Welcome back, friends! As we approach the end of the first month of the new year, let me extend a belated but heartfelt happy 2023 to all of you!!
I'm excited to kick off this year's posts with a revolutionary new line in the world of Key Raiders - the Key Raiders: Echoes of Future series (stylised as KR|Echoes of Future). This rebootquel series is unlike anything we've seen before, as it takes us on a journey through multiple timelines and realities, exploring both the backstory and the aftermath of the events from the previous storylines.
The upcoming reviews will showcase the latest prototypes developed for this series, so stay tuned for exclusive updates!
Premise
The KR|Echoes of Future storyline picks up at the point where the final KR|Emergence comic book issue The war of all against all: Part II – Rise ended. It briefly follows KhronodonTM's journey after he vanished by using his ability to jump through time during a fight with his rival and former fellow sorcerer OphidokTM. Using the great power of the AntikythronTM-like mechanism that he had created, Khronodon was determined to change the course of history by becoming a powerful warlord and conqueror. To accomplish his mission, Khronodon acquired the powers locked beyond the multiversal walls, and travelled to the past and future of Tahron, making strategic moves to secure his position as the ultimate ruler. However, as Khronodon used all his resources and technology to rule as many timelines as possible, he began to confront multiple versions of himself, each with their own agendas.As Khronodon's quest for power became increasingly desperate, he realised that the only way to achieve his goal was to eliminate all of his alternate versions [the SpawnCrystals discovered by Al-Mih-Tek belonged to one of those variants]. In a final showdown, Khronodon destroyed all of his other selves, but in the process, he damaged his apparatus and ended up stranded in a frozen, inhospitable world, unable to return to his original time. He survived alone for decades before dying of exposure during a brutal cold wave, ultimately failing to change the course of history.
Centuries later, in a timeline where peace and equality between mammalians and reptilians dominated history, and technology developed uninterrupted, scientists discovered Khronodon's well-preserved, mummified body in a warm Antarctica. Thanks to his suit of armour, which contained part of a mysterious device and plans for its operation, the scientists concluded that the prehistoric creature had been an ancient reptilian time traveller, and successfully reverse-engineered the apparatus [their version looks like a combination of the Stargate and Contact portal devices]. Using this technology, a team of rogue reptilian army officers sent a soldier named GladorrTM on a new history-changing mission, with the goal of achieving what Khronodon failed to do, even if he would have to face the same challenges. The officials questioned the possibility of creating a reptilian-dominated timeline that had never existed and weighed the potential benefits and risks, including the possibility of wiping out their own existence. Despite this, they proceeded with the mission as the officers were willing to recklessly accept the consequences.
Toy prototype details
Name: SumyakTM
Subtitle: visionary leader of the Multiversal Knights
Line: KR|Echoes of Future
Item type: action figure - Nº 1 in the line.
Character details
Name: Sumyak
Classification: extradimensional elemental being
Sex: masculine
Sex: masculine
Home: Cereutis
Era: 570 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Multiversal Balancers
Rank: grand commander.
Background
First appearance: KR|Echoes of Future #1 - The secret origin of chaos
Character summary: the Cereutian leader of the Multiversal Knights who, after an ecological collapse on Earth, used the Energy Rod to restore the planet's biological evolution, but ultimately failed to stop Silef, an ex-member of the Interspecific Commission, from starting a war with his former compeers.
Head: generally human looking, made of a dull dark-grey rocky material carved with various elaborate glyphs, two very small horns on his bald scalp, a pair of subtly pointed ears, and a pair of solid blue eyes
Body: his almost entirely naked body is a brand new sculpt characterised by broader torso, waste and hips pieces compared to the standard KR figure (looks like he developed a slightly prominent beer belly... he'd better cut back and slim down!) His thick, dull dark-grey rocky hide is carved with various elaborate cuneiform-like patterns, each having a specific story
Wearables: a shoulder/chest armour (with the Multiversal Balancers emblem, i.e., a hexagonal tiling consisting of six hexagons arranged vertex-to-vertex to circumscribe a six-pointed star, engraved on the front), two bracelets, a belt, and a loincloth. All these items are dark-grey with a chalky texture, except for the loincloth, which looks like a craggy covering of irregular rocky plates with a slight sheen.
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| Sumyak's stylised shoulder/chest armour. |
Action feature
In the comics, Sumyak is a golem possessing a body made of a durable earth-like material similar to hardened (yet flexible) mud, which grants him protection against nearly all forms of physical harm and gives him a rock-like appearance. His mineral state also grants him manipulation of earth and rock, an extremely prolonged lifespan as well as the ability to transform his body at will. In combat, this ability enables him to absorb most blows with little to no ill effect other than quickly reforming himself, and to mould his arms and hands into impact weapons for battling his enemies. So, the figure comes with two wonderfully sculpted overlay pieces with a muddy, dripping look, which attach to the wrist joints to transform his lower arms into a massive fist and a spiked club.
Additionally, Sumyak can suddenly turn himself into a landslide, which allows him to move great distances and to crush his enemies. To mimic this ability, the figure includes an alternative torso that connects to the regular head, arms and lower body. This part looks very similar to the standard upper body, but has a muddier, dripping appearance and has neither any articulation nor separate armour - everything is sculpted in (almost) one piece. The cool thing is that if you push down on a lever in back, the front part comprising the chest and abdomen will pop open and a number of pebbles will fly out. This thing is no joke, it shoots the stones fast and far! To reload, it's necessary to replace the ten cobbles in his chest cavity and close the chest flap.
Weapons and accessories
Apart from the alternate lower arms and torso pieces, Sumyak comes with a halberd-like weapon in the form of a combined adze, spear and kama. This weapon was also included in the Enmity Expansion Kit for Tahron, but here it is coated with a thick, chalky dark-grey paint that makes it look like it's made of stone. I think the comic book version had an axe blade instead of an adze, but I don't mind this difference.
Apart from the alternate lower arms and torso pieces, Sumyak comes with a halberd-like weapon in the form of a combined adze, spear and kama. This weapon was also included in the Enmity Expansion Kit for Tahron, but here it is coated with a thick, chalky dark-grey paint that makes it look like it's made of stone. I think the comic book version had an axe blade instead of an adze, but I don't mind this difference.
Update: the figure will also feature a new, one-piece rendition of the energy stone, an accessory that was not included with the stand accompanying Khronodon.
Final thoughts
Overall: when I set out to open this figure and write this review, I had high expectations for its quality and design. I am happy to say that I am not disappointed with Sumyak. The figure itself looks formidable (imagine a combination of the fierce, scarred look of Drax the Destroyer and the imposing, rugged appearance of The Thing or Korg) and displays beautifully with the extended arm pieces on. While the overall design of the alternate torso with permanently attached armour may not be the strongest aspect of the figure, the gimmick of generating a landslide more than makes up for it. I am also glad that an articulated torso is included, providing even more display options for the figure. I believe he will look even better when I have his fellow Cereutian heroes to display with him, but for the moment I am extremely satisfied with having Sumyak as the sole Multiversal Balancer in my collection
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5
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