KR|Origin Review #27: Origin Expansion Kit for Tahron

Yes, after one year of waiting and sheer anticipation since my review of the epic Tahron playset/game, the prototype of the very first expansion kit for that grand theatre of war has finally arrived to my home!

Description

The KR|Origin Expansion Kit features:

• 24 booster tokens for the game
• Two additional sections and several accessories for Theriom City Tower

• A bag with 75 translucent red chips that are shaped like Antikythron crystals

I'm going to describe these components separately.

Booster Tokens
The primary tokens comprise the basic complement of pieces that can be used to play the game; this may be expanded with booster tokens from expansion kits, which contain 24 pieces of varying qualities. One of these tokens is usually a rare piece that is much harder to obtain than the remaining pieces.

Similarly to the primary tokens, each booster token is composed of a hollow cylindrical sandy taupe base and a double mini staction figure - the latter can be reversed and half-inserted into the former, in order to show, in accordance with the progress of the game, either a generic warrior piece (face down token) or a specific one (face up token), which can represent either a completely new character or a new version of a primary piece. The cylindrical base bears a pointer, which is used to indicate the player who owns the piece.

Besides the usual properties, i.e., class, faction, strength, agility, and in some cases a special ability or limitation, each expansion piece is also characterised by a particular era (in this case Origin) and a number of accumulable credits. In limited cases (i.e., primary era variants), expansion pieces present no credit, but are characterised by additional strength values and/or different agility patterns compared to their primary counterparts.

List of Origin expansion pieces and their properties.

List of possible primary pieces variants in the Origin Expansion Kit (only one piece is included in the kit).

Theriom City Tower additional sections

Like with the original tower, the red&gold frontages of these two sections are loosely modelled after Beijing's Forbidden City. These two parts attach to the two sides of Theriom City Tower via sturdy hinges, which allow you to open up the fully assembled playset and display it with the three sections side by side, or to fold it up with each additional section positioned at a 90 degree angle to the original tower.

Section 1 (placed to the left of Theriom Tower) - exterior: the lower level features a Colosseum-like façade with a semi-decagonal plan, flanked externally by a short bridge carrying a flag-lined path across a river (yes, there's even a small sculpted piece of river), which connects an arch-shaped secondary gateway (ornamented with a large gilded Theriom emblem and holding an elaborate bronze symbolic cistern that contains a massive egg-shaped opalescent blue-white gemstone) to an elevator shaft. The upper level is characterised by the presence of a couple of small translucent blue windows (one of which can be opened) and a ledge holding a white marble sundial. The elevator shaft (ending with futuristic slender spires, and enclosing a moving chair driven by a string and held by a hook) leads to a rooftop featuring a slot for a flight stand (on which an Aviotak can perch, but I wish this space were used for the Gyrocarrier's domed heliport with elevated runway!) and a small watchtower equipped with a parapet and a rigid Theriom flag (whose pole looks like a sort of antenna).

Section 1 - interior: the inner side of the semi-decagonal wall presents a training facility, with sculpted weapons and combat-related equipment. Next to it (behind the elevator shaft), there is a bricky prison cell with a translucent blue opening door. The upper level features a room that acts both as a library and a gallery, containing shelves with collections of books and artefacts, and an array of paintings (mostly portraits of members of the Amhalgaard family). This chamber is modelled after the Amber Room and is furnished with a cloth-covered chair (equipped with two golden clips and a pillow) and a book stand; it is worth noting that due to the low ceiling, this level cannot accommodate for a standing figure. The rooftop presents several parapets and a space for parking more Aviotak aircrafts (which don't actually fit). There are also two slots for attaching an optional carrying handle - more on this later.

Section 2 (placed to the right of Theriom Tower) - exterior: the front wall of the lower level has an opening overhead door, which is (hardly) large enough to accommodate a vehicle like CoBoN. The upper level has a ledge served by stairways from both the lower level and the rooftop, and features small parapets at different levels. The top is characterised by a pyramidal roof, and a large watchtower equipped with a parapet and a rigid Theriom flag (whose pole, also in this case, looks like a sort of antenna). All the parapet pieces included in this playset are removable and can be re-positioned in different spots.

Section 2 - interior: the lower level features a garage/workshop for housing and repairing a vehicle, which is equipped with a mechanically elevating car lift, a workbench full of sculpted maintenance tools (such as a meter of some sort and a welding gun), a control panel on which instruments and controls for machinery and communication are fixed, and a lab shelf with glass containers for chemicals. Next to it, there is a small garden with sculpted shrubs and flowers, which is seemingly an outdoor space separated from the garage by a wall and an upright pillar (the latter being an obvious reference to a gazebo—furnished with table, seats, benches and sculptures—that is missing in this playset). The upper level is dominated by a dining room (sometimes used as a music room) with large mirror stickers, which is modelled after the Hall of Mirrors. It contains a table with sculpted cutlery, bowls of food, fruit baskets and two separate goblets of wine (these cups are chromed with gold, have a nice design patterned around the outside, and hold a dark-purple “liquid”), an elaborate chandelier hanging from a caisson ceiling, and a fireplace with a flame-like lenticular sticker and a removable grate; six chairs are also included, but they can't really fit in the room when the table is present.

Additionally, the set comes with a throne that has a permanently attached red fur rug, which is meant to replace the conference table in the council room of Theriom City Tower, in order to match the Origin (and also the Enmity) series' throne hall look. Every intricate detail of this throne, crafted with the utmost care, radiates an aura of majesty and authority.

There is also a set of optional swivelling latches and a carrying handle, which allow you to safely lock the opening sides of the assembled playset and to carry this by the handle.

Game rules with expansion pieces

Setup
The setup of a game with booster tokens is identical to the one of the original game, with the only difference that each player may have an optional side-set of up to 15 booster tokens of his choice (but he may not have more than two primary era variant pieces). Each player must present his side-set of face down booster tokens to the rival before a battle, and allow the rival to count and record the number of pieces upon request. The booster tokens of each side-set are put aside (where the opponent cannot see them) and turned up before the primary tokens are shuffled, and those pieces are considered being temporarily outside the game.

Declaration
The declaration process may be influenced by knowledge of the identity of the booster tokens in each player’s own side-set.

Game play
A player may exchange any number of pieces between the side-set and the playing set during each battle, but the number of pieces in the side-set after the exchange must be the same as the number of pieces before the exchange. The exchange enables a player to modify the playing pieces in order to gain new abilities and suit a game strategy against the opponent.

Exchange is only allowed:
• Between two pieces that have both identical faction colour (for example yellow, red or brown) and identical ID letter (X, A, B, C, …, K)
• By a player who has just played a primary piece
• Immediately after that primary piece has been played.

For example, if a player moves the piece Masq-Lor from his Frontline to his Battlefield on the gameboard, the same player will be allowed in that moment to exchange that piece with a piece belonging to a yellow faction and with ID letter “D” from his side-set, if any is available. Moving exposed Second Line tokens one leap straight and turning them up are not considered actions that allow players to exchange pieces. After an exchange, the game continues with the original rules.

Use of credits and end of battle
Credits in the form of coloured chips may only be collected if the exchanged piece eventually conquers one of the two walls. Other abilities provided by variants, such as increased strength and/or different agility, may be used at the most convenient moment during a single fight.

Immediately after a fight and before the start of the following one, a player who has accumulated enough credits may decide to make use of them. Only one player may use his credits after each fight; if both players decide to use their credits after the same fight, the player who has the highest total number of credits will have the priority, but will not be allowed to spend more credits at the end of the next fight (he will be allowed to spend more credits at the end of the fight after next).

Depending on the colour of the accumulated credits, these may be spent to gain certain abilities with pre-defined costs.

The chips included in the Origin expansion kit are translucent red, and spending 10 of them allows a player to decide which player leads on the next fight and whether the play continues with the lead from the trench or the frontline, avoiding a roll of the die.

After each battle, each player must recollect any booster tokens he used from his side-set. The side-set can be modified before the next battle, and any accumulated credits can be kept for use during the following battles.

Overall, this set is fantastic, and really channels the sense of wonder and greatness of last year's Tahron playset/board game prototype. I'm going to abstain from making any claims about the game play enhancements, because I just haven't spent enough time playing with it. The additional playset sections are quite well designed though, with only a few questionable decisions (the many horizontal surfaces that are way too narrow, and the too low ceiling in the library/gallery room), and come with lots of nice, fun accessories.

Happy holidays!!!

KR|Horizon Review #27: Kentadon

Toy prototype details
Name: Kentadon^TM
Subtitle: bionic insectoid warrior
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 22 in the line.

Character details
Name: Kentadon (sometimes alternatively spelt Kentadron^TM)
Classification: bio-robotic hybrid
Sex: undefined
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: commandant of the Destructomorph Goblins.

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #2 - In the eye of the storm
Brief bio: originally an archetype of the Destructomorph Goblins created during Nemhetra's diabolical evolutionary experiments, the bio-robotic insectoid Kentadon was eventually abandoned in a dumping site, because driven by an ungovernable truculent instinct. It was salvaged by Muvaran, who by Mohrdax's command infused the creature with part of his magical powers, to exploit it as a ruthless hunter of prey when set loose upon Tahron. Later, Psadimyr augmented Kentadon with bionic parts using his own evil combination of science and sorcery, in order to boost its abilities even further and transform it into the ultimate war machine. Its vicious and malevolent enhanced nature attracted the attention of Nemhetra, who quickly recruited it to serve as an enforcer in her ranks and help her defeat the Therioms. Rising as the leader of Nemhetra's military defences, the vile Kentadon was tremendously fierce and surprisingly brainy in battle, making the heroic Therioms extremely cautious while confronting it.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: characterised by a scaly glossy black hood that surrounds and merges with an android-like silvery face; it displays a pair of short thin biramous black antennae pointing backward, a pair of fairly large red glowing compound eyes, three smaller light-green glowing eye spots on the forehead and a wide (stretching almost as wide as his eyes) human-looking mouth bearing two vampire-like, finely serrated black fangs, as well as two heavily toothed ivory-coloured spikes protruding from the chin and flanked by a pair of short black segmented appendages (or palps)

Body: his four main limbs (mostly reused from the Destructomorph Goblins) are characterised by a slender, segmented black chitinous appearance (bearing numerous details along their length, such as cracks, bumps and reddish-brown stripes) and is protected by a number of silver metallic plates, which show some spikes and machinery/circuitry patterns, and act as shoulder guards, rerebraces and thigh guards. The arms feature two giant silver robotic pairs of shears, which have a lot of sculpted tech-mech metallic purple details, such as wires and gears, and are articulated with a hinge joint on each partially toothed blade, so they can open and close. Each of his four-digit feet bears three massive claw-like black toes in front and one in back. It is worth noting that under the removable armour, the torso is the same tech-mech piece used for the Goblins, with identical dials, sliders, buttons, knobs and rectangular lenticular sticker at the centre of the chest (which gives an illusion of coursing sound waves)

Wearables: a metallic purple armour with light-green details, two metallic purple bracers, two blocky metallic purple boots (each with a triangular light-green ornament on the shaft and with the dark claws protruding outward), a grooved metallic purple belt with a buckle that looks like the Destructomorph symbol (i.e., a square-shaped spider whose back slightly resembles a demoniac face), and a laminar light-green crotch piece that is split in the middle. The rear surfaces of the armour and of the crotch piece feature seven sockets in total, while the chest armour carries two pairs of light-green robotic appendages similar to small arthropod-like arms, which extend from the sides of the abdomen and terminate in single tiny silver claws.

Kentadon's stylised armour.

Action feature

As a precursory Destructomorph Goblin, Kentadon hatched from the egg-like corpse of a poligavoid^TM with an insect-derived bionic armour, prehensile mouthparts, 26 limbs, and a pair of large chopping hands. In the comics, Kentadon eventually enters into a pupa-like stage and emerges from his bio-metallic cocoon as a flying creature, with an overall smaller body mass, fully formed antennae, eyes and wings, and glands used to secrete a poisonous substance that can be injected into an opponent's body by firing sting-projectiles.

In his pre-metamorphosis form, the figure's lower jaw is equipped with a large extensible bio-robotic organ, which in the comics is termed as a "mask" (as it is normally folded neatly and held before the face and the chest) and can be struck out at great speed to grasp enemies. The tech-mech silver double-hinged (i.e., near the chin and in the middle) piece can extend forward and retract, and terminates in a crushing weapon composed of two claw-like reddish-brown moveable palps with cutting edges and a number of small teeth. This mask fits on the head perfectly and stays put thanks to two small notches on the figure’s TMJs. Also, a silver carapace piece (which is covered in ridges where different metallic surfaces join, and has a sort of spine-like structure topped with a tall collar) is attached to the back armour. Finally, an extra millipede-like abdomen piece is attached to the back of the crotch and is characterised by silver metallic segments that are ring-shaped and joined by seemingly leathery black skin armed with tufts of spiny reddish-brown bristles. The first segment bears an additional pair of fully articulated legs that are identical to the main legs (except for having metallic purple calf protectors -each bearing a double row of spines and a silver spur near the lower end- instead of boots, and completely black feet), while each of the remaining five segments has a pair of ball hinged double-leg parts (each part is composed of two small arthropod-like reddish-brown legs terminating in single black claws). The abdomen piece ends in a long segmented, hooked silver ball jointed telson.

In his post-metamorphosis form, the figure loses the mouth mask, which can be removed by gently pulling its sides, and acquires an elaborate silver helmet with light-green highlights. This separate, removable headdress is characterised by a segmented structure and a pointy, spiky shape that is kinda reminiscent of a Queen Alien's crest embellished with rhinoceros/stag beetle-like protrusions in the middle and at the sides. It also displays a pair of long, thread-like forward-pointing silver antennae with multiple joints, and a pair of large bulbous purple compound eyes (which meet at the top of the helmet), each with a blue glowing horizontal slit plus a beady-eye spot in the centre. Additionally, the figure is deprived of the carapace and of the extra abdomen piece (except for the telson, which plugs into the back of the crotch piece), and obtains six new ball hinged appendages on his back, namely a secondary pair of arms and two pairs of dragonfly-like wings. The additional pair of arthropod-like reddish-brown arms, each terminating in a bulbous silver structure with an arched translucent light-green poisonous detachable sting-missile, project from the back of the shoulders, while the four large transparent (with a purplish tinge) wings are patterned with numerous circuitry-looking veins.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from his pre- (face mask, carapace and millipede abdomen) and post- (helmet, stinger-arms and pairs of wings) metamorphosis pieces, Kentadon does come with a couple of cool accessories: his giant poundin’ war hammer and an alternate head. The battle hammer has a great looking sculpt and lots of good metallic green paint. The large, bulky sledgehammer head has two thick, solid polls with equally spaced grooves that make them similar in appearance to honey dippers, while the long haft has a wicked looking spear-like barbed spike on the opposite end. Kentadon's shear blades are sculpted with holes (one in each hand), to hold the weapon in a variety of one- and two-handed poses - the handle can split into up to three sections, the two furthermost of which can be pushed into such holes, and reassembled afterwards.

Interestingly, Kentadon has a separate portrait depicting his helmet posed in a different way. While the standard head has a removable helmet that enhances his vision, the alternate head has the helmet permanently attached in a raised position, so you can see Kentadon's red eyes underneath.

Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I was super-pumped when PoliganToys announced that they would produce a prototype of this character and I couldn't wait any longer for Kentadon to make his debut in toy form in the ranks of my favourite faction, the Destructomorphs

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ All the joints and articulation on my figure are intact and cause no issue

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣♣ I’m really happy with how this figure looks - the bulkier armour gives it the width that makes it more intimidating. The paint is pretty clean and nothing seems to be prone of being rubbed off

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ While a character like this shouldn’t rely on a weapon, I think it’s cool to envision it using that giant hammer to hit his enemies and then go in to slash or poison them when they’re down. Yes, the way it is held looks very impractical, but I'm a fan of this weapon, because it's a unique and well-designed piece; it’s also great to see some extra paint on it to make it pop more
Playability: ♪♪♪♪♪ All the extra pieces just pop off of pegs, fit really well and are easy to swap with no concerns about breakage

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ I love this figure - not only does it add an awesome character to my collection, but it is also great looking with a really unique set of display options. This is the final figure prototype of 2020. It is not the final KR item to close the year out, but it's the last character of the KR|Horizon line, definitely the best series in the Key Raiders universe so far!

KR|Horizon Review #26: Tarmann

Toy prototype details
Name: Tarmann^TM
Subtitle: kicking officer
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 21 in the line.

Character details
Name: Tarmann
Classification: monotreme mammal
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: officer cadet (he is eventually promoted to second lieutenant for replacing Alyptro).

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #3 - The last horizon
Brief bio: a member of a legendary group of duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed humanoids inhabiting small streams and rivers in the eastern wetlands, during his childhood Tarmann was saved from the attack of a horde of insectoid invaders by a young Mor-Rak while on a hiking trip with his father Gax-Uhr^TM. Although none of such elusive creatures had ever passed through Theriom City's gates before, Gax-Uhr recognised the bond between his son and the orphaned child, and welcomed Tarmann within the walls of their residence for being adopted by the Amhalgaard^TM family. From then on, he became Mor-Rak's closest companion and despite his natural timorous disposition, he could be brave whenever his friend fell into danger. Growing up, along with the courage gradually came the talent for combat and the two friends discovered that their bond gave them an almost supernatural awareness of each other's thoughts, aiding them in training and granting Tarmann a tremendous cunning in contrast to his innate clumsiness. Years later, when Mor-Rak learnt to master the power of the Antikythron^TM, Tarmann, resenting his lack of bravery when he was young, in turn became a mighty soldier, proving that even a fearful child can still flourish into a courageous warrior.

Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen (the figure has a hinged flap instead), and with the addition of a ball hinged tail.

Description
Head: covered with a dense reddish-brown furry hood that surrounds a fairly elongated snout; the latter is covered in grey skin, forming a pliable bill shaped like that of a duck. The nostrils are located on the dorsal surface of the snout, while a pair of small dark eyes is located in a mask-like area (similar to that of a raccoon) covered with short greyish hair and set just between the furry forehead and the snout; a pair of slightly rounded ears are also bordered by greyish fur
Body: covered with a dense fur (reddish-brown on the upper parts of the torso and of the limbs, and greyish on the lower parts), webbed grey-skinned hands and feet (the latter are much larger than the former) with sharp black claws; furthermore, each forearm/calf is equipped with a cream-coloured, horny venomous spur. He also has a broad, beaver-like flat tail covered with alternating wide reddish-brown and narrow greyish bands of fur on the dorsal surface, and grey scales on the underside

Wearables: a dark-blue partially removable armour with metallic light-green details, two studded dark-blue wrist guards, two dark-blue shin guards, a double belt (i.e., a smooth matte dark-blue band with a lozenge-shaped buckle, above a studded metallic dark-blue piece with short tassets) and a ridged metallic light-green groin protector. His back is covered with cream-coloured horny spines, but it's unclear whether these are attached to the armour or to his body; the second hypothesis is more likely, since the armour looks to be only comprised of a front portion (covering the chest and abdomen) attached to a collar and to a pair of armholes. The overall theme of the armour seems to be "faces": the breastplate is sculpted like a kind of robotic beast face, with a very angular, stern expression highlighted by two small light-green teeth pointing up toward two menacing light-green eyes on his chest. Even his greaves appear to have distinct eyes and a nose above a tiny pair of fangs. The bracers on his forearms don't have any sort of faces, but the overall effect is "get near me and I'll tear you to pieces".

Tarmann's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Tarmann's most distinctive feature is perhaps his broad, flat tail, which has multiple functions: it acts as a prop when he balances on it to powerfully kick his opponents with his large feet, and sometimes it is also used as a striking weapon for attack. The figure's tail can move up and down as well as rotate on a ball-hinge at its base.
He also has a spur on each limb, which fictionally delivers a non-lethal venom with the ability of causing an opponent to become partly or wholly incapable of movement for a limited period of time.

Additionally, his beast-themed chest plate (from the "brow" to the "upper jaw") can rise and shrink to become a curved face guard on top of his armour, which is designed to conceal his head, giving him some realistic facial protection during combat, and to enhance his ability to sense his opponents through electrolocation. This is achieved thanks to two swappable breastplates, one normal and one with the raised faceplate, which swap fine and clip securely onto the collar and armholes sculpted on his torso piece. Based on his description in the comics, Tarmann has a distinctive quacky voice, which becomes deep and authoritative when the faceplate that protects his head is lifted - this might be due to what looks like a speaker box or mouth grill below the plate's sculpted upper lip. Other details that distinguish the extended armour piece from the standard one are the two glowing green eyes on the faceplate and a Theriom emblem (i.e., a seven-pointed golden star with the two side points elongated) on the underlying breastplate.

Finally, we’ve got an opening abdominal receptacle, in which Tarmann carries the ammunition for his crossbow-like weapon. The abdomen piece representing the beast face's lower jaw is actually a hinged flap that swivels open, allowing us to plug an included curved metallic light-green magazine (seemingly containing a fan-shaped reservoir of blueish-grey titanium bolts) in a vertical position into a revealed slot. The panel opens smoothly and snaps shut pretty tightly, fitting seamlessly when closed.

Tarmann's stylised armour with raised faceplate; the circle at the centre of the underlying chest plate represents the Theriom symbol.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the alternative breastplate and bolt magazine piece, Tarmann comes with his signature repeating multi-shot dart launcher that can clip onto his wrist. The weapon consists of two bow-like blueish-grey stacked assemblies (a single-bolt one on top of a dual-bolt one, with their limbs slightly resembling the two pairs of wings of a dragonfly) mounted horizontally on a metallic light-green main frame with three blueish-grey darts sculpted on it, a side slot for attaching the above-mentioned bolt magazine in a horizontal position, a metallic light-green top-mounted binocular sight, and a blueish-grey dagger-bayonet fixed to the front of the main frame for close-quarters combat.

Additionally, before being finally redesigned for this non-technological warrior styling, Tarmann was originally conceived as a cyborg-like soldier (as his empty abdominal cavity may suggest) built by Mor-Rak. So, as a nod to this early robotic concept, the figure includes two pairs of blueish-grey clip-on biceps and thigh pads that show raised plating with sculpted electronic circuitry and what appear to be various rivets holding such armoured plates together.

Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦ I believe Tarmann has the potential to be a very polarizing character. I love almost all the characters in the KR|Horizon line, but this one does grate on my nerves a bit and gives me some Jar Jar Binks-y feelings. I think the end of the comic book in which he appears really salvages him as a character though 

Articulation: ♥♥♥ As has been the case with most KR prototypes for quite a few years now, the articulation is awesome for the main part. It's durable, plentiful and tight. While he lacks the hinged abdomen that most other male figures have, it's not a huge loss considering he has the belly flap for the bolt magazine to "hide" in

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Say what you want, but Tarmann is not a bad looking character, I think. While there might not be much potential love for this kind of slaptsticky character, he still has a very nice looking design. And what does he reuse? His furry biceps and thighs are standard, that’s it. Everything else is brand new! Does this clash with the normal KR style? Maybe, but so do a lot of other characters. His paint job is more complex than you’d think. The one aspect to his paint that really threw me at first was the bright green on his armour and groin - it clashes with the blue, but in a good way that makes the figure stand out

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ His armour pieces (including the breastplates and the four tech-looking pads) fit on Tarmann's body pretty well, while his weapon looks great with its weathered paint job and removable magazine
Playability: ♪♪♪ Although the tail joint allows for a few poses, I think having more articulation would have been nice. I also wish the hands were set up a bit better to hold the dart launcher more properly, but that's not a deal breaker for me

Overall: ☺☺☺ While I can't imagine a ton of KR fans will be desperate to run out and grab a Tarmann figure, there is an odd charm to this toy and one might want to consider adding it to their collection at some point. He's colourful and well sculpted, and I really like that he comes with a badass armour and weapon. This guy is a good entry in the line.

KR|Horizon Review #25: Ni-Hil-Zor

Toy prototype details
Name: Ni-Hil-Zor^TM
Subtitle: rolling warrior
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 20 in the line.

Character details
Name: Ni-Hil-Zor
Classification: uncertain
Sex: male
Home: Cereutis
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph (temporarily)
Rank: junior-grade mercenary.

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #3 - The last horizon
Brief bio: Ni-Hil-Zor was a descendant of a primitive and malevolent group of monstrous creatures that had originated during the ancient Cereutian wars. Eventually, due to their ungovernable nature, these creatures became a pestilence on Cereutis and frequently clashed with the Multiversal Balancers. Failing to reach an uneasy truce and to coexist peacefully, the Multiversal Balancers attempted to hunt them down. Driven from their homes by their pursuers, a number of highly adaptable clans survived and took refuge deep inside the bog caves in the dark corners of Cereutis for centuries, growing stronger and stronger. Some of these creatures were bred to be the servants of older members of the same race, and Ni-Hil-Zor was bound to Denortos' commands, serving as his backup soldier when Deptilion aimed at creating a trans-dimensional breach in the multiversal walls. After Denortos had returned from his unsuccessful mission on Tahron, Ni-Hil-Zor renewed his devotion to him and, as he became more ambitious, decided to join him in a new journey to Tahron and help him fight against the Therioms. Although physically stronger than his gaffer, he was not as clever and his own ambition to obtain greater power for himself finally backfired, leading to a disastrous failure that prevented him from achieving any goals.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a hinged lower jaw and two extra fully articulated arms.

Description
Head: elongated shape, dark-red skin, a strip of spade-shaped imbricate glossy black scales running centrally from the middle of the forehead to the back of the head (developing into a spiny cranial crest), two short tentacle-like dark-red antennas, two pairs of curved dark-red spines pointing backwards where one would expect to find the ears, a pair of purple eyes (each with a horizontal slit-shaped yellow-green pupil resembling a series of four small holes, similarly to a Tokay gecko eye) topped with jagged brow ridges, two large nostrils and two rows of sharp, piranha-like whitish teeth lining the jaws. It's probably due to the new colour scheme, but his look seems to have a more devilish feel compared to Denortos. His head rests in a new large, matte black collar/cowl piece with stripes on the inside, bronze rivets on the outside and a bladed edge (the silver blades projecting all the way around resemble shuriken points), which fits around his neck and rises behind the back of his head. I know some folks might not like the added cowl, but the whole piece can be removed, if you prefer, just by popping off his head, lifting it off, and popping his head back on; this gives Ni-Hil-Zor's head a lot more range of movement, but to me he just doesn't look as good without the hood

Body: his dark-red skin is stretched over a series of bony plates with spine-like tubercles, which are arranged in rings throughout his body, giving a general segmented, armoured appearance. His six limbs (four arms and two legs) sport claw extremities and large strips of spade-shaped imbricate glossy black scales running down the sides (a similar stripe also extends from the nape of the neck, divides along the shoulder blades and continues along the back to the loin). I'm glad that the skin on his limbs is visible in the figure, unlike the comic book version which wears a black garment wholly covering his arms and legs. Finally, he has a short pointy tail emerging from his trunks and protected by a leaf-shaped, spiny-edged dark-red tail shield
Wearables: a bronze armour ornamented with glossy black studs, four bronze bracelets, two bronze calf protectors, a bronze belt (displaying a 4-point silver compass rose on the buckle) and a striped matte black crotch piece. The cuirass shows a scale armour texture and a large silver Cereutian symbol (resembling a four-pointed throwing star with what looks like a trilobite embossed in the middle) on the front. The upper arms are protected by large shoulder armours lined with matte black leather, while the feet carry two matte black instep guards.

Ni-Hil-Zor's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents a Cereutian symbol.

Action feature / Weapons and accessories
In the comics, apart from having extremely accurate senses owing to his antennas, Ni-Hil-Zor is shown to possess the ability to inflict ferocious bites on his enemies. The feature is wonderfully rendered thanks to the spring-loaded lower jaw, which can swing open and then suddenly snap shut like a bear trap.

Additionally, he is incredibly skilled in six-limbed hand-to-hand combat, often wielding four weapons at a time to keep his opponents off-balance. Among such weapons, the figure comes with a large, round black shield that features several bronze details such as a studded rim, a cross pattern (similar to a 4-point compass rose) on the face and a mean looking pointed central protrusion, and attaches securely at the figure's left wrist (... either one) via a peg. Adorned with a collection of rivets, the bronze trim that runs around and across the shield balances the black finish on the disc, which is fictionally made of anthracite, but –judging by the woodgrain pattern– was originally intended to be made of wood. In the comics, Ni-Hil-Zor has the ability to enhance his fighting skills by connecting his torso to the above-mentioned shield as well as to a second one, enclosing his whole body into a wheel-shaped shell made of the two mechanically expanded shields, and rolling into battle like a bowling ball towards the enemy. The wheel gathers energy as it rolls, and then unleashes all of it in a powerful blast on impact. To mimic the first phase of this transformation in the figure, the emblem on the chest plate can be detached and then replaced with the included shield, while an identical shield is permanently attached to the back plate (I'm not sure how I feel about this). In addition, an expanded, wheel-like double-sided version of the two shields is included as an extra accessory together with a small clear stand. This piece has the same sculpt and paintwork as the original shields, apart from the larger size and from an 8-point compass rose bronze pattern on both faces. Amazingly, this wheel is hinged on one side and can open to reveal a low relief, comic book accurate version of Ni-Hil-Zor in a Vitruvian Man-like pose sculpted inside, showing a slightly smaller size compared to the standard figure, a threatening grin on his flattened out face, and a loose black garment covering his limbs. The opening wheel is on a very sturdy hinge, shuts tightly thanks to an equally sturdy clasp, and contains slots and pegs to hold Ni-Hil-Zor's detached emblem (which could also be used as a shuriken) and two included jitte (each with a black hilt, a pointed and edged bronze blade, and a short "stag beetle mandible"-shaped silver tip attached to the handle). The inside of this piece does hold more than you would expect, and features some sculpted circuitry as well as a Cereutian petrifaction-beam gun, giving it a nice high-tech look.

Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I have fond memories of the original Denortos prototype. While I reviewed that one back in 2016, a new version of the character showed up in 2017, and it was a great way to get some exciting updates along with a few great accessories. But I had to wait until 2020 to see more characters of his same species such as his brother Spelekos (in August) and a badass close associate (now). I've always loved action figures that could expand a mythos in some way, and these guys delivered
Articulation: ♥♥♥ The articulation for the four arms works really well, while the cowl limits the range of motion on the head a little, but probably not much more than it would to a person in real life
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ Even though in the comics Ni-Hil-Zor is slightly smaller than his chief, this figure seems to be pretty much a repainted version of Origin Denortos, with a new added cowl, a new armour and an additional pair of arms (which means a new torso). All of the features on the head and on the limbs are the same, although with the new colour scheme some of the details of the sculpting are not as sharp as they should be. The feet have been corrected to be more accurate to the comic book, which is a nice touch. There's some great work around the edges of the cowl, which I'm glad is separate from his head, and the paintwork is more than adequate
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Apart from the shield and the wheel, which are both great pieces, the additional swords are quite nice in terms of both sculpting and paintwork. I'm really happy they included more weapons, it'd have been such a waist to have all those hands empty
Playability: ♪♪♪♪ Playing with such an articulated figure that has the extra feature of the opening wheel as well as the extra accessories is definitely fun

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ As a Denortos fan since the Foundation line, I'm always happy to see nods to him in what PoliganToys is doing here. I was really excited about the idea of a sidekick, and I find the execution to be very satisfactory, with an impressive sculpt, adjusted size, great paint, and some added accessories. I love the opening wheel and how neatly everything is sculpted inside. Spelekos and the new version of Denortos really brought something new to the Cereutian table in the Horizon line, and this guy is just a very welcome addition to the roster.

KR|Horizon Review #24: Dreadace

A big component of the Key Raiders toy line is the vehicles. The Dreadace^TM might not be the most obvious choice for the first and only vehicle in the Horizon series, but a revised version of the legendary Rotakord was a smart way for PoliganToys to end this supplemental branch of the KR universe for good.

What’s the Dreadace, you ask? Only one of my most wanted KR prototypes to hit my doormat this year! I’ve been craving this vehicle since I first saw its blueprints at a PoliganToys meeting at the beginning of 2020, just before the world as we knew it began to change. However, does the realisation live up to the anticipation? Is this the vehicle that I’ve longed for all these months? Well, let me say that it’s pretty darned close!

The Dreadace is one of those vehicles that almost defy description. It is a heavily armoured aircraft that has sacrificed troop capacity and aerodynamics for a secondary attack mode - in this case, a fleet of deadly land attack machines. Made of three separable modules, this transport is a real monster, nothing can resist it!

Details
Name: Dreadace
Subtitle: aerial and ground assault machine
Classification: aircraft and modular land vehicle
Home: Tahron
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: transport.

Description

The Dreadace has a mainly metallic purple paint, and is visually similar to the Rotakord as well as, to my mind, to the space shuttle in Ulysses 31. This massive vehicle has the capacity to seat up to three figures, one in each module, and its sculpt includes vents, tubes, cables, seemingly rotating handles for shut-off valves, and even individual bolts; applications of red, black, and silver paint all help pick out some of the details.

All the modules feature moving wheels and mostly non-transparent canopies, which can open by folding up and can also be fully removed, if one likes to do so. Each cockpit canopy features a translucent yellow windscreen that is shaped like two connected devilish eyes, and its framework includes sculpted rivets and a non-functioning escape hatch at the top. Inside, each module's cockpit/seat is equipped with a 2-point belt, foot-operated levers, a sculpted dashboard and a movable dual-handled control stick protruding from under it. The console displays some great tech design with an array of buttons, switches and joysticks in all different colours as well as a central viewscreen that shows a radar display graphic. The left and right of the pilot seat is flanked by more consoles, showing all sorts of gauges and readouts, and even what appears to be an intercom system between the different modules.

Module 1 (aka Path-Cleaver)

The first part of the vehicle has the shape of a jet plane, but is actually a winged motorbike à la Hiroshi Shiba from Steel Jeeg. Its manoeuvrability and speed make it an excellent fighting machine. The canopy is hinged at the front of the module to protect its driver. It has two steel flapping wings, which show an interesting mix of organic and tech-mech embellishments, and are fitted onto the left and right sides of the module's front; each wing has a flap that is swivel-hinged, so it can fold and rotate freely, a horizontal impeller and a rotating laser cannon. It also has two steel nacelles attached to the back end sides, which help the module connect to the rest of the vehicle and, when the module is detached, can deploy (i.e., slide outwards) in order to work both as thrusters and stabilisers.

To transform the module into its ground attack mode, the two impellers at the front end of its wings are flipped, allowing them to function as wheels (while the single central rear wheel is always deployed).

This module may look quite simple in appearance, but it actually comes loaded with well-concealed action gimmicks. First, there is a large steel rock-crushing nose at its front, which fictionally allows the machine to burrow through anything; when the module is rolled on the ground, this rock crusher automatically spins into action (I wish I had the option to disengage the mechanism). Also, slide out the two hidden bars below the wings and attach two included silver blades (which can alternatively be combined with an additional handle, to form a powerful boomerang for a figure) and you obtain an instant slice and dice machine. In addition, lifting back the dorsal fin panels on the nacelles reveals another secret weapon - two extremely poseable grappling claws, which can close in and grab any enemy within their reach (each finger even articulates). Last but not least are two handle grips that pop out from below, allowing a figure to grab on to them and use the module as a rocket-pack transportation.

Module 2 (aka Saw-Spinner)

The second part of the vehicle is a hovering module shaped like a flying saucer. The opening canopy is hinged at the back and there are two rotating laser cannons at the front.

Its main action feature consists of a large suction mechanism located on the underside, similarly to its Foundation counterpart. A number of steel saw blades are fitted all around the inner circumference of this opening and spin (producing a turbo-whirl sound) when a button situated at the rear of the module is pressed, not when the module is rolled forward or backward like with its predecessor; it does however have four hidden wheels at its sides, which can be revealed by lifting the side-skirts, turning the module into a kind of all-terrain machine (in the comics, the module has landing skids instead of wheels).

Module 3 (aka Maul-Striker)

The third part of the vehicle is shaped like a mix of a tank and a bulldozer. Not very manoeuvrable on dry land, it can however be very fast thanks to its two powerful reactors that propel the whole vehicle when it's fully assembled. It is equipped with a canopy that tilts forward, two eerie eye-shaped red headlights and two rotating laser cannons on top of the hull front. The back portion of the module displays two large thrusters and two smaller ones in the middle.

It has two side-by-side retractable tailfins on the aft end of the main body, and two lateral panels that lift and slide inwards to deploy a pair of caterpillar tracks. These tank treads come with two pliable belts made of black rubber, which are fitted onto three pairs of massive non-working wheels, each equipped with a large spike sticking out of the hub (four real rolling wheels with steel axles are hidden underneath the chassis). Two front opening mechanical arms (which are shaped like stag beetle-styled gripping claws and are linked to the main body via pliable tubes) and a broad, curved spiked upright dozer blade projecting from the front (which makes for a perfect battering ram) allow the second module to be ejected by moving a lever on the back. Like the wings of the first module, the claws show an interesting mix of organic and tech-mech ornaments.

The main action feature of this module is its giant mechanical steel hammers fitted onto the left and right sides, which pound the ground and bash obstacles when the vehicle is rolled on a surface. The pounding action of the swinging mallets alternates between the two arms, together with the closing/opening action of the grabbing pincers. Alternatively, moving the rear ejection-lever back into the original position deactivates the automatic action, and pressing down on appointed buttons makes the bashing arms slam down simultaneously and the grabbing pincers open, with no movement required. The studded basher mallets look like oversized pick hammers for stones, but are made of soft plastic, so they hit the surfaces with quite a force, but cause no damage. They can also move back and forth on the telescoping arms for extended smashes, and even tilt inward, to join and form a larger hammer (this way, the enemy is caught by the claws and smashed by the hammer), or outwards, to fictionally work as an aid to vaulting over obstacles.

Two metal lids in the back can be raised for "maintenance", revealing nice details of the reactors housed inside as well as a cargo bay that accommodates a number of slots for holding weapons such as the above-mentioned silver blades for Module 1.

Accessories

The set comes with a clear flight stand that attaches to a hole in the bottom of the second module, and can be rotated forward and backward with a ratchet feature, allowing for some nice dynamic aerial posing of the fully assembled vehicle.

All in all, the Dreadace is a real winner and I’ve truly enjoyed playing around with it! It is a great, sturdy vehicle with tons of fun value that also manages to look cool just sitting on the shelf. It has countless nice features that really work well and enhance play; and let’s keep in mind, it is designed to hold three figures... no other KR vehicle has ever achieved this goal. I also love that they went with actual sculpted instruments for the bulk of the cockpits controls here, rather than cop out with just stickers. PoliganToys has come a long way and, although this one might be the last KR vehicle we'll ever see, we can only hope the future is equally as bright.

KR|Horizon Review #23: Alyptro

Toy prototype details
Name: Alyptro^TM
Subtitle: flying lieutenant
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 19 in the line.

Character details
Name: Alyptro
Classification: human
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: second lieutenant (he is eventually promoted to first lieutenant for replacing Tauton).

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #2 - In the eye of the storm
Brief bio: native to a village on the slopes of southern Tahron's mountain range, Alyptro found that he had a natural affinity for birds of prey during his teenage. Although he was concerned about the possibility of reptilian heritage in his family being the reason for his limited telepathic and empathic control over birds as well as his exceptional reflexes and agility, he became a skilled aerialist, capable of performing acrobatics high above the ground by imitating raptors. Thinking that his impressive physical skills would make him a natural fit for military airborne operations, Alyptro attempted to join the Theriom Air Force, but was rejected by the army recruiters. However, Senior Minister Desion overrode their conclusion when he pursued strengthening his armed forces and saw great potential in the young aspirant soldier. Eager to prove himself worthy of Desion's decision, Alyptro underwent extensive training with Tauton, in order to improve his hand-to-hand combat skills and turn into an excellent fighter. Following his passion for raptors, he also took up training falcons under Sei-Lha's supervision and became an expert bird trainer. Influenced by his mentors' enthusiasm for science and technology, Alyptro developed an interest in inventing novel materials, and created ikobrass^TM, a composite made of a metal alloy matrix reinforced with bird's feathers; he then produced an outfit that could enhance his abilities with cybernetics, and built Beoqast^TM, a robotic falcon with which he felt a remarkably strong bond. Alyptro was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant when Tauton was believed to be permanently transformed into a monster, and he used the amazing technology he created to help the Therioms fight the evil forces of Nemhetra.

Articulation
Standard.

Description

Head: white skin, dark blond hair and facial hair (his style, with hair up on the sides, sideburns and moustache-less, slightly pointed beard, reminds me a lot of Ikima from Steel Jeeg), and dark brown eyes. He sports a large cinnabar metal crest protruding centrally from his head (which makes him kinda reminiscent of Yondu)

Body: covered with a full-body, close-fitting purple uniform that only exposes his white-skinned hands. The uniform is fictionally made of a synthetic stretch fabric reinforced with a honeycomb-like metal mesh

Wearables: a light-blue (actually light blueish-grey) armour with cinnabar details, two light-blue bracelets, two light-blue boots, a light-blue belt, and ridged cinnabar metal shorts. Every item shows lots of cyber and decorative details; in particular, the armour and the belt display circuits and wires all over, the bracers feature two bird-shaped wrist guards moulded onto them, while the boots have studded knee guards, ridged vamps and thrusters on the heels. Additionally, the armour features a brand new Theriom Air Force emblem (a modified version of the Theriom symbol, i.e., a seven-pointed blueish-grey star whose two elongated side points resemble the wings of a falcon) on a shoulder strap, and is equipped with a short purple cape made of the same material as the uniform.

Alyptro's stylised armour.

Action feature
In the comics, ikobrass is a nearly indestructible composite material with mild gravity-negating effects. The properties of objects made of or containing ikobrass can be controlled mentally by Alyptro through his crest, which is also made of ikobrass and houses the cyber-psychic technology linking him to the material. His uniform and cape are formed by combining ikobrass and a synthetic fabric together, to create a laminated material that makes him resistant to injury (even from small arms fire), augments his strength, quickness and athletic prowess, and enables him to glide silently with precise manoeuvrability on air currents. The figure comes with two interchangeable capes: one down and the other extended to form a pair of SilverHawk-ish under-arm artificial "feathered" wings.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the two interchangeable capes, Alyptro comes with a pair of shields, which he wields as his main weapons in the comics. These two large trapezoidal cinnabar ikobrass shields attach at the wrists via pivoting clips, and are incredibly detailed, each featuring grooves, ridges, two domed central bosses and what looks like a turbojet engine at the side. In the comics, since they are controlled by Alyptro's cyber-psychic link, the shields can be instantly reshaped into dozens of different configurations.

The package also includes Beoqast, Alyptro's companion - a heavily mechanised cinnabar ikobrass representation of a falcon with lots of robotic details, featuring a pair of long, slender pointed wings, a pair of sharp talons and a pair of booster rockets on its back (as well as an ear-shattering screech). Each of the two bird's talons is designed with fine embellishments, such as three large bladed, fierce looking claws in the front and a smaller claw in the back. It also features some articulation, which includes one ball joint in each leg, one on the neck/head area and one on the tail, while each wing is articulated via a peg at half of its length and can move up and down as well as rotate on a ball-hinge at the base. There's even a tech-looking blueish-grey steel perch, onto which the bird can alight by grasping it with its talons.

Beoqast has the imaginary ability to transform into a flight harness that can be worn by Alyptro, replacing his standard armour and cape. This harness allows Alyptro to fly by a combination of natural winged flight, thanks to the mechanical articulated hawk-like wings, and powered flight, thanks to the thrusters on the back, wings and boots. Alyptro can control the entire system mentally through his crest, which enables him to be linked to his cyber-bird companion. It's interesting to sum up the way the bird configuration transforms into the harness, both fictionally and in reality, to appreciate all the cool details:

	In the comics	In the toy
1	Beoqast's legs and talons fold and compress onto its belly armour	Beoqast's legs detach and are set aside
2	Beoqast's chest splits open wide and reveals the harness' waist strap	Beoqast's chest splits open wide and reveals two sockets
3	Beoqast's head detaches and becomes a half mask-helmet for Alyptro	There's an alternate masked head for Alyptro
4	Beoqast's neck splits (revealing a missile launcher) and swings forward to form the shoulder/chest armour	Beoqast's neck + head piece detaches and is replaced with a cannon piece, while the shoulder/chest armour + waist strap piece is a separate component, which is worn by Alyptro and bears two pegs on the back for connecting to Beoqast
5	Alyptro's shields attach to Beoqast's wings cybernetically, forming a pair of broader, rounded jet-powered wings	Beoqast's wings are replaced with an alternate pair, which are articulated and can clip onto Alyptro's wrists (his hands are also replaced with an alternate light-blue gloved pair)

In this enhanced form, Alyptro is equipped with a bird of prey-like protective half mask-helmet (a bit à la Hawkman), which is fictionally retractable, has an integrated wide band receiver and transmitter, and whose blue-green visor possesses various capabilities, including night-vision, magnification, and remote imaging sensing that allows for a full, 360 degree of vision. Additionally, the harness features a pair of hidden attack talons, i.e. two mentally controlled laser grappling lines built into the shoulder guards, which Alyptro uses to entangle opponents, hook objects, or for swinging and climbing when his wings are damaged. This ability can be recreated in the figure thanks to two included bright yellow pliable cables, which connect to the harness at one end and to Beoqast's repurposed talons at the other end.

Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I like Alyptro. Something about the design–the latticework outfit, the reddish tech-items, the bird-flight harness, the bird-flight mask–really appeals to me
Articulation: ♥♥♥ Unfortunately, he suffers from the "blind flight syndrome", meaning that he can’t really look up straight for a good flying pose, although I find I can easily pose him looking straight down. Beoqast's wings are mounted on ball hinges and feature additional hinges at the top of each, allowing it to get some excellent mid-flight poses
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The figure features some fantastic detail - every raised line of the hexagonal cellular pattern on his uniform is visible. Also, while I appreciate the fact Alyptro is known as a physical fighter, I'm glad PoliganToys went with two open hands in this instance. The real amazing paintwork is on the ikobrass items - they’re moulded in red, but have a fantastic orange dry brushing that brings out all their detail. It’s some of the best paint job I’ve seen on this line so far
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Some KR figures only get one weapon, others get the accessory bonanza. Alyptro has two capes, two armours, two shields, an alternate head, an alternate pair of hands, a cyber-bird with stand, and additional pieces for his flight harness. The paintwork is up to the quality of the sculpt - many of them feature some nice weathering, and have clearly seen more than a few battles
Playability: ♪♪♪ As I already mentioned, perhaps the sculptors could come up with a new engineering trick for flying characters, so they look straight forward when they fly. I’d be willing to accept a slightly sculptural loss to the back of the head to allow for it
Overall: ☺☺☺☺ This is as good as it gets, folks. Alyptro is in the running for my "KR Prototype of the Year" award. In my opinion this is an excellent figure, capturing the essence of what I love about the character in the comics. He even gets an extra half point due to the shields that can swivel without having to customise the figure.

KR|Horizon Review #22: Psadimyr

Toy prototype details
Name: Psadimyr^TM
Subtitle: mind-controlling monk
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 18 in the line.

Character details
Name: Psadimyr
Classification: mutant human
Sex: male
Relationships: brother of Qermetas
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: hieromonk (formerly prior of the Drojyo'Bhakma^TM Monastery near the Ucamur^TM region).

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy
Brief bio: during the Reptonoid domination of O-Kin^TM, the kingdom's population suffered the mutating effects of the chemical weapons deployed by Bi-Harr for psychological manipulation. A small percentage of the inhabitants who emerged were born with defects, and while some were fitted with electromechanical prostheses, some others were ostracised and banished from O-Kin. Those outcasts were eventually welcomed into the shelter of the Drojyo'Bhakma Monastery near the Ucamur region. For years, the orphaned brothers Psadimyr and Qermetas were only two dejected cenobites in the monastery, where they offered their services to the mysterious chief monk Mohrdax. When Qermetas, desiring to become a menacing warrior, sided with the Dark Legion and its evil grand marshal Wordron in their conflict with the Forseha tribe, Psadimyr, wishing instead to one day be an accomplished sorcerer as strong as Mohrdax, decided to immerse himself in the study of black magic, learning the darkest secrets of his mentor. In particular, he sought the strength of mind control and the ability to bend another's will to his own, and discovered he could manipulate others' actions without being physically present when his power was channelled through wax replicas of his innocent victims. Later, Psadimyr became an adjutant of Mohrdax thanks to his extreme loyalty and shrewd acumen, and together with the dark sorcerer Muvaran, they secretly raised the daughter of Deptilion and Demo-Rha, Nemhetra, in order to make her into the unrivalled enemy of the Therioms. Known for his abilities to block telepathy and to temporarily hypnotise his foes, Psadimyr became a feared warlock in his own right. Combining science and sorcery, he created a mind-bending cybernetic weapon from the remains of an ancient relic once owned by the wizard-priest Sphenorat, which he modified specifically to enhance his string-pulling skills remotely. Yet, while his mental faculties could overwhelm most, when he crossed paths with the Therioms, Psadimyr found himself outmatched, since sufficiently strong-willed people, such as Masq-Lor, were able to partially resist his influence. His device destroyed, he sought other ways of exploiting his psychic senses and took refuge in the eastern wetlands, where his thought-transference powers enslaved the weak-minded denizens, allowing him to build a new army for himself.

Articulation
Standard.

Description
Head: blue-green skin, bald scalp, long and slightly pointed ears projecting outwards, solid orange glowing eyes with a prominent brow ridge, many exposed short sharp whitish teeth plus two long fangs protruding upwards from the lower jaw, and a fleshy chin. His right eye is marked with a black tribal tattoo, while his ears and pug-like broad flat nose are adorned with large bronze rings. Displaying his brow corrugated in a frown and his teeth clenched tightly gives his face an overall bad-tempered expression

Body: blue-green skin, spiky elbows, two black tribal armband tattoos. Curiously, his legs appear of a slightly different colour compared to the rest of his body, almost suggesting that he's wearing tights

Wearables: a thigh-length, torn brown garment with zigzagging lightning-like orange decorative patterns, two orange copper bracelets (the right one is a narrow studded band, while the left one is a large wrist guard embellished with an oval amber gemstone and zigzagging engravings) and two orange copper boots (each ornamented with a pentagonal amber gemstone near the top and zigzagging engravings on the shaft). The sleeveless garment is made of two rectangles of burlap that are stitched together with heavy whitish thread from the sides to form a cylinder, leaving two openings near the top for the arms. The cylinder is gathered around the waist with an orange rope, which carries a holder for a wooden-handled, steel-bladed non-removable chisel on the right hip. The dark-orange leather holder has a broad triangular shape with jagged edges, and is equipped with diamond-shaped bronze studs, copper rivets and a copper buckle. There's also an orange fabric sash worn over his right shoulder and reaching down to the opposite hip, where it seemingly ties to the rope belt. The hem of the tunic is trimmed with brown fur, while the shoulder sash is decorated with an oval amber gemstone that seems to have a spider web inspired design on it.

Weapons and accessories
Although Psadimyr has no action feature, he does come with a few accessories, including a very interesting, even if rather odd-looking, weapon. The sorcerer-monk carries a sort of S-shaped (something like _/¯) bronze mind-snatching device, in which there appears to be copper-looking electronics and hydraulics involved. The handle of the weapon fits around the figure's right forearm (there is an included handgrip for him to hold, so that it doesn’t slide around) and ends with a telescopic arm that can lengthen a bit. At the other end of the mechanical arm there are two jagged metal gripping jaws on both sides, and what looks like a kind of upside-down salon hair dryer on the top. These three components are hinged, so that the two "jaws" snap out from the sides, rotate horizontally and grab an opponent by the face; at the same time, the "hood" is released from the structure, turns vertically, and directly surrounds the head of the victim. The weapon itself is beautifully sculpted and is packaged in two pieces that easily snap together. It is also light, so Psadimyr can hold it without toppling over, and can be attached to a hoop on the back of his shoulder sash. I especially like the green-painted "oxidised" details in the inner parts of the head-grabbing components.

Psadimyr uses his weapon to temporarily immobilise and hypnotise a victim, extract the essence of their mind, and then force them to do what he commands from a distance after placing the device on a wax replica of his target (which he sculpted himself). To enhance the effect of his powers during these remote mind-controlling rituals, he wears a burlap sack mask with built-in mechanisms that isolate him from the surrounding environment, removing any stimuli from all of his senses and allowing him to perceive reality exclusively through his victim's senses. So, the package includes an alternate head that is completely concealed by the torn brown mask, which is poorly stitched with heavy whitish thread.
Last up is an effect part - a large translucent yellow magic beam that fits over his left spell-casting hand. It’s ok, I guess, but I doubt it will get much face time in my display case.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the third and final comic issue The last horizon. With the help of a revived Denortos, Nemhetra plans to take control of an asteroid flying through space, whose modified orbit could potentially help the Destructomorphs defeat the Therioms once and for all. Nemhetra aims at making the asteroid crash down on the multiversal walls site, and orders her Goblins to build a gravitational collimator, which is supposed to drag the meteor into Tahron's atmosphere. Meanwhile at Theriom City, Spelekos, Denortos' renegade brother, alerts the Therioms about the approaching catastrophe, explaining that if the walls are destroyed, Nemhetra will gain access to the hidden powers. The Therioms carry out a ground military observation of the skies to locate Dekropolis and ascertain Nemhetra's strategy, hoping to find a way to divert the asteroid to a different course. During the operation, they are attacked by a large number of Goblins, which they can hardly overcome. A huge battle ensues and the heroes only prevail over the enemy thanks to the help of Mor-Rak, who solves the conflict by transforming into a tornado in the very last moment. In the aftermath of a fight with Psadimyr, something seems to drain Masq-Lor’s sanity - it turns out that the sorcerer utilised an advanced, potentially fatal device to control Masq-Lor's mind and force him to unconsciously help the Destructomorphs wreak havoc, allowing Nemhetra to damage Masq-Lor's public image and weaken the Therioms. Masq-Lor's irrational tactical decisions lead his fellows, who are unaware of the evil scheme, to mistrust him and to depower his authority. After Xonedar locates Dekropolis thanks to a tracking device that he triggered during the previous battle, Sei-Lha, angry with Masq-Lor, decides to reach and attack Nemhetra directly in her flying stronghold. In the heat of the brawl, Sei-Lha drops a bomb into the chamber where Psadimyr is using his device to control Masq-Lor’s mind. The bomb's time-detonation impulse jams the devices' mind-controlling effect and breaks the Theriom leader free. With Masq-Lor's sanity restored, the Therioms travel to Dekropolis to rescue Sei-Lha, hoping to destroy Nemhetra’s gravitational weapon at the same time. Nemhetra, Denortos and Psadimyr flee from the flying fortress, trapping the Therioms in it with the bomb set to explode minutes later, but CoBoN manages to save the heroes before the aircraft explodes. The gravitational pull is eliminated, but no alteration in the asteroid's trajectory is possible anymore and the rocky body keeps falling towards Tahron. With the intent to stop the Therioms from jeopardising her plan further, Nemhetra activates her robatar and sets to attack Theriom City, but Masq-Lor, Fai-Rha and Herrion also deploy their robatars and confront her. In the meantime, Denortos attempts to kill the siblings while they are remotely controlling their robatars, but he's in turn killed by Spelekos. The heroic siblings succeed in overpowering Nemhetra's robatar, although the Destructomorph leader survives and is apprehended. With the asteroid out of control, the siblings try shooting at it to change its course, but they only succeed in destroying it when they impact on it. The asteroid explodes near Tahron's surface, where it can't harm anyone, just in time to prevent a cataclysm. The Destructomorphs are definitively defeated and the war is over. Impressed by her determination and considering their blood relationship, Masq-Lor earns Nemhetra's trust by showing forgiveness and decides to enlist her in the Theriom army. Eventually, she is chosen as the fourth protector of the Key.

Overall, the first issue of this series had already set a high level, but this story is probably the best I've ever read about the Key Raiders. This is how I always wanted this comic book series to be - depicting a violent, dark and doomed world, close to utter destruction. The apocalyptic story is great and especially the characterisations of Denortos and Spelekos are spot-on. Lots of action-packed fights do the rest for this memorable saga finale!

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ He might not be as exciting a figure when compared to guys like Mohrdax or Muvaran, but Psadimyr is of high quality, and he is very aesthetically pleasing. I love it when a prototype makes me like a character more and that is certainly the case here
Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ All of his joints seem to be in perfect working order with a great range of motion. Once again, really good quality control, something I'm glad to see consistently in the KR|Horizon line

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The tunic pieces are sharp and the new bracers and boots get the details down just right. On top of all that rests one of the better head sculpts this year - I really like his head, although I don’t think it matches the artwork in the comics all that much; the likeness, however, has a lot in common with the one used for Qermetas last year. The paintwork is bright and vibrant, really making Psadimyr stand out
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The mind-snatching weapon is the real gem here. Its action feature works very well, the device is neatly modelled, and the inner part of the "hood" also features the typical Destructomorph logo - a fun Easter egg from the sculptor
Playability: ♪♪♪♪♪ All of his joints are tight and while the plastic used in the body is strong, the material used for his outfit is softer, so things like his skirt don’t impede much movement. His spell-casting left hand is a nice touch and, even if I'm not planning to use it, I am pleased that we got a “magical effect” with this figure - it can look really cool when you have him fighting against his opponents

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ I am glad that the Destructomorph faction continues to grow, and that we are very close to completion. Psadimyr really is a nicely designed figure and a great addition to the line. Lots of new sculpting, a superb paint scheme, and some fantastic, well thought out accessories certainly help. Also from a construction standpoint, he has no real weaknesses at all and continues the trend of high-quality figures we have been getting all year.