle for Tahron: Part II – Bi-Harr’s retribution. After winning a brief battle against a couple of reptilian soldiers thanks to the power of their magic helmets, the Therioms head off to Rokang Tar, where they aim at stealing Bi-Harr’s dangerous mental faculties utilising their newly built prodigious weapons. At the Reptonoid home base, the Therioms are attacked by their foes, who, however, prove to be no match for the heroes' determination. The good guys accomplish their mission, but a Reptonoid warrior causes a cave-in by shooting magic blasts in an attempt to prevent his enemies from escaping. The heroes become trapped inside a collapsed structure and the Reptonoids decide to take advantage of the situation - led by a weakened Bi-Harr, they attack the remaining Therioms, who are completing the multiversal walls not far from Theriom City, and endeavour to take control of the construction site. In the meantime at Rokang Tar, a skirmish between Loghar and Sphenorat turns into a violent clash, and the heroes use the ensuing chaos to break through a weak point in the structure and flee. Khon-Uhr and his warriors arrive at the multiversal walls site, determined to defeat their enemies once and for all. As the battle rages, the king reaches a central pillar and thrusts the assembled Key into a slot on its face, succeeding in locking Bi-Harr's mental abilities behind the walls and saving Tahron from downfall. He's challenged by Bi-Harr once again and a fight ensues; it looks bad for the heroic king, but by calling on the power of his helmet, he remains victorious and delivers an inspiring speech to his people. Unexpectedly, Bi-Harr retrieves his fork and kills Khon-Uhr, shocking everyone there. After managing to steal two halberds from the Theriom's hands, the Reptonoid leader flies away vowing revenge.

Overall, well, Sphenorat is nearly perfect. There aren’t really any flaws and his accessories kick so much ass. Yes, he has a problematic time holding the staff due to its weight, but he's a very decent figure with nice shelf presence in a Reptonoid display.

About the comic, as the concluding episode with no more exposition (good thing that's over!), it has quite a lot of plot development and wraps the three issues up with plenty of action. As for the series on the whole, I'd say that it's rather well-done, but, on the other hand, not horribly exciting.

KR|Origin Review #20: Al-Mih-Tek

After taking a short review break, I’m back today with a look at the prototype of a figure that I'm sure a lot of people would love - Al-Mih-Tek^TM!

As the 17^th action figure (as a matter of fact, a dual-action figure) prototype in the Origin series, I gotta say I actually like the guy. He's another great addition to the Theriom faction and, even though I don't find him as appealing as Ki-Shudan or as novel as Galamars, I’m enjoying having him all the same. So, let’s take a look at Al-Mih-Tek.

Details

Name: Al-Mih-Tek

Subtitle: daring architect and inventor

Classification: human

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

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

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: commander; chief science officer.

Background

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

Brief bio: a member of a grouping of nomadic peoples who historically inhabited the dry valleys of Harir^TM, Al-Mih-Tek stood out in his clan for his great intelligence and inquisitiveness. Sent to study under many great inventors, scientists and archaeologists, he was devastated when his eldest mentor was killed by Bi-Harr after stealing his immense knowledge and vowed revenge. Armed only with an interactive encyclopedia and a sophisticated head-mounted display, Al-Mih-Tek spent years scouring the desert regions of Tahron in search of legendary relics he had learnt about, until he arrived at a burning rift and discovered few of those prodigious crystalline artefacts. Eventually settling in Theriom City, he lived with single-minded determination planning Bi-Harr's defeat and created his greatest invention, an instrument that in the future would be known as the Antikythron^TM and that he initially conceived as a weapon but, unbeknown to him, could also harness energy to control the forces of nature. Later, when the Therioms decided to build the multiversal walls, Al-Mih-Tek was appointed head architect of this great task and also helped construct the Trinergon^TM devices. During an epic battle against the Reptonoids, the Antikythron, combined with Cereutian power, transformed him into a mighty warrior made of stone; hunted for his powerful creation, Al-Mih-Tek was forced to jettison the Antikythron, so that his life would no longer be in constant danger.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: Middle Eastern features, brown skin with a pale blue tinge, bald scalp, blue eyes and a five o'clock shadow on the chin and face. He wears a dark-blue (with glitter added to the plastic to achieve a silver-decorated look) removable headdress similar to a tagelmust, which consists of a piece strapped over the head and a second piece plugged on top of the first: the former includes a mouth veil, while the latter has the appearance of both a veil and a turban, and includes a cord-shaped silver headband seemingly keeping the headdress in place

Body: brown skin with a pale blue tinge

Wearables: a copper shoulder/chest armour with dark-blue details, two fingerless copper gauntlets with a few studs around the wrists, two armbands made of silver plates laced together, two copper boots fastened with criss-crossed leather laces, an orange sash tied in a knot (with the ends hanging down between the thighs) and a dark-blue skirt. The gauntlets and boots are reused from Koptros, while all the dark-blue parts have, like the headdress, a silver glittery effect.

Al-Mih-Tek's stylised shoulder/chest armour.

Action feature

In the comics, at some point Al-Mih-Tek discovers by accident an incredible power of his antikythron. This power allows him to transform into a giant warrior, who is made of the building material used to erect the multiversal walls. So, included with the daring architect and inventor is his post-transformation alter ego, a huge stone-made being.

This figure is nearly 23 cm (around 9") tall, which means that despite it "contains" an adult person, it's not larger than Titanic Fighter Mor-Rak. The body is designed to look like being composed of actual stones from the two walls, showing lots of details such as cracks and crevices, and has as much articulation as the standard figure. The paint is mostly black wash and highlights on the grey limestone and tan sandstone parts.

His torso, which somehow reminds me of a Greek temple, includes the hips made of a step-like component, the abdomen composed of vertical elements similar to pillars and the chest formed of a structure resembling an entablature. The legs are similar to two elaborate columns, while the arms look like circular stone towers. The head is topped with a dome-like golden structure, while the face, which bears a slight resemblance to Al-Mih-Tek's real visage, displays cube-like features and deep-set dark-brown eyes.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from his enhanced form, Al-Mih-Tek comes with a plethora of accessories. First of all, the legendary antikythron, the instrument that Mor-Rak uses in the regular series to combine himself with the forces of nature and become a powerful warrior. Back then, its origin was unknown, but now we finally learn that it was engineered by Al-Mih-Tek several centuries ago. Like the version that came with Mor-Rak, this antikythron is a short metal staff characterised by an interesting technological design. However, it lacks the baldric (although the two loops, to which a strap could be tied, are still present) and shows a few other differences. The silver&metallic-blue handle is designed in such a way that the weapon can be held either vertically or horizontally (in the comics, Al-Mih-Tek mostly utilises it as a blaster). The part near the handle displays six large coloured buttons plus a few smaller copper switches and sliders all the way around. The top metallic-blue part is fictionally composed of five pieces that can open (in an upside-down umbrella fashion) to reveal the machinery inside; also in this case, this feature hasn't been reproduced in the toy accessory and instead we get three interchangeable snap-on top pieces, which are the closed, the open inactive and the open energised version respectively. The open inactive form shows the five sides spread out and a central axis, on which three short horizontal coaxial silver arms hold one vertical coloured crystal each (in the comics, depending on the orientation of these components, the device generates a different power); all these pieces, i.e., the whole top part, each coaxial arm and each crystal, spin vertically and individually via swivels. The energised version carries a well designed glow-in-the-dark energy vortex/blast at its centre and also spins.

In addition, the guys at PoliganToys tossed an alternative version of the antikythron in the package, which represents a prototype model of the instrument. This is slightly larger than the standard version and looks pretty different. It has a copper base instead of a handle, while the part near the base looks unfinished, leaving several wires and electronic components uncovered. The top part is in its open inactive form, showing the five copper sides spread out and a central silver axis, on which three short horizontal coaxial red arms hold one vertical coloured crystal each; again, all these pieces (i.e., the whole top part, each coaxial arm and each crystal) spin vertically and individually via swivels.

Moreover, the figure includes a few items related to Al-Mih-Tek's desert exploration days: a pair of close-fitting eyeglasses with side shields, for protecting his eyes from glare and dust, an alternative single-piece removable headdress and his scientific tome. The goggles are really well done, they fit on the head perfectly (with or without the regular headdress) and stay put thanks to two small notches on the figure’s temples. The alternative headdress incorporates the dark-blue veil (which has the same silvery glitter of the default headdress, but only covers the head and not the mouth) with a circular augmented-reality device that comprises a translucent visor covering the eyes and a pair of black earphones joined by a silver band placed around the head. Finally, thanks to its snake-like folded structure, the book snaps open from either side and can be held in the hands of the figure; the cover is worn but emblazoned with mysterious symbols on both sides, while the inside pages bear lenticular stickers and printed pictures of meaningful historical events along with a sculpted bookmark.

Overall, Al-Mih-Tek was very much on my radar for getting a figure in the KR|Origin line and now that I have him, I like him a lot. He makes for a great hero and really helps bolster my collection. Both his forms are sharp and very well constructed figures and, to me, they seem like they have some of the best engineering and quality that I have seen in a long time. All of the plastic is solid, the joints are tight, the colours are accurate throughout, the paint work is clean and the accessories are fun. In a word, awesome!