KR|Dimness Review #4: Clavisaur

Toy prototype details

Name: Clavisaur^TM

Subtitle: magical treasurer

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 2 in the line.

Character details

Name: Clavisaur

Classification: golem

Sex: seemingly male

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: spellcaster.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: during the war between the mammalian defensive alliance led by King Tah-Ron^TM and the reptilian grand army commanded by Bi-Harr^TM, the heroic Therioms^TM pressed in against the fiendish Reptonoids^TM, overwhelming the opposing forces. In the darkest moments of the conflict, when all hope seemed lost as many Reptonoids fell, the sorcerer Sphenorat^TM used an unrepeatable rune to protect their ancient mystical tradition, conjuring up the most powerful spirits through the orb of omens hidden deep inside Rokang Tar^TM. The spirits collected the wickedest magical spells, store them in an enchanted coffer and infused life into an evil golem named Clavisaur, who was tasked with guarding the treasure. Although he also acted as a warrior and helped turn the tide of the war driving back many Therioms, Clavisaur was never rewarded by his creator, but was continuously forced to prove his worth. When he was assigned to the mission of recapturing King Khon-Uhr^TM after his escape, Clavisaur was defeated by the brave king in the swamps of Ucamur and, at the last breath of his life, he sent a spirit to warn Sphenorat of the upcoming Theriom's retaliation. The Reptonoids abandoned the magical treasurer in the bog, planning to exhume him when they acquired sufficient knowledge to dominate the powers he held. Centuries later, Clavisaur was unburied by Wordron, who made him rise from the marsh and storm into battle again.

Articulation

Standard, plus a hinged lid and a swivel lock on the head.

Description

Head: the entirety of his head consists of a black-tarnished metal coffer (similar to a treasure chest) with a domed lid and three rust bands of metal over the lid and the body of the chest (the central metal band is topped by a tapering ornament and has a lock secured on at the front). The front of the chest is carved with two devilish sunken eyes that emit a reddish glow, while the sides have two attached hanging (real) chains that are connected to the back of the shoulder guard

Body: mossy dark-grey brick-like limbs with light-grey mortar joints and black-tarnished metal protectors for the elbows and knees

Wearables: a protective covering composed of a red-brownish brick-like cuirass with black mortar joints and a black-tarnished metal shoulder guard, two black-tarnished metal gauntlets, two black-tarnished metal boots, a black-tarnished metal belt and a red-brownish brick-like crotch piece with tassets. Each brick on the armour shows an inscribed symbol, while the cuffs of the gauntlets, the tops of the boots and the belt look like pairs of seemingly rotating discs, also with inscribed symbols. Additionally, there are triangular rust designs below the neck, on the forearms, on the shins and on the crotch. Finally, the front of the armour carries a black-tarnished metal talisman engraved with a complex emblem, i.e., a reptile skull bearing five pointed horns (which kinda look like feathers and of which the four at the sides are curved upward, suggesting that a hand should be placed on the symbol) and an eye-shaped gemstone mounted on the centre of the forehead. I like that the eye stone, the reptile skull and the flame-shaped arrangement of horns/feathers are references to the emblems of the Reptonoid, Rexodon and Spektrosaur faction respectively. This amulet can be removed easily and can be held by Wordron-human form's new hand, snapped into the clip on the back of his belt for storage, or plugged into his skeletal form's chest.

Action feature

In the comics, once the talisman attached to Clavisaur's armour is activated by Wordron's touch, the bricks that compose the covering slide along certain routes to achieve a particular combination, which revives the creature and, at some point, opens the lock of his coffer-head. Except for the possibility to fit Wordron's new hand onto the talisman, as well as to unlock and open the coffer, of course the figure doesn't offer any of those features. However, I do like the fact that when the coffer is open, it kind of resembles a gaping mouth with four large fangs derived from the two outer metal bands. There are also very cool details sculpted and painted on the inside of the chest, which look like mysterious ancient magical tools to me.

Additionally, to mimic the evil supernatural beings that materialise when the coffer is open, the figure comes with three of such spirits (one amber, one blue-green and one purple, all translucent) that plug into three sockets inside the chest.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the plug-in talisman and spirits, Clavisaur comes with a little collection of fantastic accessories. First up is a key-shaped sceptre. And when I say "key", I don't mean the Key that is central to the Key Raiders mythos, it's just a staff-sized conventional ancient key that has a great rust paint work with a metallic sheen.

Furthermore, the two chains can disconnect from Clavisaur's coffer-head, allowing it to be detached, and their ends can be equipped with some additional pieces: either a pair of dart-shaped silver blades, each with another curved, sickle-like blade attached at an angle near the base, or a pair of silver handcuffs. This way, he can use the chains as weapons (similar to the shoge and the rope dart) to pierce armour, grapple and entangle the legs of his opponents, or as shackles to restrain his enemies. This feature is never shown in the comics, but it's a very welcome addition to the figure.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I don’t have much to say about Clavisaur, except that he breaths some new life into the property, and I love when new characters are added to the KR universe

Articulation: ♥♥♥ All of the plastic is solid and, as a result, the brick skirt cuts out the usefulness of the hip joints and the ankles are a bit tight, making it a little tough to get some stances. But most of the articulation works extremely well, especially the neck

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ He is a very well constructed figure, PoliganToys did a nice job with properly sculpting and painting the edges and lines of the brickwork, making it very realistic. The detail work on the coffer-head is very impressive and downright creepy, yet it makes perfect sense in this series

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The add-ons are a strong suit for this figure and, while I would have liked an extra stony head, he does have very nice weapons and terrific attachments

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ This character speaks to everything that makes the entire line awesome. I love the way he can interact with other figures, and any potential fan of this series would truly enjoy this guy

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Despite the somewhat limited articulation, Clavisaur is still a fantastic KR figure. He embodies everything cool about the series - he’s very well designed, excellently executed, and comes with a set of great accessories.

KR Review #78: Rotakord

After almost two long years (if you don't count the Build-a-Figure plan that gave us a complete Baryanoid-Cart), the regular Key Raiders line (now renamed KR|Foundation) finally has a new vehicle!

This is the first review of a series that will be featured once every quarter of 2019. Since I primarily review action figures, I don’t end up reviewing too many vehicles. But I love vehicles (and playsets!) in toy lines, so I don’t really mind to make more of such write-ups. The only downside is that these items tend to take up a lot of space on my shelves.

When it was announced that the Rotakord^TM was going to be the first vehicle prototype presented in this quarterly sub-series, I was really excited! This machine has always held a fascination for me and I've always wanted it before any other KR transports. Don’t get me wrong, I was stoked when I got all the other vehicle prototypes, also because I knew that they would open the door to more, including this one!

Details

Name: Rotakord

Subtitle: subaerial and subterranean strike vehicle

Classification: aircraft and tunnelling machine

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: transport.

Description

The Rotakord is a transport that is typically used as an air vehicle by Deptilion, but can also function as a tunnel boring machine (as seen in The Cereutian menace) and is equipped with a variety of deadly weapons. It has a mostly metallic purple paint and a somewhat fish-like, elongated shape, slightly flattened laterally and pointed at both ends, with the addition of a pair of nacelles on the sides and a double in-line tailfin on the aft end of the fuselage (the rearmost fin surrounds the pointed tail and can pivot a bit to work as rudder).

Two pairs of wings and one pair of mechanical arms are attached to the nacelles (on the sides and on the foremost parts, respectively); the wings (two main lifting surfaces and two slightly smaller tailplanes) and the arms show an interesting mix of organic and tech-mech embellishments, while the nacelles have metal panels that can be open for "maintenance", revealing nice details of the turbojet engines housed inside. Four nozzles are visible at the ends of the fuselage and of the nacelles, indicating the presence of two additional jet engines buried within the main body.

The fuselage features a mostly non-transparent canopy (with the exception of a translucent yellow windscreen that is shaped like two connected devilish eyes), which is hinged at the back, so it can open by folding up and backward to reveal a cockpit equipped with a 2-point seat belt, a sculpted dash board, four foot-operated levers and two movable handles at the sides; the canopy can also be fully removed if one likes to do so.

Like with other vehicles of this line, in the comics the Rotakord is proportionally bigger and can carry a large number of characters, while this toy version barely fits one figure.

Action feature

Rotakord's four wings and two mechanical arms are swivel-hinged, so they can fold and rotate in a convenient way. Each arm is also hinged at its midpoint and ends with a large chela-like pincer capable of both opening and closing, as well as extending forwards, to seize enemies and take them captive.

Obviously, the main feature of this vehicle is the large maw-like boring/suction mechanism that is located on the front-underside of the main body and is tilted at 45 degrees. A number of steel saw blades are fitted all around the inner circumference of this opening and spin when the vehicle is rolled forward or backward (it does have four wheels under the fuselage and nacelles), producing a threatening clicking and rattling sound. In the comics, using an artificial gravitational field source embedded in the main body, the Rotakord can suck in nearby objects, including excavated rock; once these materials reach its inner plasma core (which in the toy is recreated with a light-pipe feature on the top of the fuselage, making the suction cavity glow), they are disintegrated by the extreme temperatures.

Weapons and accessories

The Rotakord comes with two rotating laser cannons that, by default, are mounted to the sides of the "grinder" opening, but can also be re-positioned in other holes placed here and there along the nacelles. There is also a large gun that is combined with a sort of radar dish into a high-tech apparatus. This weapon can either be connected to a socket placed between the canopy and the front tailfin, working as a revolving armoured turret, or detach to act as a launchable unmanned flight drone. All of these firearms, along with the mechanical pincers, can be outfitted with two included supplementary blast effects.

Additionally, the foremost part of the vehicle's nose can be removed, revealing a hollow into which a kind of chainsaw/jackhammer-like silver projection can be plugged. I suppose this device is meant to cast a hole in the rock before enlarging it with the cutter head.

Finally, we get a clear flight stand that is similar to the one that came with the Aviotak, but is large enough to be a very sturdy base for the heavier Rotakord (and I just discovered that it can also be used with the Serporcraft, which didn't have a stand). It attaches to a hole in the bottom of the vehicle and can be rotated forward and backward with a ratchet feature, allowing for some nice dynamic aerial posing.

Overall, the latest KR vehicle is a smashing success in my opinion. At least from a design standpoint, the Rotakord is a slick toy and looks fantastic on the shelf (if you can fit it in there). I only wish they had added the option of making the blade spin when a trigger was pulled, so it could also have worked when the vehicle was airborne. The good news is that the Rotakord won't end up being the line’s last vehicle. The future of vehicles in this series is bright and you'll see more reviews like this during the next months.

KR|Dimness Review #3: Dakun

Toy prototype details

Name: Dakun^TM

Subtitle: sagacious shaman

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 1 in the line.

Character details

Name: Dakun

Classification: human

Sex: male

Relationships: father of Solamya; descendant of Myneran

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha

Rank: tribal chief; shaman.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: born in the reclusive jungle tribe of the Forseha terramare settlement, in his youth Dakun was the strongest hunter in his village. Though not gifted as a shaman naturally despite his mystical ancestry, he was fascinated by the supernatural, and committed himself to the practice of the shamanic arts and their effects upon his people, quickly learning to distinguish the good from the evil spirits. To quench a long running epidemic, Dakun quested to the furthest slopes of Mount Atubion, to find an enchanted fungus that could produce a powerful remedy. To succeed in his quest, he fought and defeated several of the Lava Sentinels that guarded the volcano; to honour his great deed, the village made him their leader and soon he proved a fair and honest chieftain, whose devotion knew no equal. During a time of turmoil due to territorial disputes in the area, Dakun rose to prominence among the various tribal chiefs, preaching peaceful respect and cooperation, an ideology in conflict with the then-hostile jungle clans. Eventually, he rescued a child who he recognised as Masq-Lor, the hero prophesied to end the war between the mammalian and reptilian peoples of Tahron, and taught him how to survive in the harsh jungle environment and to protect himself from the wrath of potential enemies. These skills soon turned out to be crucial when the peace of the Forseha tribe was plagued by the vengeful Wordron and his army of Plant Creatures.

Articulation

Standard, except that the wrists are ball jointed.

Description

Head: Indigenous Brazilian features, olive brown skin, long grey hair (which is combed back from a strongly receding hairline with a widow's peak), a bushy grey unibrow (which extends much beyond the eyes and splits at either end), hazel eyes, long, thin grey moustache (ornamented with beads) and a longish, thick grey beard. He sports a band of light-brown raffia fibre tied around the head with three light-blue feathers tucked through the back

Body: the exposed parts of his body show olive brown skin

Wearables: a thigh-length dark-brown tunic with V-shaped light-blue decorative patterns, a dark-brown leather wrist guard fastened around the left forearm using two black leather straps, a dark-brown leather strap wrapped around the wrist and part of the forearm plus a light-brown bark armband on the right arm, and two dark-brown leather boots with wide flat light-brown laces and furry turndown lapels. The sleeveless garment is made of two rectangles of linen that are stitched together from the sides to form a cylinder, leaving two openings near the top for the arms; the cylinder is gathered around the waist with a light-brown raffia fibre belt (equipped with a large bronze buckle bearing the Forseha emblem, i.e., a seven-petalled flower that vaguely recalls a Plumeria, and with a silver-studded dark-brown leather piping to which four light-blue feathers -two at each side of the buckle- are attached by means of bronze rings and hang down in front). The buckle holds a fairly long strip of light-blue fabric that is partially sewn to the lower part of the tunic along its sides. Additionally, he wears a removable cape made from cream-coloured fur that is darkly marked with both large blotchy spots and wide stripes. This coat probably used to belong to an animal similar to Dhar-Wun, although the piece is not flocked; the two sides of its upper portion are joined with a string that is chocked full of all sorts of little pendants, such as spiky bones (or perhaps pointed teeth...), beads, shells and even a small skull.

Action feature

In the comics, Dakun is portrayed as both the wise leader of the Forseha people and, despite his old age, a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. So, PoliganToys gives us the possibility to display the figure in two different configurations: a chief look and a combat look. The former has been described above, while the latter is easily obtained by removing the cape and adding a wooden pauldron that has an attached shoulder belt. The pauldron is beautifully carved with tribal designs, while the shoulder belt is made of various tangled vines, and includes a sheath and a sculpted pouch. I have no idea what would be in the small bag, but the knife is removable and looks like it’s made of stone.

Additionally, Dakun is regarded as having access to the supernatural world in order to practise divination and healing. To mimic his ability to heal small wounds and injuries with his hands, there is a pair of translucent swappable hands, which are in a kind of spell-casting pose and glow in the dark.

Weapons and accessories

Other than his removable cape and pauldron and his healing hands, Dakun includes a double-bitted axe, which is composed of two deer antlers tied with a length of brown rope to the top of a long wooden haft. A metallic light-blue blade is mounted onto each antler and I like that the two blades have similar shapes but slightly different sizes. With this weapon, Dakun definitely looks like he could do some serious damage to his opponents.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ Dakun is one of the more interesting characters created for the Dimness series; he’s also a leader and mentor for Masq-Lor, and if he hadn’t been produced, there would have been a glaring empty space on my shelf

Articulation: ♥♥♥ He is a little hampered by his outfit, but otherwise movement is quite sufficient. After all, we can't expect too much from an elderly guy...

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ Well, like his daughter, he wears a little bit too much brown. On the other hand, he's got a lot more facial detail than most KR figures, mainly because of his wrinkles and beard

Accessories: ♠♠♠ The guys at PoliganToys could have made use of a flocked ormurid robe, since that exists as of this line. Also, since his staff is rather stiff, he has difficulty holding it well and care needs to be taken not to bend or break it while forcing it into his hands

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ After a year of military/tech-themed figures, we finally have characters who return to KR’s fantasy roots! Dakun is one of them and, in fact, he could work as a generic barbarian/sword-and-sorcery figure in any toy lines

Overall: ☺☺☺ This figure might seem to be a poor offering compared to last month's multi-pack feast, but I had high hopes for Dakun and he even turned out better than I had expected. Which is a really good thing.