KR|Emergence Review #13: Alatryx (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Alatryx^TM (Emergence Edition), aka Steel-Wings Alatryx
Subtitle: winged amazon
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 11 in the line.

Character details
Name: Alatryx
Classification: archosauromorph reptile with bird-like traits
Sex: female
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Rexodon
Rank: observer captain.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #2 - The war of all against all: Part I – Breach
Brief bio: originally a member of a civilisation of feathered reptiles, Alatryx met and fell in love with a winged warrior named Tharrgos^TM when he saved her village from wicked attacking scavengers. Like other bird-like creatures who lived high on the peaks of southern Tahron, Tharrgos had large feathered wings which grew from his back, and could fly thanks to the power of a gemstone magically connected to a mystical spear-staff. Tharrgos returned Alatryx's affection, and eventually the two married in his home. Self-conscious because of her inability to fly on her own, Alatryx still strove to protect Tharrgos's people when the war between the mammalian and reptilian forces started and Lor-Drek stole the magical spear-staff, thus trapping the bird creatures, who didn't side with either army, in their mountain city. Although Alatryx managed to retrieve the powerful artefact from Lor-Drek in battle, she was gravely injured. To cure her, Tharrgos took Alatryx before the spear-staff, whose magic combined with his love both healed her wounds and gave her the power of flight, killing him in return. After Tharrgos's death, the bird people selected Alatryx to lead their city and she did so for several centuries, until she saw in the Rexodons an opportunity to get her revenge against Lor-Drek. She ran off with the spear-staff and offered her service as an air soldier to Bi-Harr. Despite her ability to fly like an angel using the power of the mystical staff, Alatryx augmented her forearms with artificial wings to increase her speed and manoeuvrability, and proved a merciless warrior when engaged into battle.

Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen. The figure also has a hinged lower jaw and a pair of swivel-hinged wing pieces attached to the wrists.

Description

Head: similar to a bird of prey, characterised by large red eyes with black pupils, which are surrounded by fawn feathers (except for a bit of purplish colour that gives her eyes a dark, smokey appearance), as well as a fairly large hooked, serrated (including a pair of bone-coloured fangs) blue-grey articulated beak with cracked details, nares and, due to a backward-curved bony spike projecting from the extremity of each mandible, a hammer-like shape. Aside from having a relatively long fawn-feathered neck, her bald, vulture-like scalp allows her to wear a metallic dark-blue removable armoured helmet, which is ornamented with a dark-orange gemstone on the forehead in addition to several bronze details such as a set of three longitudinal, talon-like top crests, two side crests (each looking like a mix of a pointy ear and a feathered wing), a pair of cat eye goggles with yellow glowing lenses, and two "feathery" cheekpieces. The sculpt also includes a pretty large quantity of highly elaborate, elongated, colourful feathers flowing out from the back of the helmet similarly to hair - the colours are the same as those used in her Foundation version, but they are displayed in a different order (from the centre to the edges: orange, light-blue and purple)

Body: arms and legs covered with fawn feathers, scaly blue-grey hands with large bone-coloured talons, long tail rimmed by colourful feathers similar to the "hair". Each digitigrade leg ends in a four-digit foot with massive bone-coloured talons (three of which point forward and one goes backward in each foot), while each knee is bent to accommodate the foot portion with the heel section high up. While the upper arms are embellished with a pair of studded bronze armbands, the thighs are equipped with two small wing-like fawn-feathered appendages
Wearables: a bronze armour with dark-blue details, two brown feathery wrist guards (which also cover the backs of the hands), two laminar/scale armour bronze boots (each showing a raised silver talon ornament running down its length and ending with the real front talons that protrude outward), a broad V-shaped studded bronze belt with a jagged lower edge, and a dark-blue feathery loincloth. The cuirass features a ruff of pointed dark-blue feathers, a bird (with its wings wide spread) emblem decorated with a dark-orange gemstone on the breast plate, as well as a couple of battle scratches, while the armour scales that compose the pointed boot tops resemble small feathers.

Alatryx's stylised armour.

Action feature
In the comics, Alatryx is able to fly at great speeds as if by natural winged flight thanks to a magical anti-gravity gem worn on her armour as well as a pair of semi-artificial bird-like appendages attached to her arms. So, the figure is equipped with large wrist-mounted battle wings attached to two bronze bracers, which are sculpted over her feathery wrist guards. Each appendage appears to be made of long feathers mounted on three steel wings with bronze trims along their leading edges, which revolve around a pivot on the bracer, so that they can spread or fold like slats in a fan. Each wing carries feathers of a specific colour, namely orange, light-blue or purple, but some of the feathers on the trailing edge look like made of steel and are painted in silver (in the comics, Alatryx is capable of launching these feather-like, wingtips daggers at her enemies). Although the spreading/folding pivot point mechanism is purely fictional (the three wings are actually one solid piece), each snap-on appendage has a ball-hinged joint and can also rotate together with the wrist/forearm piece, so that it can be posed in any direction. Additionally, there are two bronze tekkō-kagi, each with four claws, which also attach to the bracers and are used for striking and slashing opponents as well as ensnaring and disarming weapons.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the two tekkō-kagi, Alatryx includes four accessories: a dual spear-staff, two alternative "hair" pieces and a flight stand. The dark-blue spear-staff has two bladed ends (a long pointed tip resembling a feather, and a broad, flat piece resembling a pair of "phoenix rising" wings), which can be detached from the shaft and used as independent weapons, a sword and a shield, respectively. The sword has a "winged" cross-guard, while the "feathered" shield has an egg-shaped, dark-orange gem on the front; each weapon's grip (the shield's one is on the back) also acts as a pin that plugs into the shaft piece of the staff.
The first alternate hairpiece is meant to replace the default one attached to the back of the helmet, and displays some differences in length, shape and colour arrangement (from the centre to the edges: light-blue, purple and orange), so that the helmet can be used with the Foundation version of this figure. The second item is a complete hairpiece that the figure can wear when the helmet is removed; aside from its long, elaborate colourful feathers extending towards the back (some of them also reach the shoulders on the front, but fortunately these elements are pliable and don't limit the head movement at all), this piece also bears three small bone-coloured horns on the top.
Finally, the flight stand has a cool base covered with little skulls, as well as a curved bronze element that clips onto the belt on the back of the figure (this actually looks like a belt extension and carries two wing-shaped ornaments that "rise" along Alatryx's flanks, reaching her shoulders on the front).

Additionally, the figure comes with a baby carrier that supports an infant version of Mor-Rak. The brown leather carrier, which can be used by either Sih-Len or Gax-Uhr, on front or back, has two adjustable shoulder straps ornamented with leaf-shaped motifs, as well as a chest strap and a waist strap. Baby Mor-Rak is a mini figure with swivel arms and a swivel head, and painted in his traditional colours, with light-green pants and suspenders, and two large bronze buttons on his chest.

Final thoughts
Overall: I think this figure turned out good. I mean REALLY good. I dig the sculpt a lot, she has a great look to her that feels very unique and fresh. Despite the inability to spread and fold, the winged attachments look awesome, and all her accessories are winners. Baby Mor-Rak is also very well done and I'm pleased he has articulation, rather than being just a PVC figure (one may argue that he looks too small compared to his Foundation version, who is just three years older, but I'd say that probably primivods grow faster than humans and hybrids). Alatryx has been on my top 25 most wanted prototypes list since this soft reboot line was announced, and it's great to finally have her - she's not only a great action figure, but a great villainous character as well thanks to her new bio
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #12: The Deity (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: The Deity^TM (Emergence Edition)
Subtitle: supernatural arbiter
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 10 in the line.

Character details
Name: The Deity
Real name: Kai-Xi (originally Wēn Kǎi xī)
Classification: spirit (formerly human)
Sex: female
Home: China
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: neutral (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)
Rank: divinity.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #3 - The war of all against all: Part II – Rise
Brief bio: once a member of the Therioms who played a significant role in trapping Bi-Harr's mental powers beyond the multiversal walls, Kai-Xi raised to a powerful divine form after her own demise and chose to be tasked with maintaining neutrality throughout Tahron. Although she could no longer take part to the war, the constant struggle over the Key often called her to preserve the balance between good and evil forces.

Articulation
Standard, except that the wrists are ball jointed and there is no hinged abdomen.

Description
Head: Asian features, cream white skin, hazel eyes; she wears a complex headgear composed of a headcloth and a helmet. The orange cloth covers the nape of the neck, extending a little way down the back and allowing her black hair to emerge a bit from under it. The helmet looks like a Chinese dragon's head, similarly to Dragon Shiryū's helmet, and seems to be made of four pieces of dark-green metal, two of which (forming the snout of the dragon and including two orange glowing gemstones that represent the eyes) are somehow connected in the middle leaving a visible gap between them, while the other two pieces (including two "feathery" cheekpieces) are attached externally reinforcing the crown on the sides. The helmet bears various orange copper ornaments that resemble teeth, whiskers, crests, ears and antlers. Additionally, the rear part of the helmet's skull extends down the neck forming a laminar nape guard, while a semi-circular bar that surrounds the nape is connected by three points to the skull (one on the back and two on the sides)
Body: covered from neck to toe with a tight scale armour light-blue bodysuit, which shows two narrow, flat vertical reinforcing strips of metal on the front of the thighs. She also wears two metallic dark-green armbands (a wide one on the left arm and a narrow, riveted one on the right arm) as well as a wide band on the right thigh; each of the larger bands shows a cyber design characterised by an orange glowing strip and a dark-green wire running around the respective limb

Wearables: an orange copper armour with dark-green details, two orange copper bracelets (the right one is embossed with a dragon's head design and has a double-ringed top, while the left one has a knuckle guard as well as a small removable shield attached to the wrist guard and embellished with a green glowing gemstone), two elaborate orange copper knee guards (each ornamented with a dragon's head design and lined with dark-green fur), two orange copper boots (the right one has a double-ringed top, while the left one has a V-shaped top), an orange copper tasset belt (whose buckle shows a winged motif, a green glowing gemstone and a claw-shaped dangling ornament, while the three attached tassets have elaborate dragon's head designs and green glowing gemstones), and a dark-green high-low scaly skirt (which is short and pleated on the front). The armour, which mixes a medieval design with technological elements, bears a high neck, a pair of triple-layered spaulders, and a triplet of green glowing gemstones on the chest plate. Additionally, she wears a short translucent white (with a greenish tinge) cape that connects directly around her neck by means of a detached orange copper choker lined with dark-green fur (this collar includes two high standing translucent greenish "fins" at the sides, which are supposed to be the two corners of the cape's upper portion).

The Deity's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, the Deity's cape can expand into a pair of wing-like structures that project from both sides. In fact, when she appears to Fai-Rha, she is depicted with those wings spread out. The figure's cape does include two flat extensions, which are cast in the same semi-transparent plastic and have two hinges in the upper portions, so that they can spread and contract. With each feather-like feature lovingly captured, the detail is excellent. It is worth noting, however, that in the comics these wings seem to have a cosmetic function only, as the Deity's ability to fly is mystical and not the result of her cape's construction.

Weapons and accessories

The Deity comes with a staff topped with a pattern that resembles the Chinese character 龙 (dragon). I like that the sceptre's translucent green plastic makes it look like an energy creation, or maybe it just covers itself with energy, since she can stow it in a loop on her winged cape (although the cape itself is probably made of energy as well). There is also a peculiar holder for the energy staff, which is basically a terracotta ceramic vase on a greenish wooden base.

It is obvious that this incarnation of The Deity looks very different from her previous versions. I initially thought that since in the Emergence comic books The Deity appears to Fai-Rha, who is also characterised by a dragon theme, perhaps she wanted to create a connection by showing a similar essence. In truth, this figure has a kind of controversial history. When The Deity first appeared in the rough draft of the first KR|Foundation comic issue, she looked more like a dragon-themed goddess. It turns out that there were two different pitches for this character back in 2015 - in the end, one became the basis for the more traditional, phoenix-inspired figure we are used to, while the other one never went anywhere (until now). Eventually, the dragon-like concept was intended to be recycled into Lín sài (or Lynn-Sei), Kai-Xi's and Khon-Uhr's daughter, but, again, that character never made it to the comics. So, this figure is a tribute to both mother and daughter, having its main look based on Kai-Xi's discarded concept art as well as some add-ons that can make it echo Lynn-Sei's never before seen appearance. The first and most necessary accessory is an alternative head, characterised by Asian features, cream white skin, hazel eyes, feline-like pointy ears and long green flowing hair partly arranged in a number of braids; she also wears an orange copper tiara that recalls Kai-Xi's dragon-headgear (with reversed colours, including two green glowing gemstones that represent the eyes) and incorporates a removable translucent green visor, which stays on securely and can be easily taken off if you don't like it. Furthermore, the package contains a spectacular orange copper armoured glove that resembles a dragon's head and has dark-green details, including four vicious teeth/claws. This dragon gauntlet has a ball joint that plugs into the figure's left wrist after you remove her hand, and also features a slot where a dagger can be stored; on top of that, it has a tab that allows it to peg onto an additional loose fitting dark-green leather waist belt. The separate bladed weapon has a copper hilt, which is shaped like a dragon's head mirroring Lynn-Sei's tiara, and comes in both compact and extended versions: the dagger-sized version's blade is also made of copper, while the full-sized one gets two translucent green energy blades (one long replacing the dagger blade, and one short emerging from the opposite end of the handle). There's even a third version that corresponds to the dagger transformed into a ray gun.

Comic
Together with the action figure we get the second comic issue The war of all against all: Part I – Breach. Lor-Drek decides to attack the Rexodon's headquarter, in order to defeat his rival Bi-Harr. He sends his new soldier Noctylius to Rokang Tar on a reconnaissance mission, during which the bat warrior engages in a fierce mid-air fight with Alatryx and Torp-Tor. Having come out on top, Noctylius finally faces Bi-Harr, but is struck with a powerful blow. Yet, refusing to give up, Noctylius keeps assaulting his opponent. Taking advantage of the situation, Lor-Drek orders his men to break through the gates of the main building, and then, aiming at challenging Bi-Harr himself, he reaches Noctylius. Suddenly, due to a malfunction Noctylius's navigation drone attacks and weakens Lor-Drek, who doesn't have a chance against Bi-Harr and is knocked out. Afterwards, Bi-Harr attempts to charge at Noctylius, but discovers that many members of the Unnamed Clan have come to their fellows' aid. However, no matter how hard they fight their adversaries, Lor-Drek's soldiers never manage to gain the upper hand, and, being outnumbered, they are all taken prisoner after a while. The Unnamed Clan has been beaten at last.

Overall, the only really remarkable aspect of this comic is that the rivalry between the reptilian factions is depicted magnificently!

Final thoughts
Overall: The Deity’s general look is like a space-age techno-amazon, and I love it. She certainly does not look out of place in the KR|Emergence line. Despite taking cues from her original concept art, perhaps the design choices made by PoliganToys won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the toy looks good enough to overcome that hurdle of being very different from her previous versions. Having this figure in-hand has definitely convinced me that it’s one of the best females in the line!
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #11: Three-Sailed Troopers

Toy prototype details
Name: Three-Sailed Troopers^TM
Subtitle: creeping troopers
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: multi-pack (2-pack) - Nº 2 in the line.

Character details
Name: Three-Sailed Trooper
Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile
Sex: male or female
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Unnamed Clan
Rank: corporal.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #1 - The cradle of evil
Brief bio: once belonging to a tribe of lizard-like warriors who were more savage than intelligent, these cold-blooded assassins were selected and enslaved to mindlessly serve Bi-Harr as foot soldiers in his dreadful reptilian army. With their hideous appearance and deadly thrashing tails, these corporals enforced their evil master's will and stormed the mammalians' homelands with overpowering ferocity. When centuries later Lor-Drek decided to live Bi-Harr's military force and take up the fight for claiming Tahron on his own, several battalions of troopers chose to align with him, becoming devoted members of the Unnamed Clan. Fighting loyally in the armies of Lor-Drek, these fearsome troopers were particularly vicious in battle, devouring warriors they felled in order to absorb their spirits and power, a practice that terrified the heroic Therioms much to the delight of their enemies.

Articulation
Standard, except that the tails are ball jointed. The female figure lacks the hinged abdomen.

Description

Most of these figures' sculpt was reused from the Spektrosaur Troopers, with the addition of a few newly tooled parts, i.e., the forearms, thighs, shins, neural spine sails as well as the male's armour and the female's torso.

Heads: both figures' heads have a similar appearance to a common iguana, characterised by scaly greenish skin and purple eyes, and have their mouths closed. Each of the two troopers wears a red helmet with purple details and has an extra gular fold piece that fits right on top of the body, around the neck (it is glued on). The two heads are identical and look great on both figures

Bodies: both figures show greenish skin, but the body structures are very different. The male trooper shows a scaly texture (except for the smooth abdomen, which is also painted in a more yellowish colour) and large ridges that run down the sides of the limbs. The female trooper has a slenderer frame and displays a wrinkled skin, rather than scaly, with a yellowish paint on the abdomen. Each trooper has three parallel rows of extended brown spines, each supporting a large sail along their back, which are incorporated in a completely separate piece that snaps into a socket on the back. Finally, each figure has clawed hands and feet (reused from the Reptonoid Troopers), and a long, thin greenish tail, which is also a separate piece emerging from under the loincloth and is painted in a yellowish colour on the underside

Wearables: each trooper wears a purple crocodile skin shoulder/chest covering, two metallic purple bracelets (each made of three narrow riveted bands), two studded metallic purple calf protectors with triangular knee guards, a purple leather belt, and a red fabric loincloth resembling a forked tongue. Each armour, whose size and shape are adapted to the type of torso (the female version is not removable), includes a pair of jagged spaulders (each consisting of a scale armour lower layer made of several overlapping bronze plates laced together, and a cracked ochre upper tortoise-shell layer) as well as a set of diagonal straps made of four taxidermied ochre-marked, red rattlesnakes departing from a central bronze plate with sculpted electronic circuitry details (fictionally a device that regulates the trooper's body temperature). Additionally, both figures are equipped with cracked ochre tortoise-shell thigh pads.

Three-Sailed Trooper's stylised helmet.

Three-Sailed Trooper's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, the Three-Sailed Troopers are ferocious hand-to-hand combatants armed with razor-sharp claws and teeth, and are highly resistant to injury thanks to their hardened hide. Furthermore, when attacking their opponents, they reveal an extremely unusual open structure of their jaws. Similarly to a stoplight loosejaw, the connection between their mouth opening and the head is reduced to a hinge, allowing the upper jaw to be tilted back and the lower jaw thrust forward as well as split in the middle for a wider gape. In addition, similarly to a moray eel, a second set of extendable jaws, located farther back in the head and closely resembling the primary jaws (complete with tiny teeth), are brought forward and launched through the mouth cavity. So, each figure comes with an alternative head characterised by the mouth wide open and showing several large, fang-like teeth in the front of the four jaws (followed by many small barbed teeth) and a long, warty forked tongue that has a sharp, curved tooth protruding from each tine.

Moreover, the troopers' powerful whip-like prehensile tails, which can be used to deliver painful strikes, are made of bendable plastic. In the comics, when grabbed by the tail, a trooper can allow it to break, so he/she can escape (while the tail has a life of its own for a while) and eventually regenerate a new one. In fact, each figure's tail is detachable (a little flap on the loincloth was also created to cover the exposed hollow) and can be connected to a sort of handle, which is armoured with a number of spike-like projections that resemble the neural spines, in order to become a whip.

Weapons and accessories
Aside from the two alternate heads and the whip-tail handles, the Three-Sailed Troopers come with two weapons, a few additional pieces of armour and a third alternative head.
Each weapon is a blowgun, which consists of a long narrow reddish wooden tube and a white bony poisonous dart. The tube resembles a snake coiled around a stick, whose head at the end of the barrel propels a curvy, forked tongue-like GITD dart (which is a separate piece not designed to be shot) through the mouth. The extra length of the blowpipe also accommodate a small hanging banner that can be mounted on it. The package includes four different plastic banners, one for each faction you want these troopers to belong to: not only their default affiliation–the Unnamed Clan (a light-green snake emerging from an upright, spirally coiled conic dark-green shell on a dark-red background), but also Reptonoid (a red reptile eye on a dark-green background), Rexodon (a red reptile skull on a dark-green background), and Spektrosaur (a greenish flame on a dark-red background). Additionally, there are two sturdy belts that are also designed for displaying these guys as members of all those different armies. These belts are much larger than the standard non-removable ones and have a purple crocodile skin look. Each one is also decorated with bronze studs and a symbol (four interchangeable emblem pieces are included) at the centre. They have a really neat design and look great on both figures.

This 2-pack also comes with an extra alternative head - while the face is identical to the regular ones, the difference that makes this head unique is one broken horn on the helmet, symbolising a battle damage.

Last but not least, the figures come with an insanely cool accessory - a new 2-piece armour for a Theriom Trooper! The gold&silver chest plate is similar to the TT's standard armour and has an attached "space helmet"-like face shield with sculpted embellishments such as crosshair sighting and a sort of breathing hose running from an electronic device on the chest. The mostly silver back plate (choke-full with sculpted wires, gears and other tech-mech details) features multiple technological capture weapons that are mounted to four mechanical arms (which are slightly articulated at their bases and arranged in an X shape) as well as a flip over net thrower. Two grabbing clamps are attached to the lower mechanical arms; each clamp can extend and grab an opponent by means of two green gripping jaws. These "heat-seeking" clamps can also pop out to mimic their ability to be propelled. To entangle an enemy's body, the armour can fictionally launch a two-headed bola weapon from the two upper mechanical arms - it's necessary to hook the bola string around the target sight on the face shield and snap the two red spheres securely into the ports at the end of the arms. Finally, a pull-and-release spring action triggers a mechanism that catapults a rectangular blue flexible net (equipped with two rods at two opposite sides) to snare enemies. The armour can only be worn by Wrapthur, but it also fits any male Theriom Knight, Soldier or Exo-Guardian figure. A silver smoke/stun grenade launcher with a strange hose running from the magazine to the barrel is also included.

Final thoughts
Overall: although these figures mostly reuse parts from previous Troopers, I’m glad I got these new reptile soldiers. By using my old Spektrosaur/Reptonoid Troopers figures and swapping several body and armour parts, I could easily make a number of unique lizard warriors from these sets; even more if I used some without armours, and twice as much if I used armour pieces from other figures. And I could continue to challenge myself with how large I could build my lizard men armies. I think that's really cool, and it makes me even happier with the old Troopers now than I was when I first got them. That’s the fun of doing these reviews – becoming re-familiarised with figures that I’ve had on my shelf for years and looking at them with an even more refined eye. With great sculpts, cool accessories, and interchangeable heads, the Three-Sailed Troopers are some of the best prototypes of the KR|Emergence line
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5