Toy prototype details
Name: AgledasTM
Subtitle: glacial warrior
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 15 in the line.
Character details
Name: Agledas
Classification: carnivoran mammal
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)
Rank: auxiliary warrior.
Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy
Brief bio: a distant relative of Private UhluTM, Agledas was once the commander of the snow specialist corps of the Theriom army. After undergoing a rigorous training program in glacial areas, which included long periods of exposure to cold weather, drill operations under sub-zero conditions and the use of snow-specific battle equipment, he started feeling restless and dissatisfied with his military life. He went rogue when he formed a secret alliance with Deptilion, helping a small Destructomorph invasion force parachute onto an ice floe and then march a long distance to conquer inhabited regions. Thanks to the ease with which his assault weaponry overwhelmed the peaceful ice dwellers, Agledas and his allies Hadjti and EldogrumTM began to create their own organisation and to plot against Deptilion for taking leadership of his army. Their plans to rise in power and rival both the Therioms and the Destructomorphs were foiled by Agledas' former comrades-in-arms, who defeated Deptilion and sent most of his minions into exile. When years later Nemhetra learnt of the existence of the powerful helmet that had been disassembled and hidden by her cousin Barkos, Agledas was asked to retrieve one of its fragments, which was enshrined in a temple in the ice-fjord territory of KronivTM, and he agreed to aid her in exchange for weapons to use against the Therioms.
Articulation
Description
Head: predominantly leonine (even if he's an ursid), characterised by an off-white (i.e., with a grey tinge) coat, solid ice-blue eyes and an open mouth that exposes a number of sharp yellowish teeth. Two pairs of dark-grey horny spikes protrude from his turquoise-striped mane
Body: thick off-white fur striped with turquoise. His hands and feet sport large dark-grey claws, while his right thigh wears a dark-grey strap (with a holster) that exhibits an embroidered light-blue zigzag motif
Wearables: a metallic light-blue armour with white details (including various intricate icy highlights, tarnished silver buckles, bony darts stowed in a number of loops, and translucent gemstones, the largest and most central of which shows a snowflake-like pattern of dense cracking), two off-white (i.e., with a yellowish tinge) gloves, two off-white boots, a double light-blue belt (composed of a larger triangular studded shiny belt, and a smaller loose fitting leather belt underneath, which carries a yellowish drinking horn on the side and a bulging dark-grey purse on the back), and a crossed off-white garment wrapped round the hips that is composed of a diagonal-cut leather skirt overlapped by a fairly long furry/icy loincloth. The removable armour includes an off-white fur collar (which seemingly belongs to Agledas' body, but is actually a massive overlay that helps add a lot of bulk to the figure and can be slipped right off) as well as two spaulders showing layers, from bottom to top, of light-blue fur, shiny light-blue metal and large translucent white ice crystals (plate-like on the left and column-like on the right). Both the gloves and the boots are disproportionately massive, seem to be mainly made of fur (although the material looks more like ice towards the cuffs and tops, respectively) and have holes for allowing the large claws to protrude; while the gloves are equipped with metallic light-blue wrist guards and knuckle protectors, the boots have metallic light-blue shin, instep and (only on the left) knee guards, which are all embellished with translucent white gemstones and translucent light-blue spikes. Most of the metallic light-blue pieces, including the spaulders and the belt, show more-or-less complex snowflake-like patterns of dense cracking, while the knee guard resembles a polar bear skull. The faux leather skirt is complete with some nice details such as jagged edges, dark-grey stitching, and flaps folded over the top. Finally, he wears a slightly translucent light-blue furry cape, characterised by a jagged bottom, a hood hanging down the back, and the two sides of its upper portion seemingly fixed to the spaulders; the large cape bulges on the back, giving the figure a hunched over look, and bears several loops for storing some of his weapons.
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| Agledas' stylised armour. |
Action feature
In the comics, Agledas travels on his high-tech gliding snowshoes, a pair of incredibly fast and manoeuvrable rocket powered devices equipped with a wide array of offensive armaments, including heat-seeking missiles, machine guns, extending blades and flamethrowers. These machines are fictionally able to create ice slides, which form rapidly beneath and behind Agledas' feet, moving him along the slick surface at high speeds similarly to skis. In the toy, each neatly sculpted gunmetal (i.e., a grey colour that has a blueish-purplish tinge) snowshoe attaches to the sole of a boot and has a single upward folding wing. In addition, the snowshoes are fictionally designed to shrink into a compact form that can be more easily carried into battle; the compact versions of the devices come seemingly stored in a waist-pack piece, which is worn with the belt around the figure's waist and the pouch in front.
Weapons and accessories
Apart from his high-tech snowshoes, Agledas comes with a healthy set of accessories including a rifle, a stick, a number of ice structures, an alternative head and a reliquary. The pearl-white rifle is quite a production, because it resembles a small jet engine and has a revolving wheel fitted with ornamented translucent white vanes. While I am assuming this is to blow cold air, snow or ice towards his foes, the piece has an intake pipe on the side that looks like a sort of windway, which would allow you to make the wheel spin and produce a whistling sound when you blow air through it; this design idea has been discarded, although the wheel really turns, but instead you can open the top of the pod to take a peak at some of the inner mechanics of the weapon. There's also a roundish translucent white ice plate that can attach to the wheel's pin (acting as an ice blast effect) or, alternatively, to the figure's left wrist after removing the ice gemstone (acting as a shield).
Furthermore, the set includes a high-tech gunmetal stick, which is fictionally able to quickly form a great variety of ice constructs, including blades and prongs, as well as an assortment of ice-blue attachments (i.e., two khopesh-like sword blades, a double-bitted battleaxe and a long spearhead) designed to be fitted on either end of the baton and to be stowed in a number of loops on the figure's cape... which is nice but doesn't make much sense. Both the rifle and the stick have the potential to be attached in some way to the leg holster, but the rifle is so bulky that I think I'll only use the holder for the truncheon.
Additionally, Agledas can be displayed with an alternate head characterised by a pearl-white helmet with a spiky, halo-like translucent light-blue crest/crown, a tech-looking gunmetal full mask and a shiny light-blue visor perched on the forehead.
Finally, the figure includes an open reliquary, on which one of the three fragments of the lost helmet is displayed for veneration by the local community. The reliquary resembles a large ice spike supporting the helmet piece (which comprises part of the skull and the left side).
Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦ Agledas is definitely not a necessary character in the KR line-up, as he had a pretty minor role in the Horizon series and isn't probably a character I'll hear too many folks clamouring for when the line is released. Still, PoliganToys did their best work on him and in the end he's a pretty awesome figure
Articulation: ♥♥♥ While this figure has the same articulation as any other figures in the line, it should be noted that since he has bulkier limbs and a furry torso overlay, his articulation is somewhat impeded
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ I think the look of this figure is great. I love the different shades of white and blue on the fur and on the outfit. I find everything blends very well together. I also love how the cape is sculpted and how it looks slightly translucent
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Surely he's not light on accessories. Fortunately, the rifle isn’t very heavy, so Agledas has no problem holding it with one hand in almost any positions
Playability: ♪♪♪ Although the articulation hindrance isn't terrible, it does hamper the playability of the figure a bit. However, I find that even in casual poses the figure looks good
Overall: ☺☺☺ Overall, I am quite pleased with the final figure. Although this isn't a character you'd expect to be important enough to receive a toy, it's hard to deny that he's a new frosty presence that stands out on the shelf. I must say that he's growing on me more and more the longer he is in the display. I cannot wait to add more minor but ambitious adjutants in Nemhetra's army to my prototype collection.
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