KR Review #88: Mal-Ah-Krill Warriors

Toy prototype details
Name: Mal-Ah-Krill^TM Warriors
Subtitle: hard-shell invaders
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: multi-pack (army builder 2-pack) - Nº 17 in the line.

Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: crustacean
Sex: male or female

Home: Cereutis
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph (temporarily)
Rank: soldier of the Mal-Ah-Krill squadron led by Mal-Ah-Kros.

Background
First appearance: KR|Foundation #10 - Evanescing act

Related character(s): Mal-Ah-Kros.

Articulation
Standard, except that the wrists are ball jointed.

Description
Heads: each figure's head is encased in a box-like pail purple carapace with a bumpy texture, and is characterised by a spiny cranial crest (which seemingly runs down the upper back), two pairs of antennae (one pair, shorter and branching into two parts, is placed on top of the head, while the other extends from the back of the upper side-jaws), a small greenish beady compound eye situated in the middle of the forehead and two ghost crab-like elongated, swollen stalked eyes with slit-shaped black vertical pupils, large yellow-green corneas and brownish horns on the tips. The human-like partially open mouth exhibits a set of sharp ivory teeth (including two large fangs protruding upwards) and is flanked by three pairs of whitish jaws (the uppermost of which is larger than the other two). Both the head and the slim neck extension are on ball joints, which not only gives the figure a slightly longer neck, but also an extended range without hindering the movements at all
Bodies: each figure's body is protected by a pail purple chitinous exoskeleton with a cracked and bumpy texture. While the two main arms end with slender, three-fingered hands, the two legs display two additional pairs of arthropod-like limbs (each ending in a single long claw) projecting from the sides of the thighs, and, in one case, two-toed clawed feet. One pair of additional arthropod-like arms, each bearing a line of fin-shaped appendages and terminating in a flattened paddle (similarly to the last pair of swimming legs of a lady crab), project from the lower back, which is protected by a large, nicely sculpted chiton-like shell. The shell is yellow-grey with leopard-like clusters of light purplish spots, and is divided into eight seemingly articulating valves, the uppermost of which resembles a lady crab's carapace showing several spines along the upper edge

Wearables: each figure wears a segmented (similarly to a shrimp's or a lobster's abdomen) golden harness with cracked yellow details, two narrow golden wristbands, two simple golden boots, a golden belt with yellow studs, and yellow laminar trunks. The harness is equipped with a broad, star-shaped collar, and carries an emblem consisting of a blue gemstone carved with three vertical wavy lines on the front. The boots are claw-shaped in one figure, and have smooth, human-like toe-boxes in the other - I guess this is a reference to the inconsistency between the ways the feet of these characters were drawn in the comics and perhaps it is related to some kind of sexual dimorphism.

Mal-Ah-Krill Warrior's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest plate represents a Cereutian symbol.

Action feature

In the comics, the Mal-Ah-Krill Warriors bear protective dorsal shells that allow them to roll into a ball when attacked. Unfortunately, this ability couldn't be rendered in the figures, since the two shells are solid pieces and their overlapping plates don't articulate with one another (I would have appreciated the inclusion of at least one curled up shell though). However, each shell is actually a removable part and features a small handle on the inner side, which makes it able to be held like a shield.

Furthermore, while Mal-Ah-Kros came with swappable mouth and eyes, these figures just go the whole hog and come with two alternate heads, each showing a gaping mouth and a pair of "bugged out" eyes, i.e., on longer stalks than the regular ones, with bright white pupils (in the comics, their eyes, once extended, have the frightening ability to discharge a variety of stun beams that can overpower an enemy in mere seconds).

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the alternative heads, the Mal-Ah-Krill Warriors come with four threatening maces, which the figures can grip tightly in their hands. Each bludgeon has a yellow shaft and a head consisting of a golden robotic chela. Alternatively, the pincers can be detached from the ends of the handles and used on the figures in place of their regular hands; it's worth noting that although the chelae are not articulated, they can still wield the head-less sticks as weapons.

In addition, each figure comes with an alternative pair of hands that have a more relaxed look compared to the standard gripping hands.

Final thoughts
Overall: I knew the Mal-Ah-Krill Warriors would be coming eventually, but I had a few prototypes that were kind of higher priorities for me at this time. However, now that they are here, they might be in my new top five for this year's selection
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5