Toy prototype details
Name: Pike
Subtitle: young furry apprentice
Line: KR|Dimness
Item type: action figure (small figure) - Nº 5 in the line.
Character details
Name: Pike
Classification: lagomorph mammal
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Forseha
Rank: tyro.
Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #2 - Masq-Lor's quest
Brief bio: as the youngest son of the Forseha tribe's master artisan, Pike learnt the value of work and responsibility since his childhood. He grew up loved by his parents and cherished by his many siblings, but while his father taught him the ways of craft, he soon found fondness for the art of fighting, feeling the need to protect the people around him. Although Solamya believed Pike wasn't ready for combat, few realised how far he had climbed to worthiness. Above all, Dakun, observing Pike's flourishing virtue, recognised the striking similarities between him and Masq-Lor, and hoped that one day they would both use their noble nature to defend their tribe together.
Articulation
Standard, except that elbows and knees are swivel/hinged, wrists are ball jointed, and there are no bicep, abdomen and thigh joints.
Description
Head: similar to a hare, characterised by a short reddish-brown fur, a slightly prominent face (I guess it's been flattened to give it a more humanoid appearance), long elliptical ears (the right one is almost straight up, while the left one is bent forward), big green eyes and large protruding incisor teeth in the upper jaw. The face is very well sculpted and displays a subtle smile that definitely fits the young age and the cuteness of the character, although the overall expression shows some boldness
Body: smaller than the adult characters (only 13 cm, a bit more than 5"), slim, thick reddish-brown fur (with a few nicely shaped black markings), long four-toed feet with strong dark claws and a short bushy tail sculpted over the back of his shorts. The fur on the front of the torso and on the underside of the tail has an off-white wash
Wearables: a metallic light-blue collar, two metallic light-blue bracelets, two metallic light-blue calf protectors with knee guards, a studded metallic light-blue belt and dark-green shorts. The collar bears two golden rings (one on the front and one on the back) to which a dark-green cloth that seemingly straps across his crotch is tied; the lower-front part of the cloth carries a metallic light-blue ornament (which is shaped like two stylised rabbit ears pointing downward) supposedly representing the belt buckle and hiding the gap between this part and the shorts (which are fictionally one piece)... too bad that the "buckle" turns together with the torso when it's swivelled at the waist cut and nothing similar has been added to the back. However, the collar, bracelets, knee guards, belt buckle and cloth are all engraved/embroidered with very nice decorative patterns.
Action feature
In the comics, Pike shows several abilities. First and foremost, thanks to his remarkably long and strong legs, he's a fast runner and an exceptional jumper. In fact, Pike has new legs, which are, from hips to ankles, 1 cm (almost ½'') longer than the standard small figure's legs. This means that at full height (for example when posing in a jump action scene) the figure is taller than other equally-sized characters such as Mor-Rak, Zhongat or little Barkos. However, he can be displayed in a slightly crouching position, both to bring him to a more standard height and to give him a characteristic "rabbit" posture.
Additionally, Pike is shown to be very skillful in boxing and in quickly digging burrows (or even warrens of interconnecting burrows) for shelter whenever he's in danger. So, the figure's bare hands can be replaced with two alternative pairs of brown leather-gloved hands, which have, besides attached shield-shaped metallic light-blue wrist guards, either a clenched pose or an open pose with a golden claw extending from the tip of each finger.
Weapons and accessories
Apart from the pairs of alternate hands, Pike comes with a greenish extra belt derived from the long woody stem of a liana, and two versions of it in action. The loose fitting belt is removable and it took me a bit to figure out how it should sit on the waist. By moving the knot slightly behind his left hip and above the waist cut, the straps on the front side will hang down in front of the buckle sculpted on the garment piece.
The other two separate pieces (i.e., a whip and a sling used to hurl a couple of sculpted stones) work pretty well for some cool in-action poses and are made to look like the belt has been removed and is used as a weapon.
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ Pike is yet another KR figure to divide a potential fan base. I personally love the comic Masq-Lor's quest (which I'll review at some point), and this character’s design and role are really appealing in my opinion. He’s definitely the most benign-looking creature of the series
Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ The standard articulation is not hindered by his outfit at all
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Pike reuses Mor-Rak's body with some new parts, including a brilliant head sculpt that has a bit of a dry-brush to bring out the fur texture. The torso armour is really more like a costume, but has some nice details such as rivets, indented seam lines and raised designs
Accessories: ♠♠ While I like all the accessories, I do wish they were a bit more exciting. With such a small figure, I would have appreciated some larger pack-in item
Playability: ♪♪♪ I imagine I enjoy this figure far more than many other fans would do. I actually like him far more than I anticipated I would
Overall: ☺☺☺ I dig Pike. He’s simple, small and a perfect April Fool's Day joke, but he's also a fun addition to the KR|Dimness family.
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