Toy prototype details
Name: CoBoN 3.0
Subtitle: armoured fighting robot-base
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: large scale figure - Nº 5 in the line.
Character details
Name: CoBoN Mark III combining mecha
Classification: mobile suit
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: transport component.
Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #2 - In the eye of the storm
Brief bio: after sustaining severe damage to its Mark II components during the final battle against Deptilion and his army, CoBoN was rebuilt into a levitating train-like vehicle. Its new form was propelled by a unique power unit, granting it enhanced mobility, access to powerful advanced weaponry, and an impressive range of defence configurations.
Concept
This prototype represents only a fraction of the incredible machine that is CoBoN Mark III. Still, it’s worth taking a moment to talk about its overall appearance in the comics, especially since I wouldn’t mind seeing the full version realised as a toy someday.
This incarnation of CoBoN is a silver-painted, levitating train-like combat vehicle with a revolutionary design, and like its previous versions, it is powered by a classified energy source and controlled by an advanced AI. Similarly to its predecessor, the Mark II, this model is composed of multiple modular units; when needed, these modules can deploy or separate as individual vehicles, each equipped with powerful jet engines and capable of transforming into other types of attack craft or even robots. There’s a clear influence here from late-70s Japanese TV shows such as Dinosaur Expedition Born Free, Dinosaur Great War Izenborg, and Dinosaur Corps Koseidon, all of which placed a strong emphasis on modular and combining vehicles.
Leading module
The front section features the signature black, nose-mounted scanner bar with red and yellow patterns (i.e., two lines that sweep horizontally and a central pulsing "eye" that allows CoBoN to "see"), while the two-seater cockpit sits beneath a partially transparent canopy (the clear areas have an orange tint). Behind the cockpit, an aerodynamic structure houses large air intakes and outlets. The vehicle is equipped with four powerful jet-engine nacelles, two mounted on the sides (each ending in a pair of missile launchers on the front) and two on the underside (each terminating in an array of five guns). At the rear, a cluster of four exhausts serves as the connection point to the second module when in fully assembled mode.
After separating from the rest of the machine, the leading module transforms into a combat aerial vehicle. The front part flips upward to form a nose cone vaguely resembling a bird's head (this also includes the distinctive scanner bar), while the cockpit slides forward, extending the fuselage and triggering two winglets to swivel outward from the sides. A pair of main wings, hinged at their centres, unfold from the rear sections of the side nacelles; each wing is equipped with a launcher capable of hurling circular saw blades. At the back, the sides of the main body pivot upward to form a T-tail configuration, with a pair of rotating laser guns mounted on either side.
When necessary, the aerial vehicle can convert into an attack mech. The cockpit retracts into the bodywork, forming the robot’s pelvis. The side nacelles swing downward on double-hinged joints to become the legs, with the feet rotating 90 degrees into position and retaining their original function as missile launchers, while the wings fold at their midpoints and flip upward (maintaining the ability to deploy the circular saw blades if needed). The lower nacelles pivot forward to form the arms, while the fingers preserve their built-in weapon capabilities, doubling as gun arrays. The chest plate/viewport (originally the aerodynamic structure) slides downward as the T-tail swings back to become a pair of rear winglets (the laser guns convert into booster rockets in the process), simultaneously revealing the head (reminiscent of CoBoN 2.0's, with the black scanner bar as a visor on the upper part and a "mouth" shield below), after which the chest plate returns to its original position.
The two transformations bring to my mind some old toys of the Diaclone series, particularly Dia-Train and Dia-Attacker.
Locomotive
Positioned behind the leading module, this module houses the engine room and the bridge for crew operations, and features a lower cargo section that can be deployed, transforming into a suit of armour capable of enveloping the attack mech to enhance its power.
The transformation happens in two stages: first from the hold into a structure resembling a gigantic gun, and then from the gun into the exo-armour configuration. The upper beams flip downward and slide forward to form the dual barrels, while the rear sections pivot inward to form the gun’s grip. Then, the grip straightens, extends and splits apart to form the legs, while the dual barrels separate and swing outward to become the arms (one transforms into a standard arm, while the other becomes a cannon arm). After combining with the attack mech, a new, larger head takes shape, featuring face protectors that extend outward to form distinctive radar-like ears and long antenna-like horns.
This transformation reminds me of some old Transformers G1 toys, specifically Ultra Magnus and Megatron.
I'll cover the two remaining modules in a future post, since they're not relevant to this review.
Description
This review focuses on the toy version of the augmented robot, which is fictionally formed by the leading module and the locomotive's cargo section, and referred to by the working name CoBoN 3.0. This huge figure stands 46 cm tall (around 18'') and features articulation on par with the standard KR figure, allowing for excellent movement and a wide range of dynamic action poses. Its body is packed with fine details while remaining true to the design of the vehicle parts it transforms from. The paintwork is impressive, with silver colour used on the bodywork components, and black (along with blue accents) on the sections revealed during transformation. The articulated head is a larger, more detailed version of the attack mech’s head.
Action feature, weapons and accessories
Apart from large faux tank treads beneath its feet, which conceal functional rolling wheels, its armament includes the following (listed in the order they appear in the comic book battle scene with the Combining Goblin):
- a rotary-barrel cannon emerging from the lower torso through an opening (by flipping down) front hatch;
- two three-clawed, grappling hook-shaped assault drones launched from the sides of the lower legs, each equipped with a laser rope (represented by an additional flexible, neon-green string) capable of ensnaring targets; the front of the lower legs features two multi-barrel cannon assemblies, with each barrel capable of rotating independently from fully lowered and flush with the leg, to fully raised to target a threat;
- two laser cannons that deploy from the pivoting horns on its head when the face protectors are shut, accompanied by a gold-coated visor (to protect against the intense laser radiation, which is kind of hilarious when you think about it) that lowers via a lever during operation;
- a punch-support thruster integrated in the left forearm for additional melee functionality;
- a deployable freezing ray blaster housed in the left arm’s fist, which pops up and rotates into position, and features a light-piping effect; the hand itself is fully articulated, with individually jointed fingers and thumb (plus splaying index and little fingers) and can detach via a side-mounted release button;
- four missile launchers concealed within the upper torso, revealed by two hatch doors that flip open above the shoulders; each rocket is shaped like a drill bit, featuring a blade-like tapered screw thread, and partially ejects revealing a blast effect extending from its tail when pulled (it can also be fully removed for play or display); a subtle light pipe shoulder detail adds visual depth to the chest reactor placed between the two pairs of missiles;
- a powerful, massive plasma cannon replacing the right arm and featuring a sliding ribbed panel that extends the barrel tip and a number of side hatches; an integrated light-piping feature gives the appearance of it "firing" when deployed.
Furthermore, in the comics, following an intense battle, the augmented robot (or rather the full CoBoN vehicle) must recharge using geothermal, solar and wind energy before it can resume operations. To achieve this, the robot transforms into a ground base station, allowing the other modules to connect and collectively gather sufficient energy. This transformation is also replicated in the toy and unfolds through multiple steps.
First, each leg splits from the knee down into front and back sections as the robot lowers itself into position, deploying some sturdy support stands (which are supposed to be geothermal probes) near the central hinge. The front panels on the thighs swing forward to form ladders leading to the two multi-barrelled cannon assemblies that rotate side to side (with each barrel independently able to tilt up and down) on the front sections of the lower legs. Additionally, the unfolded feet can deploy two tunnelling drones (each consisting of an included tracked body connected to one drill-missile and resembling the side modules of CoBoN Mk2) through opening hatch doors: each foot has two side doors that swing outward (each revealing six red-painted missiles on its inner side), while a front tab flips downward to complete the play feature. The sides of the lower legs are also equipped with the above-mentioned rotating grapnel-drones, each mounted on a side hatch that flips up to reveal two 3×3 missile clusters pointing sideways, along with a front-and-rear rotary gun system. Alternatively, the lower legs can unfold to create dual runways for the two grapnel-drones, which are detached and converted into jets with a few twists (two variable-sweep wings, each equipped with a hook at its tip, are formed by flipping down the sides and swivelling the attached flukes outward, while the top fluke swivels backward to form a sort of tail; this design is slightly reminiscent of the central module of CoBoN Mk2). Each cannon array must be rotated backward, after which the runways (originally folded in half) are unfolded; the cannons are then slid beneath the runways to lock them in place. A dial under each runway activates a flight deck lift system, allowing the drones to be stored and deployed from internal hangars. The rear sections of the lower legs feature two aft hangars, each with a heel-mounted door that opens downward and has a ramp that slides outward to allow another tunnelling drone deployment.
The upper limbs reconfigure by rotating the arms backward and bending the forearms 180 degrees forward. In this configuration, the shoulders function as helipads for the two grapnel-drones converted into helicopters (this time, the side flukes swinging back to form the tail boom, while the top fluke unfolds to become the rotor), each capable of 360-degree rotation and forward-backward sliding. Each upper arm features a lift-up panel revealing an integrated hangar system that deploys or retracts a drone to and from the helipad using a tab-operated eject/retract mechanism. The left hand retracts by rotating into the forearm through an opening panel on the sleeve, while the outer punch-thruster pivots forward to reposition as a secondary cannon.
The rear features an infantry section composed of interconnected platforms, stairs, ramps, rotating guns and satellite dishes, as well as solar panels and wind turbines, all of which can fold in and out from the base's walls. A manually operated lift platform (mounted on a shaft that rests vertically against the back in robot mode and extends diagonally in base mode) raises a figure into position at the back of the head, which tilts forward, with its horns reconfigured into independently rotating twin cannons forming an anti-aircraft gun turret. The platform is normally stored in a rear compartment, accessible through a double sliding door that can be opened by pulling two tabs once the lift shaft has been positioned diagonally. In addition, when the shaft is repositioned horizontally, opening its front hatches reveals a hidden, giant rear cannon. A section of the head, including parts of its back and sides, can also be deployed as a gunner drone, with its wings formed by flipping the horns/cannons side panels upward (this small aircraft is reminiscent of both Tang-Lha's little head-spy drone and the rear module of CoBoN Mk2).
The entire robot-to-base transformation reminds me of some classic toys from the Diaclone series, particularly Great Robot Base and Robot Fortress X. It also appears that the slots at the front, back and top of the ground base are designed to accommodate future attachments. We'll see!
Final thoughts
Overall: I absolutely love this figure. As many know, the KR|Horizon line has been on a mecha kick with recent releases, and this one delivers in full. It's big, shiny, heavy with die-cast, and a ton of fun! Sure, it doesn't quite fit the typical KR play pattern, and even other high-tech looking figures would struggle to interact with it. Still, I see it as a key step toward the eventual release of a super-droid figure in the KR|EoF line (I know it's coming). It’s pricey (probably $500), but with a little wallet courage, I’ll be picking this up at SDCC.
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5
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