Copyright notice

Copyrighted.com Registered & Protected 2015-2024 X-Fader All Rights Reserved
Important notice. Due to an agreement between PoliganToysTM and the author of this blog, no actual image of any Key RaidersTM prototypes may be posted.

Sunday 15 May 2022

KR|Dimness Review #26: Ycabie & Lava Sentinels

Toy prototype details
Name: YcabieTM & Lava Sentinels
Subtitle: gliding warrioress versus deadly volcanic monsters
Line: KR|Dimness
Item type: multi-pack (3-pack) - NÂș 5 in the line.

Ycabie
Character details
Name: Ycabie
Classification: dermopteran mammal (but she looks mostly human)
Sex: female
Relationships: older sister of Dhermot
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Forseha
Rank: flying tribeswoman.

Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #3 - Into dimness: Part II – Escape
Related character(s): Dhermot.

Articulation
Standard
, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description
Head: Afro-American features, black skin, blue eyes. She seems to wear a close-fitting dark-brown furry garment (but it is probably her natural growth of hair, which looks cut straight around the head at approximately shoulder level with very short, blunt bangs at the front) covering the whole head and neck except for the face and the ears (which are rounder and slightly larger than normal)
Body: almost entirely covered with a growth of short, fine dark-brown hair. Her hands and feet show black skin, webbed spaces between the fingers and toes, and small sharp claws
Wearables: an extreme crop top made of off-white buckskin (this garment is long sleeved on the right and sleeveless on the left, and has a standing collar as well as a greenish decorative button on the right shoulder), a bandage bustier (which has a pointed hem and appears to be made from multiple strips of off-white leather sewn together, with the individual strips shaped like bandages), a long-cuff off-white leather bracelet on the left forearm, two knee-high off-white leather stirrup socks (each lacking toe and heel sections -instead having a loop that fits within the arch of the foot- and bearing a triplet of greenish decorative buttons on the front), an off-white leather belt with a greenish tortoise-shell buckle, and light-green tights of woven grass (with some gaps here and there exposing her covering of hair) that join the socks' cuffs (forming cut-outs that expose her knees) and incorporate a small brown leather purse attached to a loose fitting belt. Her bustier (which together with the extreme crop top forms a cut-out exposing her cleavage) is ornamented with light-green patterns (seemingly made of applied stone chips) that are reminiscent of "greek-key" meanders, while its pointed hem is fringed with a light-green featherwork.

Action feature
Similarly to her brother Dhermot, Ycabie has the ability to glide through the air from one tree to another or from higher to lower locations with the aid of a patagium, a wingsuit-like dark-brown furry membrane of extra skin that stretches from her shoulders to her wrists, from her wrists to her ankles, and between her legs. Like with Dhermot, PoliganToys included two plastic pieces that plug into the back of the figure and into the limbs. The plastic used for these pieces has some pliability, so they’re not rock solid. The first alternative allows for having the skin flaps in a folded position, with the option of having the arms and legs plugged into them, to give the figure a standing-at-ease look. However, even when the limbs aren’t plugged in, the figure still looks natural and the membrane works more like a cape attached to the back (although the pegs are visible). The second option is the extended look, where the limbs have to be plugged into the patagium, because it would just seem too odd to have the skin flaps open and not have the arms and legs matching. This solution looked pretty sharp on Dhermot's figure, but not so much on Ycabie, mostly due to the items of clothing that couldn't possibly be worn the way they appear.

Weapons and accessories
Aside from the two interchangeable patagia, Ycabie comes with two kunai-like, greenish oxidised bronze throwing knives (which we have also seen in the Enmity Expansion Kit for Tahron) and a pair of alternative grasping hands.

Lava Sentinels
Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: lavatic creature
Sex: uncertain
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Dark Legion (indirectly)
Rank: guardian of Mount Atubion.

Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening
Related character(s): Tolaaf.

Articulation
Standard
, except that each left wrist is ball jointed.

Description
Head: each figure's head looks like made of a wrinkled dark-grey rocky material carved with empty eye sockets that emit a faint orange glow, and a gaping mouth that exposes a number of sharp light-greyish teeth. It also sports a mane of long golden Pele's hair emerging from the seemingly empty, crater-like cranium
Body: each figure's body is made of a dark-grey rocky material criss-crossed by cracks that glow a bright orange colour (as a result of the lava that moves beneath the hardened surface of the body). The torso shows a small triangular bright orange gemstone embedded in the centre of the chest, while the hands and feet display sharp claws
Wearables: each figure wears a spiked collar, two gauntlets with spiked cuffs, and two boots with spiked tops, which are all made of a ropey golden-yellow material. The rocky waist/hips area is studded with golden-yellow nuggets, the central one of which is much larger and chiselled with some kind of demonic face design, while the "clothing" on the crotch piece has a sky-blueish, larimar colour.

Action feature
In the comics, the Lava Sentinels have the ability to generate powerful volcanic eruptions from the inside of their bodies, exhaling a blast of toxic gasses and lethal burning material. So, the package includes two eruption effects, seemingly made of smoke, ash and lapilli, that can be attached to the figure's mouths.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the fire-breathing effects, the Lava Sentinels come with two sets of weapons, one for each figure. The first set includes a double-tang (i.e., with each blade held in the handle by two projections, leaving a cutout at the base of the blade) axe and a shield. The other set comprises a sword and a boulderstone covered in spiky rock fragments, which can be connected by an included swinging-looking, stiff red-hot faux chain to the left arm after removing the hand. All the above-mentioned weapons are made of a dark-grey rocky material criss-crossed by cracks that glow a bright orange colour, and show some sky-blueish details, i.e., the handle of the axe, a ring design on the shield, the hilt of the sword and the spikes on the striking boulder.

Final thoughts
Overall: what a fun set! This is what I am all about in terms of KR toys. The Lava Sentinels are absolutely crazy concepts made real as army builders for the first time, and Ycabie is literally the character we didn't know we wanted in (almost) perfect action figure form. I really hope we continue to get KR|Dimness prototypes somehow, some way. Update: PoliganToys' SDCC 2022 exclusive release will be Ycabie & Plant Creatures, basically this same 3-pack but with two Dark Legion Plant-Men instead of the Lava Sentinels!
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

No comments: