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.