Toy prototype details
Name: TolaafTM
Subtitle: volcanic monster
Line: KR|Dimness
Item type: action figure - Nº 7 in the line.
Character details
Name: Tolaaf
Classification: lavatic creature
Sex: seemingly male
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Dark Legion (indirectly)
Rank: commandant of the Lava Sentinels who guard Mount Atubion.
Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening
Brief bio: wordless and stumping creatures of living hot molten rock, the Lava Sentinels were the monstrous protectors of Mount Atubion. Originally given life by the Multiversal Balancers, to guard the volcano and the magical spark that powered it, the Lava Sentinels eventually rebelled and only obeyed their commandant Tolaaf. When Wordron used his army of demonic parasites to bring Clavisaur back to life and retrieve the prodigious helmet that was once in his possession, he placed his trust in the Lava Sentinels, to prevent the Forseha tribe from harvesting a powerful remedy that originated from the volcano's soil. Tolaaf's ability to explode into burning rock fragments and rebuild himself made him a deadly enemy of all those who opposed his fiery horde, but thanks to their fearlessness and team spirit the Forseha people fought him courageously and drove the evil Lava Sentinels back to their lair.
Articulation
Standard, except that the forearms and calves are ball jointed.
Description
Head: made of a cracked dark-grey rocky material, carved with prominent brow ridges, deep-set devilish eyes, an open mouth (which exposes a number of sharp, crooked light-greyish teeth), and a structure on the chin and lower cheeks that looks like a beard. The cracks, as well as the eyes and mouth cavities, glow a bright orange colour as a result of the lava that moves beneath the hardened surface of his body. He also wears a sort of stony helmet covered in angular, spiky rock fragments (which reminds me a bit of Amaso from Steel Jeeg); the helmet can be removed, revealing a bright orange outpouring of lava oozing from his seemingly empty cranium
Body: made of a dark-grey rocky material criss-crossed by cracks that glow a bright orange colour. Although several body pieces are reused from the ragged Ter-Ah-Sur build, the sculptors at PoliganToys were able to manipulate that original buck to make this figure look like a big rocky beast. In fact, the torso/neck portion, the lower arms and legs as well as the hips/crotch part are all new massive, wonderfully sculpted overlay rock pieces that are attached to the figure. These pieces, which are all removable, add a great amount of size to the figure (he indeed looks like one of the largest in the series yet) and show a lot of craggy volcanic details such as cracks, crevices, blisters and glowing lava outflowings. I especially like the lower legs that resemble columnar basalt structures. The stony piece comprising his shoulders, chest and back has a nice crater-like collar portion that comes up around the back of the head, while the limb parts display spiky elbow and knee areas, as well as large hands equipped with spiked knuckles and huge feet sporting stony claws
Wearables: the torso/neck overlay includes a harness that is made of a ropey golden-yellow material and displays a volcano-shaped symbol at the centre of the chest piece. The forearms and the shins show pairs of large open lune-shaped golden-yellow bangles; similar ornamental lunes are also visible near the flanks on the stony torso piece. The waist/hips area is studded with golden-yellow nuggets, the central one of which is much larger and chiseled with some kind of demonic face design. Additionally, the guys at PoliganToys took artistic license with the chest emblem, the "clothing" on the crotch piece as well as most of the helmet, and changed those from light-grey to a more sky-blueish, larimar colour to add contrast. Despite I would have been fine if those details had been kept comic-book accurate, I do like the change.
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| Tolaaf's stylised harness; the triangular design at the centre of the chest piece represents a volcano-shaped symbol. |
Action feature
In the comics, in order to knock down any enemies that stand in his way, Tolaaf has the ability to generate powerful volcanic eruptions from the inside of his body, ejecting his head and emitting a blast of toxic gasses and lethal burning material from his beheaded neck. The head is connected to a long incandescent chain, so he can use it as the striking end of a ball-and-chain flail before it blows like a volcanic bomb. The figure includes two stiff red-hot faux chains for two different display options: one that has a coiled end to be positioned around his left forearm and a thin ring-shaped end inserted between his head and neck (the beard and collar help conceal this piece), and a version of it in action, which has one end to be placed in both hands and the other end plugged into the ball joint socket of the head. An additional eruption effect, seemingly made of smoke, ash and lapilli, can be attached to the neck in place of the head when the latter is detached.
Moreover, when his head explodes, a new one is produced by his crater-like neck. So, a volcanic dome-shaped, mid-formation head with a blistered texture and a general glowing lava appearance is also included.
Weapons and accessories
Apart from the two chains, eruption effect and alternate head, Tolaaf comes with a spectacular flaming whip, which has a nice wavy shape and a metallic dark-blue handle. Judging by the similarity between this handle and the two chains' handgrips, I believe the whip is actually a third, much hotter version of the incandescent chain.
In addition, the guys at PoliganToys tossed a few alternative pieces in the package, so that Tolaaf can match his evil lavatic minion's styling. The set includes a head, a spiked collar, two pairs of lower arm/leg pieces and several weapons. First of all, it's necessary to remove the head, the torso/neck and the large limb rocky pieces, since Tolaaf's warriors have a slenderer look. When stripped of the torso covering, the cracked dark-grey rocky trunk shows a small triangular bright orange gemstone embedded in the centre of the chest. The alternate head sports a mane of long golden Pele's hair emerging from the crater-like cranium, a wrinkled texture, empty eye sockets that emit a faint orange glow, and a gaping mouth that allows for plugging in the eruption (more like spitting in this case) effect. Similarly to the collar, the plug-in gauntlets (one of which is hand-less) and clawed boots are made of the same ropey golden-yellow material seen on Tolaaf's harness, and display spikes all around the cuffs and the tops respectively. Finally, there is a boulderstone covered in spiky rock fragments, which is meant to be connected by the swinging-looking faux chain to the hand-less left arm, as well as a double-tang (i.e., with each blade held in the handle by two projections, leaving a cutout at the base of the blade) axe, a sword and a shield for the right hand. All the above-mentioned weapons are made of a dark-grey rocky material criss-crossed by cracks that glow a bright orange colour, and show some sky-blueish details, i.e., the spikes, the handle, the hilt and a ring design, respectively.
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ As a chunk of living lava, this is a character who totally belongs to the barbarian filled era of the KR|Dimness series. I just love how epic and brutal he looks!
Articulation: ♥♥♥ Tolaaf has the same great, sturdy articulation that most other KR figures have and, except a little around the shoulders, the various overlays don’t impede movement too much
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The overlays used to augment the standard body sculpt manage to make him look big and broad, rather than fat, thankfully. The subtle variety in the shades of dark-grey on his body helps bring out a lot of detail and makes him look like actual stone
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Most of the accessories are cast and painted to mimic Tolaaf's texture and colour scheme, and feature some great sculpting. The flaming whip looks really, really vicious and definitely makes him appear like a torment for the Forseha people
Playability: ♪♪♪♪ There is a lot of love about this figure, as it is something quite different from what has come before in this line (perhaps with the exception of Clavisaur)
Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Tolaaf is definitely a highlight of 2019 so far and has jumped up on my list as my favourite KR|Dimness prototype. While we've got more than half of the year still to go, I can't help but feel like he will be a tough guy to beat.
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