Toy prototype details
Name: Sei-LhaTM (Horizon Edition)
Subtitle: brave spellcaster
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 3 in the line.
Character details
Name: Sei-Lha
Classification: human
Sex: female
Relationships: daughter of Xonedar and Demo-Rha, wife of Desion (Masq-Lor), sister-in-law of Herrion and Rhadiel (Fai-Rha), half-sister of Nemhetra
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: enchantress.
Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy
Brief bio: after learning of her mother’s identity as Demo-Rha and discovering to possess paranormal abilities unbeknown to her until then, Sei-Lha initially resisted her supernatural endowments and wished instead to carry on with her military career. Eventually, embracing her superhuman potential rather than rejecting it, she decided to exploit her newfound capabilities at last. Sei-Lha was taught to channel her unfledged powers through a magical staff by Elykta, who had transcended to a higher state of being for maintaining the balance between good and evil, and when she learnt how to control those faculties fully she was proposed to become the new enchantress at the service of the Therioms. After marrying Desion, in order not to harm her husband and their unborn son she took action with her father’s help by fashioning a special outfit that could contain her magic and protect herself as well as her loved ones. Now playing a vital role in the fight against the Destructomorphs, Sei-Lha helped guard the prodigious helmets from Nemhetra, who sought to use them for restoring her evil parents' threat after their defeat by the combined force of Masq-Lor and the Therioms.
Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.
Description
Head: brown skin, blue eyes with smokey makeup; she wears a complex headgear composed of a nemes-like headcloth and a double crown. The striped light-blue cloth (whose individual strips are alternatively glossy and matt) covers the nape of the neck, extending a little way down the back, and has two large flaps hanging down behind the ears (which hold two elegant amber dangle earrings) and in front of both shoulders; an additional small V-shaped flap (similar to a widow’s peak) adorned with a purplish glowing gemstone hangs down on the centre of the forehead. The lower part of the double crown is silver and slightly resembles the "duck-billed" hadrosaurid's face (with two light-blue glowing gemstones representing the eyes) seen on Foundation Elykta's helmet, while the upper part is metallic light-blue and recalls the crest of the same helmet. Additionally, the lower part of the double crown extends down the back forming an interlaced silver structure ornamented with light-blue glowing gemstones, in which her long brown hair (emerging from under the headcloth and ending in a ponytail) is "caged"
Body: the exposed parts of her body (i.e., arms and part of the legs) show brown skin
Wearables: a sleeveless light-blue dress, a wide silver choker, two silver armbands (a wide one on the left arm and a narrow one on the right arm), two silver bracelets, two purple leather sandal-boots with silver trimming and oval silver knee guards, and a wide silver belt with a square light-blue gemstone buckle that holds a short strip of sheer purple fabric, two purplish gemstones that hold two small silver tassets and several amber gemstones that hold an equal number of orange tassels. The belt separates the fitted bandage bodice (which has criss-cross straps and whose individual strips of light-blue cloth are alternatively glossy and matt) above the waist from the ankle-length, diagonal-cut flouncy skirt below, allowing for the waist swivel. The bodice is equipped with a piece of silver armour consisting of a chest plate and a pair of shoulder pads, and displaying a complex ironwork-like spiral-line&leaf design. Like the belt, also the armour, the bracelets and the knee pads are adorned with various light-blue, amber and purplish glowing gemstones.
Action feature
In the comics, Sei-Lha is shown to possess a number of paranormal faculties, which she successfully converted into scientifically controlled magical powers that are similar to (and actually stronger than) those of Demo-Rha and Elykta. In particular, she can absorb and use powerful abilities of others and, in case, transfer them to her allies. To emulate the energy she gives off while absorbing or projecting powers, the figure comes with three translucent magic blast effects that can be attached to her left spell-casting hand: one flat and orange with individual blasts originating from the fingers, one globular/swirly and light-blue, and one jet-shaped and purple.
Weapons and accessories
Apart from her energy blast effects, Sei-Lha comes with a nice set of accessories. First up is her T-shaped silver staff with a light-blue gemstone at the junction between the vertical pole and the horizontal bar. The staff also works as a perch on which LirekTM, her loyal condor, can alight with its wings wide spread and transform into a translucent light-blue crystal form. You can make the staff into either its plain or bird-weaponized version by way of two swappable top pieces. Lirek is not included, but there's a brand new metallic light-blue collar (incorporating a long steel crest with a light-blue gemstone embedded in each side) for the old figure, which, by the way, can actually perch on the plain staff.
Additionally, the figure comes with a hooded, short-haired alternate head and a cloak, which will both appear in the third comic issue of the KR|Horizon series. The hood and the cape have the same strips of alternatively glossy and matt light-blue cloth seen on the standard headcloth and dress, but are moulded from a slightly see-through plastic - it still looks the same fabric, but the little bit of light that can shine through makes it look immaterial, like it's fading in or out from another reality. The matt portions are painted, as is the nice silver clasp that holds the cape closed a bit off-centre. The hood is permanently attached to the head, and it's large enough that it bunches up where it meets the shoulders, while the cape, complete with subtle angles and flowing ribbons, gives the illusion of hanging loosely in a graceful manner. A very nice look! While the non-articulated cape limits the movement of the body underneath, PoliganToys rigged these accessories up in a way that the head and standing cape can work separated from the body, with the former resting on top of the latter. That’s a neat trick to create an empty-like body appearance and to have another figure stepping out of that void, simulating Sei-Lha's teleportation powers.
Finally, I do really appreciate the inclusion of a baridronic bomb (we'll also see this in issue no. 3 of the comic book series) as an accessory here. It’s an expertly-sculpted unique mould, and has more paint deco on it than one might expect. Moreover, holding it in her open spell-casting hand proves to be one of Sei-Lha’s coolest poses.
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ OK, she's got a different job in this series - not a soldier anymore, but an enchantress. However, Sei-Lha is still a strong, capable warrior and one of the toughest Therioms. This figure does a great job of balancing that status with an awesome look
Articulation: ♥♥♥ Like you’d expect, Sei-Lha doesn’t have a ton of useful movement with the cape on. You can manoeuvre the right hand to peek through, but she won’t be able to raise the left arm out to absorb the bad guys' powers
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Her regular head sculpt is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful female faces ever seen in this line. The paintjob is solid for the most part, especially the chest armour, where the silver paint app helps bring out the intricate line work
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The attachable blasts help create her magic powers and fit just fine, but I think they are a bit big and cumbersome, especially for a female figure. I don’t know what other options would have been available to achieve the effect, but maybe making them a bit smaller would have worked better
Playability: ♪♪♪♪ It’s definitely figures as enjoyable as this one that keep my interest in the line healthy
Overall: ☺☺☺☺ This new version of Sei-Lha has a great sculpt with great accessories. I could lament the slight loss of articulation due to the huge hair and the long skirt, but I’m okay with it. There are figures that are good enough and there are ones where I want to turn to PoliganToys and say: “more like this, please”. Sei-Lha is one of those figures.
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