KR|Enmity Review #18: Par-Sya

Toy prototype details

Name: Par-Sya^TM

Subtitle: visionary queen

Line: KR|Enmity

Item type: action figure - Nº 16 in the line.

Character details

Name: Queen Par-Sya

Family name: Ubbakh^TM

Classification: primivod mammal

Sex: female

Relationships: wife of Li-Khon, mother of Ir-Ash, Tir-Hing and Gax-Uhr

Home: Tahron

Era: 20 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: queen of Tahron; counsellor of State.

Background

First appearance: KR|Enmity #1 - Flares of enmity

Brief bio: although her aristocratic family aimed at breaking ties with the Therioms, rather than risking giving up their noble titles, Par-Sya wished to become a skilled diplomat in an effort to end the conflict between the mammalian and the reptilian peoples. Despite having little interest in warfare, she joined the royal army to be trained in hand-to-hand combat and soon managed to show that her political skills were nearly as impressive as her fighting abilities. Par-Sya quickly found herself at the centre of Tahron's politics, helping her new mentor Prince Li-Khon to further peace with the Reptonoids. Over time, her council became vital to the Therioms, as she could often foresee the outcomes of controversies and disputes during diplomatic negotiations. After some time, she fell in love with the dashing soon-to-be King Li-Khon and eventually became queen of Tahron, but died prematurely due to the exposure to ionising radiation during a fight with Ignitrys^TM.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

Head: predominantly feline (even if she's a primivod, a fictional anthropomorphic marsupial), characterised by dainty features, short brown to white fur and dark eyes. She wears a gold crown that consists of a ring carrying eight half hoops (or half arches) and surmounted by a glow-in-the-dark globe of ivory with an amethyst fleur-de-lis (⚜, the emblem of her family) on top of it; each half hoop is adorned with a few progressively smaller diamond-shaped straight up amethysts. Two hemispheres made of engraved gold fill the left and right sides of the crown, leaving an opening in the middle through which the front and back half hoops pass. The crown is lined with a dark-red velvet cap covered with pearls

Body: covered from neck to toe; her hands show a short white fur

Wearables: a long golden dress with a V-neck and long sleeves, two metallic purple bracelets (decorated with dark-red arabesque patterns and gold studs) and a Y-shaped belt made of purple fabric, black leather and gold ornaments. The puffy neckline is deep enough to expose a gold necklace, while its sides meet at a big brooch that looks like an elaborate ivory version of the Theriom emblem (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated). The loose sleeves are tucked into the bracelets, while the shoulders are covered with two clip-on purple puffs (decorated with dark-red fleur-de-lis designs) that hold a golden cape (which gradually splits into a pair of tails). The belt separates the fitted part above the waist from the slightly flouncier skirt below, which, despite being made of a soft plastic, blocks her articulation from the waist down due to the absence of slits.

Action feature

In the comics, Par-Sya has the ability to perceive events in the future and to express the predicted consequences of those events through different colours of an enchanted stone hidden in her brooch. The chest ornament fictionally has two spring-pivoting "wings" that swing open to reveal the gemstone; in reality, we get two swappable snap-on GITD versions of the brooch: closed and open. Similarly to a mood ring, the little stone mounted on the open version of the jewel changes colours, from blue to orange, based upon the temperature.

Additionally, Par-Sya, like her husband, is portrayed in the comics as both a wise counsellor and a skillful warrioress. Exactly like with Li-Khon, PoliganToys gives us the possibility to display the figure in two different configurations: an institutional look and a combat look. The former has been described above, while the latter is obtained by detaching the head, removing the puffs-plus-cape piece and taking off the dress, which is a whole solid removable part that slips off the figure after unplugging a number of little fasteners on the back. Her body looks kind of funny underneath, but that's because the female waist and hip articulation that is normally hidden, is now exposed. Afterwards, the alternative outfit, which consists of a gold chain mail vest and includes a badass metallic purple belt, a longish golden skirt and an additional black leather sword belt, wraps around her body and connects on the back the same way as the dress piece. The open front skirt allows her brown-to-white furred legs and metallic purple boots (with diamond-shaped knee guards) to be visible, and, unlike the dress, doesn't block her articulation from the waist down. Then, an additional metallic purple chest armour can sit on her shoulders; this piece has holes for connecting either version of the brooch on the front and two gold pauldrons on the sides. Finally, the head must be reattached - the crown is a clip-on piece that can be easily removed, leaving a little gold tiara portion that is part of the head sculpt and onto which a gold helmet/mask can clip snugly. This piece, which completely surrounds (but doesn't cover) her face and tapers under the chin to protect her neck, looks beautiful and really helps bring one of the best comic book designs out.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from her interchangeable brooches and alternative battle outfit, Par-Sya comes with three accessories, one of which is her light sceptre. This is a golden staff topped with an ivory ornament that, besides glowing in the dark, bears a resemblance to the fleur-de-lis seen on her crown and shoulder puffs. It is worth mentioning that this is also the sceptre eventually held by Foundation Magda-Lyn as an inherited symbol of sovereignty and, in fact, it's the exact same piece, except that most of the gold portion is vac-metallised.

Additionally, there is a sword that has an ivory hilt with a fleur-de-lis design and a golden blade. This sword can be clipped onto the belt of the battle outfit and is a vac-metallised version of the sword that came with Enmity Magda-Lyn.

Finally, the figure includes a Baryanoid, which serves as the fourth instalment of the Build-a-Figure plan that will lead to the completion of the Baryanoid-Cart. Everything related to this topic has already been covered extensively in Ir-Ash's review.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ While Par-Sya is not one of my favourite figures ever in the line, it is an essential and a welcome part of my collection. The Royal Family of Tahron is now complete

Articulation: ♥♥♥ Obviously her articulation is pretty limited in her queen gear. Beyond that, the neck range of motion is not great when she wears the battle helmet/mask (she can look up, but not down)

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The sculpt of this figure is pretty great and the paint has some nice depth shading on both outfits

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ With cool accessories for both modes, she is a fun figure both as a queen and as a warrior. Then, on top of that, we've got the last Baryanoid... I wonder what the next piece will be

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ As always in these cases, just the fact that you can create two different versions of a character is fun

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Due to the ability to pose dynamically, I’m going to have to say that the combat version is the better of the two figures, even though Queen Par-Sya is definitely a necessity.

KR|Enmity Review #17: Dymatrox

Toy prototype details

Name: Dymatrox^TM

Subtitle: armed robot

Line: KR|Enmity

Item type: action figure - Nº 15 in the line.

Character details

Name: Dymatrox

Classification: robot

Home: Tahron

Era: 20 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: service droid.

Background

First appearance: KR|Enmity #2 - Terror from the clouds

Brief bio: originally built by Wordron as an improved version of a standard Dark Legion Trooper, Dymatrox was later upgraded by Ignitrys^TM using Xonedar's stolen backpack, in order to increase its lethality. Thanks to those enhancements, this deadly robotic soldier wasn't as agile as its forerunners, but carried an extraordinary variety of weapons, including cannons, rotating blades, laser rifles and even a built-in system for self destruction, which made it well suited to join the Dark Legion in their fight for supremacy. During his campaign of terror against King Li-Khon, Wordron utilised Dymatrox on the front line as an attack droid, which effortlessly carried out any orders and used its destructive capacity to confront the Therioms in battle.

Articulation

Standard, with four additional fully articulated arms and a hinged lower jaw; all arms have ball jointed wrists.

Description

Head: silver reptile skull (slightly flattened from side to side, and showing a few mechanical and electrical components), the eyes emit a yellow glow. The head structure resembles a Stygimoloch's pear-shaped, domed skull and its look is definitely evil. Short conical hornlets cover the nose area, while the back corners of the skull bear a pair of large, backward-pointing spikes, which are surrounded by three smaller spikes. Interestingly, the lower jaw is movable and shows some more technological parts sculpted on the inside of the mouth. The origin of this head is kinda mysterious - in the comics, Wordron claims that he found it during one of his archaeological excavations, which is very interesting because it would mean that the concept of a robotic skull-headed soldier is a very ancient idea of the Reptonoids'

Body: three pairs of arms (the additional arms project from the torso at the shoulders and the flanks) and one pair of legs; these silver, fully articulated limbs are mostly a reuse of the Destructomorph Trooper's electro-hydraulic limbs and display lots of machinery/circuitry patterns, including tubes, wires, pistons and hinges

Wearables: a bulky metallic light-blue armour with black details, six metallic light-blue cuffs, a metallic light-blue belt and a black crotch piece. Every component shows lots of cyber details; in particular, the armour has circuits and cables all over, two large rectangular air vents near the central arms, as well as a high, keel-shaped neck that conceals the lower part of the head. The lower legs are huge and, like the armour, each bears light-blue air vents at the sides, while the soles display turbines and other seemingly moving parts.

Dymatrox's stylised armour.

Action feature

Dymatrox is not just a normal reptilian robot like many we've seen in the past - he's equipped with an awesome arsenal of melee weapons and fire power, to annihilate the opposing side. First up, the "shin guards" fold down, to direct two black missile launchers towards its enemies; each piece of artillery is spring-loaded and shoots a two-headed light-blue missile. Also, its arms feature multiple weapons, which, by default, are: two black Gatling-type guns (each has a barrel cluster rotating around a central cannon) for the lower arms, a circular silver saw and a 4-blade buzz saw (the former spins around a rotation axis that is perpendicular to Dymatrox's arm, the latter spins coaxially with the arm) for the central arms, and two 4-jaw silver claws for the upper arms. All these weapons are interchangeable arm attachments that can be swapped around.

Dymatrox also displays a black dual laser rifle attached to its back. This weapon fictionally slides up and swings over the robot's head, encasing completely the latter (a V-shaped yellow visor allows for sight) and pointing the double Y-shaped light-blue barrel at the opponents. Such feature can be reproduced simply by detaching the weapon from the back (which reveals a hole disguised as a battle damage) and placing it, rather loosely I have to say, on top of the armour's collar once the head is removed. I know that the original design involved two separate rifles that would flip over the shoulders, but the lack of room between the head and the upper arms made that option unfeasible.

Finally, the chest plate of the armour (together with the collar) is removable, revealing crazy details in the figure's inner body: a buzz saw launcher that in the comics is capable of hurling bladed discs (one of such discs is included as an add-on), a pair of spiked rollers (they can really rotate synchronously by means of gears!) through which the enemy is driven by two plug-in steel wires ending with barbed shock anchors that are fictionally fired to pierce armour and cause temporary paralysis, and a rectangular lenticular sticker that resembles a bomb control panel.

Weapons and accessories

The folks at PoliganToys probably thought that Dymatrox wasn't armed enough, so they decided to include some additional vicious tools. In the comics, Dymatrox's claws are extendable and can rapidly stretch out from the two upper arms towards its opponents; so, we get two silver cyber extensions for the claws, although they can actually be used for any of its "extremities".

Additionally, since the claws also have the ability to transform into cutting tools, there is a set of two silver drill bits that can replace the gripping devices.

Finally, the figure comes with two blast attachments that plug into the lower arms cannons: a translucent blue plasma-cannon effect and a translucent red flamethrower effect.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ This is a great inclusion for the line - Dymatrox is a big part of Wordron's forces, even if it only appears in one episode

Articulation: ♥♥♥ The movement is as much as I need from a 6-armed robot. The only thing I could suggest, in order to improve posing, would be using slightly longer arms. It would require new tooling, but would lend a menacing enemy-crunching pose to the display options

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ The sculpt is awesome of course and paint is also very nice. The base “metal” of the body is cast in a solid grey plastic, but has a very shiny reflective silver paint to highlight the technological details
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠♠ Everything is excellent here, with so many options available. I like displaying the upper arms with one "hand" in claw mode and the other in spinning drill mode

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ I can tell you that this figure works perfectly and I love it more than I even thought I would

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ The idea that Dymatrox is a further advanced design of Wordron's robots, with elements of the future Reptonoid Troopers such as the reptile head, adds a great new dimension to the Dark Legion shelf. Besides, the sculpt and execution are top notch. That said, I'd want to buy more than one, to build an army of these robots.

KR|Enmity Review #16: Theriom Soldiers

Toy prototype details

Name: Theriom Soldiers^TM

Subtitle: heroic sentries

Line: KR|Enmity

Item type: multi-pack (2-pack) - Nº 2 in the line.

Character details

Name: Theriom Soldier

Classification: mammal (various species)

Sex: male or female

Home: Tahron

Era: 20 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: gunner.

Background

First appearance: KR|Enmity #1 - Flares of enmity

Brief bio: across the Kingdom of Tahron, the bravest hand-to-hand combatants who also had extensive knowledge of advanced weapons were enlisted by King Li-Khon to fight for the causes of the Therioms as expert marksmen and military tacticians. Thanks to their powerful armaments and transportation devices that allowed them to cross any terrain, the Theriom Soldiers skilfully perfected pioneering techniques to capture enemies and to deactivate robotic war machines. After learning of Wordron’s oppression in O-Kin, their only desire became to keep Tahron and its people safe from the Duke's evil plans. With their strong sense of honour and justice, these exemplary service men and women fought courageously for freedom against the Dark Legion.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen for the female figure.

Description
The set includes two figures: a male and a female.

Heads: both figures' standard heads have human features, showing olive brown skin and dark eyes (with Pacific Islander traits for the male figure, who also bears a scar on his left cheek, and Native American features for the female figure), and wear silver helmets with gold details, whose size and shape are adapted to the type of head. Each helmet has a mixed military/sci-fi vibe, and is equipped with an antenna and a cheek microphone at the right side

Bodies: the figures' sculpts use the same proportions seen in other KR human male and female figures; in addition, both wear whole-body grey military uniforms, which show a diagonal blue stripe on each arm (the left one also sports a black strapped sheath for a knife) and thigh (both featuring black strapped holsters for two pistols)

Wearables: both characters wear gold armours with silver details, golden gauntlets (the right one has a little wrist-mounted laser blaster), bulky golden hobnail boots with knee guards, spike-studded golden belts (which look a bit like tank treads) with pincer-shaped buckles pointing downwards, and silver groin protectors. Each armour is kinda hulking and has armholes that look like tank treads, some battle marks and electro-mechanical details here and there, and a blue shoulder belt held in place by a silver spaulder on the right shoulder; the shoulder belt is equipped with loops for cartridges, a golden Theriom emblem (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated) and a double-sheath for two knives, while the spaulder is embellished with rivets and spike-studs. Additionally, each soldier carries a bulky backpack, which bears a bright circle (fictionally a reactor engineered to power some components of their suit) at the centre, several spots to store their weapons, a sculpted rolled-up sleeping bag attached to the lower part, and four power cords that can be connected to the boots, to a specific weapon and to the back of the alternative head (more on this later). Finally, each cuff and knee guard has a notch that accommodates a silver Theriom emblem, whose elongated side points are bent forward in such a way that they resemble spikes.

Theriom Soldier's stylised helmet. The part on the top fictionally swings over the face and transforms into a gun.

Theriom Soldier's stylised armour; the oval at the centre of the chest piece represents the Theriom symbol. Size and shape vary according to the body structure of the characters.

Action feature

In the comics, the Theriom Soldiers are cybernetic fighters equipped with tank technology, who are capable of turning their helmets into gun turrets and their boots into caterpillar tracks. So, each figure comes with an alternate "gun-head" and has tank treads on their feet. The turret-heads feature laser sight “eyes” and pilot mouths worked into their design. Being, like their Foundation and Origin counterparts, experts in the use of capture weapons, their face guns can fire a stream of energy that traps the enemies, allowing them to be held in the stream before being apprehended. To represent the beam, a long, wavy translucent light-blue piece (with either yellow or purple lightning effects twisted around its length) can be attached to the front of each gun and spun using a knob on the back of the head. Finally, their boots have silver&black triangular continuous tracks on their outer sides, which can swing via ratchet joints in order to touch the ground, fictionally allowing them to navigate various kinds of terrain without difficulty and with great speed.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from their alternative tank-heads and energy streams, the Theriom Soldiers come with a nice assortment of accessories, which is especially great for army building purposes. Each has a silver electric cattle prod-like stick: one single-pronged for the female figure, and one double-pronged for the male. Despite they have a relatively simple sculpt, these weapons show a neat futuristic design and a nice little green pincer ornament sculpted on the end of each handle. The pincer piece can be unplugged, so that one of the four cords from the backpack can be connected for powering the weapon. I don’t remember the Soldiers actually wielding these sticks in the comics, but I suppose they are used to cause the electricity supply of the Dark Legion Troopers to short-circuit. The male Soldier is also equipped with a black machine gun and a silver mace with a metallic red head, while the female has a silver axe whose metallic blue blade is characterised by a net-looking texture (clearly, the pincer thingy, mace head and axe blade are all references to the grabber, bolas and net weapons associated with previous versions of these service men and women).

Additionally, the 2-pack includes a silver sword and two differently sized diamond-shaped silver shields (with some scratches and holes) that are intended for the Theriom Knights, who came with too few weapons in my opinion.

Finally, the figures come with two alternative helmeted brown-furred heads: ape-looking for the female Soldier and feline-looking for the male one.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦ I suspect many collectors would approach these figures as I did - while the Troopers looked like they totally belong in the KR universe and the Knights less so (but still not out of the question), these Soldiers are clearly a novelty

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ I'm pleased that none of it is hindered by their "tank" parts

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ I think the guys at PoliganToys did the best they could with the design. I love the scratches and battle marks on the armour pieces, as well as the track-boots, but I'd have been even happier if they had made the gun pieces of the turret-heads removable, to reveal a more face-like mask

Accessories: ♠♠♠ Although I like the "taser" sticks, they’re admittedly a bit boring, since their designs just don’t seem like something you’d see in the hands of these tank soldiers

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ A set of figures with tank heads and feet are clearly one of those last minute “we need a good-guys army builder in this wave” decisions where a designer looked at the Dark Legion Troopers and thought that a pair of tank-looking soldiers would be ideal to fight those tank-shaped robots. A little bit stretched maybe, but at the end I got a great set and a cool addition to the line

Overall: ☺☺☺ The Theriom Soldiers set is something of a novelty, and it’s probably not a must-own item for potential collectors. But I’m glad I got this prototype and I appreciate the option of displaying them with several different heads.