Toy prototype details
Name: ClavisaurTM
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-RonTM and the reptilian grand army commanded by Bi-HarrTM, the heroic TheriomsTM pressed in against the fiendish ReptonoidsTM, overwhelming the opposing forces. In the darkest moments of the conflict, when all hope seemed lost as many Reptonoids fell, the sorcerer SphenoratTM 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 TarTM. 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-UhrTM 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.
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